By Sara Fredrickson
Energizing, entertaining, moving, healing, inspiring, and even irritating. Music is all of these things and more as it plays into the stories of our lives. We can relate to the declarations of love, the pleas FOR forgiveness, and the angst it cries out. Often times, we love a song simply because we enjoy its rhythms and melodies. My passion for music and the latest concert I attended is often a topic that comes up in conversation with Alexandra, so she asked me to put together a list of some of the upcoming concerts here in the LA area that I’m either going to or wish I were, as well as some artists I’d recommend listening to.
I am not a musician myself, nor do I have a singing voice that would inspire any admiration, but I am a lover of music and a frequent concert goer! I especially enjoy when I get to see a singer or band at a small venue before they break into the mainstream, and Spotify has been my biggest resource for discovering such music. I saw British singer/songwriters Sam Smith and James Bay, as well as Irish singer/songwriter Hozier, right before they were receiving radio play and became huge sensations, as well as MS MR and Needtobreathe in small venues before they were landing big venues like The Greek Theater.
Just a few months ago, in fact, I saw the Icelandic band Kaleo at The Troubadour, who I’d put money on becoming one of the next big breakout bands in America, and I also first heard them on Spotify while browsing in the related artist section. Of course there’s also something really special about being one of nearly 20,000 people experiencing the energy at a Hollywood Bowl concert, especially when Florence + The Machine is performing!
Before I list some of my favorites and their upcoming concerts, I’ll give a few names of artists I’ve seen before or hope to see someday, but who (as far as I can tell) aren’t touring in the LA area this year. I think much of the best music these days is coming out of England, and a number of my favorites are James Morrison, Emile Sande, John Newman, Joss Stone, Aquilo, and Mumford & Sons. I hope I haven’t missed out on my opportunity to see Tracy Chapman, as I think her music is some of the most beautiful, compassionate and soulful I have ever heard, but she doesn’t have any plans for concerts in the near future.
On the southern rock/country side of the spectrum, I think that The Chris Weaver Band is excellent, and they get as close as San Diego this summer. Also playing in San Diego is the powerful New York band, X Ambassadors.
In chronological order, here’s my (way too extensive to even attend one quarter of them!) concert wish list for the remainder of 2016:
- Jewel, May 18th, Valley Performing Arts Center in Northridge **worth noting that her autobiography titled Never Broken come out in late 2015, and it is a fantastic account of a kind, spirited, resilient, and talented woman**
- Anthony Hamilton, May 20th, Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles
- Neil Young with Jacob Dylan, May 21st, Hollywood Pantages Theater in Los Angeles
- Sarah Potenza, May 31st, Hotel Cafe in Hollywood
- Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, May 31st, Shrine Expo Hall in Los Angeles
- Paul Simon, June 1st, Hollywood Bowl
- Matt Corby, June 4th, The Wiltern
- Miss Higgins, June 6th, Teragram Ballroom in Los Angeles
- Toots & The Maytals, June 17th, Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles
- Birdy, June 24th, Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles
- Boyz II Men, July 8th, Greek Theatre in Los Angeles
- Darius Rucker, July 16th, Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre
- Collective Soul with Goo Goo Dolls, July 17th, Greek Theatre in Los Angeles
- Peter Gabriel with Sting, July 17th and 18th, Hollywood Bowl
- Dixie Chicks, July 20th Irvine Meadows Amphitheater & October 10th Hollywood Bowl
- Goapele, July 22nd, The Autry in Griffith Park, Los Angeles
- Matt Nathanson, July 22nd, OC Fair and Event Center in Costa Mesa
- Michael Franti & Spearhead, August 3rd, The Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa
- Adele, six shows between August 5th-13th, Staples Center in Los Angeles
- Ziggy Marley, August 14th, Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa
- Ben Harper, August 19th, Hollywood Bowl
- Dave Matthews Band, August 27th, Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre
- Counting Crows with Rob Thomas, September 8th, Greek Theatre in Los Angeles
- Needtobreathe with Mat Kearney, September 10th, Greek Theatre in Los Angeles
- Ray LaMontagne, September 11th, Greek Theatre in Los Angeles
- Carrie Underwood, September 14th, Staples Center in Los Angeles
- Gary Clark Jr., October 1st, Greek Theatre in Los Angeles
Featured image courtesy of Rock N’ Roll Asylum.