A Peek at Ocean Beach Venues

 This column serves up vital info with a twist of snark, from someone who knows, including how to contact bookers, what’s a club’s audience capacity, do they own a sound system (or not), and what kinds of music bookers are looking for.

As anybody who has ever lived in San Diego’s beloved Ocean Beach (oh yes, I’m flying that freak flag forever!) people here embrace the weird and wonderful. Do not ask me how many Friday nights (32) we spent watching The Rocky Horror Picture Show at the Strand cinema, complete with raincoats, water pistols, fishnet stockings, and leather corsets. Or Saturday mornings slurping down pitchers of wine margaritas at Margarita’s.

Today’s OB is a haven for countless micro-breweries, wine bars, tourist havens, and the occasional dive bar. What better place for music to thrive? And this month we’re looking at clubs, bars, and venues up and down Newport Avenue looking for local talent to titillate the tourists and locals alike.

Here’s what you need to know.

P.S. Mind you, parking is at a premium on Newport Avenue, so be warned.

The Harp

The Harp

A longtime landmark in the center of Newport Avenue, this bar was purchased by Miles Doughty (lead singer for the reggae band Slightly Stoopid) and his three best friends, following the untimely death of The Harp’s owner in 2023.

With a layout reminiscent of the Rabbit Hole on Adams Avenue (another long, thin, raised stage on the eastern side of the club facing the bar) the all-ages space with its open window frontage onto Newport offers cool breezes and a wide variety of yummy Irish-inspired nibbles and some of the best beer in town.

Address: 4935 Newport Ave., San Diego, CA 92107
Music: Random
Email: harpobpub@gmail.com
Phone: (619) 222-0168
Pay: Yes

Winston’s Beach Club

Winston’s Beach Club

This funky live-music venue, open since 1986, is two blocks from the beach and only steps away from Ocean Beach’s main drag.

The Electric Waste Band plays there every Monday (and has for years!) and an awesome OB-oke session on Sundays. Meanwhile, the schedule runs through a gamut of genres. This is one fun, dance-crazy club with a bar and audience to match, and, yes, Calamity (all-female, San Diego-based California roots rock band) has been known to strut the stage on occasion.

Winston’s is also well known for its involvement in many special events, parties, and community activities such as the annual Ocean Beach Street Fair, OB Oktoberfest, and the San Diego Blues Fest.

Address: 1921 Bacon St., San Diego, CA 92107
Music: Jam, rock, reggae, alternative, hip hop, EDM, bluegrass, Americana, and comedy.
Capacity: 220
Sound equipment: YES, plus lighting.
Stage size: With an odd shape, the stage’s right wall is 15 feet and the back wall is 18 feet; the stage moves an angle with a front moving back to that 22 foot face. All subs embedded into the front end of the stage.
Fixed Drum Riser on stage. 8×8
Ceiling Height from the floor 12ft, from Stage 9ft from Drum Riser 8ft
Stage Power 4 30 amp 120VC
E-mail: booking@winstonsob.com
Phone: (619) 222-6822
Pay: Yes

The Holding Company

The Holding Company

Bands perform in a newer three-story industrial venue that features a younger clientele, a rooftop bar, and ocean views within spitting distance of the sand.

Performers have included Pato Baton, Twista, Ying Yang Twins, Island Vibes, and Montell Jordan.

Address: 5046 Newport Ave., San Diego, CA 92107
Music: Metal, punk, cover/tribute/hip hop/and more.
Email: Please contact talent buyer Jake Skolnick at jake@theholdingcompanyob.com
Sound equipment: Yes
Phone: (619) 341-5898
Pay: Yes

Pacific Shores Cocktail Lounge

Pacific Shores Cocktail Lounge

All right. To be honest, there’s no live music here, but if you’ll forgive me, let me introduce you to one of the more fascinating cubbyholes lining Newport Avenue. Be still my beating heart. This is SpongeBob SquarePants/Goth chic.

With its black matte walls, towering white plaster clam shells, black velvet paintings of glow-in-the-dark underwater aquatic life looming over comfy banquette seating, this is my dream dive bar. And the drinks are some of the cheapest on the avenue with some great bartenders. Consider this your unofficial “green room” before you take the stage somewhere else.

Is that a crab in my drink or are you just happy to meet me?

Address: 4927 Newport Ave., San Diego, CA 92107
Music: Sorry, no
Phone: (619) 223-7549

The Template

The Template

This funky coffee house/art performance gallery/experimental-use venue is a colorful explosion of creativity; ad their mission statement is truly out of this world.

MISSION STATEMENT
A collective of movers and shakers, curating a template space for artists, locals, explorers, and the curious mind to come and unite. A space where art happens symbiotically. We enter with an open, expansive, and curious mind and provide access to collaborate, share, learn, experience, challenge, transform, and indulge while bringing light to your own human experience. A space where community thrives through celebrating, supporting, and showcasing local artists, entrepreneurs, and instructors. A space for sustainable art. An incubator, springboard, velcro, and nest. Where authentic expression is invited to be explored and your freak flag flies alongside ours. An integral part of the San Diego art community and a heartbeat in Ocean Beach. Earth stewards and community activists for conserving San Diego’s natural beauty. Celebrating the vitality of life through world art, music, movement, and stories. A space of transparent communication, social responsibility, and radical inclusion. A space of abundance for all, and equality for all ages, races, genders, and zip codes. A space where everyone has a voice.

And, oh yes, they serve one of the best lavender coffees ever. You heard it here!

Address: 5032 Niagara Ave, San Diego, CA 92107
Entertainment: Music, dance, experimental art, you name it, they like it!
Phone: (619) 939-5683