Concert Reviews

Silversun Pickups: Concert Review and Photos

Brooks Robinson captures Silversun Pickups at the Ventura Music Hall on March 11th, 2026. See photos and the full review below.

by Brooks Robinson

Updated March 13, 2026

Silversun Pickups – Ventura Music Hall – March 11, 2026

Silversun Pickups played a sold-out show Wednesday night at the Ventura Music Hall in Ventura California. The venue is a modern 1500 capacity general admission room that used to be a bowling alley until 2022, when it was converted to accommodate music. As unappealing as a bowling alley turned rock venue sounds, the Ventura Music Hall has an excellent sound system, a hip vibe, and despite it being an open, standing-room-only floor, it is small enough that an excellent view of the elevated stage can be had from everywhere.

The current Silversun Pickups tour is to promote the new Butch Vig (Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Foo Fighters) produced album Tenterhooks. The name is a metaphor for nervous anticipation, which is appropriate given the lyrical content of this record. Sometimes, when a group with more than 25 years in the game puts out a new record and attempts to play those songs live, the audience reacts by heading for the restroom or grabbing a beer. That common convention was put to the test on Wednesday, with eight of the ten songs from the new record making it to the setlist, alongside more familiar songs from all six of their previous full-length albums and the Pikul EP. The resounding conclusion from the middle of the throng was positive - the fans loved the new songs, as well as the tried-and-true tracks they knew by heart, resulting in zero en masse visits to the bar or bathroom.

Silversun Pickups

I’ve heard Silversun Pickups’ music described as shoegaze, and/or alternative. I don’t like putting bands in a genre box, but for a band labeled as shoegaze, they certainly made good use of the stage. While Joe Lester on keyboards was obviously constrained behind his instruments, vocalist and guitarist Brian Aubert hung out by the center mic, until he didn’t, and abruptly took off with his guitar, racing towards and stopping just short of the front lip of the stage to get close to the audience, who were separated from the stage by the narrowest security pit I’ve ever seen – probably only two feet deep. While Nikki Monninger on bass and vocals was slightly more restrained on stage left, she smiled, sang, jumped, interacted with fans, and played like crazy. The other member of the rhythm section, Christopher Guanlao on drums, was worth taking note for two reasons 1) he played the holy hell out of his kit, and 2) his main crash cymbal was on a stand twice as tall as anyone that’s ever played the drums, and watching him attempt to reach it to punctuate the music was something to behold.

The vibe inside the Ventura Music Hall was enthusiastically mellow, with people just stoked to be there. This music doesn’t really suit moshing, and people hung in their chosen spot bopping their head with the beat. Brian acknowledged how cool it was to be back playing in California near their home base of LA, before making a statement about the current climate of things in the US, as well as what should be expected for the rest of the night, “Fuck ICE, piss on the walls, dance, do whatever you want, and have a good time.”

Silversun Pickups played nineteen songs, including their four-song encore. The last song of the night was their biggest – 2006’s two-times platinum and number 5 on the alternative charts hit “Lazy Eye”. That and “Panic Switch” were featured in Guitar Hero, which helped add to their popularity, and the audience went crazy when the distinctive guitar intro began. Four minutes later, the incredible night was over.

Pure Hex

Prior to Silversun Pickups, Pure Hex took the stage. The doors opened at 6:30 pm, and Pure Hex went on promptly at 7:30. People didn’t really start filing in until they were striking their first note, but the main floor quickly filled up to check them out. By the time my three songs in the photo/security pit were done, and I made my way out onto the main floor to take in the rest of the set, it was well on its way to being full, and moving around quickly became difficult.

Pure Hex was an excellent pairing to Silversun Pickups. Their brand of music is also described as shoegaze, and it was trippy and cool, and very easy to get into, despite not having heard it before. Singer Marta Alvarez was mesmerizing in her movements and vocals, and it was hard to look away from her riveting performance. The rest of the Bay Area band was comprised of Zach Dighans on guitar, Hussain Khan on guitar, Luke Clingerman on bass, and Jon Annunziato on drums.