Brandi Carlile concludes tour in San Diego with a tribute to Dolly Parton & more

Brandi Carlile played the final date of her second North American leg of The Human Tour at the picturesque Rady Shell at Jacobs Park in downtown San Diego, California on September 22nd, 2026. Irish rising star Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson, who performs as CMAT, opened the show accompanied by The Very Sexy CMAT Band.

The outdoor venue, tucked between San Diego’s Convention Center and the bay, was packed early for this show. As the sun began to set over the water, CMAT and her highly animated band took to the large stage and proceeded to entertain the crowd for 45 minutes. Band members roamed the stage freely throughout the set, doing interpretive dances, teasing each other, and even sharing kisses. CMAT set the tone with dramatic expressions, playing to the band and the fans equally. After sliding around the stage during her first song, she unzipped her slippery boots and threw them offstage, performing the second song shoeless before slipping on another pair later on in the set. Fans were really enjoying the show when the stakes were raised, as Brandi Carlile appeared to duet “I’d Want U”.

The night, and the stage, eventually grew dark.

SistaStrings emerged from the darkness to perform “Passacaglia for Violin and Cello in G Minor”. Monique Ross created drama with her cello, while Chauntee Ross made her violin sing. Then, it was Carlile’s turn to walk out centerstage amidst smoke, sporting a purple velvet blazer before playing several songs from her latest album, Returning to Myself. Twins Tim Hanseroth on guitar and Phil Hanseroth on bass, flanked Carlile as they have done for two decades, while drummer Terence F. Clark, pianist Dave Mackay, and multi-instrumentalist Solomon Dorsey provided depth and texture to most of the songs.

Brandi Carlile quieted things down for a stretch, sitting at a piano while telling jokes and stories about her early career / current life with a wife and two daughters who had just headed back home to Washington for school. She played “A Woman Oversees” with the twins seated, playing acoustically, while the sisters sang background vocals. This led into the house lights being turned back on as Brandi, Phil, and Tim went back to the beginning with an acoustic set of songs requested by the fans — many of whom had brought signs.

Carlile talked a lot during this set, recalling having played at the nearby Casbah 20 years ago.

The boys had homemade stomp boxes that came in handy during “Hard Way Home”. Everyone sang “Happy Birthday” to a girl named Carly, who had her request of “Dreams” granted. Carlile then insisted on taking one more request when she noticed a sign asking for “Every Time I Hear That Song” and mentioned that it was an important part of her band’s history.

The full band returned to crank the intensity up for newer songs mixed in with their biggest hits after that. This part of the show included “The Story”, “You and Me on the Rock”, “Sinners, Saints and Fools”, and “The Joke”. Carlile even did a cover of Billy Joel‘s “And So It Goes” after telling the story of how Sandra Bullock called her and asked her to record it for the Practical Magic 2 soundtrack.  Perhaps the musical highlight of the evening was the new song “Church & State”, which is a real barn-burner and an all-out jam session.

The encore provided four more chances to soak in the love and joy that was abundant all evening, including a blistering rendition of Alanis Morissette‘s “Uninvited” and a tribute to Dolly Parton, where CMAT returned to help on the classic “Islands In The Stream”. “A Long Goodbye” was a fitting closer for the last night of this special run of shows.

Photography by Johnnie Crow

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