Inquiring minds wonder: What were the first sounds of Fiesta 2026? Officially, those were beamed out to the multitudes from the front makeshift proscenium of the Old Mission’s La Fiesta Pequeña (“the little Fiesta”) on Wednesday night. Unofficially — or more precisely in a famously “official unofficial kickoff” way — those first sounds consisted of the tune “Where do Dreams Go,” delivered piping hot and fresh by Spencer the Gardener (STG) at M. Special early on Wednesday evening.
Fiesta feeds off the power of traditions, year after year. This one started in 2005. If you’re going to stage a major citywide party, you’ve got to have a warm-up pre-party happening. That service was supplied by Santa Barbara’s favorite party band, STG, before a packed and dance-throbbing throng on M. Special’s back patio, on a perfect summer’s evening. Just add Barnitz’s trademarked menu of ska, surf, cumbia, spy, soul, and salsa.
The party started and the charismatic leader had to use two words to convey the spirit in the “room” — “Fiesta 2026!.” Say no more. Then the band launched into his old, presumably autobiographical hit “Boy with the Two Big Heads,” with its infectious ska + salsa groove (skalsa?). Another STG classic, going back to 1993, is “Disaster on the Half Shell,” which pumped up some serious R&B funk spirits into the patio, with Cainan Birchim’s thumping bass and crisp-cooking horn parts.
Barnitz mixes up his band’s setlists, which seem to flow organically rather than sticking to a prix fixe plan, between his strong stash of originals and select covers. “Where do Dreams Go” is the final song, in a stripped-down acoustic version but fleshed out in a New Orleanian groove here, on the band’s most recent album Shine On. The album was released as part of a concerted wave of STG action including the release of Robert Redfield’s documentary More than a Party Band: A Documentary (link)…