Honestly, when summer arrives in Los Angeles, I have a hard time to decide where to go, there is music about everywhere in town and it can be a bit overwhelming. At the top of the usual shows at Amoeba (always free), at the Echo, Echoplex, Satellite, Bootleg, Silverlake Lounge, El Rey, Henry Fonda to name just a few clubs and theaters where I go the most, there are a series of free outdoor shows all over the city, and choices are gonna be difficult again this season!
Let’s see, there are the Twilight concert series at the Santa Monica pier every Thursday. It’s a great setting and they are always a great choice. This year, we have Cults with James Supercave on July 10th, Yuna with King on July 17th, Cayucas with Papa on July 24th, Omar Souleyman with De Lux on July 31st, Jagwar Ma with Fascinator on August 7th, La Santa Cecilia with Sergio Mendoza Y la Orkestra on August 14th, The Zombies with Mystic Braves on August 21st, Lee Scratch Perry with Mexico 68 on August 28th, OK GO with Allah-Las on September 4th, and Charles Bradley with King James and the Special Menon September 11th! I have seen a lot of these bands already, but if you are around don’t miss King, these girls sound like three Stevie Wonders at once, and I also will try to not miss Omar Souleyman with De Lux, because this Syrian musician was a riot at the last FYF fest.
Then there are the two Levitt Pavilions, one in Pasadena, and one in the MacArthur Park in LA. Their programs are too long to enumerate here every single show, as they offer an assortment of ethnic and world music, as well as Americana, blues and jazz recitals. I would have gone for Richard Thompson on July 10th (I go see Nick Cave this same day), but there is also Loudon Wainwright III on July 17th, Nina Diaz (Girl in a coma) on July 25th, the always entertaining Metal-Mariachi mix of Metalachi on August 14th, and the Celtic rock of the Young Dubliners on August 22th.
Next stop: Chinatown summer nights (I attended the first one in June), but their second night is on July 12th and the third one on August 9th …. You can check their lineups here, and among many others, Wet & Reckless and Afternoons are great bands and they both play the 12th!
The Hammer museum has also some free concerts every Thursday nights, and it all starts with De Lux and the Do-over on July 10th, Crash and the Show during a night hosted by Alex Ebert of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros on July 17th, Afre Funke’ featuring Rocky Dawuni on July 24th and Deep featuring Marques Wyatt and Doc Martin on July 31st.
The Getty is another Museum offering free concerts, Saturdays Off the 405! This year, Chicano Batman play on July 12th, Caught a Ghost on July 26th, Badbadnotgood on August 23rd, Kan Wakan (highly recommended) on September 13th.
Downtown LA, there are tons of free shows hosted by Grand Performances at the California Plaza, where I recently saw Angelique Kidjo. Again, too many shows to list here, but on July 5th I would recommend ‘Stones Throw Picnic’ featuring artists of this homemade LA label (Peanut Butter Wolf, Madlib, DâM-FunK, the Lions, and special guests) and also, on July 18th, the Chop and Quench, the Fela! Band Broadway cast, a live performance of Fela Kuti’s influential ’69 Los Angeles Sessions.
Still downtown, Figueroa at 7th also offers some free shows every Friday, with Jonathan Wilson and Mystic Braves (they are everywhere!) on July 18 th, the Internet and BJ and the Chicago Kid on July 25th, Las Cafeteras and Chicano Batman on August 1st, Gardens and Villa and White Hinterland on August 8th, Fool’s Gold and a special guest on August 15th and The Belle Brigade and In the Valley Below on August 22nd. Ouch! Should I continue? Because I am already exhausted…
But it’s not over, Pershing Square offers a Summer Concert Series with a retro accent every Saturday, with The Orchestra (featuring former members of Electric Light Orchestra and ELO II) on July 12th, Dead Sara and Tonic on July 19th, When in Rome, Missing Persons and Information Society on July 26th, Survivor, Lou Gramm (Foreigner) on August 2nd, Stan Ridgway and The English Beat on August 9th, and The original Wailers and Dread Zeppelin on August 16th.
I know that the Grove and LA original Farmers Market also offer some free concerts as the Skirball Cultural Center, the LACMA, the Valley Cultural Center and the brand new Grand Park do! This is way too much! Plus the free music festival Echo Park Rising has just announced its 3-day lineup (August 15th, 16th, 17th) with Allah-Lahs, Woods, Goldlink, DeLux, Myron & E, Cherry Glazzerr, Matthew David, Kan Wakan and so many others that you will be able to catch up with every LA band that exists in just three days, and will probably die of exhaustion the fourth day.
If you live in Los Angeles, you have absolutely no reason to stay in front of you TV any night during this summer, go out and see a show!
