The hills are green once again as the last spring quarter at Cal Poly commences. While students begin picking their festival outfits and freshman flood yakʔitʸutʸu lawn to tan, the soundtrack of spring echoes quietly (of course!) Here are some shows to look forward to this spring quarter, hopefully to go unscathed by the San Luis Obispo noise ordinance.
Drugdealer at Slo Brew Rock
For the lazy Sunday lovers, Drugdealer is coming to Slo Brew Rock on April 12. Headed by Michael Collins, the project combines soft rock talents and Laurel Canyon ease to create orange folkie tunes that bathe you in a feeling of sunlight.
Drugdealer released two new singles within the past year “The News” and “Real Thing.” Featuring Collins’s layered vocals to the beat of a sunny guitar melody, the track gives listeners something fresh while sticking to the somewhat blissful pain of heartbreak. “Real Thing” with Weyes Blood is one of those songs that will be stuck in your head for days, with a catchy chorus swallowed in strings and a head bopping bassline.
The 18+ show will start at 7 p.m., and tickets can be found on SLO Brew website.
Black Flag at Slo Brew Rock
Beloved hardcore punk band Black Flag is making their annual appearance in the San Luis Obispo music scene on April 18 at SLO Brew Rock.
Known and renowned for being one of the most influential groups in the hardcore punk movement, the band melds speed, melodic progression, distortion and abrasive intensity that created a distinction from the punk of the ‘70s. Entering a new chapter, the band has recently added on three new members with vocalist Max Zanelly, bassist David Rodriguez and drummer Bryce Weston .
With a newfound creative energy, the group has been writing and producing with an extensive tour season ahead of them. Spreading their cymbal crashing mania from Coachella to Hong Kong.
Cheap Trick at Vina Robles Amphitheatre
Cheap Trick is coming to Paso Robles on April 22 as they come to the end of their All Washed Up Tour. “All Washed Up” was released in November 2025,marking their 21st studio release since their first album in 1977.
The album features driving melodies and hard hitting vocals, taking listeners through a trip of the rock genre, showing that they know how to do it well.
They’ll be joined by openers B and the Hive, with tickets available on the Vina Robles Amphitheatre website.
Sure Sure and Skipping Breakfast at The Libertine
Bedroom pop band Sure Sure features the work of Chris Beachy, Charlie Glick, Kevin Farzad and Michael Coleman. The four-piece band has put out three albums featuring a unique mixture of electronic production woven seamlessly with guitar, drums and piano.
They just recently put out a new album titled “Soft Landing” this past March, giving listeners a slight deviation from their popping beats and bass by sprinkling in more stripped down, emotional tracks. Tracks like “Keysman” use classic guitar and drums to make a cozy more rustic sound, allowing the electronic elements to take a back seat. Then, the band it up on “Three Body Problem,” by saturating the melody again with a dance of synths, metallic vocals, piano and even trumpet to create a robotic funk of sound.
Local band Skipping Breakfast will be opening for Sure Sure. With basslines that jump up and down the fretboard or steel drum peaking through the lead guitar like in their new single “High,” their music embodies the charging chords and excitement of the indie San Luis Obispo college band scene..
Tickets are available on the Libertine Brewing Company website. The show is 18+.
Shabang Music Festival
Of course, a spring quarter concert guide wouldn’t be complete without at least a mention of the Shabang Music Festival lineup. Taking over the Dairy Creek Golf Course on May 2 and May 3, the festival has summoned one of indie rock’s biggest names to the West Coast.
With over five million monthly listeners, The Backseat Lovers have made their name in music.. Hailing from Utah, the band combines twang with indie rock, making for nostalgic tracks that are the perfect soundtrack to adolescence, love and heartbreak. Most known for songs like “Kilby Girl” and “Pool House,” their discography offers an intimate depiction of the band’s evolution over the years, highlighting a recurring pattern of lyrics that get stuck in your head for days and crescendos that feel like a punch to the gut.
Other notable bands within the lineup include local bands Avalynn and Sol Arc, while bigger names like Magdalena Bay, Chris Lake, Fcukers and Annie Dirusso come together to make a well-rounded line up in terms of genre variety and popularity.
Tickets are on the Shabang website, with one-day or two-day options available.
Panchiko at the Fremont Theater
The now infamous alternative indie band that went unknown to the world until 2016, Panchiko is coming to the Fremont Theater on May 10 for a sold-out show.
When their 2000 demo “D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L” was found, rotted and decrepit in a second hand store in 2016, by that time Panchiko had been long disbanded. When someone found the CD in a thrift store in Nottingham, England, they uploaded the audio files to 4chan and the band unknowingly built a following. After someone Facebook messaging lead singer Owain Davies and expressing their admiration, the band catapulted into the forefront of the alternative scene. Now they get to tour the songs they never had the privilege of doing when they first made the music, as well as the songs from their 2025 album “Ginkgo.”
With a dreamy distorted guitar that characterizes most of their melodies, they have a specific dazing cyber sound that makes each song transport you to a space that’s not on earth, but not quiet in space either. The music creates an in-between.
They will be joined by Dead Calm, one of the multitudes of side projects that lead singer Liam McCay has. Most known for his alias Sign Crushes Motorist, he transforms his gut-wrenching math rock-esque ballads into a midwest emo punk show when playing live.
Próxima Parada at the PAC with SLO Symphony
Another Cal Poly made gem, Próxima Parada, will be accompanied by the SLO Symphony at Cal Poly’s Performing Arts Center on May 21.
After TikTok virality in 2022, this indie soul group named after the phrase “next stop” in Spanish and Portuguese that blares through the local transit of San Luis Obispo, is clearly born out Central Coast influences paired with sunny surf rock tunes that echo a yearn for warmer weather and longer days, followed by nights with warm, sea salt flecked air.
The band will be playing one night only, creating a full circle moment for them as they come back to the place they all first met.
Tickets can be found on the PAC website.
Psychedelic Furs at the Fremont Theater
Alternative Rock legends the Psychedelic Furs are coming to the Fremont on June 9. The post punk rock band known for songs like “Love My Way,” “Heaven” and “Pretty in Pink,” is embarking on their spring tour.
In 2020, they released their first album in 29 years, a breakaway from the nagging voices of a label and characterizing a sense of autonomy, the band has now ccascaded into numerous tours within the last five years.
“Made of Rain” offers a timeless spin on their lush textured sound. With poetic lyrics and at times a dissonant abrasiveness, each track leaves you floating for a little bit before coming back down from your cosmic sonic journey.
They’ll be supported by rock band We are Scientists. Tickets can be found on the Fremont website. The show is open to concertgoers of all ages.
Margot Sinclair at The Fremont Theater
Another San Luis Obispo favorite, indie garage band Margot Sinclair, is coming to the Fremont on June 4.
The California natives recently released their single “Boat Song,” and have teased the making and release of their debut album. The past two of their EP’s have a mix of musical range, some being more rocky and littered with distorted guitar solos others following a more laid back, down by the water energy. “Boat Song” opens up with a springy melody melding into a crash of drums and long strums of rhythm crescendoing later into a whirlwind of guitar, snare and a little bit of synth giving the track an almost psychedelic rock feel at times.
This is an all ages show and tickets can be found on the Fremont website.
Looking Towards Summer: Beach Bunny with The Beths and Wishy at The Madonna Inn
To close out the guide, indie pop rock band Beach Bunny is coming to the Madonna Inn with support from indie rock bands The Beths and Wishy on Aug. 4.
Famed for being a crucial source of nostalgia for the early days of TikTok, Beach Bunny got a big push from their songs “Prom Queen” and “Sports” going viral. The Chicago hailing band started as a solo project of lead singer Lili Trifilio, who met her collaborators a couple years into the project. Their lyrics usually detail the ups and downs of slightly dysfunctional relationships and confessions about heartbreak, against a backdrop of candied rock melodies, sweet and hard to miss. The tour aligns with the release of their most recent album “Tunnel Vision” released last year.
The Beths are an alternative rock band from New Zealand with an angsty trill with zappy choruses based in the definition of self with optimism. They also just released an album, “Straight Line Was A Lie,” this past year.
Wishy is also coming off a fresh release with their album “Planet Popstar.” Wishy has a slightly more stripped down rock sound, utilizing the creaks and squeaks of acoustic guitar strings in one track, to crunchy atmospheric electric guitar rips in the next. Coming together to match with the genres of Beach Bunny and The Beths smoothly. These three bands in succession, in one night, definitely will be a night worthwhile .
Tickets are for sale on Madonna Inn’s website. All ages welcome.
