The Roots @ the Quarry

[Drunk Monk]

The Roots rock UC Santa Cruz as part of their summer concert series

UC Santa Cruz is making a big push to bring more nationally recognized artists to perform on campus.

Updated: 9:08 AM PDT Aug 29, 2025

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[url=https://www.ksbw.com/news-team/984462dc-6944-477d-a1aa-80f64cb223c3]Michael Rosales 

Reporter

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. —
UC Santa Cruz is making a big push to bring more nationally recognized artists to perform on campus.
The university launched a new concert series at The Quarry Amphitheatre at the beginning of August. Thursday evening, Grammy Award-winning hip hop group The Roots headlined, drawing in students and fans to the outdoor venue.
"When I heard The Roots were playing in Santa Cruz, I knew I had to be here tonight," Andre Marshall, a Santa Cruz local, said. "We're going to get some good food, some good drinks, and we're just gonna have a vibe tonight."
For fans, it was more than just another concert; it was a rare chance to see a group known worldwide, right here on the Central Coast.
Another Santa Cruz local, Jessie Lawler, said, "I started listening to them in the '90s, when they were first getting big."
The amphitheater, carved out of the hillside and surrounded by redwoods, gave the show an atmosphere you can't find anywhere else.
This is the third concert in The Quarry's summer concert series. The series kicked off the start of August with Primus and is hosting Young the Giant, a well-known alternative group, in a couple of weeks.
The Quarry says this concert series showed that they are ready to host big names while keeping that Santa Cruz vibe.
"We are definitely looking at an even more robust concert calendar for next year," The Quarry's general manager, Jose Reyes Olivas said. 
"These shows are vital because not only do they bring revenue in for the venues, so we could preserve it, but it's more engagement with the community, and it allows us to really welcome the entire Santa Cruz region to this absolutely beautiful outdoor venue," Olivas said.