Los Angeles live music this week: five concerts for May 20 to May 27, 2026
Five concerts in Los Angeles this week, May 20 to May 27. Touring acts, hometown residencies, basement bills. The picks below are ranked by which lineup we want to be in the room for.
The full live map is on the Los Angeles map. This piece is the editor's cut.
Five concerts for the week
Rockstar Reunion Concert
Avalon Hollywood doing a Rockstar Reunion Concert on Thursday 6:30pm, free at door for the listed. The Vine Street venue has been hosting this kind of nostalgia-format show on weeknights for a while, where the bill leans on touring-band reformations and the room fills with people who learned the songs the first time around. Avalon is a proper concert hall with a working sound system, which is more than the lineup descriptions sometimes suggest. The Hollywood neighbourhood walk afterward is half the night.
The Afghan Whigs 40th Anniversary Tour With Mercury Rev
The Afghan Whigs at The Observatory for their 40th anniversary tour, with Mercury Rev opening. Friday 7pm, free at the door for the listed. Greg Dulli's band has held the soul-rock format down longer than anyone else still touring, and the live show has stayed mean in the way the records keep promising. Mercury Rev is the kind of opener that would be a headline elsewhere. The Observatory in Santa Ana sounds better than its reputation. Worth the drive out.
Sunday Jazz at The World Stage
Sunday Jazz at The World Stage in Leimert Park, 2:30pm, Leimert Park Jazz Festival presents. The Crenshaw room has been one of the most important Los Angeles jazz venues since the eighties, founded by Billy Higgins and Kamau Daáood and still running on the same volunteer-led model. The Sunday afternoon sessions pull working LA players who use the room to test material between the bigger gigs. Cover is donation-based. The Leimert walk afterward is half the experience. Worth the drive.
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