Train at the Santa Barbara Bowl — Drops of Jupiter 25th Anniversary Tour (Aug 22, 2026)

# Train, Barenaked Ladies, and Matt Nathanson at the Santa Barbara Bowl — August 22, 2026

Train brought the Drops of Jupiter: 25 Years in the Atmosphere Tour to the Santa Barbara Bowl on Saturday, August 22, 2026, with Barenaked Ladies and Matt Nathanson filling out the bill — three acts, a cloudless evening, and a crowd that stood for most of the night.

If you've never been to the Bowl, know this before your first show: it's a real hike up the hill. There's a halfway point where you can catch your breath, get your first drink if you're of age, and be social — then the path keeps winding up. Locals treat the climb as part of the ritual. Do the same.

Nathanson opened the show from the wrong end of the venue, on purpose — when the early crowd came through the gates he was already up in the middle of the upper seats, singing far from the stage, then worked his way down high-fiving the aisles on his way back. It made a 4,500-seat amphitheater feel like a living room before 7pm. He was funny, he was loose, and the set peaked exactly where it had to: "Come On Get Higher," which he introduced by informing the crowd that if they didn't know this song, they weren't having sex between 2007 and 2011. The sky behind him: still blue, ocean in the distance, a fattening moon climbing over the palms.

Barenaked Ladies played the hits — "Brian Wilson," "If I Had $1,000,000" — and then spent the rest of the set proving they can play anything: a covers run that swung from "Pink Pony Club" to "The Gambler" and landed on the least Barenaked Ladies song imaginable, AC/DC's "Highway to Hell," delivered straight and convincingly. The point was made.

Then Train, and the night got generous. Butch Walker tore off a guitar solo that had the terrace on its feet — and standing next to him for part of the set was Rock Monahan, Pat Monahan's 14-year-old son, holding his own on electric guitar beside a career session ace. Pat took a turn on the drums. A couple got engaged while he sang a solo "Marry Me." And in the night's genuine surprise, Kevin Cronin of REO Speedwagon — introduced to the crowd as a Santa Barbara local — walked out for a full-throated "Keep On Loving You." The band played right up to the Bowl's curfew and pulled Nathanson and BNL's Ed Robertson back out for the finish. Monahan, mid-set, put the Bowl in his top three venues anywhere. Every artist who plays this hill says some version of that. Saturday made the case.

**Bowl notes, for next time:** budget ten extra minutes for the climb and stop at the halfway bar on the way up, not the way down. The evening cools fast once the sun drops — bring the layer, every time. And the curfew is real: headliners here finish by 10, which means openers start on time. Show up for them.

**Were you there?** The full gallery — all three acts and the crowd — is in the Vault. Find yourself.