Sensi Trails at Music Box, Marcela Mendez at Waterbar, San Diego Freak Out at Casbah, Stick Figure at Rady Shell, Price Of Dope at Winstons

Originally hailing from Outer Banks, NC, before relocating to Ocean Beach, Sensi Trails has collaborated with artists and producers such as KBong and E.N. Young. They’ll share a bill on June 8 at the Music Box with Saint Luna, a local alternative psychedelic rock band founded during the 2020 pandemic shutdown by five SDSU students.

Mission Valley singer Marcela Mendez spent over two decades as a waitress and bartender before becoming a professional singer. Today she still favors restaurant bars, performing a diversified selection of rock tunes that range from the ‘60s all the way up to contemporary artists. A Bay Area native who relocated to San Diego in 2001, her setlists vary depending on which guitarist accompanies her. She appears at Waterbar on June 8.

This year’s San Diego Freak Out at the Casbah celebrates ten years with two nights of live music, June 9 and 10, co-presented in conjunction with the Desert Daze Festival. Performers include Jjuujjuu, Pearl & the Oysters, Wild Wild Wets, Moans, Zack Oakley, Auz Fontaine, Well Well Well, Bruin, and Spacehall Sound Machine. A trippy light show will be provided by Stranger Liquids, with intermittent all-vinyl DJ sets.

Stick Figure hit number one on the Billboard reggae chart with their 2012 album Burial Ground. They topped the chart again in 2016 with Set In Stone, and have collaborated with reggae rockers Tribal Seeds, Common Kings, the Green, and the Movement. The band, which recently released a video for their track “Way of Life” featuring fellow locals Slightly Stoopid, appears June 10 at the Rady Shell, on a bill that includes Pepper and The Elovaters.

San Diego’s original acid-jazz group the Price of Dope first earned local notice in the 1990s. Songs from the band’s debut CD were used for Rob Machado’s MTV surf videos and featured on local TV and KUSI and KSDS radio. After splitting up in the late ‘90s, members went on to acts such as Robert Walter’s 20th Congress, Pocket, and Crash & the Burns. A reunion performance happens June 10 at Winstons in OB, where you can also catch Swami Sound System.