The 12 Best Concert Venues in LA

This downtown LA club with a capacity of around 130 people is an epicenter for Los Angeles’ experimental, punk and noise scenes. The Smell features local bands when it’s not operating as a hangout for high school kids. It’s an all ages and alcohol free venue and offers tickets for as little as $5 (cash only), making it one of the most affordable and intimate venues around. In true LA underground club fashion, the Smell also has a library, a vegan bar, and a space for a gallery.

Originally opened as a Hungarian café in 1989, this space reopened in 2008 as the Largo at the Coronet. The Largo is a seated theater with a capacity of close to 300 people, hosting comedy nights alongside music like rock, folk, country, and cabaret musicians. Most shows are generally a mix of music and comedy, which creates a more diverse experience for the attendees.

The Wiltern is another of LA’s most famous theatres. Most recently, the Wiltern’s façade was featured in the promotions for the premiere of Lana Del Rey’s new video, ‘Freak,’ and it was also the location of Adele’s pre-Grammy concert in February 2016. Originally designed to be a multi-tiered movie theater, the space operates now as a concert venue with seated balcony space and a floor space that’s typically standing and general admission. It feels larger than it is, which ensures that the intimate experience isn’t going to feel too crowded or claustrophobic while still giving everyone in the room a good view of the stage.

The Walt Disney Concert Hall is an architectural landmark in LA and features an exterior built of huge, curving stainless steel panels. The sophistication of its exterior mimics the sophistication of its interior—renowned for its acoustics, the concert hall is home to the LA Philharmonic and hosts their shows in a space as elegant as their classical sound.

The Hollywood Bowl is an outdoor amphitheater with a capacity of over 17,000 people, and it hosts musical events throughout the year. World famous musicians play here, and in the Hollywood Bowl hall of fame, some of those musicians are showcased, like Stevie Wonder or Frank Sinatra. Because it’s an amphitheater, the experience it offers is vastly different from closed-in theaters — it’s seated and the music can be enjoyed out in the open air.