The best concerts in L.A. this September

One of L.A.’s best free live-music offerings, Jazz at LACMA has featured legit legends over its 35-year 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. We’re betting it’ll be even more popular than usual this year, with the new David Geffen Galleries in the background.

Listen to classical and jazz in a dome more than a mile above L.A. during this mountaintop concert series curated by artistic director Cécilia Tsan. The Mount Wilson Observatory is once again 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 $65 (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. Note: You’ll need to be able to climb 53 steps to reach the dome, and children under 12 aren’t permitted. 

L.A. old-timers: Remember rolling out a blanket on the beach and listening to tunes float over from the Santa Monica Pier? The Twilight concert series and its various incarnations may be gone, but live music is returning to the beachfront there, thanks to Coachella promoter Goldenvoice. The inaugural Ocean Way Festival—which will, notably, offer zero on-site parking and instead opt for a transit-friendly strategy—will set up two stages on the sand just east of the pier on September 26 and 27. There’s a noticeable generational divide to the mostly-chill-vibes lineup, so it makes sense that both single-day and two-day tickets will be available. The Killers, Jack White, Sublime and Alvvays lead the rock-leaning Saturday lineup, while Olivia Dean, Khruangbin, Durand Jones & the Indications and Hiatus Kaiyote top the slightly more soulful Sunday bill.

Eddie Vedder’s Ohana Festival once again lands at Doheny State Beach in Dana Point—and as usual, Vedder pulls double duty with both a solo set and with Pearl Jam frontman. The 2026 edition runs from September 25 to 27 and also includes sets from Maná, Billy Idol, Bad Religion, Tyler Childers, Alabama Shakes, Jon Batiste, Fontaines D.C., Pixies, Courtney Barnett, Rilo Kiley and the Format. 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.

Millennial nostalgia shows no signs of slowing: Rilo Kiley is back together and wrapping up its reunion tour in only-in-L.A. fashion. Yep, L.A.’s own indie darlings, led by Jenny Lewis, are in the spotlight again after over a decade apart. The “Sometimes When You’re On You’re Really F**king On” tour kicked off in SoCal last year, and just ahead of Rilo Kiley’s Ohana Festival set this fall, they’ll play one final headlining show at Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Beachwood Sparks opens.

See a free salsa concert on one Friday each month during this summer series at LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes. This year’s lineup includes El Presidente de la Salsa, La Verdad, Rush Hour Orquesta 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. Bring chairs, blankets and your dancing shoes.

Who the fuck is Madeline—but more importantly, who will play Madeline when Lily Allen performs the West End Girl track live at the Greek on September 21? The British singer brings her instantly iconic breakup album to the iconic Griffith Park venue as part of her North American tour, giving fans the chance to laugh and cry with her under the stars. Maybe after an afternoon of tennis?

Morrissey and mariachi—honestly, it was only a matter of time. The LA Phil and co-producers Mariachi Tierra Mia bring the Smiths’ melancholy Manchester anthems to the Ford amphitheater on September 27, with some of L.A.’s best mariachi musicians putting their spin on favorites from the band’s catalog. The concert will celebrate the Smiths’ particularly enduring and unexpected connection with Mexico, where their music has remained wildly beloved decades after the band called it quits. It’ll be a very Los Angeles way to have your heart broken.

The Hollywood Bowl is getting a serious dose of South Central L.A. For emajendat, visual artist Lauren Halsey will turn the amphitheater into a technicolor fever dream, complete with a custom stage set and a lineup that’s basically a who’s who of adventurous music. Erykah Badu and the Alchemist headline, bringing their soulful R&B and dusty hip-hop production to the Bowl ahead of their forthcoming collaborative album, while Anderson .Paak spins as DJ Pee .Wee, Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea joins in, and Charles Gaines Collective teams up with L.A. jazz outfit Black Nile and Devin Daniels. Catch the maximalist spectacle on September 29; talk about it for weeks afterward.

Kaskade sends his beachfront festival back to SoCal with sets from Cassian, Matroda, BUNT., D.O.D, Me N Ü, Lavern, Bobby Harvey and Esse at Huntington State Beach.