Billing itself as less a tribute show than a form of musical "time travel," the New York-based production combines meticulously recreated live performances with archival-style video, narration, multimedia imagery and vintage instruments designed to transport audiences into one of the most transformative periods in popular music. The premise is unusually obsessive about authenticity.
Rather than simply playing recognizable hits while dressed for the era, The Sixties Show attempts to reproduce the records themselves onstage, using period-correct instruments, arrangements and sounds alongside visuals chronicling the rapidly changing culture that produced them. And the musicians attempting the feat have some serious rock-and-roll credentials. Members of the ensemble have performed, toured or recorded with artists including The Who, Paul McCartney, The Beach Boys, Brian Wilson, The Bee Gees, The Rascals, Mick Jagger, John Fogerty, Bruce Springsteen and Steely Dan's Walter Becker and Donald Fagen.
Co-founder and musical and artistic director Craig O'Keefe, who handles bass, guitar and vocals, has toured with The Beach Boys and currently plays bass for Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees The Rascals. His fascination with the era extends beyond its records, with a background studying history and English informing the production's effort to place the music within the cultural upheaval surrounding it.
Co-founder and musical and artistic director Craig O'Keefe, who handles bass, guitar and vocals, has toured with The Beach Boys and currently plays bass for Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees The Rascals. His fascination with the era extends beyond its records, with a background studying history and English informing the production's effort to place the music within the cultural upheaval surrounding it.
Fellow co-founder Tom Licameli, who oversees the show's technical and multimedia production while performing guitar, bass and vocals, has shared stages with musicians including The Beach Boys, former Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor, John Fogerty and Richie Havens.
The lineup also includes guitarist, vocalist and ukulele player Jim Boggia, whose collaborators have included Beach Boys lyricist Tony Asher and MC5 guitarist Wayne Kramer; and multi-instrumentalist Kevin Bents, who has recorded and toured with Fogerty as well as Steely Dan's Donald Fagen and Walter Becker.
Behind the drums is Scott Devours, whose résumé may be particularly appealing to classic-rock obsessives. Devours has toured with The Who and performed on tours with Black Sabbath. Keyboardist Peter Chiusano rounds out the lineup scheduled to appear in San Diego.
The lineup also includes guitarist, vocalist and ukulele player Jim Boggia, whose collaborators have included Beach Boys lyricist Tony Asher and MC5 guitarist Wayne Kramer; and multi-instrumentalist Kevin Bents, who has recorded and toured with Fogerty as well as Steely Dan's Donald Fagen and Walter Becker.
Behind the drums is Scott Devours, whose résumé may be particularly appealing to classic-rock obsessives. Devours has toured with The Who and performed on tours with Black Sabbath. Keyboardist Peter Chiusano rounds out the lineup scheduled to appear in San Diego.
The result is intended to cover considerably more musical territory than the peace signs, tie-dye and psychedelic rock that have become shorthand for the decade. The 1960s produced an extraordinary collision of British Invasion rock, Motown, folk, soul, psychedelia and increasingly ambitious studio experimentation, radically transforming what popular music could sound like in barely ten years.
The Sixties Show attempts to compress that revolution into a single theatrical concert, surrounding the musicians with video footage, narration and "time-travel" graphics while recreating songs using vintage equipment.
The setting should make the experiment particularly striking. The Rady Shell sits directly on San Diego Bay at Jacobs Park and has increasingly become one of the country's premier destinations for outdoor concerts, with its Summer Season extending into September.
The Sixties Show attempts to compress that revolution into a single theatrical concert, surrounding the musicians with video footage, narration and "time-travel" graphics while recreating songs using vintage equipment.
The setting should make the experiment particularly striking. The Rady Shell sits directly on San Diego Bay at Jacobs Park and has increasingly become one of the country's premier destinations for outdoor concerts, with its Summer Season extending into September.
For anyone who has ever wished they could have heard the seismic musical transformation of the 1960s happening in real time, this may be about as close as 2026 San Diego can get without locating a functioning DeLorean.
The performance begins at 7:30pm on Friday, September 18, at The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park, 222 Marina Park Way in downtown San Diego. The San Diego Symphony Orchestra will not perform as part of the concert.
For more information and to purchase tickets, visit theshell.org/performances/the-sixties-show.
Originally published on August 22, 2026.
The performance begins at 7:30pm on Friday, September 18, at The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park, 222 Marina Park Way in downtown San Diego. The San Diego Symphony Orchestra will not perform as part of the concert.
For more information and to purchase tickets, visit theshell.org/performances/the-sixties-show.
Originally published on August 22, 2026.