San Diego’s Music Scene Evolution
From folk festivals to punk sewers, San Diego’s music scene thrives on diversity, creativity and an enduring DIY culture
From the crowd at Blink-182’s packed hometown show at Petco Park in San Diego on June 30. Photo by Phoenix Miller.
It’s a warm summer day in 1969, and thousands of people are gathered at the Aztec Bowl to watch the Grateful Dead jam out for San Diego’s original version of the Woodstock festival. Flash forward six decades, and punk bands throw underground shows in sewers, social media drives discovery but dims intimacy, and Live Nation dominates the live music market.
Each decade of the music scene in San Diego from the ’60s onward has been unique, blending community, social change and musical experimentation into a creatively rich legacy that continues to evolve. While San Diego never quite had a distinctive “sound,” an abundance of micro-scenes throughout the years make up the music scene as a whole and define the city’s evolution.
The ’60s: Folk festivals, social change, and the ‘original’ Woodstock
Traveling back to San Diego’s roots, folk music was all the rage in the 1960s, reinforced by annual folk festivals organized by promoter Lou Curtiss. San Diego State University historian and anthropology professor Seth Mallios shared that the San Diego Folk Festival on SDSU’s campus was “the largest folk festival west of the Mississippi.”
“He would get dozens, sometimes hundreds of folk artists, blues artists and country artists to play, sometimes they’d even play classrooms,” Mallios said. “These festivals were just amazing.”
Ticket, flyer and photograph from Ella Fitzgerald’s 1961 concert at San Diego State University’s Peterson Gym, collected from SDSU’s library archives. Photo by Phoenix Miller.
The music scene of the ’60s consisted of far more than folk. In a time when racial segregation was common in San Diego, Ella Fitzgerald’s 1961 concert at SDSU’s Peterson Gym holds historical importance beyond her musical talents.
“She was desegregating the crowd four years before the Civil Rights Act,” Mallios said. “She mandated in her contract that if she saw any segregation in the bathrooms, food services and the way the seats were lined in the crowd, that she would walk and she would keep the $2,500 bucks.”
Music culture was often intertwined with social change in this decade. Mallios explained that this was seen with large San Diego concerts featuring Bob Dylan and Joan Baez, both symbols of the ’60s protest movements against the Vietnam War.
The Grateful Dead performing at the Spring Fling Festival in 1969 at San Diego State University. Photo
via San Diego State University Library
Then, three months before the infamous Woodstock festival in 1969, San Diego hosted its own version of the festival at the Aztec Bowl with many of the same artists performing. Reportedly, more than 10,000 attendees came to the Spring Fling Festival to see artists including the Grateful Dead, Santana and Canned Heat.
The ’70s: The Backdoor’s beginnings and rock ‘n’ roll revolutions
The Backdoor, a makeshift music venue tucked in the basement of SDSU’s Aztec Center, was an unassuming space with a stage occupying two unfinished bowling lanes and an entrance around the back that inspired the venue’s name. Blues legend James Cotton played The Backdoor’s first show in October 1969, and the venue began to gain huge popularity in the 1970s, becoming a cornerstone of San Diego’s music scene.
Despite a crowded capacity of only 250 guests, The Backdoor hosted weekly open mic nights and around 540 concerts, ranging from unknown local bands and rising stars to established artists seeing a decline. Mallios said the scene thrived in this venue, with Jimmy Buffett, the Ramones, Metallica, REM, Etta James and Patti Smith gracing the stage while Jack Tempchin and Robb Strandlund of The Eagles wrote the top-10 hit “Already Gone” in The Backdoor’s kitchen.
Fleetwood Mac performing at Balboa Stadium in 1975 along with Loggins and Messina, Rod Stewart and Faces and Lynyrd Skynyrd. Photo via SD City Archives.
Beyond The Backdoor, a rock n’ roll revolution ensued in other San Diego venues. The Beach Boys, Fleetwood Mac, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Rod Stewart drew thousands of fans to Balboa Park in 1975, while Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers warmed up for their nationwide tour at SDSU’s Montezuma Hall in 1978.
“San Diego was the perfect starting point for many bands on tour for three reasons,” Mallios said. “Geographically, it made sense to start a tour in the Southwest corner. Secondly, it was a great way to do your dress rehearsal before you went to LA. Third, college students were the ones buying the albums and artists made more from vinyl and CD sales than they did from the concerts.”
Adding another layer to San Diego’s diverse music scene, reggae was also exceedingly popular in San Diego during this decade, symbolized by reggae pioneer Bob Marley’s sold-out show at the Open Air Theater in 1978.
The ’80s: The Che, ‘Slow Death’ and an aversion to the mainstream
Alternative rock, punk, hardcore and new wave exploded in the 1980s, bringing in a new generation of bands and fan bases. Along with several key venues opening, the do-it-yourself (DIY) scene, in which artists and fans created their own spaces outside of traditional industry structures, flourished during this time.
The Che Cafe, founded in 1980 by University of California San Diego students, emerged as a DIY music venue and social resource center. The Che threw a myriad of punk shows in the ’80s, fostering a supportive community for artists of all levels to perform. Another key venue, SOMA, opened in 1986 as an all-ages dance club. The Spirit Club was also “the happening place” during this decade, according to San Diego Union-Tribune music critic George Varga.
Among the surge of local artists, a handful of bands were signed to national record labels, including The Beat Farmers, The Paladins and Mojo Nixon, yet they largely lacked national recognition.
Joe Daly, a freelance San Diego music journalist, explained that San Diego’s bands often missed the mark of success because of timing mismatches.
“Hardcore and punk were the dominant genres in the ’80s, they were the nucleus of the scene,” Daly said. “The problem was, that’s not what the radio, or records or MTV were interested in at the time.”
Even though musicians weren’t making it big because of this mismatch in timing, many San Diego artists didn’t want to adhere to what was popular throughout the rest of the nation.
“It was the diversity of the scene and the experimentalism of the San Diego artists – they never caved in,” Daly said.
While this defiant aversion to the mainstream was great for creative expression, it ultimately gave San Diego the nickname “Slow Death” as few artists reached commercial success.
The ’90s: The Casbah, Java Joe’s and the next Seattle
The Casbah first opened its doors in 1989, becoming a cornerstone of San Diego’s music scene by 1990. Within a year of opening, the Casbah, which had a 75-person capacity at the time, hosted Nirvana on their first tour, followed by the Smashing Pumpkins in the same month. In the following years, The White Stripes, Death Cab for Cutie, Weezer, Social Distortion and many others performed there.
“On any given night, there would be a bunch of friends and bands supporting each other,” said Tim Mays, co-founder and owner of the Casbah. “It was like a big local community of music people. And it wasn’t huge … maybe 100, 150 people, if you count all the band members, but they all supported each other, and it was a great thing.”
Another important venue during the ’90s was Java Joe’s in Ocean Beach, a coffee shop known for hosting local musicians and kickstarting the careers of Jason Mraz, Anya Marina, Lisa Sanders, Steve Poltz and others. Notably, Jewel was a barista at Java Joe’s and often performed there before being discovered at Innerchange coffee shop. According to Daly, Java Joe’s was pivotal for the folk scene, a genre he argues has been overlooked as the most consistently popular genre throughout the past five decades.
“It was a place where on any given night, one folk guy would be playing, and the whole scene would be there, and they’d all jump up on stage and play with each other,” Daly said.
Throughout the ’90s, several artists were signed to national record labels, including Blink-182, Rocket From The Crypt, Lucy’s Fur Coat, P.O.D., the Rugburns, Stone Temple Pilots and Drive Like Jehu.
Blink-182’s Mark Hoppus performing at Petco Park in San Diego on June 30. Photo by Phoenix Miller.
The rush of local San Diego bands getting signed came after record labels discovered the Seattle grunge scene. Some claimed that San Diego would be “the next Seattle,” but this anticipation fizzled out by the end of the ’90s, according to Varga.
“I’m happy San Diego didn’t become the next Seattle,” Varga said. “San Diego is a little bit out of the national spotlight, which allows bands to evolve at their own pace where it’s not cutthroat … they can really find their identity that way.”
The 2000s: The rise of Live Nation and social media
The rise of social media and large promoters such as Live Nation greatly impacted the music scene in San Diego throughout the 2000s.
Live Nation began to monopolize and gain exclusive booking rights to many local venues, including the House of Blues, the Observatory, the Magnolia and the CalCoast Credit Union Open Air Theater.
While the steady increase in venues brought in big-name acts, there were downsides.
One drawback, according to Varga, is that ticket prices for these venues went up exponentially, limiting most people to only a few concerts a year. Additionally, Live Nation began to force some smaller venues out of business. Daly noted a conversation with a current club owner who thinks they’ll have to close in a few years because they can’t afford to compete with Live Nation.
The Backdoor was one venue that didn’t make it. The stage was removed in 2002, and the rest was demolished in 2011. Many alumni and San Diego natives fondly remember nights spent at the venue.
As far as genres go, the 2000s San Diego music scene was as diverse as ever, with alternative and indie music taking off. According to Varga, Blink-182’s explosive popularity at the end of the ’90s paved the way for other bands to achieve national success.
The introduction of social media allowed bands to reach broader audiences, but Daly said that it diluted the sense of community that had once been central.
“With the internet, the intimacy and personal connection is gone,” Varga agreed while discussing the downsides of the digital age. “The thrill of discovery isn’t what it used to be.”
However, Daly said he believes that social media was ultimately breathing life into the music scene, allowing for more discovery, creativity and a genre fluidity that didn’t exist before.
2010-present day: Indie’s domination, hardcore revivals and sewer shows (yes, really)
The 805, an up-and-coming indie band from San Diego, performing in a backyard near San Diego State University on Aug. 31. Photo by Phoenix Miller.
Indie music continued to thrive in San Diego throughout the 2010s. While the line between indie, alternative and surf-rock is often blurred, many popular San Diego bands align with the general indie subculture of the past decade.
“When talking with a bunch of kids on campus, seemingly everyone is listening to bigger indie artists, or promoting their friends’ indie bands playing house shows at State,” said Allie Payne, an SDSU student and member of KCR college radio.
Amid the plethora of indie bands, San Diego has seen a recent hardcore and punk revival.
“During the start of COVID, there was a huge underground punk scene,” Payne said. “A bunch of punk bands would play in the sewers or at Adobe Falls or anywhere they could while everything was starting to shut down.”
Straight-edge band No Right gets the crowd moving at a DIY hardcore show at Lady Luck Print Company on Oct. 18. Photo by Phoenix Miller.
Punk bands aren’t the only ones playing in sewers. Omens, an electronic dance music collective, hosts raves in sewers, under freeway bridges and in abandoned warehouses.
Live Nation continues to dominate the landscape with its ownership of music venues, but San Diego is hosting more concerts than ever.
San Diego’s DIY scene is still thriving.
“It’s a sprawling musical community that is unconstrained by commercial pressure,” Daly said. “It’s a hotbed of creativity and experimentation.”
Social media continues to shape the music scene. Both Payne and Varga agree that social media can pressure bands to prioritize online presence over musical development, occasionally resulting in unearned fame before the band has a good foundation of live performance experience.
Despite the digital age, Mays attests that music still holds the same transformative power as before.
“It never gets old, even if people are out with their phones,” Mays said. “Just be in the moment and enjoy it right then and there for what it is.”
The audience at YG’s Aug. 12 show at the Observatory North Park, capturing the performance on their phones. Photo by Phoenix Miller.
The future of the scene
In an interview, renowned musician Frank Zappa told Varga that “kids would riot” if they knew how good the music scene was in the past.
However, while many look back at previous decades of the San Diego music scene with a longing sense of nostalgia, there’s much to look forward to in the future of the scene as well.
Mays and Daly emphasized that the accessibility of music today will broaden opportunities in the future, creating diversity not only within the types of music created but also with the people creating it.
According to Varga, no matter the genre, the venue, or the decade, “as long as people are inspired to make music, there will always be good music.”
