August 2019 events calendar for Los Angeles

Say goodbye to dusty thoroughfares and violent porta-potties: Splash House takes the music festival concept off of sweltering desert land and places it poolside. Movers and shakers at this multi-location getdown are shuttled between the Renaissance, the Riviera Resort and the Saguaro to lap up big-name dance acts and DJ sets. With the added comforts of AC rooms and critically acclaimed restaurant fare just steps away from the party scenes, the experience will make you question whether to bother with more punishing locales come next year’s festival season.

Everyone’s favorite NPR affiliate has a hand in over a half-dozen summer concert slates at locations like One Colorado, the Hammer Museum and KCRW’s new Santa Monica headquarters. But the party-till-midnight bashes at Chinatown Central Plaza have become a particular favorite. Familiar KCRW personalities like Garth Trinidad, Travis Holcombe, Anne Litt and Jason Bentley spin the tunes at these food truck-fueled block parties. Regardless of the location—including the oceanfront offshoot, Twilight on the Pier—you really can’t go wrong with any evening spent at Summer Nights.

The prolific singer-songwriter finds room for lo-fi garage-rock riffs and acoustic strums at his shows, sometimes performed solo and at other times with the backing of his many associated bands. For this summer residency, Segall will play through a different album every Friday night at the Teragram Ballroom. Expect a noisy, fuzzed-out set during these Freedom Band-backed performances, which include playthroughs of Melted, Goodbye Bread, Emotional Mugger and Manipulator, as well as a to-be-announced slate each night (the first 500 people to purchase three or more tickets to different shows will received a limited 7” of new, unreleased music, so we wouldn’t be surprised if it’s tied to that). Tickets are available for individual shows ($28–$30) starting Friday, April 26 at 8am, or you can see all 10 for $200.

Though locally born EDM juggernaut HARD Summer has hopped around Southern California in recent years, its dedication to bringing the biggest names in the hip-hop and electronic scene. Kid Cudi, Major Lazer, RL Grime, Dillon Francis, Alison Wonderland top the lineup, with a slew of high-profile back-to-back performances: Excision and Nghtmre, Flosstradamus and 4B, and Zhu and Tchami, among them.

Because why not? Pop-punk stalwarts Blink-182 (still minus UFO enthusiast Tom DeLonge) and hip-hop elder statesman Lil Wayne join forces for this summer tour, with support from Neck Deep. Expect plenty of head-scratching moments if the announcement mash-up of “What’s My Age Again?” and “A Milli” is any indication.

This inaugural hip-hop fest from REAL 92.3 heads to the Honda Center grounds with headlining sets from Cardi B, A$AP Rocky, Future and Migos, plus support from Meek Mill, Big Sean, Miguel, Rae Sremmurd, 2 Chainz, A Boogie With Da Hoodie and more. Duck into the arena for a blast of air conditioning as well as a West Coast Customs car show and Big Boy’s Neighborhood, an activation from the radio host that includes a barber shop, nail salon, live interviews and more. Scattered between the three outdoor stages, you’ll also find a few murals and art installations, including a recreation of the Thunderdome from the “California Love” music video.

A couple of lukewarm albums and a personnel shake-up don’t change the fact that Ben Gibbard and Co. still serve up some of the finest melancholy, emotional pop songs.