Category: Coming Up

Summer is here and there are free shows all over the place! Tonight in Sherman Oaks it’s Minglewood Mondaze with two sets of Grateful Dead tunes that will run past midnight.

Then we’ve got some more free Dead this Thursday, the Redondo Pier is presenting Grateful to the Core as part of their Summer of Music series:

Down in Costa Mesa, the Segerstrom Center for the Arts has a Friday night series, Summer Sounds. These are free to attend but you must RSVP an obtain a “plaza pass”. The Sure Fire Soul Ensemble will be sure to funk up Argyros Plaza.

Saturday the 12th, electro space groove ensemble Sanford Street is playing songs from their new album Golden Coast at the Lighthouse Cafe in Hermosa Beach.

At the same time as the Sanford Street show, Blue Storm will be playing Grateful Brunch at the Venice West, for that weekly Westside dose of Dead.

After one of those two shows, you’ll have plenty of time to take a nap and then head down to Project Barley Lomita, where they will be hosting Grampas Grass for a reunion show. They haven’t played since their bass player moved away to Nashville, and there are plenty of fans who’ve been waiting for this, it should be a packed house.

And then there’s also a free Reckoning show in Long Beach at Good Bar and Eatery from 9 til midnight, so you could conceivably catch a triple-header of free shows this Saturday. WOW.

If you haven’t already, go check out our new 3 Weeks of Free Shows page, where you can browse through last week’s shows to see what you missed, this week’s shows to catch something soon, and next week’s shows to plan ahead.

I think you’ve hit the heady jackpot….

Monday 6/16/25

Tonight at Minglewood Mondaze, the boys are doing a special tribute to commemorate the life of Sylvester Stewart, aka Sly Stone, the Bay Area Funk pioneer who passed away last week at the age of 82.

The evening will blend some Family Stone catalog into the normal Grateful Dead repertoir, which is always fun to pick up on.

We’re gonna skip a few weekdays this week, to

Thursday 6/19

Laguna Beach gets hit with a solid Wall of Sound down at Ivan’z House, where the Dead vibes are fairly consistent.

Also that night in San Diego, Sanford Street is playing Winston’s with The Jam Berries. Sanford just had their album release party at the Mint a week back, they will likely be playing some new songs off of their new record entitled Golden Coast.

After that we’ve got a ton of shows leading into the weekend.

Friday 6/20/25

On Friday, the art-nature-storytelling collective Living Earth is putting on a Solstice Serenade at the Audubon Center in Debs Park, off the 110 near Highland Park. Touring artists Squirrel Flower & Free Range are dropping in with some mellow, dreamy, yet potent singer-songwriter vibes under the sycamore trees. 6pm to sundown…

Down in Lomita, Sol Soirée returns to Project Barley, a brewpub that actually brewed and canned a beer named after the band last year. They will be playing 2 sets, and also celebrating their 6th year as a band. Sounds like a great evening in the South Bay.

In Venice, we’ve got another Joy Guerrilla show, this one downstairs at the Townhouse (aka the Del Monte). Last week they played a Gold-Diggers show with Shane Sato and Coastal. Doors are at 8, unsure if there’s a supporting act? Check with the venue for details or just show up early and shoot the shit on the street til they go on. This is very likely where you want to be, music-wise.

Finally, out in Malibu, Aviator Nation is hosting the Souls of Mischief with the Gaslamp Killer, presented by Desert Daze. This is how we chill from 93 til…

Saturday 6/21/25

Believe it or not, June 21st might be one of the biggest days of the year for music. There are a ton of great shows going on today, and that’s without mentioning the international open-source musical festival, Fête De La Musique, or Make Music Day.

Started in France in 1982, it has grown year after year, to the point where it now takes place in 120+ countries and 1200+ cities around the globe.

Unfortunately, Los Angeles has been removed from the interactive map that says where all the events are happening. Maybe NAMM and ICE have partnered up to prevent any sort of community-strengthening events? Maybe LA “founder” Dorsay Dujon fumbled the ball this year? Or maybe Make Music LA will post the setlist for all of LA the night before? (Fingers crossed)

Well, even if LA didn’t make it onto the official calendar, we know that there will be a day of musical merriment in Topanga, with festivities at the Topanga Community Club from 11-6pm, and probably some stuff in town til 8 or later (still TBD). Who doesn’t love a free festival?

We’ve also got Token Rhyme playing Dead standards at Grateful Brunch at Venice West from 12-3pm. Power Heads that want to round out the Grateful vibes can Head down to Pedro after that to catch Wall of Sound christen the old Brouwerij West into the new Warehouse 9, which promises to still throw concerts even though the brewery is gone…

If you’re into Euro psych-rock, maybe you want to catch legacy act Gong over at the Baked Potato in North Hollywood. They are playing double headers at 8 and 10 tonight and tomorrow, so that’s four chances to catch these dragons of rock.

Finally, in case you’re aching for some horny instrumental funk in Ventura, grab a ticket for the Sure Fire Soul Ensemble at the Grape. They’ll be releasing their album Gemini, which is several years in the making. 30 bucks at the door if there’s any seats left!

Sunday 6/22/25

From Noon til 4, Ventura locals Dead and Kickin are playing a free show at the Crowne Plaza, in preparation for July’s Summer Dead Fest, which likely aims to fill the hole left by Skull and Roses’ unfortunate demise.

In Pasadena, Healing Force of the Universe is hosting a Sunday Saloon with Dave and Zach from Taper’s Choice, with Mathias Kunzli on drums. Dave Harrington was also one half of Darkside, the live-electro collab with Nicolas Jaar. These dudes have been playing all sorts of shows, and they’ve been getting deep into experimental jazz territory. What to expect here is anyone’s guess, maybe melodic, maybe straight to the drone zone… only one way to know for sure. But yeah, look for these guys around town, playing the Townhouse or Gold-Diggers or wherever else they pop up.

It’s a Sunday, so that means things will be getting Grand and Ol’ at the Echo. Regina Ferguson has been making her way up and down the coast, with Will Worden subbing in for Tristan Lake Leabu on a few dates. Sounds like Tristan will be back to close out the Double or Nothin’ tour for the homies in Echo Parque.

Greetings once again, hope you all had a heady weekend. Anybody catch any of the shows from last week, or any of the firework exhibitions in downtown LA over the weekend? (Yikes)

Monday 6/9/25

Tonight we’ve got a home team lineup with Ashton & Company at the Barrel for Minglewood Mondaze. For any Dead fan that’s never been, make the effort to go out for this world class Monday night residency.

Ashton Slater on the axe, Jeff Hiller on bass, Clinton Clark on skins, Emerson Rose with the pipes, and the inimitable Michael Russeck tickling the ivories. They’re bringing two sets of Grateful Dead goodness, which usually kicks off around 9:30, with the set break around 11. We know it’s a school night, but you definitely will not regret catching the first set, you can make it to bed by midnight. Free show, but throw some dollars in the hat when it’s passed if you can!

Wednesday 6/11/25

Only seven years until the Jubilee! Catch Oakland locals Merrill Garbus and Nate Brenner when TUNE-YARDS plays the Bellwether this week with Kassa Overall opening. I’m pretty sure they haven’t played LA since 2021 when they played the Ford, so this will be a welcome return.

They just released their album last month, so their old classics might be Suspended while they Get Through the Heartbreak. They will surely be soaking up the Limelight on this tour. I’ll See You There.

I’m still waiting for them to bring a horn section up for a live version of My Country… anyone ever seen that happen?

Friday 6/13/25

Afrobeat cumbia punkers La Misa Negra are headlining the Troubadour, with Topanga local legends Mestizo Beat joining them with an 8-piece funkalicious chicken dinner. Guitar player Lito Magana has been on tour with Big Daddy Kane, he’s jumping off to play a Bay Area show and then this one. We might just see Max O’Leary doing double duty on trumpet for this show too…

If you’re not prepared for booming horns, then maybe An Evening with Grateful Shred over at the Fonda is more your speed. You might have to put a finger up in the air for this one, as The Shred has a habit of selling out their LA shows. But then again, maybe the Fonda will open up their balcony and rooftop for this one? That’s the most likely spot for the Shakedown Street Bazaar Market. Do we know anyone that will be vending for this one? Would be great to get some pictures from what will likely be the Headiest Show of the Week…

But if you’re down in Long Beach and not feeling like braving Hollywood on a Friday night, Jerome’s Jukebox is playing two sets of JGB covers at Boomer’s on Del Amo Blvd.

Saturday 6/14/25

There’s a day show in Venice from noon to three, with Rusted Roses over at Grateful Brunch. There’s also something happening with Wall of Sound at Platform Park in Culver City, some sort of pre-Father’s Day market dealie. More info can be found here.

Sponsored beer from Rancho West…

If you can still grab a ticket, definitely catch night two of Live Dead & Brothers, doing their Grateful Dead/Allman Brothers thing at the Lodge Room in Highland Park. Lots of Dead happenings this weekend, but this and Shred will be the hot tickets.

Who knew that live looper Tash Sultana had a big enough draw to play the Shrine Expo Hall? Plenty of people, apparently. There are likely a few tickets left to catch her and Lime Cordiale at the Goldenvoice Presents: Return To The Roots USA Tour 2025.

Sunday 6/15/25

The Rum Runners will be playing two sets of JGB down at Project Barley Lomita, and Neil Levin is hosting the weekly Grateful Jam from 3-7pm at StillWater down in Dana Point.

Let us know what we missed in the comments!

Greetings Funksters. Here’s a quick preview of some concerts on the ol’ calendar this week. We’ve got a couple of shows built around new albums that are being released, so this is a great opportunity to be the first to hear new music.

Thursday

Thursday, Gold-Diggers is hosting the funk ensemble Joy Guerrilla, who opened up for Galactic when they played the Bellwether last summer. They will be accompanied by Coastal, a solo looper dude from SD, in support of the live debut of Shane Sato’s album, “Until We Meet Again”.

6/5/25: Shane Sato, Joy Guerrilla, and Coastal at Gold-Diggers

Friday

6/6/25: Sanford Street Album Release Party w/ Shaky Feelin’ & jackiO

Saturday

Later that afternoon, Malibu Music is hosting some LA folk heroes, Rosy Nolan and Leroy from the North, to celebrate legendary luthier Lester William Polsfuss, aka Les Paul. Now that PCH is open again after the fires, it’s a lot easier to daytrip out to Zuma, grab some snacks at Trancas, and catch some guitar greats on Gibsons. Beware the burnzone speedtraps on newly-opened PCH… Keep it under 25 and you’ll be fine…

Or if you’d rather head down the coast, catch hometown heavy-hitters The Great North Special in Laguna Beach, playing the upstairs of Mozambique, aka the newly revamped Ivan’z House Live. Check out this epic poster art!

6/7/25: Easy Wind Plays Grateful Brunch // Les Paul Birthday Celebration // The Great North Special at Mozambique

Sunday

6/8/25: The Rum Runners (Jerry Garcia Tribute) // Trombone Shorty at the Greek

Lettuce Hear From You

Are you planning on any of these shows, or did you go? Please share your experiences, let us know what you think of Shane Sato’s and Sanford Street’s new albums!

Comments and trackbacks are open…