The Best Los Angeles Concerts: Nov. 25 - Dec. 1, 2024

While instrumental bands remain a minority interest, Toronto’s The Surfrajettes have been making waves (pun intended) through relentless touring and sheer attention-to-detail commitment to their cult cause. The all-girl quartet’s authentically reverb-drenched guitars and perky rock ‘n roll rhythm section augmented by period-correct ‘60s color palettes, beehive hairdos, and matching outfits bring welcome glam to the sometimes musty surf-rock scene, and they surely find a second home in sunny, surf-central SoCal. The Surfrajettes broke through with their 2018 cover of Britney Spears’ “Toxic” and, true to their genre, are fond of reinterpreting others’ tunes, from Blondie’s “Heart of Glass” and The Beatles’ “She Loves You” to more obscure picks like Sweeney Todd’s 1976 Canadian hit “Roxy Roller” and The Astronauts’ 1963 “Hot-Doggin.” While this year’s sophomore album Easy as Pie is livelier than its predecessor, Roller Fink, the dreaminess remains, only now alluringly laced with a confident swagger that’s earning The Surfrajettes fans well beyond their genre. Tickets at Live Nation.

Katie Gavin is one third of LA’s Muna, a USC-formed dark pop band who, after two largely overlooked major label albums, found traction with their eponymous indie third album in 2022. Also signed to Phoebe Bridgers’ Saddest Factory label as a solo artist, Gavin released her debut, What A Relief, last month. In contrast to Muna’s dance-forward signature, What A Relief embraces country and folk motifs, fiddle ‘n all, en route to becoming a one-woman Lilith Fair revival. For someone who was in elementary school when Sarah McLachlan & co. crisscrossed the country with that package, this isn’t ‘90s nostalgia so much as discovery of a bygone audio age for which Gavin’s emotive, twang-topped vocals are well suited. More organic and visceral than Muna, she furthers her broad appeal by tackling universally resonant topics including family, love, and sense of self. This three-night, sold-out stand at The Masonic Lodge suggests the beginnings of a likely enduring Katie Gavin solo career.

One of the crucial links between thrash metal and its darker, faster and more guttural death metal offshoot, Florida’s Morbid Angel are a hugely revered and influential subculture staple. Although only guitarist and primary songwriter Trey Azagoth survives from their original lineup, MA’s first three albums remain genre classics and former members include scene luminaries Erik Rutan (now in Cannibal Corpse), David Vincent (Terrorizer/Genitorturers), and giddyingly virtuoso drummer Tim Yeung (All That Remains, Divine Heresy etc.). But it’s Azagoth, himself a vastly influential guitarist, who’s kept the Angel flying for over forty years and nine albums, without so much as a hiatus, fashion be damned. Originally indulging occultic and blasphemous lyrical content, Morbid Angel moved towards Mesopotamian mythology as Azagoth’s interests became dominant, but since the (second) return of singing bassist Steve Tucker in 2015 anti-religious and barbaric themes have prevailed. Though without a new album since 2017’s Kingdoms Disdained, expect a hero’s welcome from The Belasco faithful. Tickets at Live Nation.

Tough yet feminine and both a rapper and singer, Mala Rodriguez is among Spain’s top hip-hop exports, commanding crowds in the Spanish speaking world and beyond for nearly a quarter-century. A hit at home from the get-go with 2000’s Gold-certified Lubo Ibérico and its similarly big-selling follow-up Alevosia three years later, she reached more distant ears when her song “Volveré” appeared on the 2009 Fast & Furious movie soundtrack. By 2013, Rodriguez was scooping Latin Grammys and two years later even featured on President Obama’s Spotify playlist. While she’s mellowed and become poppier over time (her original La Mala stage name translates as “The Bad One”), Rodriguez remains a potent rapper and an unusually thoughtful lyricist who’s in the game for much more than just money and fame. On her first new album since 2020, Un Mundo Raro, she continues her trappy pop indulgences without altogether betraying her hip-hop roots, while also revealing a more spiritual side. Tickets at Ticketmaster.

Produced by EDM overlords Insomniac (Electric Daisy Carnival, Nocturnal Wonderland etc.) under their Bassrush brand, Apocalypse Zombieland weaves a staggering lineup of drum & bass and dubstep artists into a fun fictitious backstory. The tale goes that only loud bass music can save us from brain-devouring zombie hordes that, oddly, are calmed into a harmless catatonic state by throbbing electronic sounds. Apocalypse Zombieland gathers an astonishingly comprehensive array of bass bruisers including Excision, Black Tiger Sex Machine, the aptly named Zomboy, Jessica Audiffred, Ray Volpe, Riot Ten, Bear Grillz, Hekler, Kai Wachi, and Oliverse. A much anticipated Friday highlight will be Caspa b2b Rusko, while Saturday includes b2b sets from A Hundred Drums and Coki, Chef Boyarbeatz and Mythm, Bou and Hedex, and Enei and Mefjus ft. Daxta MC. Regardless of whether you buy into the event’s zombie theme, the Queen Mary Waterfront will offer bass in your face, all over the place.

One of the most successful and enduring electronic music DJs/producers of all time, Canada’s Deadmau5 (aka Joel Zimmerman) has been going hard since his 2008 third full-length, Random Album Title broke into the mainstream. Just a year later, For Lack of a Better Name elevated him to a whole new level, including DJing the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards and spawning two singles which remain among his signature tracks, “Ghosts ‘n’ Stuff” and “Strobe.” The simple marketing genius of wearing an outsized mouse helmet while performing (think Jack Box with an enormous mouth and ears), which also permeates much of his artwork, has helped Deadmau5 become and persist as one of the most important figures in progressive house music and put him among the highest-earning producers in electronic music. Always big on collaboration, his recent Kx5 project with Kaskade already birthed a string of hits, before Deadmau5 and his techno alias Testpilot both returned with solo releases earlier this year.

One of heavy metal’s many charms is its almost global, culture-transcending popularity, of which Argentina’s long-running Rata Blanca are yet another example. Built upon the prodigious guitar talents of co-founder Walter Giardino (formerly of the seminal Buenos Aries band V8) and vocalist Adrián Barilari, the quintet was the first Argentine metal act to gain international recognition with sophomore album Magos, Espadas y Rosas in 1990 and follow-up Guerrero del Arco Iris. Rata Blanca deliver the driving, melodic and melodramatic metal beloved of the likes of Deep Purple and Dio, replete with virtuoso musicality and ornate keys, that has never altogether gone out of style. They’re also not shy about the occasional sensitive ballad, like 1990’s million-selling “Mujer Amante,” to which Barilari’s supple pipes are innately apt. Without a new album since 2015’s Tormenta Eléctrica, Rata Blanca might be viewed as a legacy act, but their high quality vein of hard rock has never, metaphorically at least, gotten old. Tickets at Ticketon.

When soulful mod revivalists The Untouchables formed in LA’s Silver Lake neighborhood in 1981, they were as much about the era’s punk-informed DIY spirit as actual music, with some members not even able to play an instrument. But they persevered to become credited as America’s first ska band and by ‘82 were the super-uplifting and danceable house band at West Hollywood’s Roxy Theatre. Mixing R&B covers with reggae grooves, they had a string of releases in the ‘80s, shared stages with everyone from No Doubt to R.E.M.; and even appeared in The Party Animal and Repo Man movies. Silent for years at a time, the influential, nine(ish)-piece band have employed a rotating array of horn players and percussionists, which contributes to their near-40 current/former members. These Whisky A Go Go regulars are making their first appearance there since the passing of original co-vocalist Jerry Miller last month, leaving the current incarnation helmed by fellow OG singer Chuck Askerneese. Tickets at Ticketweb.

This nostalgic, LA-centric celebration of West Coast hip-hop will have Gen-Xers flocking to Downtown LA’s 7,000-capacity Peacock Theater, triggering mass collective memories of Saturdays at the mall, albums on cassette, and when hanging in parents’ borrowed cars in parking lots was the equivalent of “Netflix n’ chill.” The stacked Kings of the West lineup features renowned regional throwback acts performing short sets of their best-known songs, headlined by the LBC's Snoop Dogg, SF’s E-40, LA’s Too $hort and Bone Thugs-n-Harmony (who actually hail from the Midwest). The local flavor continues with Long Beach’s Warren G, LA’s Xzibit and Tha Dogg Pound (comprising LA’s Kurupt and Long Beach rapper – and Snoop Dogg’s cousin – Daz Dillinger). Roll up early for appearances by Inglewood’s Mack 10, Compton’s DJ Quik, Suga Free from Gardena, frequent Snoop collaborators The Eastsidaz, and more. Tickets at AXS.

One of two instrumental acts among this week’s concert picks, Washington D.C.’s Animals as Leaders take heavy metal, even in perhaps its most experimental era, to astonishingly complex and adventurous new planes. Begun as the solo expression of Nigerian-American eight-string guitar maestro Tosin Abasi, the trio topped the Billboard hard rock charts with third full-length, The Joy of Motion a decade ago and hasn’t looked back, since adding elements of funk, jazz fusion, and electronica to their palette while steadily becoming more collaborative. Though the threesome – completed by Berklee-schooled drummer Matt Garstka and classically trained guitarist Javier Reyes (no need for bass with two eight-strings aboard) – has toured with the likes of Decapitated, Underoath, and Carnifex, don’t expect any long hair, headbanging, or stereotypical metal aesthetics from Animals as Leaders. Instead, these deeply respected djent lords focus entirely on storytelling through challenging and ultra-dynamic yet increasingly melodic music in which polyrhythmic drumming, two-handed guitar tapping, and 420-friendly atmospherics reign supreme. Tickets at AXS.

One of Russia’s most popular punk bands, Pornofilmi (Порнофи́льмы) are so politically outspoken that they had to relocate to neighboring Georgia two years ago. Although formed in 2008, it was only after its members gave up drinking, drugs, cigarettes and meat – topics that permeated their early lyrics – in 2012 that they got serious. Vocal critics of Vladimir Putin and his Ukraine invasion, they’ve had concerts canceled and received sinister threats back home. Yet Pornofilmi’s brave attitude and activism would count for little without compelling music, which they deliver in spades. Firmly on the more melodic, rock side of punk, it was their In the Range Between Despair and Hope (2018) and It Shall Pass (2020) albums that put them on the map as a Russian equivalent of Rise Against in their politics, lifestyles, and sound. The role of punk is entirely more poignant and potentially potent in dictatorships like Putin’s Russia, so fearless bands like Pornofilmi should be cherished and supported. Tickets at EventCartel.