Reverie
Student band Reverie kicked off Sun God with a chill and groovy set. The eight-piece group donned color-coordinated outfits in dark reds and white that contrasted against the vibrant, bubbly lava lamp visuals that danced in the background.
Despite the typical small and half-asleep crowd that openers usually perform in front of, the band members enlivened the crowd with their dancing and jokes, which enticed the growing crowd to gravitate toward the stage.
Reverie’s set consisted mostly of laid-back instrumental songs, which, while unexpected, eased the crowd into the festival atmosphere. Its original songs stood out, and the band’s cover of PinkPantheress’ “Boy’s a Liar” — which included trumpet solos — was a crowd favorite. Reverie’s arrangement created a raw and immersive version of the song that felt true to the rhythmic sound the band had curated.
Interestingly, Reverie was the only act of the day with any female artists. The three women performing were superstars who owned the stage, powering through technical difficulties and keeping the audience engaged.
The band’s performance remained consistent, even when some audience members grew disrespectful, demanding to see Mike Sherm. Still, Reverie persevered, closing out its set by expressing gratitude for the opportunity to perform and excitement to watch the upcoming artists.
– Leea Caddell, Senior Staff Writer
Mike Sherm
The moment that Mike Sherm’s face first appeared on the screens flanking the main stage, an exultant, unified cheer erupted from the crowd. Never mind the fact that it was a simple graphic, or that his act wasn’t due to start for 15 minutes, such was the hype that had been building over the half-mile line — hype that the 29-year-old Bay Area rapper had been tasked with drumming up further.
Hell, nine minutes before he was due on stage, a stretcher was rolled into the throng. Though presumably unrelated, it fueled the antsy energy leading into his act. To his credit, Sherm met both the moment and his audience, matching their restlessness with a punchy, fast-paced set.
Seemingly enthused by the fervent welcome — his audibly impressed, “Okay, San Diego!” after his second song, “Ballin,” was met with roars — Sherm sustained the momentum throughout his 45 minutes. In “Feel Me,” Sherm posed the titular question to the crowd: “Ya feel me?” He was, in fact, felt.
Partway through a song, Sherm paused to check on an audience member — “I love my fans, don’t want anyone getting hurt in this [motherf—–]”— and picked right back up with no loss of flow. By the time he announced his intention to “go out with a banger on this one,” closing on his hit song “Asshole,” the ocean of students was beyond enthusiastic, its tides roiling with phones and shoulder-surfers.
Sherm fired up and primed the crowd for the rest of the fest, doing exactly what he needed to, effortlessly. His final “Thank you, San Diego!” held a palpable triumphant note, and from the response of those in attendance, a deserved one, too.
– Jay Kurtz, Senior Staff Writer
MICO
Following Sherm’s dynamic set, 23-year-old Filipino-Canadian artist MICO picked up the Sun God torch. Singing about emotionally abrasive experiences while powerfully strumming his guitar, he jumped around with the audience to the beat of his heartfelt music. His performance was accentuated by bright pop-punk colors and laced with a screaming-in-the-car energy.
An emerging alt-pop musician, MICO structured his setlist around his most streamed songs. High-tempo confessionals “glhf<3” and “Without Me” got the crowd excited with his impactful verses and memorable choruses. MICO’s intense expressiveness during ballads like “Tears in your eyes” and “Senses” had the crowd swaying along. His solo performance of “Parasite,” a collaboration with pop-rock artist Haiden Henderson, invigorated the dancing crowd with its rich lyricism and electric sound.
To top it all off, MICO performed two unreleased songs — “Like You Mean It” and “Do It All Again” — along with a cover of Maroon 5’s “Payphone.” Onlooking faces listened with joy to the new tracks, and students across the field sang along to the 2010s classic “Payphone” as soon as he strummed the first notes. The artist certainly succeeded at clearing the expansive grey clouds atop the UCSD crowd.
What especially shone through in MICO’s performance was his emotional depth and clarity — a rare quality to shine amid this loud social atmosphere. Thanks to his unapologetic onstage energy, audience members dropped their facades and vocalized their pent-up feelings on the usually quiet RIMAC Field. Here’s to a genesis of new music echoing MICO’s punk and passionate discography.
– Winter Moritz, Senior Staff Writer
Juelz
Plenty of students may not have been familiar with self-proclaimed “dj/producer type dude” Juelz prior to his announcement as a Sun God performer, but if you stopped by his electric set this weekend, you got it. Seriously, there were girls walking around the festival with shirts that said, “I’m only here for Juelz.” His set showed off why he has amassed over 300,000 monthly listeners on Spotify.
Cheers erupted from all corners of the pit as soon as Juelz took the stage, blasting beats that carried a pulsating energy across the lawn. His techno mixes seemed tailor-made for frat flicking, jumping up and down, and everything in between. The hype never faltered for all 45 minutes of his performance as he effortlessly remixed hit songs and played his own compositions — the perfect way to entice new fans.
A standout moment was when Juelz played Cascada’s 2006 Eurodance hit “Everytime We Touch,” a track that continues to endure in the club scene and was a pleasant surprise on the Sun God stage. The audience spent his set bopping along to the beat with friends, listening to instrumentals seemingly straight out of a video game, and cheering when it recognized a track.
Juelz’s set pumped up the audience in time for the headliner while providing exposure to his own expansive catalog of music.
– Tara Vatandoust, A&E Editorial Assistant
Dominic Fike
Rounding out the late afternoon on RIMAC Field, headliner Dominic Fike closed out the festival with his warm vocals and multi-instrumental prowess. As the set began, festival attendees materialized out of thin air, and their excitement infected the atmosphere. Despite the iffy sound engineering that muddied Fike’s voice, the 30-year-old musician showcased his talents as he sang and played guitar and keyboard, all complemented by his talented three-piece band.
While the majority of Fike’s setlist drew from more recent projects like “Sunburn” and “Rocket,” Fike and his band also played nostalgic hits from his debut EP, “Don’t Forget About Me, Demos.” Paying homage to this first project that catapulted his career, Fike shared the story of how he recorded the EP while under house arrest before energetically strumming the opening notes of “Babydoll,” supported by the hundreds of voices in the crowd.
Between songs, Fike wove in his personal humor and anecdotes from his three-day community college tenure. Ironically unaware of our “socially dead” reputation, Fike playfully said UCSD was the “party school” and UC Davis was the “nerdy school” — Fike had performed at Davis’ Lawntopia the previous night — bringing forth boisterous cheers from the crowd. Whether by inciting disses toward other universities, or by wiping his sweat on shirts and tossing them to adoring fans, Fike kept the crowd engaged the entire time with his charismatic and unpredictable demeanor.
The culmination of Fike’s eclectic artistry and personality arrived during the very last song of his set, “Mama’s Boy.” As the rock-heavy outro swelled, Fike jumped from the stage and ran down the center of the field, dodging security as he climbed up to the sound booth. Backed by the scratchy guitar and pounding drums, the festival screamed as Fike greeted excited fans before running back to the stage. As festivalgoers left the field that evening, the lively chatter about this interaction dominated the conversation, surely cementing Fike’s power as Sun God’s 2026 headlining artist.
– Nicole Huynh, Senior Staff Writer
