Maybe we’re just getting old, but music fest lineup announcements these days mostly solicit a yawn from us (sorry, Coachella). But the announcement each February of the Hollywood Bowl’s summertime schedule consistently leaves us excited for months to come—and this year is no exception.
John Legend, Death Cab for Cutie, Leon Bridges, Chromeo, Toro y Moi, Nile Rodgers and Chrissie Hynde (performing Pretenders hits and backed by the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra) are all set to perform during this summer’s stellar lineup of concerts at the Hollywood Bowl.
You can grab tickets now if you subscribe to an entire concert series (i.e., KCRW’s standout World Festival series of shows), otherwise you’ll have to wait until May 5 at 10am to pick up single tickets as well as for seats at non-subscription events. If you’re waffling somewhere in between, you can purchase a “five or more” package beginning March 12 at 10am.
Other concert highlights this summer include Damian Marley, Natalia Lafourcade, Lord Huron, Café Tacvba, Noname, Rhye, Gary Clark Jr., Violent Femmes, Hugh Jackman (performing what will surely be a lot of Les Mis and The Greatest Showman tunes), Earth Wind & Fire, Tony Bennett, Cyndi Lauper, Michael McDonald, Chaka Khan and Kool & the Gang.
Live scores continue to be a central part of the Bowl’s summer programming, most notably with this year’s “America in Space,” a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the moon landing that includes film clips alongside live music, performed by a David Newman-conducted LA Phil. The Hollywood Bowl orchestra will accompany Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix while the LA Phil will tackle An American in Paris and Jurassic Park. Speaking of John Williams scores, the prolific composer will once again return to introduce an evening dedicated to his film scores, though Newman will assume conducting duty.
Per tradition, the Bowl will also stage a full-blown musical, and this time around it’s Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Into the Woods. Expect a full cast announcement for that in the coming months. In the meantime, scope out the full schedule on the Hollywood Bowl’s website.
You can find the full schedule of over 50 shows on the Hollywood Bowl’s website, but we’ve listed some of the essentials below.