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Live Five: The Midnight Pine, Elizabeth Bowersox, Morricone Youth, Michele Lundeen, International Pop Overthrow
Pop fest, acoustic country, live soundtracks, steamy blues, and a farewell performance in Little Italy, City Heights, Carlsbad, Shelter Island
Still from Fantastic Planet, one of the films whose music Morricone Youth will be performing at The Casbah
The Midnight Pine at the Music Box
August 21
The Midnight Pine came out of the gate running at full speed when their full-length Awake Now took home the trophy for Best Local Recording at the 2013 San Diego Music Awards and their 2014 album Buried won a SDMA for Best Americana Album. Their song "Caution" was heard on the Bravo TV show Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce. The band recently released a new vinyl pressing of their 2020 full-length Live At A.D. The Midnight Pine presents Buried: The Final Midnight marks their farewell performance. According to the band, “For this Final Midnight we will be celebrating our work and dedication with one last big show. We will be playing all of Buried, the second record, [and] lots of familiar songs we played often as well as some songs we have never played live. And there are some special secret guests that will be gracing the stage.” The bill includes indie art-rock and cinematic folk band The Color Forty Nine, which utilizes unique setups including baritone ukuleles, custom effects-pedal violins, Casiotones, and cinematic brass arrangements.
The Midnight Pine final show event poster
International Pop Overthrow at Black Cat Bar
August 21 and 22
Named after the debut album by the power pop band Material Issue, the International Pop Overthrow music festival was founded in 1998 by L.A. music writer and pop fan David Bash. Initially a ten-day event featuring around 120 acts across a handful of Los Angeles venues, the event expanded over the decades to various US cities (such as Chicago, New York, and Atlanta) and international locations like Vancouver, Toronto, Stockholm, and Glasgow. Each edition is intended to celebrate melodic rock and power pop, giving a global stage to unsigned grassroots artists alongside occasional major acts. This year’s local edition features multiple bands over two nights, all playing short sets punctuated by quick transitions between acts, with the overall emphasis on melodic, hook-filled music. Over a dozen independent, underground, and unsigned bands are scheduled to perform. Friday, August 21 features Grammy nominated family rocker Ralph Covert, Mess of Fun, Scott Samuels and Friends, Tamar Berk, Hector Penalosa, and Super Buffet, Saturday’s bill includes Suite 100, True Stories, Michael Culhane,The Colour Monday, Courtney McKenna, The Rightovers, and power jangle-rock trio The Glimmer Stars.
Tamar Berk, appearing at this year's International Pop Overthrow
Elizabeth Bowersox at Carlsbad City Library Schulman Auditorium
August 22
Front Row Saturday brings audiences an intimate experience in the state-of-the-art Ruby G. Schulman Auditorium, spotlighting national touring performers as well as emerging local talents. This edition featured acoustic country artist Elizabeth Bowersox, dubbed by Coastal Reverb as “One of San Diego’s most prolific up-and-coming songwriters.” A classically trained vocalist with a rock and roll edge, her music fuses folk, country, and unapologetic pop. Her debut EP California Queen earned her a 2026 San Diego Music Award for Best Country or Americana Album. She recently released a single for her twangy track “Red Hot Summer,” and a new video is streaming online with her song “The Last Girl” performed live at Big Bear Lake. The evening promises a performance full of grit, precision and pedal-to-the-metal energy singing both originals and contemporary pop country hits.
Elizabeth Bowersox
August 23
“We have all these recordings of us doing actual soundtrack stuff, which we've played around town for years,” says guitarist Devon Goldberg, aka Devon E. Levins (Creedle, Rust), who founded Morricone Youth in 1999, a year after moving from San Diego to New York City. The band’s original music is full of sounds that recall noir thrillers, monster movies, and spaghetti westerns, reminiscent of work done by cinematic composers Lalo Schifrin, Henry Mancini, and especially Ennio Morricone. For this matinee event, the band will be performing live soundtrack cuts to scenes from Night of the Living Dead, Mad Max, Battleship Potemkin, Danger Diabolik, The Lodger, Prince Achmed, Sunrise, and the 1973 animated cult fave La Planete Sauvage, better known in the U.S. as Fantastic Planet. The Little Italy bill includes The Nephews.
Morricone Youth
Michele Lundeen at Humphreys Backstage Music Club
August 26
Known as the “Queen of Steam” for her soulful vocals, Michele Lundeen has shared stages with blues-rock heavies such as John Lee Hooker, Savoy Brown, Elvin Bishop, Tommy Castro, and more. In concert and on record, she blends classic roadhouse rhythm and blues with jump swing, Memphis groove, sultry jazz, and funky soul. Frequently nominated Best Blues at the San Diego Music Awards, beginning with her 2005 debut full-length Song Inside Me, she and her band won Blues Lovers United of San Diego’s Regional International Blues Challenge, scoring the chance to represent San Diego at IBC in Memphis. Her work with BLUSD includes taking part in the organization’s annual summer Youth Blues Camp (one of which just wrapped). She expended her musical reach overseas when she toured Holland in March 2017, and she recorded her version of Janis Joplin’s classic track “Half Moon” for the Wayne Riker Gathering full-length R&B Thunder.
Michele Lundeen
Here's something you might be interested in.
Live Five: The Midnight Pine, Elizabeth Bowersox, Morricone Youth, Michele Lundeen, International Pop Overthrow
Pop fest, acoustic country, live soundtracks, steamy blues, and a farewell performance in Little Italy, City Heights, Carlsbad, Shelter Island
Live Five: The Midnight Pine, Elizabeth Bowersox, Morricone Youth, Michele Lundeen, International Pop Overthrow
Pop fest, acoustic country, live soundtracks, steamy blues, and a farewell performance in Little Italy, City Heights, Carlsbad, Shelter Island
Still from Fantastic Planet, one of the films whose music Morricone Youth will be performing at The Casbah
The Midnight Pine at the Music Box
August 21
The Midnight Pine came out of the gate running at full speed when their full-length Awake Now took home the trophy for Best Local Recording at the 2013 San Diego Music Awards and their 2014 album Buried won a SDMA for Best Americana Album. Their song "Caution" was heard on the Bravo TV show Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce. The band recently released a new vinyl pressing of their 2020 full-length Live At A.D. The Midnight Pine presents Buried: The Final Midnight marks their farewell performance. According to the band, “For this Final Midnight we will be celebrating our work and dedication with one last big show. We will be playing all of Buried, the second record, [and] lots of familiar songs we played often as well as some songs we have never played live. And there are some special secret guests that will be gracing the stage.” The bill includes indie art-rock and cinematic folk band The Color Forty Nine, which utilizes unique setups including baritone ukuleles, custom effects-pedal violins, Casiotones, and cinematic brass arrangements.
The Midnight Pine final show event poster
International Pop Overthrow at Black Cat Bar
August 21 and 22
Named after the debut album by the power pop band Material Issue, the International Pop Overthrow music festival was founded in 1998 by L.A. music writer and pop fan David Bash. Initially a ten-day event featuring around 120 acts across a handful of Los Angeles venues, the event expanded over the decades to various US cities (such as Chicago, New York, and Atlanta) and international locations like Vancouver, Toronto, Stockholm, and Glasgow. Each edition is intended to celebrate melodic rock and power pop, giving a global stage to unsigned grassroots artists alongside occasional major acts. This year’s local edition features multiple bands over two nights, all playing short sets punctuated by quick transitions between acts, with the overall emphasis on melodic, hook-filled music. Over a dozen independent, underground, and unsigned bands are scheduled to perform. Friday, August 21 features Grammy nominated family rocker Ralph Covert, Mess of Fun, Scott Samuels and Friends, Tamar Berk, Hector Penalosa, and Super Buffet, Saturday’s bill includes Suite 100, True Stories, Michael Culhane,The Colour Monday, Courtney McKenna, The Rightovers, and power jangle-rock trio The Glimmer Stars.
Tamar Berk, appearing at this year's International Pop Overthrow
Elizabeth Bowersox at Carlsbad City Library Schulman Auditorium
August 22
Front Row Saturday brings audiences an intimate experience in the state-of-the-art Ruby G. Schulman Auditorium, spotlighting national touring performers as well as emerging local talents. This edition featured acoustic country artist Elizabeth Bowersox, dubbed by Coastal Reverb as “One of San Diego’s most prolific up-and-coming songwriters.” A classically trained vocalist with a rock and roll edge, her music fuses folk, country, and unapologetic pop. Her debut EP California Queen earned her a 2026 San Diego Music Award for Best Country or Americana Album. She recently released a single for her twangy track “Red Hot Summer,” and a new video is streaming online with her song “The Last Girl” performed live at Big Bear Lake. The evening promises a performance full of grit, precision and pedal-to-the-metal energy singing both originals and contemporary pop country hits.
Elizabeth Bowersox
August 23
“We have all these recordings of us doing actual soundtrack stuff, which we've played around town for years,” says guitarist Devon Goldberg, aka Devon E. Levins (Creedle, Rust), who founded Morricone Youth in 1999, a year after moving from San Diego to New York City. The band’s original music is full of sounds that recall noir thrillers, monster movies, and spaghetti westerns, reminiscent of work done by cinematic composers Lalo Schifrin, Henry Mancini, and especially Ennio Morricone. For this matinee event, the band will be performing live soundtrack cuts to scenes from Night of the Living Dead, Mad Max, Battleship Potemkin, Danger Diabolik, The Lodger, Prince Achmed, Sunrise, and the 1973 animated cult fave La Planete Sauvage, better known in the U.S. as Fantastic Planet. The Little Italy bill includes The Nephews.
Morricone Youth
Michele Lundeen at Humphreys Backstage Music Club
August 26
Known as the “Queen of Steam” for her soulful vocals, Michele Lundeen has shared stages with blues-rock heavies such as John Lee Hooker, Savoy Brown, Elvin Bishop, Tommy Castro, and more. In concert and on record, she blends classic roadhouse rhythm and blues with jump swing, Memphis groove, sultry jazz, and funky soul. Frequently nominated Best Blues at the San Diego Music Awards, beginning with her 2005 debut full-length Song Inside Me, she and her band won Blues Lovers United of San Diego’s Regional International Blues Challenge, scoring the chance to represent San Diego at IBC in Memphis. Her work with BLUSD includes taking part in the organization’s annual summer Youth Blues Camp (one of which just wrapped). She expended her musical reach overseas when she toured Holland in March 2017, and she recorded her version of Janis Joplin’s classic track “Half Moon” for the Wayne Riker Gathering full-length R&B Thunder.
Michele Lundeen