The LA Setlist: July 8-14, 2024

A rootsy reggae revivalist and genre royalty – his mom is 1970s Jamaican chart topper Lorna “Breakfast in Bed” Bennett –, Protoje has speckled his career with aspirational collabs with the likes of Chronixx, Ky-Mani Marley, and Lila Iké. But a period of pandemic isolation served him well on 2022’s more introverted Third Time’s the Charm, where he dials back his usual hip-hop, neo-soul, and rock influences in favor of contemplative, contented reggae. Yet Protoje is no traditionalist, gently moving the genre forward with on-point production from an international cast including England’s Oliver “Cadenza” Rodigan, IV the Polymath from Indiana, Bermuda’s 8track, and more. For all of its seductive sense of serenity, Third Time’s the Charm still features the social commentary that’s been a Protoje throughline on “Late at Night,” which laments gun violence in Jamaica with another nightingale performance from Iké gorgeously offsetting the main man’s crisply enunciated delivery.

While founding Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger and guitarist Keith Richards are age-related meme magnets, few of us of any vintage wouldn’t swap places with them. And this appears to be part of the secret of their still playing stadiums in their seventh decade: the older they get, the more inspiration and apparently attainable fantasy they offer to not only their original peer fanbase but also to generations of later followers, themselves now far from spring chickens. But it’s a shame that “amazing they’re still going!” exclamations (like the one I just wrote) oft overshadow the Stones’ songwriting skills and performance prowess. They’re not simply great for their age, but simply just great. New bands citing a Stones influence form daily and there’s a direct transatlantic line of homage from their 1960s beginnings through the likes of Aerosmith, the Black Crowes, and all the way to the newly returned Libertines. Tickets at AXS.

Missy Elliott’s impact on hip-hop and R&B has been so vast that, nearly twenty years since her last album, here she is headlining arenas. A true quadruple threat – songwriter, producer, singer, and rapper – she’s helped shape listening tastes both as a chart-topping solo artist around the turn of the Millennium and, for over 30 years, as a writer and producer for the likes of Mariah Carey, Aaliyah, and SWV. The enormous bottled-up love for Elliot is only amplified by her long hiatus from the public eye due to Graves’ disease and the fact that, incredibly, this is her first-ever headlining tour. Her 2019 Iconology EP was well received, but fans will flock to these shows to hear cuts from Elliot’s six-album run of million sellers and just to show massive respect for this “First Lady of Hip-Hop.” A supporting bill of Ciara, Busta Rhymes, and frequent Elliot collaborator Timbaland seals the deal. Tickets at AXS.

Streetwise and socially aware, Mexican rapper C-Kan doesn’t so much glorify the culture of gangs, drugs, and violence that he grew up around in Guadalajara as he does explore underlying factors such as income disparity and lack of education. Influenced by rap and reggaeton artists including Mexico’s Control Machete, Puerto Rico’s Big Boy, and stateside acts like reggaeton founding father Vico C and LA’s own Cypress Hill, he’s an increasingly thoughtful face of gangsta rap who has even appeared on Mexican news programs to discuss the social issues from which he draws lyrical inspiration. An artist largely known through social media and YouTube, where he racks up views in the hundreds of millions, C-Kan is perhaps deceptively popular.

For two hedonistic days, Lost in Dreams transforms Los Angeles State Historic Park into a fantastical wonderland of melodic dance music and multidimensional immersive light and art. But music remains the centerpiece of this epically escapist event, with acts divided between its Lost Stage and Lucid Stage. This year’s line-up includes a DJ set from poppy electro/house producer/songwriter Madeon, a throwback set from Canadian duo Adventure Club, Santa Barbara’s Seven Lions (aka dubstep/chillstep producer/DJ Jeff Montalvo), progressive EDM DJ Audien, and LA’s own electronica DJ/producer Le Youth, plus Xavi, Dab the Sky (Dabin B2B Said the Sky), Starsigns (Manila Killa x yetep x MYRNE), EMBRZ, Kaivon, HALIENE, Armnhmr, Trivecta, EGZOD, Nurko, Angrybaby, and many, many more.

Single- and two-day General Admission passes are available at AXS, plus VIP Elevated Experience passes that cover expedited festival entry, exclusive 21+ VIP dance areas, and dedicated VIP restrooms.

Weapons of Mass Creation is a born-and-bred Anaheim nine-piece comprising six Franco siblings, two Quiñonez brothers, and keyboardist/composer/producer HiiKu. This socially conscious collective seamlessly merges hip-hop with funk, soul, cumbia, and R&B with singularly arresting results. While the versatile-voiced Joules Franco has naturally evolved into the bilingual group’s visual and often musical focal point, bassist Jacob Franco is also a very capable lead vocalist, while rappers Josh and Enrique Quiñonez co-front this super-creative hydra. WOMC can be dance or party music, but scratch the surface and there’s also call-to-action lyricism exploring misogyny, police brutality, sexual orientation concealment, generational trauma as the offspring of immigrants, and more. Earning approval from the likes of KCET and the Los Angeles Times, as well as twice being named OC Weekly’s “Best Hip-Hop Act,” Weapons of Mass Creation has already sold-out LA’s Moroccan Lounge and Paramount, so expect similar enthusiasm at WeHo’s Troubadour.

For nearly 45 years, Australia’s The Church has carved out and gently massaged their own sub-niche of neo-psychedelic, new wavy pop. Shimmering, exquisitely arranged and executed electric/acoustic guitars framing breezy, low-register vocals are trademarks of the quintet, of which only singing bassist Steve Kilbey is an original member (although drummer Tim Powles and former Powderfinger guitarist Ian Haug are longtime fixtures). Melodic, melancholic, and maestros of often jangly guitar-based textures, The Church enjoyed full-blown international hits in the late 1980s, most notably twinkling single “Under the Milky Way.” But their devoted cult following is far from just nostalgia driven, as The Church have continued to be prolific both on the road and in the studio, with the quality of their craft seldom wilting. The well-received Eros Zeta and the Perfumed Guitars album appeared in March, just a year after the critically adored The Hypnogogue. Tickets at AXS.

Although it debuted in 2006, punk and hardcore fest Sound and Fury has had some stutters along the way, including a 2013-2015 hiatus and then mandated pandemic hiccups. But demand has remained from lovers of circle pits, spin kicks, and stage dives, so S&F returns to south LA’s Exposition Park with two days of frenetic fare including rare reunion performances from local powerhouse Twitching Tongues, built around scene stalwart siblings Colin and Taylor Young (also of God’s Hate, who play The Belasco the night prior); Illinois’ incongruously named powerviolence outfit Weekend Nachos (both on Saturday); and Boston bruisers Have Heart (on Sunday). Further Saturday standouts include post-hardcore supergroup Fiddlehead (featuring two Have Heart members), San Jose beatdowners Sunami, and East Coast post-hardcore quintet Drug Church, while Sunday’s bill also boasts Boston co-ed post-hardcore crew Fleshwater, death metallers Sanguisugabogg, post-shoegaze specialists Nothing, and Chicago hardcore heavyweights Harm’s Way.