The best concerts in L.A. this October

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. 

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.

Desert Daze is your antidote to the typical desert gathering (think a noisier, more indie lineup than Coachella and less dirt than Burning Man). Though it’s close enough to L.A. to go just for the day, the fest caters to campers with easy access to hiking trails and a bazaar of mystics and wanderers. The fest is skipping its 2023 edition at Lake Perris (it’ll be back in 2024) in favor of Daze in the City, a series of closer-to-home concerts that include Les Claypool’s Frog Brigade, the Brian Jonestown Massacre, Melody’s Echo Chamber, the Black Angels, the Dandy Warhols and Blonde Redhead.

The legendary Laurel Canyon singer-singwriter takes the stage at the Hollywood Bowl for a pair of shows—her first in L.A. in over two decades. Expect tons of special guests at these “Joni Jam” dates, including, so far, Brandi Carlile.

With bouyant beats and catchy refrains, Charli XCX teams up with charismatic pop singer Troye Sivan for their coheadlining “Sweat” tour, with special guest Shygirl.

Well, I’m not okay after seeing the lineup for When We Were Young: My Chemical Romance and Fall Out Boy top the now-annual Las Vegas festival that features just about every emo-pop act from the early 2000s. Seriously, we’re not kidding: A Day to Remember, Jimmy Eat World, Dashboard Confessional, Taking Back Sunday, Simple Plan, Coheed and Cambria, the All-American Rejects, New Found Glory, Motion City Soundtrack, Silverstein and more are all set to take over the Las Vegas Festival Grounds on October 19 and 20, 2024, with a special focus on each band’s most beloved album.

Soak up the vibes of an evening of beautiful but kind-of-melancholy rock as the ever-brooding National share the bill with the Petty/Dylan-esque War on Drugs at the Hollywood Bowl, part of the bands’ coheadlining Zen Diagram tour.

Bubblegum pop-soul singer Meghan Trainor started behind the scenes in the music business, penning tracks for Rascal Flatts and Disney star Sabrina Carpenter before “bringing booty back” with her chart-dominating 2014 breakthrough, “All About That Bass.”

Weezer, though far-removed from their glory period (the Blue Album and Pinkerton being iconic, massively influential indie rock records), can still pump out entertaining, sometimes ham-fisted rock fare. The L.A. band revs up the nostalgia for a tour where they’ll play the Blue Album in full, including an intimate kickoff show at the Lodge Room with the Keanu Reeves-fronted Dogstar followed by an arena-sized date at Inglewood’s new Intuit Dome with the Flaming Lips and Dinosaur Jr.

In any discussion of rock acts that have improved with age, English heavy-metal institution Iron Maiden has to come in somewhere near the top: Even if Bruce Dickinson can’t hit every screeching high note of his prime (cut him some slack, the guy overcame tongue cancer), he deploys his resources for maximum impact, something that could be said equally for his restless bandmates.