The best live music venues in Los Angeles

When Santigold’s debut self-titled album was released in 2008, its fusion of punk, dub and hip-hop arrived at a time when hearing a pop artist mixing genres without abandon wasn’t commonplace. More than a decade later, Santigold fits right in to a musical landscape that’s more concerned with what sounds cool than conforming to rigid style classifications.

Everyone’s favorite NPR member station has a hand in a slew of summer concert slates at public plazas and beloved museums, and this summer’s schedule is particularly packed. Familiar KCRW DJs and local buzz bands will be providing free, open-air tunes on select nights from July through September at the Hammer Museum, One Colorado, CAAM, Descanso Gardens, Bowers Museum, the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, JANM and—our favorite—the party-till-midnight bashes at Chinatown Central Plaza. This year’s lineup features Ambar Lucid, Hana Vu and Mark de Clive-Lowe, among others, and KCRW DJs including Anthony Valadez, Jason Bentley, Novena Carmel and more. The details slightly differ at each spot, but you can typically expect a bunch of food trucks, beer gardens and after-hours museum admission. Regardless of the location, you really can’t go wrong with any evening spent at Summer Nights.

With At the Drive-In back on ice for the time being, Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez tour as their other project, post-hardcore kids-turned-Mahavishnu Orchestra-styled prog rockers the Mars Volta.

The master of mixtapes and king of collaborations is back with a new tour in support of his latest album, Man on the Moon III: The Chosen.

Ready or not, music festival season is here with all of its euphoria and exhaustion—and you can expect a bit more of both as the L.A. area’s definitive hip-hop and EDM fest tacks on an extra day. HARD Summer has officially announced its 2022 lineup, as well as the addition of a third day to the traditionally weekend-long event. Megan Thee Stallion, Lil Uzi Vert and Porter Robinson top this year’s lineup, with additional performances from Joji, Zeds Dead back-to-back with Subtronics, Alison Wonderland, Madeon, Chris Lake, Gunna and a whole lot more. The music fest has hopped around town a bit in recent years, but it will once again return to San Bernardino’s NOS Event Center, from July 29 to 31. The grounds will feature five outdoor stages, with traditional shade structures for general admission attendees and a pool overlooking the stage for VIPs. Tickets go on sale Friday, May 6 at 10am. A three-day general admission pass starts at $229, with single-day tickets available for $89. The price for a three-day GA+ pass rises to $279 while VIP is $429; single-day tickets for the two tiers are $119 and $169, respectively. Check out the full lineup below. Courtesy Insomniac 100 gecsA Hundred DrumsAlison WonderlandAminéAnabel EnglundArnold & LaneBaby WeightBarilanBiiclaBktherulaBladeeBLOND:ISHBlunts & BlondesBOMBAYSCanablissCapozziCC LoveChloé CailletChris LakeClooneeCraze Drum & Bass SetDeathpactDenzel CurryDJ DialsDimensionDJ MinxDJ TennisDoechiiDOTDRAMADuckwrthEli Brownericdo

We’re so thankful that live music has been back in full swing for a little while now—but our wallets don’t exactly feel the same way (we’re looking at you, basically every music festival). Thankfully, Live Nation has yet again decided to give all of us a temporary reprieve with “$25 all-in tickets” to concerts around the country, including a staggering 200-plus shows near Los Angeles. And unlike most tickets from major platforms (like, ahem, Live Nation) these limited-time $25 tickets (up $5 over last year’s similar promotion) won’t have any extra taxes or fees on top of them. The deal doesn’t apply to every sought-after show this summer, but expect to find $25 tickets up for grabs to some pretty noteworthy. The $25 all-in tickets go on sale Wednesday, May 4 at 7am. If you happen to be a Citi cardmember, you can nab them a day early on Tuesday, May 3 at 9am.

UPDATE (4/6/22): Ye is out, the Weeknd is in. After an eventful few months in his personal life, TMZ reported earlier this week that the rapper formerly known as Kanye West was dropping out of his headlining slot at Coachella. Now, promoter Goldenvoice has confirmed the news and announced that Swedish House Mafia and the Weeknd will fill his spot atop the Sunday lineup. Swedish House Mafia had already been announced for the sold-out 2022 fest, but their odd “returning to the desert” billing floating at the bottom of the original lineup poster has now been boosted to a proper Sunday headlining position, paired with the Weeknd, who fills in after recently headlining the fest in 2018. A social media post from Coachella frames the two as “the party and the after-party.” The new lineup poster and our original story from January 12 appear below. Courtesy Goldenvoice -- ORIGINAL STORY: Third time’s a charm, right? After having to scrap both its 2020 and 2021 editions due to the pandemic, Coachella’s 2022 return is now right around the corner—and the desert music fest has finally released a full lineup for it. Harry Styles, Billie Eilish and Ye (that’s the artist formerly known as Kanye West, in case you stopped caring over these past few years) will headline this year’s fest, which will once again bring identical lineups to two weekends in Indio, April 15 to 17 and April 22 to 24, 2022. Swedish House Mafia is also featured on the poster just as prominently as the other headliners

Maybe you watched Super Bowl LVI to see the Rams take on the Bengals. Maybe it was because it was being hosted in Inglewood’s shiny new SoFi Stadium. Or maybe you were just in it for the commercials and halftime show—and the latter certainly didn’t disappoint this year. Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, 50 Cent and Anderson .Paak (who could be spotted playing drums) led the halftime show on a very Compton-inspired set at SoFi Stadium. (We’ve included a video of the performance at the bottom of the story.) A recreation of the late-modern Martin Luther King Jr. memorial at Compton City Hall anchored one end of the white block of buildings, with the Compton Courthouse on the other end and a street scene in between of local shops lined by lowriders. You could spot some notable local restaurants, too: a sign for Tam’s Burgers, plus a digital window with Dale’s Donuts visible (not to be confused with Randy’s, though both doughnut-topped spots descend from the defunct Big Donut Drive-In chain). Also spotted: a marquee for Eve After Dark, seemingly inspired by the nearby ’70s club. Musically, it was pretty heavy on turn-of-the-millennium hits. Dr. Dre rose up from a faux home studio at an all-white mixing board for performances of “Next Episode” and “California Love” with Snoop Dogg. 50 Cent unfurled from the ceiling—just like in the music video—for “In Da Club.” Mary J. Blige got crunk up on the roof of the set for “Family Affair” followed by “No More Drama