The best concerts in L.A. this September

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 reliably packed. Familiar KCRW DJs and local buzz bands will be providing free, open-air tunes on select nights from June through September at Union Station, CAAM, Descanso Gardens, Bowers Museum, Wende Museum, the Autry, Benny Boy Brewing, Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes, California Plaza and—our favorite—the party-till-midnight bashes at Chinatown Central Plaza. The details slightly differ at each spot, but you can typically expect a bunch of food trucks, beer gardens and after-hours museum admission. This year, there’s even a kid-oriented installment at the Kidspace Children’s Museum, where DJ Lance Rock of Yo Gabba Gabba is the special guest. Regardless of the location, you really can’t go wrong with any evening spent at Summer Nights. (Note: The kickoff June 7 event at Benny Boy Brewing and Aug. 29’s Descanso Gardens event are only for KCRW members).

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.

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. 

Kaskade sends his beachfront festival back to SoCal with sets from Meduza, SKILAH, Sidepiece, Malaa, Anabel Englund, Walker & Royce and MPH at Huntington State Beach.

See a free salsa concert every second Friday of the summer—plus a rescheduled show on July 25—during this series at LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes. This year’s lineup includes Gabrielito y La Verdad, the Echo Park Project, Arsenio Rodriguez Project and Conjunto Oye!—all featuring Super DJ Robby. Each night kicks off with a free salsa dance class at 6pm, courtesy of Dancing 101 with Roberto. 

Don’t look back in anger—at least not today—because you missed out on their U.K. reunion gigs: Brit-pop legends Oasis are performing a select number of stateside shows, including at the Rose Bowl, with special guests Cage the Elephant opening.

Eddie Vedder’s Ohana Festival once again lands at Doheny State Beach in Dana Point—and the Pearl Jam frontman leads a lineup that also includes Kings of Leon, Hozier, Leon Bridges, Green Day, Cage the Elephant and many more. This year’s edition runs from September 26 to 28. The fest’s name comes from the Hawaiian concept of family, and as such the beachfront festival will give back to its own community by donating a portion of proceeds to the San Onofre Parks Foundation and the Doheny State Beach Foundation, among others.

Nope, you haven’t traveled back in time: Nick, Joe and Kevin are back for a massive, 20th-anniversary show at Dodger Stadium in September, where they’ll be joined by Marshmello and Boys Like Girls. The L.A. show is also one of 10 stops on the “Jonas20: Living the Dream” tour that will open with a “Jonascon”—a pre-show pop-up experience offering Jo Bros karaoke, art installations, trivia challenges and city-specific merch.  There are a couple of presales taking place this week, but tickets officially go on sale Friday, March 28, at 10am.

So far these dates at the Hollywood Bowl are the only double bill for LCD Soundsystem and Pulp, but even if they weren’t, we’d still consider this a must see. Catch James Murphy’s dance-punk outfit and Jarvis Cocker’s iconic, moody Britpop band on September 25 and 26 at the Bowl.

Seven years after the death of singer Chester Bennington, locally-born, globally-beloved band Linkin Park is back with new music and a tour. Mike Shinoda, Brad Delson, Phoenix and Joe Hahn have returned alongside new covocalist Emily Armstrong (of Dead Sara) and drummer Colin Brittain. Catch them at Dodger Stadium in support of their new album, From Zero.