Once again, 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 film soundtracks, jazz standards, or soulful blues, you’ll find something to satisfy your audio appetite.
Morricone Youth
Former San Diego guitarist Devon Goldberg, aka Devon E. Levins (Creedle, Rust), founded the soundtrack-inspired Morricone Youth in 1999, a year after moving to New York from San Diego. He’d gone to college here and played in bands like the Holy Love Snakes, performing bits and pieces of film soundtracks rather than the usual cover songs. After being joined in NYC by relocated San Diegans from bands like the Rugburns, aMiniature, and Crash Worship, his next group Morricone Youth released its first original CD in late 2005, Silenzio Violento, full of sounds that recall noir thrillers, monster movies, and spaghetti westerns. Though reminiscent of work done by cinematic composers such as Lalo Schifrin, Henry Mancini, and Ennio Morricone, the tracks are originals. For this Balboa Park performance, Morricone Youth will provide a live soundtrack to Lotte Reiniger’s 1926 German silhouette animation silent film classic The Adventures of Prince Achmed, utilizing arrangements from their 2016 EP of the same name.
Where: Panama 66, 1450 El Prado, San Diego
When: Thursday, February 12, 2026, at 8 pm
Ages: 18+
Micky Dolenz
Micky Dolenz of the Monkees still fondly recalls when the foursome shot scenes for their TV show pilot episode “Royal Flush” at the Hotel Del Coronado on November 13 through 22, 1965, including the country club and bar sequences. Exterior scenes were filmed on the beach near the Hotel. This footage would also turn up in the series original title sequence, as well as throughout the episode “Here Come the Monkees.” “None of us had any idea that those days on the beach and around that beautiful old hotel would launch something that would stay with us for the rest of our lives,” Dolenz recently posted on Facebook for the 60th anniversary of the band’s Coronado sojourn. “I was just a young actor having fun and doing the work alongside Davy, Peter, and Michael. Then suddenly, the whole world changed. The show, the records, the touring, it all grew out of that first little pilot shoot. I’m grateful every time I think about it. The friends I made. The music we created. The people who’ve stayed with us for decades. I kept a lot of notes and photos back then, and when I go through them now I shake my head and smile. We were kids doing a job. Somehow it turned into a piece of pop history.”
Where: Belly Up Tavern, 143 S Cedros, Solana Beach
When: Thursday, February 12, 2026, at 7:30 pm
Ages: 21+
Shane Hall
Blues, soul, funk, and Americana artist Shane Hall (The Klay) spent several years fronting Shane Hall & the Diabolicals before going solo around 2014 and appearing at the 2018 Kaaboo Festival. Hall’s song “Under My Voodoo” is among more than 30 never-before-released acoustic tracks on the compilation album The House That Bradley Built, featuring music from and inspired by the catalog of Bradley Nowell’s band Sublime. The track earned Hall a 2021 San Diego Music Award for Best Americana, Jazz or Blues Song. His 2024 album Howl & Sway reached number one on the Apple iTunes Blues chart, also winning Best Blues Album at that year’s San Diego Music Awards. Hall is billing this Oceanside performance as Hearts Of Black and Blue, also featuring Coupe Dville, Chunky Hustle Brass, Rey Wolf, and a DJ set from Tah Rei. Tickets include free fried chicken and champagne while supplies last.
Where: Sunshine Brooks Theater, 217 North Coast Highway, Oceanside
When: Friday, February 13, 2026, at 7 pm
Ages: All ages
YOOKiE
New York-based electronic music duo YOOKiE is composed of brothers Anthony and Chris Alfaro. Known for their heavy-hitting dubstep, trap, and bass music, they earned national attention for distorted and innovative bass tracks, especially thanks to a popular high-profile edit of Skrillex’s “Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites.” Often blending elements of various genres, they’ve carved a distinct niche for themselves with “headbanging” anthems, characterized by intense bass, intricate synth work, and unpredictable drops. They’ve done collaborations and releases with labels like Never Say Die, Dim Mak, and Bassrush Records, and their remix of NGHTMRE & Dillon Francis’ “Another Dimension” and edits of tracks by SVDDEN DEATH and 4B have received significant support in the EDM scene. The Dark Side of the Trash Tour supports the recent same-named EP, featuring 360-degree sets and festival-level production.
Where: Bloom Nightclub, 919 Fourth Avenue, San Diego
When: Friday, February 13, 2026, at 9 pm
Ages: 21+
Dean Ratzman
A graduate of the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Dean Ratzman first earned local notice in the mid-1980s playing trumpet for oldies band The Mar Dels before forming his own Motown-inspired group Ravells, who opened a local Beach Boys concert, and fronting Dean and the Persuaders. He performs jazz standards along with Neil Diamond songs, ’60s and ’70s rock and soul, and his own originals like “If I’m Not In Love With You,” for which he filmed a music video. A multi-instrumentalist, he plays piano, trumpet, trombone, and sings, with audience rapport and custom arrangements that provide for a highly entertaining set. He has performed worldwide, and his venues have included concert halls, cruise ships, libraries, and Hollywood parties, as well as corporate and marketing events, happy hour promotions, and car shows. When not appearing around San Diego at places like the Museum Of Making Music, Ratzman travels the country with his wife, Valli, occasionally performing at RV shows and resorts.
Where: North Clairemont Library, 4616 Clairemont Drive, San Diego
When: Saturday, February 14, 2026, at 2 pm
Ages: All ages
Squirrel Nut Zippers
When the Squirrel Nut Zippers first hit the airwaves in 1996 with their album Hot, it sparked a cultural bonfire by introducing a new generation to the sound of vintage Americana. With its infectious blend of swing, jazz, Delta blues, and southern storytelling, the album earned platinum sales status and helped propel the band from the underground scene of Chapel Hill, NC to the national stage. Now, three decades later, the Zippers are heating up again with their In the Afterlife tour, a 30th-anniversary celebration of the album that captured lightning in a bottle and cemented the band’s legacy.
Where: The Music Box, 1337 India Street, San Diego
When: Saturday, February 14, 2026, at 7:30 pm
Ages: 21+
Jason Mraz
Singer-songwriter Jason Mraz graduated from Lee-Davis High School in Mechanicsville, Virginia. After a brief stint studying musical theater at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York, he moved to San Diego and landed a regular Thursday-night gig at the now-defunct Java Joe’s coffee shop, the same venue where fellow musician Jewel played during her early career. Mraz signed to Elektra Records for his major label debut release, Waiting for My Rocket to Come, which would be certified platinum by the RIAA in 2004 and reach number two on Billboard’s Heatseekers chart. This community concert features five San Diego nonprofit arts organizations – Arms Wide Open, Art of Elan, Culture Shock San Diego, San Diego Young Artists Music Academy, and PASACAT Philippine Performing Arts Company – joining Mraz, MILCK, Raul Midón, Albert Posis, and friends to shine a light on tomorrow’s artists and the importance of inclusive arts programming.
Where: California Center for the Arts, Escondido, 340 North Escondido Boulevard, Escondido
When: Saturday, February 14, and Sunday, February 15, 2026, at 7 pm
Ages: All ages
Gary Wilson
In the 1970s, DIY lounge legend Gary Wilson and his band the Blind Dates performed all over San Diego, with Wilson donning white makeup and wild wigs, leading séances from the stage, wearing beekeeper’s hats or sheets of plastic held together by duct tape, and covering himself with and tossing around pails of white flour. Club operators at long-gone area venues like the Skeleton Club and Straita Head Sound often booted him over the messes. After vanishing from the music scene for a number of years, he resurfaced as the subject of an acclaimed documentary film, began releasing new material, and even appeared on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, performing alongside the Roots and Questlove. He released a new album last year called Come On, Mary, preceded by a single and video for the title track. Wilson will be opening for Jeffrey Lewis & the Voltage, a lo-fi DIY anti-folk band known for witty, observational lyrics, ramshackle energy, and multimedia live shows often featuring illustrated comic book artwork.
Where: The Casbah, 2501 Kettner Boulevard, San Diego
When: Wednesday, February 18, 2026, at 7:30 pm
Ages: 21+
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