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Photograph: Courtesy Unsplash/Anthony Fomin

The best concerts in L.A. this October

Check out our calendar of concerts in L.A. to find out which of your favorite bands and artists are performing here this month

Michael Juliano
Written by
Michael Juliano
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October signals the start of fall in Los Angeles, and with it a slew of top-notch touring shows. Whether you’re looking for local bands or arena-caliber acts, these are the best concerts in LA this October.

RECOMMENDED: See more upcoming concerts in L.A.

Concerts in L.A. this October

  • Music
  • price 3 of 4
  • Downtown

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.

  • Music
  • Punk and metal
  • price 3 of 4

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.

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  • Music
  • Rock and indie
  • price 2 of 4
  • Highland Park

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.

  • Music
  • Music festivals
  • price 2 of 4
  • Inland Empire

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.

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  • Music
  • Folk, country and blues
  • Hollywood

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.

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  • Music
  • Punk and metal
  • Inglewood

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.

  • Music
  • Folk, country and blues
  • price 2 of 4
  • Inglewood

Country star Kacey Musgraves mixes a classic, honeyed sound with a subversive lyrical take on the traditionally straitlaced genre. For her dates at the Forum, catch her with some pretty excellent support, too, thanks to opening sets from Father John Misty and Nickel Creek.

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Meghan Trainor
  • Music
  • Pop
  • price 2 of 4
  • Inglewood

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.”

  • Music
  • Punk and metal
  • USC/Exposition Park

As once-maligned nu-metal bands find new appreciation amid the 20-to-30-year nostalgia cycle, it would be easy to throw Korn on the pile—except that Jonathan Davis’s scatting, grimy alt-metal outfit has always been kind of unironically great. See them celebrate their 30th anniversary with this show at BMO Stadium that features support from Evanescence, Gojira, Daron Malakian and Scars On Broadway, Spiritbox and Vended.

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