SAN DIEGO — Lenny Kaye has performed in San Diego a fair number of times since making his area debut in 1976 with the Patti Smith Group at San Diego State University’s long sadly defunct Back Door. The veteran guitarist, songwriter, author, music critic, rock historian, producer and archivist has also played with Smith at two other sadly defunct venues here — the California Theater and 4th & B — as well as at the also sadly discontinued San Diego Street Scene festival in 2004.

Kaye’s performance here this weekend at Tiki Oasis will mark several notable firsts for this dedicated music champion, whose 1972 double-album compilation, “Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era: 1965-1968,” remains a vital celebration of first-generation psychedelia and garage rock.

His Sunday gig at Mission Valley’s Town and Country Resort is his debut at Tiki Oasis, the 25-year-old retro festival that has been described as ‘the Comic-Con of tiki” culture. It is also the first time Kaye will do a Nuggets-themed show here. His appearance is being billed as Lenny Kaye & The San Diego Nugget Pickers.

The lineup will feature El Vez (the San Diego-bred “Mexican Elvis”), Johnny Echols of Love, guitar ace Deke Dickerson and the mainstays of two veteran San Diego bands, Ron Silva of the Crawdaddys and Carl Rusk of the Nashville Ramblers. La Mesa’s the Loons, led by Ugly Things magazine founder Mike Stax, will serve as the pitch-perfect house band.

“It’s going to be a tribute to a certain undying spirt in rock ‘n’ roll, the urge to make a noise with your guitar,” said Kaye, 78, speaking from his Pennsylvania home.

“I’ll be accompanied by Mike and the Loons, who know and play this music great. And we have some incredible guest artists, including Deke, El Vez, and Johnny from Love, which is one of my Top 10 favorite bands of all time.”

Loons’ leader Stax was featured in 2023 when Kaye performed his first Nuggets-themed 50th anniversary concert — a year late — at the Alex Theatre in Glendale. The lineup for that show, a benefit for the Wild Honey Foundation autism charity, also included San Diego singer-songwriter Cindy Lee Berryhill, R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck, “Weird Al” Yankovic, Evie Sands, Love co-founder Echols and former members of the Bangles, the Seeds, the Electric Prunes, the Chocolate Watchband, the Leaves, Count Five, MC5 and more.

“I got to open the show singing The Shadows of Knights’ ‘Oh Yeah’ with Kathy Valentine of the Go-Go’s playing lead guitar,” Stax said. “It was an amazing night. Lenny was onstage the whole time with a revolving cast of musicians.”

El Vez (born: Robert Lopez) co-founded the pioneering San Diego punk-rock band The Zeros in 1976. He made his debut as El Vez in 1988 and went on to make such memorable records as “Graciasland,” “You Ain’t Nothing But a Chihuahua,” “Esta Bien, Mamacita,” “G.I. Ay, Ay! Blues” and “En El Barrio.”

Sunday’s performance at Tiki Oasis will be the first time Lopez and Kaye have shared a stage together in San Diego. Lopez vividly recalls being unable to see Kaye perform in 1976 with Smith at SDSU’s Back Door in 1976.

“Since I couldn’t get in, I broke into their tour station wagon and stole a set list and a comb!” he said.

“Of course, the ‘Nuggets’ collection Lenny put together was a backbone of my music knowledge as a teenager. I had meet Lenny a few times in my El Vez European tours. I had the pleasure of opening for him and playing with him when we both did solo sets in Seattle in Seattle in 2020, the night before the COVID pandemic shutdown. His Patti Smith gig for the next evening had just been canceled, so we put together an impromptu show.”

This year’s edition of Tiki Oasis opened on Wednesday night and runs through Sunday. The roster of bands that will perform ranges from the Bomboras, the Ghastly Ones, the Blue Hawaiians and Jason Hanna and the Swingin’ Bananas to the Tikiyaki Orchestra, the Ding Dong Devils, the Greasy Gills and San Diego’s award-winning Slack Key Ohana.

“The Tiki Oasis lineup seems really off the wall. Where do all these bands come from?” Kaye said, sounding clearly impressed.

“I’d heard of Tiki Oasis before. But I didn’t know anything about it and it seems so much wilder than I could have imagined. Some of those bands they have, it’s just amazing. We’ll be the cherry on top of the cake, but — man! — I’m really looking forward to spending the weekend in San Diego, just immersing myself in tiki culture.”

He chuckled.

“A lot of the music at Tiki may seem kitschy, but it’s not,” Kaye said. “A lot of it is Hawaiian-based and I love Hawaiian music, especially the lap steel guitar. The sensibility of Polynesia seems to be an opened-ended scene of musicality through obsession.”

Kaye will also do a DJ set spinning some of his favorite vintage 45 rpm records.

“I have enough to play for two hours and I’ll try to throw in some surprises,” he said. “I hand-carry them on the plane in a very nice green wooden box.”

‘Every year is special’

For the Stax-led Loons, Tiki Oasis has become something of a tradition.

“We have performed there several times,” Stax said. “We put together the Sunday night show every year, which is kind of the garage/rock ‘n’ roll night of the event. This one promises to be special, but every year is special.

“We get to see a lot of old friends that travel from other cities to be there. For three or four days, you can immerse yourself in tiki and mid-century culture — music, art, film, dancing. Everyone has their own preferences of how to experience it. Some people are really into exotic cocktails and the whole mixology culture. Others are into the burlesque shows or the symposiums.

“For me it’s mostly about being with friends and seeing some great bands play. This year I’m looking forward to the Phantom Surfers and the Ghastly Ones.”

Now based in Mexico City, El Vez has also become a regular at Tiki Oasis, where he has been featured in an array of roles.

“I have taught yoga classes, given lectures, played with my various bands, MC’d and had some wonderful drinks,” he said. “It’s a yearly catch-up with various friends in one fell swoop weekend!”

Some Nuggets-era songs are staples at nearly all of Kaye’s performances. Stax is especially looking forward to collaborating with Love co-founder Echols and to singing the 1966 Electric Prunes’ classic, “I Had Too Much to Dream Last Night” with Kaye.

“The thing is,” Stax said, “all those Nuggets songs are guaranteed crowd-pleasers if they’re done right — especially the ones we’ve chosen — and we plan on doing them right!”

Kaye hopes to have local musical treasure Berryhill, a longtime friend, do a song or two at Tiki Oasis on Sunday. But he is reluctant to plan or divulge too much in advance.

“I’m not a person who figures out things too early,” Kaye said. “I like to see what the atmosphere is like and what the night calls for. I’m pretty loose-limbed. If it gets too scripted, it gets to be a drag and you feel like you’re performing it, as opposed to living it.

“This will be fun, and that’s what the point of Tiki Oasis seems to be. Don’t take yourself too seriously, have some levity and a sense of humor, and also a sense of the bizarre. That, to me, is what Nuggets is about.”

Tiki Oasis’ Shake, Shout & Shimmy closing concert

With: Lenny Kaye & the San Diego Nugget Pickers, the Bomboras, the Ghastly Ones, the Blue Hawaiians

When: 5 p.m., Sunday

Where: Town and Country Resort, 500 Hotel Circle North, Mission Valley, San Diego

Tickets: $45 (online advance price), $55 (at the door on Sunday); three-day Thursday through Saturday passes cost $195 at the door

Online: tikioasis.com/ticket

In tune with Tiki Oasis

Gerry Casale of Devo and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Al Jardine of the Beach Boys have performed at previous editions of Tiki Oasis. So have such varied acts as The Chocolate Watchband, Lavay Smith, The Sonics, Los Straitjackets, Tremolo Beer Gut and Man Or Astro-Man?

But pinpointing exactly how many bands and solo artists have performed at Tiki Oasis since its inception 25 years ago is difficult, even for the event’s organizers. This partial list provides a reasonable overview.

Adrian Demain’s Cheap Leis

Agent Orange

Al Jardine and His Endless Summer Band

Alika Lyman Group

Alvino and The Dwells

Ape

Big Sandy and His Fly Rite Boys

Big Sandy with Los Straitjackets

Black Magic Beach Party

Bombón

Boss Fink

Bovver Street Scorchas

Bradipos IV

Calypso Cats

Casino Royale

Chris “Sugarballs” Sprague and His 8 Wheelers

Chum

Clouseaux

Codename Carter

Creepxotica

Davie Allan & The Arrows

Deadbolt

Debra Iyall

Deke Dickerson & The Whippersnappers

Dirty Fuse

Don Tiki

Donna Loren

Drifting Sand

El Vez

Ernie Menehune

Fisherman 203 Kitty Chow

Fono 66

Frankie’s Baja Marimba Mania

Gerry Casale of Devo

Geronimo and The Scalpers

Ghoulygal

Hale’iwa Island Trio

Herb

I Belli Di Waikiki

Infernal Order of The Black Flame

Ixtahuele

Jack “Mr. Bongo” Constanzo

Jackie Mendez Band

Jason Hanna and The Swingin’ Bananas

Jesika von Rabbit

Jimmy Psycho Experiment

Joey & His Showmen

Johnny Aloha & Sage Guyton

Johnny Ramos and Jaalene ‘Queen of the Teens’

Jon & The Nightriders

Jonathan Stout & His Campus Five

Josie Cotton

Kahulanui

Kid Ramos & Johnny Ramos

Kim Tsoy

Kimo Delgado

King Kukulele

King Paris

Kitten on the Keys

L’Exotighost

Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers

Lee Presson & The Nails

Les Grys Grys

Lil’ Mo and The Dynaflos

The Little Richards

Los Freneticos

Los Pakalolos

Los Shimmy Shakers

Los Straitjackets

Los Sweepers

Los Tiki Phantoms

Los Venturas

Love

Lushy

Man Or Astro-Man?

Marc and The Escorts

Martini Kings

Marty Lush & His Latin Livers

Maureen & The Mercury 5

Meshugga Beach Party

Millionaire Beach Bums

Mitch Polzak

Mohama Saz

Mongo Lounge

Monsters From Mars

Orchestra Superstring

Par Avion

Pearl Harbour Country

Phast n’ Bulbous

Point Doom

Pollo Del Mar

Preston Epps

Project: Pimento

Richard Cheese & Lounge Against the Machine

Robert Drasnin Orchestra

Roy Rapid and The Rhythm Rock Trio

The Schizophonics

Seabase

Seksu Roba

Shorty’s Swingin’ Coconuts

Sir Bald Diddley

Skip Heller Noirchestra

Slack Key Ohana

Slim Jenkins

Smokin’ Menehunes

Southern Culture on the Skids

Surfer Joe

Taimane Gardner

The 5.6.7.8’s

The Aggrolites

The Amalgamated

The Amandas

The Apemen

The B-Stars

The Barbwires

The Bikini Beachcombers

The Black Widows

The Blue Hawaiians

The Bomboras

The Capsouls

The Charades

The Chocolate Watchband

The Colony Boys

The Crawdaddys

The Creepy Creeps

The Del Reys

The Diaboliks

The Diddley Daddies

The Ding Dong Devils

The Greasy Gills

The Double Whammy’s

The El Caminos

The Engine Room

The Exotics

The Fleshtones

The Friki Tikis

The Ghastly Ones

The Go Go Rillas

The Go Going Gone Girls

The Hang Ten Hangmen

The Hukilau Hot Shots

The Hula Girls

The Huntington Cads

The Hypnotiques

The Insect Surfers

The Intoxicats

The Kilaueas

The Lampshades

The Lively Ones

The Loons

The Love Me Nots

The Lucky Stars

The Maikai Gents

The Manakooras

The Messer Chups

The Mission Creeps

The Nashville Ramblers

The Neptunas

The New Les Baxter Orchestra

The New Waves

The Nightimes

The Ogres

The Outta Sites

The Phantom Four

The Phantom Surfers

The Phenomenauts

The Primitive Finks

The Red Fox Tails

The Rosalyns

The Sand Devils

The Satin Chaps

The Satin Dollz

The Scimitars

The Seeds

The Ship Disturbers

The Shockwaves

The Sonics

The Sound Reasons

The Standells

The Surfbroads

The Surfrajettes

The Tiki Tones

The Tikiyaki Orchestra

The Tourmaliners

The Trailer Park Casanovas, with El Vez

The Unclaimed

The Untamed Youth

The Untouchables

The Volcanics

The Whys

The Woggles

The Wyld Gooms

Thee Swank Bastards

Threesome

Tiki Joe’s Ocean

TikiTronic

Tim Polecat

Tom Kenny & The Hi-Seas

Tremolo Beer Gut

Truus De Groot

Ukulele Hiro

Venturesmania

Vic Trevino

Vicky Tafoya & The Big Beat

Waitiki

Zombie Surf Camp

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