The LA Setlist: Aug. 5-11, 2024

A three and a half-octave vocal range and seemingly innate ability to lace his smooth rhythm and blues with hip-hop and, to a lesser extent, EDM and Afrobeats, has made Chris Brown the king of contemporary R&B. Brown has been gathering commercial and critical momentum since breaking through with his debut single “Run It!”, recorded at age 15, which topped the Billboard 200 in 2005. A walking talent show – also an acclaimed dancer, successful actor, and respected street artist – Brown has remained both prolific and stylistically intriguing, including on last year’s 11:11 album. Hailed by many as his best release since 2014's high water mark X, 11:11 once again finds the Virginia-raised crooner crafting myriad influences into a remarkably coherent and purposeful collection. Tickets at Ticketmaster.

Although beloved indie singer-songwriter Elliott Smith spent much of his life in Portland, his later days and mysterious 2003 death were here in Los Angeles. The fan memorial that spontaneously appeared on Sunset Boulevard in Silver Lake – the site of the cover photo for his Figure 8 album and near the Echo Park home where he died from stab wounds at age 34 – is emblematic of how this city’s music community adopted Smith, who also owned the vintage gear-equipped New Monkey Studio that continues to operate in Van Nuys.

More than two decades later, the enduring LA love and respect for Smith is evidenced by this tribute concert at The Regent, marking what would’ve been the melancholic composer’s 55th birthday. Performers will include members of Smith’s Figure 8 touring band; Jason Lytle and Jim Fairchild from Grandaddy; Ben Bridwell of Band of Horses; comedian Margaret Cho, Earlimart, Illuminati Hotties and many more. Tickets at Ticketmaster.

Seldom has a band staked so much on a single song as LA’s Lo Moon did with “Loveless.” The yearning and ethereal, 7-minute Talk Talk-y tune predates the band that singer Matt Lowell formed around it, was their sole representation for months, the demo that got them signed to Columbia Records, and their first single for that label. Though their 2018 eponymous debut album hit number 4 on the US Heatseakers chart and Lo Moon, which also features Samuel Stewart, son of Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart and Siobhan Fahey of Bananarama, toured with the likes of Phoenix and London Grammar, the epic “Loveless” has proven hard to follow. But wistful third album I Wish You Way More Than Luck, released in April, finds the slow-burning foursome establishing a voice beyond their nostalgic ‘80s influences, achieving simultaneous variety and cohesion, and generating a quiet energy a step above their sleepy early performances. Tickets at AXS.

It’s indicative of the Internet’s ability to rapidly disseminate music and that Laufey, who only released her debut album two years ago, is headlining the world-famous Hollywood Bowl. Her dizzying ascent is all the more remarkable considering that the jazz-pop genre that this Icelander so exquisitely revisits has largely declined in popularity over recent decades. Not that this 25 year-old appeared out of nowhere: her parents are both classical violinists; she was a cello soloist with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra at age 15; and placed high in both Iceland’s Got Talent and The Voice as a teen. While her early releases certainly made waves, it was last year’s GRAMMY-winning sophomore album, Bewitched that put Laufey on the big stages, topping the U.S. Indie chart and accruing almost universal critical acclaim for her glacial voice, innate charisma, and swooning tales of ill-fated adoration. Resale tickets to the sold-out show at AXS.

Unique for an electronic act, New Zealand all-star group Leisure has loads of members, including Djeisan Suskov from Cool Rainbows; Jordan Arts of Kids of 88; Jaden Parkes of Goodnight Nurse; and Benee producer Josh Fountain. For the past decade, the sextet has been merging multiple genres – including 1970s funk, slinky R&B, ‘90s downtempo/trip-hop, and more – into a sound that appeals to home headphones and hipster lounges alike. On last fall’s introspective and groove-packed fourth album, Leisurevision, the ever-evolving outfit retains the laid-back project’s pre-existing aural nostalgia while working in fresh and innovative elements inspired by blue-eyed soul, post-disco, and ‘90s hip-hop. While Leisure is firmly associated with EDM, don’t expect a Kraftwerk-esque performance at The Fonda. Instead, the on-stage Leisure has the aura of an unusually smooth and meditative indie band, with live guitars, bass, and helium vocals dovetailed into digital sounds. Tickets at AXS.

Foo Fighters founder Dave Grohl is his generation’s Phil Collins: a super-successful singing and songwriting drummer with timeless pop sensibilities, an unpretentious everyman persona, and borderline media ubiquity. Like Collins, formerly of Genesis, Grohl used the platform of a prior hit band, Nirvana, to launch a subsequent, even more stratospheric solo career. Yet while Foo Fighters began as a one-man project, the reputations and charisma of some longtime members, notably late drummer Taylor Hawkins and former Germs/Nirvana guitarist Pat Smear, has created a coexisting collective identity. Grohl’s immense gift is in marrying catchy melodies to heavy guitars and punk energy to massively resonating effect. He rebounded from the passing of both his mother and Hawkins in 2022 with Foo Fighters’ 11th album, last year’s But Here We Are, with FF now boasting Hawkins’ almost inevitable replacement, the prolific Josh Freese (Guns N’ Roses, A Perfect Circle etc.). Tickets at AXS.

Infamously known for being fired from Metallica in 1983, Dave Mustaine has ultimately earned more metal-community respect with his Megadeth brainchild than he likely ever would have with Lars Ulrich & co. It speaks volumes about both Mustaine’s songwriting prowess and his resolve that he bounced back almost immediately with Megadeth, even reluctantly taking on vocal duties alongside his prodigious guitar shredding to create a thrash titan of astonishing consistency and relentless refusal to “ballad-out” a la Metallica. After a run of Platinum and Gold-selling albums in the 1980s and ‘90s, Megadeth has continued to make the US Top 20 with every release, despite unstable lineups. The outspoken Mustaine rebounded from the double blows of 2019 throat cancer and the pandemic with a furiously virtuosic return to form with Megadeth’s blistering The Sick, the Dying … and the Dead! in 2022, replete with his signature societal, political, and personal sneering. Tickets at Ticketmaster.

You know you’ve made it when a fellow singer-songwriter, herself a charting artist, is happy to perform in the parking lot outside your shows. But such is the case on country star Luke Bryan’s current tour, where Canadian American chanteuse Meghan Patrick has been warming up crowds as they arrive. Already one of the world’s best-selling artists, Bryan’s reputation far transcends his genre since he became an immensely likeable judge on TV’s American Idol in 2018. And who would argue with his credentials, with over 75 million albums sold and 30 number 1 singles, as well as co-penning hits for the likes of Travis Tritt and Billy Currington. The Georgia-born Bryan’s good natured, party-hearty bro-country, which has included specifically Spring Break-themed releases, takes few chances, but has helped ingratiate country music to a wider suburban audience. Tickets at Ticketmaster.

Alanis Morissette’s malapropism of the word “ironic” in her 1996 single of the same name may or may not have forever neutered its nuanced meaning in popular parlance. But the fact that a pop record could even potentially have such impact speaks to the ubiquity of Morissette’s 33 million-selling third album, Jagged Little Pill, from which “Ironic” and a further three number 1 U.S. singles were culled. And as the queen of ‘90s confessional alt-pop, Morissette influenced and helped open doors for the likes of Katy Perry, Avril Lavigne and Pink. The former teeny-popper’s post-Jagged career has been characterized by taking increasing control of her music and image, including 2022’s brave meditation album The Storm Before the Calm. At barely 50 years old, Morissette is far from done with her evolving expression and is a beaming reminder that the greatest gift of early-career mega success can be creative freedom thereafter. Tickets at Ticketmaster.

Khruangbin is a Houston trio that most folks have never heard of, with a name that many struggle to pronounce. Yet here they are headlining two nights at the 17,500-seat Hollywood Bowl. In a 21st century parallel with the Grateful Dead, Khruangbin has earned huge yet non-mainstream popularity with a sound that defies categorization. The largely instrumental threesome’s dub-indebted basslines, reverby guitar, and breakbeat-rooted drums convey a vivid, constantly curious wandering through Thai funk, West African disco, spaghetti western scores, surf rock, Kingston dub, Bakersfield country, and Iranian pop, eclectic to the point where what’s become known as the “Khruangbin vibes” subgenre refers more to a mindset than a specific sound. The often elaborate stage wear of band’s fashionista bassist Laura “Leezy” Lee bely Khruangbin’s pride in sonic simplicity (Lee plays an entry-level instrument with 15-year-old strings), and never more so than on April’s stripped-down, return-to-roots fourth album, A La Sala.