The dog days of August are heavy with heat and nostalgia. Here’s a roundup of some the vintage acts making a comeback around San Diego this month, along with some newer bands to keep things fresh.
Strawberry Alarm Clock
Tiki Oasis 2026 marks the 25th anniversary of the tiki festival. The five-night, four-day event includes a live main stage concert, tropical cocktails curated by top mixologists, a sunset luau dinner, pool lounging, fashion parades, swanky suites, disc jockeys, art exhibits and more. Learn about tiki and mid-century style, design, and lifestyle from experts, and enjoy a bustling marketplace with artists, makers and traders, wedding options and more.
Performers scheduled to appear include Trabants and a reunion of Strawberry Alarm Clock, with original members alongside guitarist Steve Bartek of Oingo Boingo. Five of the players were on the classic Incense and Peppermints album — Gene Gunnels, Mark Stephen Weitz, Randy Seol, George Bunnell, and Steve Bartek — while Howard Anderson has been with the group since 1986.
Strawberry Alarm Clock will appear on Sunday, August 9, with an album release party for their new full-length “Where’s One?,” out this month via Big Stir Records.
Where: Town & Country San Diego, 500 Hotel Circle, San DiegoWhen: August 7-9, 2026, 8:30 am – midnightAges: All agesCost: $189-$699
Nukem
Heavy metal heroes Nukem formed in June 2012, going on to open for acts like LeatherWolf, Halcyon Way, Fozzy, Metal Church, Saxon and Kreator.
They also won a 2018 Tijuana Battle of the Bands, earning an opening slot at Fronterizo Fest with the Scorpions, Megadeth, Sepultura and Suicidal Tendencies.
Nukem recently signed with the label Redefining Darkness, who released a new single in early 2026, “Random Acts of Violence,” which features a guest guitar solo from Russ Tippins of the band Satan. The track was a preview of the band’s sophomore full-length “The Grave Remains,” which also includes guest appearances from Gary Holt (Exodus, Slayer), Lee Altus (Exodus, Heathen), Rob Cavestany (Death Angel), and Laura Christine (Dark Angel, Warface).
The Little Italy bill includes local dark metal band Daemos, which has been playing San Diego venues since the 1990s, as well as landing slots opening for Judas Priest at L.A.’s House of Blues and for Testament at the Whisky a Go Go. They independently released the EP “Dying God” in 1998 and followed it up with the full length Facing Down in 2002, as well as appearing on tribute albums like Megaded (covering Megadeth’s “Looking Down the Cross”) and SuperCharger Hell (doing White Zombie’s “SuperCharger Heaven”).
Also appearing will be Fraxures.
When: Saturday, August 8, 2026, 7:30 pmWhere: The Casbah, 2501 Kettner Boulevard, San DiegoAges: 21+Cost: $38-$69
Too $hort and Warren G
Too $hort and Warren G helped shape the sound of ’90s rap. Too $hort kicked off his music career in Oakland, California in the early 1980s by selling custom rap tapes from his car trunk.
He became known for his unapologetic style and songs about flashpoint topics such as pimping, promiscuity, and explicit street tales that seemed to both glorify and provide cautionary commentary on sexual politics and drug culture. Funk-heavy tracks engineered specifically for car stereos with the bass turned all the way up include iconic hits like “Blow the Whistle” and “The Ghetto.”
Rapper, producer, and DJ Warren G rose to fame when his debut solo album reached multiplatinum sales status. He’s known for smooth, G‑funk‑defining classics like his 1994 global hit single “Regulate” featuring Nate Dogg, which peaked at number two on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and is celebrated for its legendary opening line, “Regulators, mount up!” Other tracks such as “This D.J.” fused melodic hip-hop with 1970s funk and soul samples, helping to shape the West Coast sound of the 1990s.
When: Saturday, August 8, 2026, at 6 pmWhere: Sea World, 500 Sea World Drive, San DiegoAges: Adult contentCost: Included with Sea World ticket, $79.99
E.N. Young
“As a young kid getting into reggae music, I discovered dub and was immediately hooked and taken into a trance,” said groove reggae singer E.N Young. “It was after listening to the ambient spacey mixes from engineers like King Tubby, Scientist, [and] Mad Professor that I knew I needed to learn more about this art.
“Dub is an alternative mix to a song. Instead of focusing on the lead vocal or lead instrument, dub focuses on the drum and bass, while creating space using time-based effects on the different layers in the song.”
Young has been known to release his songs in both electric and acoustic versions, as well creating unconventional collaborative albums such as Raggamuffin Ride Riddim’ featuring eleven different singers on just one of his songs, “Cooyah Raggamuffin.” Other acts he’s worked with include Big Mountain, Maxi Vargas (formerly of Gondwana), Tribal Seeds, Inna Vision, Maad T-Ray, Gonzo, Steven Jacobo, Ooklah the Moc, Kali Navales, Father Psalms and Peetah Morgan of Morgan Heritage.
Young will headline The Reggae Circus Dub Fest, topping a bill that includes Ruff’em Up Posse, Maitland Roots, and The Dub Portal.
When: Thursday, August 13, 2026 at 7 pmWhere: The Music Box, 1337 India Street, San DiegoAges: 21+Cost: $28.57
The Black Heart Procession
Slowcore experimental rock band The Black Heart Procession blends gothic Americana with somber piano melodies, sparse guitar lines and cinematic soundtrack effects utilizing unconventional instruments like waterphones and musical saws.
Co-founded in the late 1990s by Pall Jenkins and Tobias Nathanial, the group became known for ambitious concept albums exploring existential themes. Although its members have gone on to separate projects, they occasionally reunite for short tours and one-off shows such as this two-night stand at their former home-base in Little Italy.
In February, they joined Modest Mouse on their Ice Cream Floats cruise from Miami to the Dominican Republic, along with Kurt Vile, Portugal. The Man and more.
They recently rereleased a vinyl version of their 1998 debut full-length “1,” promoted with a new single that dropped in February for the album track “In a Tin Flask.”
When: Friday, August 14 and Saturday, August 15, 2026 at 8:30 pmWhere: The Casbah, 2501 Kettner Boulevard, San DiegoAges: 21+Cost: $61+
The Sleepwalkers
The Sleepwalkers have been playing authentic Chicano roots rock since 1992. They specialize in original American music styles ranging from blues and country to Tex-Mex, cumbia, and their own brand of roots rock.
They’ve performed and recorded with Link Wray, Ronnie Dawson, Sleepy Labeef, Charlie Ryan, The Texas Tornados, The Blasters, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Kid Ramos, Freddy Fender, The Rev. Horton Heat, The Supersuckers, Rosie Flores, Graham Parker, El Vez, The Royal Crown Revue, Harry Dean Statton and many others. They’ve been nominated for over a half dozen San Diego Music Awards, including for Best Americana/Roots band and Best Local Recording.
They recently released a single for “Baila Maria,” which precedes their upcoming studio album “Almas Perdidas,” due in October via Blind Owl Records. The Noche de Cumbia bill in East Village includes Wachiwara and Las Sucias.
When: Saturday, August 15, 2026 at 5 pmWhere: The Quartyard, 1301 Market Street, San DiegoAges: 21+Cost: $19.98
Matte Blvck
“We produce sounds of sinister pleasures, visual arts, and mechanical tinged dance music,” according to Matte Blvck.
Founded by Daniel Corrales of EDM duo PRGRM, the group is a dark electro-pop project heavily influenced by bands such as Depeche Mode. Their music is known for its blend of cinematic sounds, industrial noise, darkwave melancholy, and electronic synth-wave club breakbeats straight out of the 1990s. Their debut 2020 album “I’m Waving, Not Drowning” established their signature mood of isolation and perseverance, heavily inspired by the pandemic.
A sophomore 2024 album called Vows included a collaboration with darkwave icons Clan of Xymox. Currently a trio manned by Corrales with Alex Gonzales and Bidi Cobra, they dropped a new single last month for “Soulless (Equalateral Remix).” Also appearing will be Xavier Swafford, Inhalt, 7th Stranger, b2b, and The Mad V.
When: Saturday, August 15, 2026 at 9 pmWhere: The Music Box, 1337 India Street, San DiegoAges: 21+Cost: $34-$94
Tedeschi Trucks Band and Lukas Nelson
Since founding the Grammy-winning Tedeschi Trucks Band, husband and wife country rockers Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi have seen multiple friends and family members pass away.
Those losses include two Allman Brothers (founder Gregg Allman and Derek’s uncle Butch Trucks) and mentor Col. Bruce Hampton.
As such, it’s no surprise that much of their blues rock music is rooted in pain, tragedy, loss, and yearning.
Since the age of 18, Susan Tedeschi had been leading her own bands, some of them Grammy-nominated, and opening for the Stones and the Allman Brothers, a band that Derek Trucks belonged to.
At 19, Trucks’ slide-playing was already so impressive that it landed him on Rolling Stone’s list of the top 100 guitar players of all time.
The bill includes Lukas Nelson, son of country music icon Willie Nelson and known for his work on the Grammy-winning soundtrack for “A Star Is Born,” as well as fronting his country rock band Promise of the Real.
Sunday, August 16, 2026 at 6 pmWhere: The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park, 222 Marina Park Way, San DiegoAges: All agesCost: $78.20
Yeat and BNYX
Rapper Yeat pioneered an experimental form of hip-hop that became known as rage rap, landing viral TikTok hits that literally altered the language of the genre with his own improvised slang vocabulary (“tonka” “luh geeky,” etc).
Utilizing distorted synths, frenetic bass, and signature sound effects like church bells, his lyrics are presented with heavy autotune, high-pitched ad-libs and repetitive, anthemic chants. Often seen wearing mix of designer clothes paired with balaclavas or masks, he first earned widespread attention with viral online hits such as “Money So Big” and “Get Busy,” as well as collaborating with Drake on the song “IDGAF.”
Also appearing is producer and songwriter Benjamin Saint Fort, aka BNYX, part of the production collective Working On Dying and a frequent collaborator with Yeat on tracks like “Talk” and major cuts with Yeat across albums such as Lyfe and AfterLyfe.
When: Tuesday, August 18, 2026 at 7 pmWhere: Petco Park, 100 Park Boulevard, San DiegoAges: All agesCost: $69-$211
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