Our man Sgt. Tiki has surveyed the musical landscape and selected eight upcoming San Diego concerts — five local acts and three touring — for your musical enjoyment and edification.
Whether your tastes run to funk, soulful pop, or gut-bucket R&B, you’ll find something to satisfy your audio appetite.
Aviator Stash
Founded in 2014 and based in Carlsbad, Aviator Stash is known for its high-energy, genre-bending sound that mixes 2000s-era rock, funk and electronic influences. They are characterized by their party-focused, hook-laden and psychedelic garage-rock style, blending modern, indie and pop sensibilities. Their debut single “Lazy Summer Days” earned substantial airplay on 91X, with daily rotation and topping the station’s monthly Local Break spotlight. A 2018 album called Prescribed was recorded, mixed and mastered by James Page at Emerald Age Recording. The band’s follow-up full-length Psiyh took home a San Diego Music Award for Best Indie/Alternative Album and the group has won multiple SDMAS for Best Indie/Alternative band. Recent music videos such as the one produced last year for “Mobil Blues” are racking up impressive Youtube plays, in this case over 31,000 to date. The Solana Beach show is headlined by L.A.-based indie pop band Cayucas, led by twin brothers Zach and Ben Yudin.
- Where: Belly Up Tavern, 143 S Cedros Ave., Solana Beach
- When: Thursday, February 5, 2026, 7:30 p.m.
- Ages: 21+
- Get tickets
Trevor Davis
Growing up, soulful pop singer Trevor Davis attended a gospel-style church where he soaked in the soulful music that would come to influence him so much. Starting in junior high, he immersed himself in the punk music scene. In high school, he played bass in a punk band with his best friends, but he had never sung in front of an audience until his senior year, when he decided to sing the national anthem at a basketball game. While learning guitar, he had to play his right-handed Takamine guitar upside down, due to being left handed. He then went on to solo at an open mic night at the Melting Pot in La Jolla and wrote his first song, “Reason Why,” around a year later. Citing influences from artists such as Stevie Wonder, Elliott Smith and Jonny Lang, he’s been writing and performing steadily ever since, including in pop/rock/hip-hop electro-duo Dr. Seahorse, alongside Colorado native Mark Suhonen.
- Where: Shake Bar & Lounge, 701 A St., Level 12, San Diego
- When: Friday, February 6, 2026, at 6 p.m.
- Ages: All ages
- More info
Celeste Barbier
Classically trained at Chapman University, RnB blues singer Celeste Barbier is known for her diverse blend of jazz, soul, Motown, pop and easy listening music, with original songs as well as covering classic artists. Her cinematic and soulful contralto voice has earned her favorable comparisons to singers such as Sade, Lana Del Rey and Etta James. She offers a sophisticated and vintage-inspired sound, covering over 100 years of music, sometimes jokingly referring to herself as a “human jukebox.” With an extensive repertoire spanning the Great American Songbook, jazz standards, easy-listening classics and soulful pop favorites, as well as her own original music, performances feature her singing along with backing tracks, often incorporating sound healing elements into her act by using instruments like crystal bowls, gongs and the shruti box.
- Where: Nick & G’s, 6106 Paseo Delicias, Rancho Santa Fe
- When: Friday, February 6, 2026, at 6 p.m.
- Ages: All ages
- More info
Dexter & the Moonrocks and Girl Tones
Formed in 2021, Texas-based Dexter & the Moonrocks pioneered a sound they call western space grunge, blending alt-southern rock, red-dirt country and 1990s grunge music. They found themselves achieving viral infamy with “Sad In Carolina,” which would top several alternative rock charts, “She Likes Girls,” “All Your Friends Still Scare Me,” and “Couch,” all tracks characterized by gritty, melancholic, and introspective lyrics about living in the modern world. Citing influences such as Nirvana and Whiskey Myers, they’ve released four EPs, with two of them dropping last year, Happy To Be Here and Donkey Flats. Their concerts frequently include songs from all four releases, as well as offbeat and unexpected covers of tracks like “Messed Up Kid” by Tyler Childers.
- Where: House of Blues San Diego, 1055 Fifth Ave., San Diego
- When: Friday, February 6, 2026, at 7:30 p.m.
- Ages: 18+
- Get tickets
Kai Kalama
Island pop singer-songwriter Kai Kalama has been singing and performing since the age of six. He then played guitar and sang with his brother, who he has maintained a duo with since he was 12 years old. He was featured as one of the 36 semi-finalists on season eight of American Idol, and was also a winning contestant on the NBC summer game show The Winner Is in 2013. He brings to the stage a one-man show, with a large range of musical styles, from Hawaiian to hip-hop. Kalama has been further developing his rich, soulful voice. Among his videos available on Youtube is a cover of the traditional Irish folk ballad, “Fields Of Athenry.” For live performances such as this one in La Jolla, he is mastering the art of live looping with his use of a loop pedal to create the sound of an entire band. His beach-flavored covers are well suited for the La Jolla venue’s shoreline vibe.
- Where: Farmer & the Seahorse, 10996 Torreyana Road, San Diego
- When: Saturday, February 7, 2026, at 10 a.m.
- Ages: All ages
- More info
TX2
Originating from Fort Collins, Colorado, emo/alternative rock artist TX2 (Timothy Evan Thomas) developed from a solo project in 2018 into a full band, with Thomas relocating to Miami to pursue music. He first earned widespread attention with hits like “I Would Hate Me Too,” blending pop-punk, rap, and rock. Substantial viral success on TikTok came with nearly a million followers, thanks to emotionally charged lyrics addressing widely relatable topics such as sobriety, personal struggles, and mental health, paving the way to a major label contract in 2023 with Hopeless Records. As a sideline to his music career, he also started a dedicated community engagement effort called the X Movement, intended to foster mental health awareness, allowing fans to connect, share feelings, and support one another. He’s also been very vocal about LGBTQ+ rights, often addressing themes of identity, equality, and anti-discrimination in music and performances, such as in the song “Hostage (They Will Not Erase Us).”
- Where: Soma, 3350 Sports Arena Blvd., San Diego
- When: Saturday, February 7, 2026, at 7 p.m.
- Ages: All ages
- Get tickets
Will Brahm
Born and raised in Portland Oregon, Will Brahm is a versatile guitarist and composer whose music primarily spans jazz, rock, and Americana. After graduating California State Long Beach with a degree in Jazz Guitar Performance, he joined New West Guitar Group and began his touring career, spending years with jazz trumpeter Arturo Sandoval’s band. A semifinalist in the Herbie Hancock International Guitar Competition, his music often features wordless, storytelling compositions. Known for his “sonic world-building,” he blends the harmonic complexity of jazz with the emotive, melodic sensibility of artists like one of his main influences, guitar icon Pat Metheny. His songs evoke the ambitious emotional soundscape of bands like Pink Floyd, while his melodic delivery brings to mind effortlessly flashy guitarists like Jeff Beck.
- Where: Lou Lou’s Jungle Room, 2225 El Cajon Blvd., San Diego
- When: Sunday, February 8, 2026, 7 p.m.
- Ages: 21+
- More info
Atmosphere
During the early to late 2000s, some of the best hip-hop music was coming out of Minnesota. At a time when most people associated midwestern hip-hop with Common and Kanye West, the duo Atmosphere and their Rhymesayers label were considered underground superheroes. Hailing from Minneapolis and founded in 1996, they maintained a course of rigorous output, releasing over two dozen studio albums, EPs, and collaborative side projects over the past 30 years. In that time, rapper Slug (Sean Daley) and producer Ant (Anthony Davis) have built a legacy out of bringing honesty, humility, and vulnerability to the forefront of their music, continually challenging themselves to evolve without straying too far from their roots. The Winter Carnival bill includes opening performances by Rhode Island rapper Sage Francis, Kool Keith(known from the Ultramagnetic MCs, Dr. Octagon, Black Elvis, and Dr. Dooom) and R.A. The Rugged Man (a staple of the ’90s underground scene), as well as a DJ set from Mr. Dibbs.
- Where: Observatory North Park, 2891 University Ave., San Diego
- When: Tuesday, February 10, 2026, at 7:30 p.m.
- Ages: 18+
- Get tickets
