Oxnard Performing Arts & Convention Center

The Oxnard Performing Arts & Convention Center is at 800 Hobson Way in Oxnard, about an hour up the 101 from Hollywood when traffic cooperates. Sterling Venue Ventures books the theater, the same Agoura Hills company that runs The Canyon and the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills, and the calendar looks like it.

The room is bigger than people expect. The operator's tech pack lists 1,604 seats, with 850 in the lower orchestra and 754 up in the loge, under a 68-foot fly loft. A floor-level pit adds space for up to 50 more seats when a show doesn't need it for musicians.

Most nights are legacy bands and soul or R&B names, with the odd wrestling card or mariachi Christmas show mixed in. This fall's list starts with WAR and Poncho Sanchez, then Todd Rundgren and The Psychedelic Furs, and January brings The Temptations' farewell tour and E-40 on a bill with DJ Quik and Mack 10. Headliners here usually go on at 8 PM, with an opener about an hour earlier.

Buy tickets from the operator's site or AXS. The company warns about resale sites that show its dates as sold out or mark them up, and it can't help with tickets bought there. There's no walk-up window on ordinary days, only during the 90 minutes before a show, so sort out tickets by phone or online first.

Parking is free, which is a nice change from any LA room this size. Anyone under 18 needs a paying adult along, and some nights are 21 and over, so check the listing before you bring a teenager.