Heaven is the Hollywood Bowl on a warm summer night with chilled wine, fresh bread, and imported cheese. Nestled in the shadow of the 101, in a bowl-shaped valley, this century-old amphitheater is LA’s crown jewel—a wonder of natural acoustics and genius design. Among the thousands of world-class musicians who have performed under its white bandshell are the LA Philharmonic, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, and David Byrne. As they say, this must be the place.

A triumph of imagination and romantic idealism, Frank Gehry’s gleaming, asymmetrical masterpiece—a Matterhorn of curving stainless steel—is a fitting tribute to Walt Disney, whose widow helped fund the project in the 1980s. Since opening in 2003, the sculptural, shiplike auditorium has been the winter home of the LA Philharmonic and has consistently drawn in such world-class talent (Robert Glasper, Nas) that it is often credited with revitalizing once-deserted Downtown.

Opened in 1957, this West Hollywood institution is arguably the most significant club in the history of rock, helping to launch The Byrds, Elton John, Carole King, Joni Mitchell, and every other legendary musician to ever exhale in Laurel Canyon. It’s where Don Henley met Glenn Frey, where Carly Simon met James Taylor (they later married), and where comics like Steve Martin and Cheech & Chong were discovered. Head to Dan Tana’s afterwards for the chicken parm.

Where else can you catch psychedelic experimentalists DARKSIDE perform in the shadow of silent-film star Rudolph Valentino’s crypt? Or hear the guitar pyrotechnics of My Morning Jacket within spitting distance of a Johnny Ramone statue? In recent years, Hollywood’s oldest cemetery—the final resting place of Burt Reynolds, Judy Garland, Jayne Mansfield, and Mickey Rooney—has doubled as a beloved gathering space with film screenings, yoga, and an array of concerts in its Masonic Lodge.

In 1973, superproducer Lou Adler and nascent mogul David Geffen cofounded The Roxy as an intimate, artist-friendly alternative to the soulless—and often shady—venues that ran the local scene. It opened with three nights of Neil Young and has been a Sunset Strip shrine ever since. Now run by Adler’s son Nic, it’s one of the city’s most reliable hip-hop and rock outposts, and where many era-defining musicians have recorded live albums (Bruce Springsteen, Frank Zappa, and, yes, Neil Young).

Opened in 1927, this well-preserved Downtown historic landmark began as an ornate, pre-Columbian performing-arts theater. But in the ’90s, it became a nightclub and music venue that’s since welcomed canonized artists like Jack White, Daft Punk, and Brazilian legend Milton Nascimento—plus the Mexican wrestling burlesque Lucha VaVOOM. Where else can you bask in epic sounds while gazing up at a chandelier modeled on the Aztec Calendar Stone?

For more than a half-century, this Studio City jazz club has hosted practically every great virtuoso to breeze through LA and was so beloved by Prince that he had his own seat. Founded by session keyboardist Don Randi of The Wrecking Crew (The Beach Boys, The Monkees, Nancy Sinatra), this tucked-away sanctuary with the dancing spud sign is a must for serious heads—jazzbo Clint Eastwood was an audience fixture for decades. Definitely order a baked potato.

One of LA’s longest-operating concert halls, this large Sunset Boulevard ballroom—built on the original Paramount Studios lot—was initially designed to be the biggest nightclub on Earth (the dance floor alone measures 11,200 square feet). A young Frank Sinatra performed on opening night in 1940, and in the decades since, the Hollywood institution has played host to everything from The Lawrence Welk Show to The Who, from Run-DMC to Eric Prydz.

Designed in the mid-’60s by the architects behind Madison Square Garden, this massive venue inspired by Roman coliseums forever transformed surrounding Inglewood and Los Angeles at large. After falling into disrepair at the turn of the century, it was bought by MSG and given a $100-million face-lift that transformed it into a glitzy arena suited to A-list pop talent like Dua Lipa, Billie Eilish, Lizzo, and John Mayer. In 2022, Harry Styles sold out the former Lakers home for 15 nights.

No LA trip is complete without a desert pilgrimage, so when you find yourself driving along the quiet stretches of Joshua Tree National Park, an hour east of Palm Springs, do yourself a favor and pull into Pappy & Harriet’s. A favorite destination for Angelenos who want to dance under the stars—and eat tasty barbecue—it hosts shows by a spectrum of artists, from Four Tet to Paul McCartney. But frankly, it doesn’t matter who’s playing. This dusty, dimly lit roadhouse is magical on its own.

The cool, more casual cousin of the Hollywood Bowl, the Greek is an LA institution steeped in history. The eccentric land baron Griffith J. Griffith, after gifting the acreage that became Griffith Park, insisted on leaving room for a Greek theater. Since it opened in 1931, this alchemy of nature and noise has hosted Aretha Franklin, Radiohead, and Neil Diamond, who famously sold out 10 nights in 1972 (one was turned into the double album Hot August Night).