SAN DIEGO — San Diego is alive with the sound of live music again.

With the retiring of the state’s color-coded tiers for reopening, many venues hosted their first shows Thursday night or have them scheduled in the coming days.

After a very long 15 months for music lovers and artists, The Holding Company in Ocean Beach welcomed a special first band back.

“We were supposed to play right before quarantine happened, so to be the first band back with live music with our community here in Ocean Beach, it’s so beautiful,” said Jenna Cotton, singer for Verigolds.

Verigolds is local to San Diego and Ocean Beach, playing together for the last nine years. They are also friends of the owner at The Holding Company, Scott Yeng.

“When we reopened they actually wanted to come play with us first. They wanted to support the locals and for us, same thing,” Yeng said. “We wanted to make sure that our first show is for our locals, it’s for the community.”

The unexpected time off wasn’t all bad for bands that are now getting back into the swing of things.

“We’ve got a whole new set, we have a whole new album that we’re about to release, a lot of those songs will be previewed tonight,” Cotton said.

Even though pandemic restrictions have lifted in the state of California, some guidelines remain. The Holding Company says the venue will ease back into re-opening and keep up with stringent sanitation procedures.

“Even though it’s not mandated now, we still want continue. We’re going to limit our capacity instead of cramming everyone in here,” Yeng explained. “It’s going to be a little bit more room so people can still dance and still be able to move around freely.”

People are eager to get back to seeing these shows. Even though California is just getting started on re-opening, The Holding Company has shows lined up throughout the summer and Verigolds do as well.

For more on the rules for attending events this summer and a list of some upcoming local shows, check out FOX 5’s guide to the return of live music.