It may be the second weekend of Coachella, but the music in Los Angeles is absolutely popping — sans the usual influencer crowds, $20 beers, and that one guy in a cowboy hat who’s never listened to a single undercard. Yes, the festival sideshows are in full swing, with Coachella acts like Lykke Li, David Byrne, and Wet Leg making stops in the city before heading back to Indio. But the real story this weekend is everything else. LA’s calendar April 13 through 19 is a masterclass in range: world-class jazz at the Blue Note, darkwave cult heroes at The Vermont, crossover thrash legends at Fox Theater Pomona, and absolute iconic weirdness at The Belasco — where, fair warning, you will get sprayed with fake bodily fluids and leave smiling. Whether you’re skipping the desert entirely or just looking for something to do before the big event, the city of live music is delivering. Here’s everything worth your time this week.
4/14 Lykke Li at Fonda Theatre
Sweden’s indie-pop sorceress Lykke Li has spent nearly two decades turning heartbreak into cinematic dream pop and alt-pop bangers, and she’s back with her new album The Afterparty — which asks the eternal question: can we have one last euphoric dance before the hangover crushes us? If you’ve ever cried beautifully to “I Follow Rivers,” this one’s for you.
Snag your tickets before they’re gone.
4/14 Los Retros at The Glass House
Mauri Tapia is a one-man bedroom pop time machine. The Oxnard-based mastermind behind Los Retros writes, performs, and records all of it himself, channeling the warm, fuzzy soft rock and Latin pop of the ’70s into something that feels impossibly fresh. Think lazy Sunday afternoon feelings wrapped in psychedelic indie pop with a distinctly Chicano soul. Carolina Durante opens.
Tickets at the door won’t last — get yours now.
4/14 David Byrne at Santa Barbara Bowl
The co-founder of Talking Heads and pioneer of new wave, art rock, and post-punk, David Byrne has spent 50 years being the most interesting person in any room he walks into — and the Santa Barbara Bowl is no exception. He is a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, an Academy Award winner, a bicycle enthusiast, and frankly a walking, talking argument that weirdos win in the long run.
This is not a show to miss, buy tickets immediately.
4/15 Wet Leg at Fox Theater Pomona
Can you catch these fists? Isle of Wight indie rock exports Wet Leg have spent the last few years turning deadpan wit and fuzzed-out post-punk into a full-blown phenomenon — racking up three Grammys, two Brits, back-to-back UK number one albums, and a fanbase that worships Rhian Teasdale’s magnificently unimpressed vocal delivery like a religion. Their 2025 album Moisturizer is, per the band’s own press materials, “punchier, prettier and more perverted where it counts” — which is exactly the energy you want at a Coachella sideshow.
Get those tickets while you can!
4/15 Nicola Cruz, El Marchante at The Townhouse Venice
Ecuadorian producer and multi-instrumentalist Nicola Cruz makes Latin electronic music that feels genuinely ritualistic, blending Andean folk instruments, polyrhythmic percussion, and dubwise electronic production into something that sounds like a ceremony recorded in a volcano (because, with Nicola, it sometimes literally is).
El Marchante, a Caracas-born, LA-based curatorial project dedicated to celebrating Latin American and Caribbean music heritage, sets the perfect vibe before Cruz takes the floor.
Grab a ticket while The Townhouse still has room.
4/15-16 Samara Joy at Blue Note Los Angeles
At just 26 years old, Samara Joy has already collected six Grammy Awards — including Best New Artist — and is widely regarded as the most electrifying jazz vocalist to emerge in a generation, with critics regularly invoking Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald in the same breath. The Bronx-raised singer brings a velvet-voiced command of jazz standards and a genuine old soul to every performance.
Two nights, one iconic Blue Note room — reserve your seat.
4/16-17 Lebanon Hanover at The Vermont Hollywood
Swiss-British darkwave duo Lebanon Hanover make the kind of cold, minimal post-punk that sounds like The Cure and Bauhaus had a loveless affair in a damp Berlin apartment — and honestly, that’s a compliment. Their icy drum machines, deep bass, and mournful dual vocals have made them cult icons of the modern gothic underground, with their track “Gallowdance” having inexplicably taken over TikTok (at least the kids are getting exposed to good music!).
Two nights of beautiful gloom await; pick your evening and get tickets.
4/16 Tomora at El Rey
Tomora is what happens when Chemical Brothers co-founder Tom Rowlands and Norwegian art-pop visionary AURORA decide to stop collaborating on each other’s records and just become a band — and the result is sleek, cinematic electro-industrial that hits like a siren in a packed room. Their debut album Come Closer just dropped.
4/16 Suicidal Tendencies, Ceremony at Fox Theater Pomona
Suicidal Tendencies are the godfathers of crossover thrash. The Venice, CA hardcore-turned-metal institution that helped invent skatepunk, put “Institutionalized” on MTV in 1983, and counted a pre-Metallica Robert Trujillo among their ranks. Joining them are Ceremony, the Bay Area hardcore chameleons who started as a ferocious powerviolence act and evolved into Joy Division-worshipping post-punk sophisticates without losing a single ounce of ferocity.
This is a bill with serious teeth. Don’t sleep on it.
4/16 Western Standard Time Ska Orchestra at Lodge Room
When Duke Ellington met Jamaica and had 20+ musicians show up to the session, the result was something like Western Standard Time Ska Orchestra. The LA-based big band ska juggernaut that fuses 1940s jazz arrangements with the infectious rhythms of early Jamaican ska into a live spectacle unlike anything else on the West Coast. There are horn sections, and then there is this horn section. You’re going to want to dance.
Secure your spot at Lodge Room now.
4/17 Kate Clover at Moroccan Lounge
Kate Clover is an LA-based punk-and-roll firecracker who runs on Patti Smith, Iggy Pop, and pure adrenaline. Her music sits at the ferocious intersection of first-wave LA punk, garage rock, and new wave, with hooks sharp enough to draw blood. She’s built a reputation for explosive live shows, and the intimate Moroccan Lounge is about as perfect a room as you could ask for that kind of danger. Jenny Don’t & The Spurs open.
4/18 My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult at Teragram Ballroom
Chicago’s most delightfully depraved electro-industrial outfit, My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult have been conjuring up tales of sex, satanism, and sleazy disco since 1987 — pioneering the industrial genre alongside Ministry and KMFDM before pivoting toward a heavier, funkier, B-movie-obsessed club sound that is frankly impossible to classify.
4/18 GWAR at The Belasco
Virginia’s intergalactic shock-metal warriors GWAR have been wearing grotesque foam-latex costumes and spraying fake blood, semen, and general cosmic chaos on their audiences since 1984 — all in service of some genuinely savage heavy metal with a side of political satire so unhinged it somehow always lands. Do not wear anything you like to this show. Seriously.
Tickets are available for those brave enough to claim one.
If Tickets Are Sold Out …
You can try giving it a go at StubHub or Vivid Seats. Both offer 100% buyer-back guarantees should they not be able to come through with the tickets you purchase.
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Next Week’s Preview:
4/22-23 Thee Sacred Souls at The Greek Theatre
4/23 She Wants Revenge at The Wiltern
4/23-24 Art Brut at Lodge Room
4/23 Chuwi at The Roxy
4/23 Ari Lennox at The Wiltern
4/24 Alice Phoebe Lou at The Wiltern
4/24 Ichiko Aoba at Walt Disney Concert Hall
4/24 Face To Face at The Novo
4/25-26 Kelsey Lu at Blue Note Los Angeles
4/24 (((O))) at Pacific Electric
4/25-26 Lily Allen at Orpheum Theatre
4/25 VNV Nation at The Belasco
4/25 Cory Wong at The Wiltern
4/28 La Dispute, From Indian Lakes, Flooding at The Belasco
4/29 Shabazz Palaces at Lodge Room
4/29 Reyna Tropical at Zebulon
4/30 Brigitte Calls Me Baby, SKORTS at Lodge Room
4/30 Chet Faker at The Novo
4/30 King Tuff at Sid The Cat Auditorium
See What’s Poppin’ at Some of Our Favorite Venues in LA
Whether you want underground grit or tour-level spectacle, pick your genre, choose your room, and make it a live-music week. Grimy Goods gots you. We’ve been covering the Los Angeles music scene and beyond since 2008.
Hollywood Bowl – she’s a glamorous outdoor amphitheater (and haunted), historic icon, owned by the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation. The Summer Season is presented by the LA Phil; however, the county leases this legendary venue during the off-season to Live Nation and others.
Gold-Diggers (very cool independent small club venue)
Zebulon (super cool small club independent venue)
Lodge Room (independet small club venue)
The Forum (aka the Fabulous Forum, currently, the Kia Forum, she’s a historic arena, and an L.A. icon)
Permanent Records Roadhouse (cool independet small club venue)
Fonda Theatre (historic medium sized venue owned by Goldenvoice/AEG)
El Cid Sunset (historic and haunted independent venue)
Moroccan Lounge (independet small club venue)
The Troubadour (independet small club venue)
Teragram Ballroom (independet medium sized venue)
The Smell (independent small club venue)
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If you know, you know …
United Theatre On Broadway (historic venue)
The Townhouse Venice / Del Monte Speakeasy (historic and haunted independet small club venue)
The Echo (small club venue owned by Live Nation)
Blue Note LA (small club jazz vibes owned by Blue Note Entertainment Group)
Hollywood Forever (historic cemetery! Independently owned)
The Roxy (independent, legendary venue on the Sunset Strip, however, Goldenvoice is the exclusive promoter & operator)
The Paramount (historic independent small club venue)
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