The best upcoming concerts in L.A.

One of L.A.’s best free live-music offerings, Jazz at LACMA has featured legit legends over its three-decade run at the museum. Seating for the program is available in the museum’s plaza on a first-come, first-served basis, though you’re welcome to picnic on the grass, too (you won’t really be able to see the show, but you’ll still hear it). You’ll find the series on Friday evenings in LACMA’s welcome plaza (just behind Urban Light) throughout the summer.

Carpenter didn’t just direct seminal thrillers like Escape From New York and The Thing; he also composed their creepy, synthesizer-ridden soundtracks. He’s expanded upon the aesthetic with his four Lost Themes albums, creating original electronic arrangements that would be at home on the score of yet another Halloween sequel. Expect to hear some of Carpenter’s latest work and classic cues from his films during this residency at the Belasco theater Downtown—his first live performances since 2018—just in time for Halloween.

When he’s not busy penning songs with Taylor Swift, playing guitar in Fun or racking up Grammys, you can catch Antonoff fronting his ’80s-inspired indie pop moniker, Bleachers. Catch them at Irvine’s Great Park Live for a mini-festival, Shadow of the City, with sets from Remi Wolf, the Maine, hemlocke springs, Bartees Strange, Chris Fleming and Cassandra Coleman.

This Mexico City art car bound for Burning Man became an L.A. mainstay for its dance-centric pop-ups—and spawned a bona fide EDM institution in the process. The beloved car was destroyed in a fire in 2023, thus putting an end to its decade-long run. However, a new iteration of the car, Mayan Warrior Galaxyer, was debuted last year, and local event collective Stranger Than is promising an event “bigger than ever before” this year, with the full art car experience, an all-star lineup of artists and brand-new production elements at Grand Park.

The frontman of the moody OC surf rock band the Growlers has since gone solo, but he continues the band’s tradition of performing Halloween shows at the Hollywood Palladium. Expect a set made up entirely of songs from his surf-psych band.

The San Bernardino rave scene injects itself with a bit of Halloween flair at this annual music fest. Insomniac Events—the group behind EDC and the Wonderland series—is setting up multiple stages at the NOS Events Center; headliners include Marshmello B2B DJ Snake, Alesso, RL Grime, Porter Robinson, deadmau5 and more. Explore the grounds to find mazes alongside ominous artwork and freak show performers.

Masked outlaw-country crooner Orville Peck rides into the region for his annual rodeo in Pioneertown, with additional sets from Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats, Joy Oladokun, Allison Russell, the Deslondes, Emily Rose and the Rounders, Palmyra and Valley James.

With its tongue exercise of a title, the Tyler, the Creator–curated hip-hop fest returns to Dodger Stadium for two days of live tunes, carnival rides, games, food trucks and more. The lineup for the 11th edition of the carnival includes A$AP Rocky, Childish Gambino, Doechii, T-Pain, Don Toliver, Earl Sweatshirt and more, plus a performance from Tyler himself. Tickets for the festival sold out even before the lineup announement, but you can join the waitlist here in case more become available.

The Godmother of Punk—and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, author and artist—is back again. Smith has taken to the L.A. stage in recent years in a variety of venues, from a lecture at the Getty to an intimate evening at the Teragram Ballroom. This time around, she and her band are performing her debut album, Horses—which Rolling Stone has deemed one of the 50 best albums of all time—in its entirety at Walt Disney Concert Hall. Accompanying her are original band members Lenny Kaye and Jay Dee Daugherty, as well as guitarist Jackson Smith and her longtime bassist, Tony Shanahan. Tickets go on sale to the public Friday, February 14, at 10am.

Did last year’s Coachella catapult Sabrina Carpenter into the spotlight? Or was the onetime Disney Channel personality already on the precipice of pop superstardom? Ponder that as you wait in the ticketing queue for the “Espresso” singer and now-Grammy winner’s six shows at the Crypto.com Arena, a reprise of last year’s “Short N’ Sweet Tour.” Ravyn Lenae and Amber Mark join as supporting acts. Tickets go on sale Friday, March 7, at 10am.