These 18 Southern California music venues have opened since the pandemic

Ron Mesh was a tour manager for Guns N’ Roses and hard rock acts for decades — he knows how a well-appointed club can make or break a band. He just opened Dune Room, an independent venue in Indio that aims to keep the desert’s edgier music scenes thriving for the non-festival-saturated months of the year.

“I put in everything I would have wanted playing clubs — bus parking, a great green room and amazing sound system,” Mesh said. “In L.A., I wouldn’t have come close to getting this. But Indio’s very exciting — a lot of young metal bands are thriving, and now you don’t even have to go to the high desert to find them.”

Mesh is well known in the desert’s music scene (he also opened Studio B, a high-end mix studio). The venue — formerly the Little Street Music Hall — had a knotty opening after some early ownership disputes with former partners. But for salty desert rockers and hungry young punks who can’t afford Coachella tickets, it’s a welcome addition to the scene. “Pappy’s has a vibe where you go to the club just knowing there’ll be something cool there,” Mesh said, “Indio is getting that too.”