The LA Setlist: Aug. 26 - Sep. 1, 2024

To many listeners, the apparently genre-oblivious Twenty One Pilots materialized overnight with 2015 era anthem “Stressed Out.” In fact, the hugely successful Blurryface album which spawned that single was the Columbus duo’s fourth, having already earned a grassroots following largely through imaginative live performances and social media smarts. Gleefully disrupting alt rock with elements of hip-hop, pop, punk, and electronic music, the pair furthered their massive peer resonance with highly relatable themes of cusp-of-adulthood anxiety. Eclectic yet seldom esoteric, TOP’s sonic and stylistic twists always serve (and preserve) the song at hand, their massive connection and almost counterintuitive cohesion buoyed by an accompanying metaphorical mythology and wordplay genius matched only by Immortal Technique and Eminem. Like all great songwriters, vocalist Tyler Joseph instinctively fuses so much that’s pertinent to his generation, musically and otherwise, turning almost universal late teen/early twenties insecurities into a staggering global career. Tickets at Ticketmaster.

Blending West African Afrobeats and South African amapiano with rare aplomb, Asake ambushed the Billboard 200 with his first two albums. Both debuted at number 66 stateside while also topping the charts in his native Nigeria and selling well in the UK and Ireland. To be headlining the 6,000-capacity YouTube Theater thousands of miles from home less than two years after the release of his debut album Mr Money with the Vibe says everything about Asake’s giddying ascent, driven by singles “Omo Ope” and “Amapiano” (both with mentor Olamide), “Lonely at the Top,” later released as a remix with NorCal R&B singer H.E.R, and most recently the Auto-Tuned warble x fluid flow of “Wave,” a collab with London drill rapper Central Cee. Backed by the brilliant Ghanaian band The Compozers, Asake offers elevated interpretations of his already brilliant songs in concert, including typically numerous special guests. Tickets at Ticketmaster.

With a name that sounds like a chainsaw brand, Powerwolf could only be a Teutonic power metal band. Formed in 2003 by members of German act Red Aim, the makeup-slathered sixsome embraced a trend for fictional backstories, but what at first seemed lighthearted has become very serious, with Powerwolf’s keys-adorned, overdramatic metal propelling them into charts across Europe, with three domestic number one albums including last month’s Wake Up the Wicked. Like Iron Maiden before them, Powerwolf has admirably earned stateside headlining status without mainstream airplay or charting records. Canadian special guests Unleash the Archers hitch D&D-inspired themes to frantic yet melodic power metal built around the athletically soaring vocals of figurehead Brittney Hayes, often layered against clean/unclean backups. Widdly, fantastical, and wonderfully sincere, song titles like “General of the Dark Army” and “Cleanse the Bloodlines” say way more about Unleash the Archers than there's space for here. Tickets at Live Nation.

Employees Only is a sophisticated NYC concept wrapped in distinctive WeHo glamor serving spectacular cocktails and celeb-speckled people watching. So, where better for empowering Compton multi-hyphenate Yolanda Whittaker, aka Yo-Yo, to remind us why she’s widely regarded as the mother of West Coast rap and much more besides. Championed by Ice Cube, who featured her on his 1990 debut album AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted, Yo-Yo’s distinctive flow and candid narratives got her a deal with Atlantic Records literally out of high school (the label actually had to wait for her to graduate). While 1992’s Black Pearl was her recording career zenith, femcee-ing would become just one facet of a force of nature (and former Tupac beau) who, following her film debut in Boyz n the Hood, has also enjoyed an acting career and become known as a philanthropist and advocate who even testified before the Senate House Judiciary Committee.

Belgian DJ and producer Michaël Bella, who performs as Eptic, leapt into U.S. dance clubs with his 2016 EP Overlord, which hit number 22 on the Billboard Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart. Ostensibly creating typical party-hearty, drop-heavy dubstep/EDM, Eptic’s subtle signature is in the details - sci-fi themes; smooth, spacy arrangements; and trap and drum ‘n’ bass tangents. Prolific and well-regarded by his peers, he’s collabed with DJ Snake, Marshmello, and Juicy J. Dutch-born electronic producer Dion Timmer has far outgrown that sole title. In addition to 30+ singles and his 2020 debut album Enter Achroma, this young phenom has already headlined tours, ventured into video game development, and created his own line of clothing and merch. Timmer has worked with Zed’s Dead, Virtual Riot, Liquid Stranger, and Sullivan Kings, as well as being a go-to collaborator for Canadian scene stalwart Excision, for whom he’s opened two tours and produced fest staples like “Necromancer,” “Africa” and “Home.” Tickets at Live Nation.

While a cult figure stateside, best known as the frontman of Brit synth-pop pioneers Ultravox and “that other Live Aid guy” overshadowed by Bob Geldof, Midge Ure in fact boasts a 55-year career spanning glam and hard rock, post-punk, new wave and, more recently, singer-songwriter fare. Even before Ultravox formed in London in 1974, Ure enjoyed a string of European hits with Scottish borderline boy band Slik, including a UK number one with “Forever and Ever,” and with influential new wavers Visage. Ultravox were ‘80s Brit chart fixtures, scoring seven hit albums and seventeen Top 40 singles, including the masterfully melodramatic signature song “Vienna.” Incongruously, the suavely groomed Ure also played guitar/keys with hirsute rockers Thin Lizzy and cowrote frontman Phil Lynott’s biggest solo hit, “Yellow Pearl.” He’s also been releasing solo records since 1982, with the most recent, 2018’s Orchestrated, comprising orchestral reimaginings of some of his existing tunes. Tickets at Dice.

Taking place at Hollywood Park adjacent to SoFi Stadium, the inaugural Fool in Love Festival is an R&B/soul/pop extravaganza that will make concertgoers both “remember when” nostalgic and appreciative of why these acts that mostly peaked in the 1960s-1980s are still treading the boards.

Co-headlined by Lionel Richie, known to a new generation as an American Idol judge; and diva of all divas Diana Ross, the unbelievably stacked lineup of this all-day, three-stage spectacular also features Nile Rodgers & Chic, Chaka Khan, Eric Burdon & The Animals, Al Green, Santana, Charlie Wilson, Gladys Knight, Smokey Robinson, The Isley Brothers, George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic, Kool & The Gang, Rose Royce, Morris Day & The Time, Los Lobos, Cameo, Shalamar, S.O.S. Band, Con Funk Shun, Mary Jane Girls, The Pointer Sisters. and many more – over 40 acts in all!

A hugely influential hip-hop/trap producer, Metro Boomin stepped from behind the screen in 2018 with his debut solo album Not All Heroes Wear Capes. When that record debuted at number one, it confirmed the Atlanta-based artist’s arrival as a bonafide star after years of collabs with the likes of Future, with whom he first made a name with “Karate Chop” and “Honest”; Young Thug, Drake, the Weeknd, and more. Given his background, it was predictable that Not All Heroes is a guest-crammed affair – including Swae Lee, Gunna, Wizkid, and Kodak Black – that expanded on Metro’s dark, gritty production signature with other artists. For someone who had seemingly done it all by age 25, he hit the top spot again with his sophomore effort Heroes & Villains, released a Spider-Man soundtrack album, and had collaborative hit albums with Savage 21, Offset, Big Sean, and back-to-back number ones this year with career constant Future.

Tickets at Ticketmaster.

Despite its name, the touring Is for Lovers Festival is not a gathering of sappy balladeers or hippy throwbacks, but rather an increasingly nostalgic celebration of “emo” – an emotive, confessional post-hardcore subgenre. Founders, curators, and headliners of the annual trek Hawthorne Heights (whose song “Ohio Is for Lovers” inspired the name) enjoyed their commercial heyday in the mid aughts, with Gold-certified albums The Silence in Black and White and If Only You Were Lonely, so expect an audience edging towards middle age with fond memories and fists raised, both reliving and reviving a massively resonant soundtrack to at least a chapter of their lives. Held at The Torch adjacent to the LA Coliseum, this year’s California Is for Lovers also features Finch, Saosin, Anberline, Cartel, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Stick To Your Guns, and more.

Tickets at Ticketmaster.

For anyone over thirty, Under the Rug checks multiple indie band boxes: they’re from perpetually hip Austin; their irreverent, folky rock-lite, proudly DIY ethos; and curated, candid headshots. What distinguishes UTR is the soulfully supple voice of Casey Dayan, an instrument that imparts tremendous emotional impact to potentially innocuous pop melodies - falsetto-capped and capable of almost jazzy flurries. In the build-up to the band’s ambitious new Happiness is Easy – a 30-song, two-part epic featuring collabs with songwriters Sam Hollander (Panic! At the Disco, blink-182 etc) and Minneapolis folk-pop mainstay Mason Jennings – the trio has released a pair of intriguing singles. “Mad Girls Love Song” is the Dayan we’ve been dying for: whisper-intimate and deliciously coy; then wonderfully, tremulously crooning. Released last month, the more somber but no less tantalizing “Laugh a Lot” further implies that Happiness will propel Under The Rug over the top.

Tickets at Ticketweb.

Staged in the parking lot of the storied Rainbow Bar & Grill, the annual Backyard Bash is a must-do for veteran hair metal lovers and a crash course in 1980s-90s Sunset Strip sounds for those curious about the era. This edition is headlined by KK’s Priest, former Judas Priest guitarist KK Downing’s outfit which some say is closer to classic Priest than its current incarnation. Also appearing are hugely influential German proto speed/thrash juggernauts Accept, now fronted by former T.T. Quick singer Mark Tornillo; and LA’s own BulletBoys (who coincidentally released a cover of Accept anthem “Balls To the Wall” in 2009). Head to the Rainbow early for longrunning Ventura County thrashers Warbringer plus Danger Danger frontman Ted Poley doing his solo thang – not to mention, of course, the Rainbow’s world-class people watching, which just might include someone from a poster on your teenage bedroom wall.

Free with RSVP at Ticketweb, two-drink minimum.