San Diego summer concert guide: 36 shows you won't want to miss

The good news and bad news for music fans in San Diego this summer may depend largely on your appetite for travel — and how much you can afford to spend for tickets.

You’ll have to hit the road for Los Angeles if you want to attend the SoFi Stadium concerts by Taylor Swift, Metallica, Beyoncé and Ed Sheeran, or the Crypto.com Arena concerts by Drake and Madonna. That's assuming you can shell out for the sky-high prices scalpers are demanding for these sold-out shows.

Happily, all these artists have performed here before. With any luck, they will again. In the meantime, San Diego's live-music calendar has enough sound options this summer to ensure you won't have to spend extra time and gas money driving across several county lines to attend them.

The choices here are multifold, starting with Sunday's concurrent performances by Diana Ross (at The Shell) and Janet Jackson (at North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre). Or in early August, when concerts featuring Rod Stewart, Cheap Trick, Trombone Shorty, Ziggy Marley, Mavis Staples, The Offspring, Beck and Smashing Pumpkins will all take place within a five-day period.

In the interest of expediency, our selections do not include performances that are already sold out. So, take a bow, blink-182, Diana Krall, Janet Jackson, Paramore, Earth, Wind & Fire, Jason Isbell, Peso Pluma, Tori Amos, Cigarettes After Sex, Boz Scaggs, Post Malone, They Might Be Giants, Lucy's Fur Coat, Ghostland Observatory, Natalie Merchant, Coldplay, Morgan Wallen, et al.

Neo-soul vocal standout Erykah Badu, a champion of Afrocentric empowerment, and Yasin Bey, the superb rapper and actor formerly known as Mos Def, both rose to prominence in the 1990s.

Each is noted for their artistic daring. Each boasts impressive, if inconsistent, track records. And each still has something left to prove. That should make their joint tour stop here both a victory lap and a statement of purpose. 7:30 p.m. Thursday. Pechanga Arena, 3500 Sports Arena Blvd., Midway District. $39.95-$129.95. axs.com

In a country-pop music world long dominated by rote formulas and cookie-cutter conformity, Kelsea Ballerini isn't afraid to rock the boat. The native Tennessee singer-songwriter did so most recently in April hosting the 2023 CMT Music Awards, where she lamented "the ever-growing list of families, friends, survivors, witnesses and responders whose lives continue to forever be changed by gun violence."

That night also saw Ballerini make a powerful statement against anti-LGBTQ legislation when she performed "If You Go Down (I’m Goin’ Down Too)" with four celebrity drag queens from "RuPaul's Drag Race." Expect the song to be a highlight of her open-air concert here. Noon June 18. San Diego Waterfront Park, downtown. $69 (general admission), $145 (VIP). tickets.countryonthecoast.com/event/country-on-the-coast-2023

The San Diego jazz community takes care of its own. Last August, some of the county's most prominent musicians banded together to raise funds for respected jazz journalist Robert Bush after he was fitted with a pacemaker for his heart. Bush now faces an even bigger medical challenge as he battles Stage 4 cancer.

The lineup for this new fundraising concert includes trumpeter Gilbert Castellanos, flutist Holly Hofmann and former Ella Fitzgerald/Sarah Vaughan pianist Mike Wofford, bassists Marshall Hawkins and Rob Thorsen, multilingual singer Allison Tucker Adams, pianists Joshua White and Mikan Zlatkovich, saxophonist Tripp Sprague, drummer Jim Plank, and more. 6 p.m. June 19. Tio Leo's, 5302 Napa Street, Bay Park. (619) 542-2562. Admission is free, but donations for Bush will be accepted at the performance via checks, cash and Venmo. tioleos.com/music

Texas singer-songwriter Joshua Ray Walker excels at singing rootsy country music that sounds nothing like his former punk band, Ottoman Turks. Better yet, he's happy to subvert expectations at will, as Walker does repeatedly on his audacious fourth album, "What is It Even?"

The premise, in his words, boils down to: "What would Whitney Houston's ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody’ sound like by the Blues Brothers?" Walker provides a rousing answer on the album, which also features winning versions of Lizzo's "Cuz I Love You," Beyoncé ‘s "Halo," Cher's "Believe" and other similarly unlikely songs that he transforms with admirable skill and wit. 8:30 p.m. June 24. Casbah, 2501 Kettner Blvd., Middletown. $20-$25 (must be 21 or older to attend). casbahmusic.com

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Tonight: Intocable, Balboa Theatre

Saturday: Garbage, with Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds and Metric, North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre

June 16: Gretchen Parlato & Lionel Loueke, La Jolla Athenaeum Music & Arts Library

June 18: Antonia Bennett, Tio Leo's

June 29: Logic, with Juicy J, Gallagher Square at Petco Park

A versatile singer-songwriter, Lyle Lovett has a supple voice, a wonderfully wry sense of humor and a first-rate band anchored by the renowned drummer Russ Kunkel.

Whether performing boogie-woogie romps, bluesy ballads, gospel rave-ups or aching country ballads, this Texas-bred troubadour makes a lasting musical impression. His latest album, last year's enchanting "12th of June," features two songs inspired by his young children — "Pants Is Overrated" and "Pig Meat Man." 8 p.m. July 4. Belly Up, 143 South Cedros Ave., Solana Beach. $155 (general admission), $272 (reserved loft seating). (858) 481-8140. bellyupmusic.com

Jeff Nevin founded Southwestern College's mariachi music program in 1998, two years after launching San Diego County's first high school mariachi group. Armed with a doctorate in music from UC San Diego, where he studied with such celebrated composers as Roger Reynolds and Chinary Ung, he deftly blurred musical borders with his groundbreaking work, Mariachi Concerto.

The 27th annual San Diego International Mariachi Summit — like its previous editions — is being spearheaded by Nevin. Funds raised by the labor-of-love event will go to the Mariachi Scholarship Foundation, which annually gives out $25,000 to deserving students. 7:30 p.m. July 14. Balboa Theater, 868 Fourth Avenue, downtown. $21.50-$31.50. (619) 615-4000. ticketmaster.com

Malian music legend Oumou Sangaré sounds mesmerizing even if you don't understand a single one of her lyrics. The Grammy Award-winning vocal star performs largely in Bambara, her native tongue, and specializes in the intensely syncopated musical style known as Wassoulou.

A favorite collaborator of such disparate artists as Herbie Hancock and Béla Fleck, Sangaré is a noted feminist and social activist. But she speaks loudest in song, performing with a gloriously expressive voice so rarely heard in San Diego that I can't recall when — or if — Sangaré last gave a concert here. 8 p.m. July 21. Epstein Family Amphitheater, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla. $35-$45. amphitheater.ucsd.edu

A protégé of fusion-jazz drum great Billy Cobham, London-born Yussef Dayes is a potent drummer who is just as adept playing Afrobeat, funk and hip-hop as he is electronic music, grime and post-bop jazz inspired heavily by McCoy Tyner and Sun Ra.

Dayes’ U.S. solo debut album, "Black Classical Music," is due out in September on Nonesuch Records. The 19-song album features such notable guests as American singer Leon Thomas, English saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings and Jamaican reggae singer Chronixx. It remains to be seen who is in Dayes’ touring band, but their concert here should be a memorable one. 8 p.m. July 25. Music Box, 1337 India Street. $27.50 (must be 21 or older to attend). musicboxsd.com

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July 16: Elise Trouw, Winstons

July 20: Jeff Goldblum & The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra, Balboa Theatre

July 25: Rosie Flores & The Talismen, Humphreys Backstage Lounge

July 27: Harold Lopez-Nussa, La Jolla Athenaeum Music & Arts Library

July 29: Fred Armisen & Friends, UCSD Epstein Family Amphitheater

Do two concerts qualify as a tour? They do in the case of former Oingo Boingo singer-turned-award-winning film composer Danny Elfman. He's following up his triumphant pair of performances at the 2022 Coachella Festival in Indio, with two SoCal dates, and the first is in San Diego.

The mini-tour — aptly billed as "From Boingo to Batman to Big Mess and Beyond!" — will team Elfman with a band that features San Diego's Ilan Rubin on drums. The repertoire will be something of a multimedia career retrospective with such Oingo Bongo favorites as "Dead Man's Party" mixed in with music from such Elfman-scored films as "Pee-wee's Big Adventure," "Batman," "The Nightmare Before Christmas" and more. 7:30 p.m. Aug. 3. North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre, 2050 Entertainment Circle, Chula Vista. $39.50-$299. livenation.com

Waterfront Park has become the go-to venue for a growing number of music festivals. The newest addition, Bleached San Diego, will debut with 32 acts performing over two days.

Leon Bridges, the Aug. 5 headliner, is an impassioned singer who puts a fresh spin on vintage soul and R&B. Joji, the Aug. 6 headliner, is a Japanese-born YouTube comedian-turned-lo-fi-singer/songwriter. The lineup also includes such rising young artists as Ethel Cain and Caroline Polachek who are worth arriving early to hear. Noon Aug. 5 and Aug. 6. San Diego Waterfront Park, 1500 Pacific Highway, downtown. $95 (one day pass), $175-$195 (two-day pass). showclix.com/event/tight-knit-presents-bleached

How is 83-year-old Motown vocal icon Smokey Robinson following up the release of his new album, "Gasms," which came out in January?

With a multi-state summer concert trek that includes a tour-concluding date at Pala Resort Casino. Robinson, who has penned and recorded more classics than all but a very few other singer-songwriters, may not hit all the high notes quite as effortlessly as in previous decades. But judging by his San Diego concert at The Shell last summer, he still has the ability to inspire goose bumps. 8 p.m. Aug 19. Pala Starlight Amphitheatre, 11154 Highway 76, Pala. $85-$135. palacasino.com.

Two-time Grammy Award-winner Gregory Porter grew up singing gospel music in Bakersfield. But it was while attending San Diego State University on a full football scholarship that this hulking singer found his artistic footing. He went on to become a wonderfully soulful jazz singer who is now internationally acclaimed for his golden voice and for his insightful lyrics about love, life and social and political challenges.

Porter's concert at UCSD's Epstein Family Amphitheater will put him a short walk away from the campus’ music department, where his key music mentor — Kamau Kenyatta — still teaches. Is an onstage reunion in the offing? We’ll soon find out. 8 p.m. Aug. 18. Epstein Family Amphitheater, UC San Diego 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla. $25-$75. amphitheater.ucsd.edu

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Aug. 3: Suzanne Santo, Casbah

Aug. 4: Natalia Jiménez, Balboa Theatre

Aug. 4: Sure Fire Soul Ensemble, The Holding Company

Aug. 13: Los Cafres, House of Blues

Aug. 25: Darius Rucker, Gallagher Square at Petco Park

Ben Harper has long sung out with palpable passion about the state of the world. That makes him especially well-suited to headline this year's benefit concert on behalf of Doors of Change, the San Diego nonprofit that — since its inception in 2001 — has raised more than $4.5 million to help homeless and at-risk youth here.

Such memorable Harper songs as "People Lead," "I’ll Rise," "Serve Your Soul" and "Better Way" may resonate even more strongly at a concert designed to raise funds and spirits alike. Ditto, "Wide Open Light," the gently hopeful title track from his new album, which concludes with the couplet: "Mistakes I am destined to repeat ‘til I get them right / Walk with me into the wide open light." 7 p.m. Sept. 9. Epstein Family Amphitheater, UC San Diego 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla. $65-$350. amphitheater.ucsd.edu/event/doors-of-change-ben-harper/

UK native Bruno Major — not to be confused with Hawaiian native Bruno Mars — seems to be two musicians in one. A crooning singer who writes and performs mellow ballads about heartbreak, he tends to kick into high gear with his guitar solos, which have a bluesy bite and jazzy fluidity.

Major has collaborated with such disparate artists as They Might Be Giants, John Legend, Tori Kelly, Lianne La Havas and Billy Eilish's brother and songwriting partner, Finneas. While his recordings tend toward undue restraint, Major's live shows allow him to draw from his studies as a jazz and classical guitarist. The contrast is intriguing.7 p.m. Sept. 15. Observatory North Park, 2891 University Ave. North Park. $66. livenation.com

A 2023 Grammy Award-winner, Pakistani-American singer and songwriter Arooj Aftab thrives by blurring borders, figuratively and literally. She has two like-minded creative foils in Indian-American pianist and composer Vijay Iyer — a 2013 MacArthur Foundation "genius grant" honoree — and Pakistani-American synthesizer player Shahzad Ismaily.

Released this year, "Love in Exile," is their first album together. Its richly textured soundscapes alternate slowly unfurling instrumental passages with Aftab's haunting singing. The result is a case study in how intently listening is just as crucial for musicians as the notes they play. It remains to be seen where these three uniquely skilled artists take their songs on a concert stage, but the possibilities are enticing and then some. 8 p.m. Sept. 19. Epstein Family Amphitheater, UC San Diego 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla. $35–45. amphitheater.ucsd.edu

One of the most gifted and eclectic clarinetists to emerge in the past 30 years, Don Byron has collaborated with everyone from Suzanne Vega, Mandy Patinkin and the heavy-metal band Living Colour to such avant-jazz greats as Anthony Braxton and Marilyn Crispell.

As a solo artist and band leader, Byron soars equally whether performing klezmer or Afro-Cuban music, gospel or swing, classical or ‘60s-drenched soul, traditional jazz or cutting-edge explorations. The rarity of his performances here should make his return especially notable. 7 p.m. Sept. 21. UC San Diego's Park & Market, 1100 Market Street, downtown. $25-$35. parkandmarket.ucsd.edu/events/

San Diego-bred singer-songwriter AJ Croce was eight days shy of his second birthday when his father, singer-songwriter Jim Croce, died in a plane crash at the age of 30.

AJ (short for Adrian James) avoided performing any of his late dad's music until he had established himself as a solo artist in his own right, with multiple albums and tours to his credit. His voice, even when singing classics by his father, remains his own. 7:30 p.m. Sept. 23. Humphreys Concerts by the Bay, 2241 Shelter Island Drive, Shelter Island. $56.50. ticketmaster.com

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Sept. 1: Sylvan Esso, The Sound

Sept. 16: Modest Mouse, Pixies, Cat Power, Gallagher Square at Petco Park

Sept. 17: Mari Black, Templars Hall, Poway

Sept. 18: The Monkees Celebrated by Mickey Dolenz, Belly Up Tavern

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