The best concerts in L.A. this June

Treat your ears to a vibrant concert on a spring or summer night this year, by attending MUSE/IQUE’s annual program. This monthly series of performances, held venues (largely outdoors) across L.A., features a mix of performances inspired by landmark albums and public figures, including tributes to Ed Sullivan, Bob Dylan, Abraham Lincoln, Oklahoma! and more. In order to attend, you’ll need to become a MUSE/IQUE member; you could make a $75 donation for a single event, but if you’re interested in more than just one, it’s cheaper per event to become a full-fludged member.

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) starting in April.

Listen to classical and jazz in a dome more than a mile above L.A. during this mountaintop concert series. The Mount Wilson Observatory is hosting monthly concerts this summer inside the dome of its 100-inch Hooker telescope, which was the largest telescope in the world for much of the first half of the 20th century. Tickets cost $60 (that also includes access to the exhibit at the observatory) and it’s highly recommended that you buy them in advance since seating is limited. You’ll need to be able to climb 53 steps to reach the dome, and children under 12 aren’t permitted. 

This weekend-long concert will once again return to West Hollywood Park as part of WeHo Pride. Kylie Minogue, Janelle Monáe and Diplo headline this year’s fest with additional sets from Doechii, Ashnikko, Noah Cyrus, Trixie Mattel, Keke Palmer, Channel Tres, Yaeji, Big Freedia, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, VINCINT and more.  

The two legendary Mexican rock bands team up for this coheadlining show at the Hollywood Bowl.

If you love electronic music, you might want to catch buzzy Odesza at BMO Stadium, with support from Bob Moses, Ben Böhmer, DRAMA and Golden Features.

As Coachella has become increasingly pop-friendly, promoter Goldenvoice has made it up to aging locals with more and more genre-focused music festivals with stellar lineups. The latest such case: No Values, a fest filled with punk legends you’re almost sure to find in Gen X’ers T-shirt drawer. The Original Misfits, Social Distortion, Iggy Pop, Turnstile, Bad Religion and Sublime top the lineup for the June 8 show at Fairplax in Pomona, with additional sets from the Dillinger Escape Plan, Power Trip, the Damned, Joyce Manor, Suicidal Tendencies, the Vandals, Black Flag, the Jesus Lizard, L7, the Dead Milkmen and more.

The long-running L.A. Pride has left West Hollywood for destinations farther east—though WeHo actually still hosts its own Pride-related music fest—for this music festival on the edge of Chinatown. There’s no lineup yet for this year’s edition (Megan Thee Stallion and Mariah Carey headlined last year’s) but the Christopher Street West-produced concert will once again set up at L.A. State Historic Park on June 8, with all sorts of other LGBTQ+ programming between sets.

After a stop last year at the Hollywood Bowl, Janet Jackson returns to town with a pair of arena dates—and a relentless stream of late-’80s hits—with support from Nelly.

At times a little bit South African rhythm by way of Paul Simon, a little bit New York indie rock and a little bit yacht rock, Vampire Weekend returns to L.A. for a show at the Hollywood Bowl.