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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

On the heels of two guest appearances at the Hollywood Bowl this season and even a surprise performance at D23, L.A.’s own Beck Hansen headlines a comparatively intimate evening at the Greek Theatre. The alt-rock and anti-folk hero has a brand-new album (his first in seven years), Ride Lonesome, so expect to hear new tracks along with perennial favorites (looking at you, “Loser”).

It’s been almost a decade since 24K Magic, but its foot-tapping facsimile of ’70s funk, ’80s disco-pop and ’90s R&B still hasn’t lost its sheen, and we’re betting that Mars’s party tunes will still have enough funk to get you uptown—or to SoFi Stadium, where Mars is stopping for four nights in October on his Romantic Tour. The outing marks the singer’s first global headline tour since his 24K Magic World Tour (though L.A. was treated to a couple of shows in summer 2024 when he christened Intuit Dome as its first performer). Opening the shows will be Raye and Mars’s Silk Sonic collaborator, Anderson .Paak, who’ll perform as DJ Pee .Wee. 

Whether he’s playing White Stripes songs or ripping through the raucous blues of his solo efforts, Jack White absolutely delivers in his live sets. After popping up as the surprise performer during the first weekend of Coachella, he announced a new fall tour. He’ll be returning to the Hollywood Palladium for two nights following a date at the Fox Theater Pomona.

Presented in partnership with the Trust for Public Land, concert series In a Landscape swaps out traditional concert halls for the great outdoors, and it’s coming to Los Angeles for the first time this September. Classical pianist Hunter Noack will perform on a 1912 Steinway Model D piano in Griffith Park’s Bronson Canyon, with the Hollywood Sign in the background. Rather than traditional concert seating, you’ll get wireless headphones and be able to wander freely through the beautiful landscape. Tickets for this singular, immersive musical experience are currently on sale, with subsidized admission and free tickets available for those who need it through the organization's Good Neighbor Program.