The Best Los Angeles Concerts: Dec. 2-8, 2024

An Evening with Cher is not a concert, but rather Cher discussing her new autobiography, Cher: The Memoir, Part One. Following her October induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, this up-close event celebrates the 60-year singing/acting/TV career of LA’s beloved Cherilyn Sarkisian. Significantly, the book is only Part 1 of her story (Part 2 follows next year), as there’s simply so much to tell. Cher’s artistry has too often been overshadowed by her sometimes stormy private life and, since the 1980s, becoming a perpetually youthful poster girl for plastic surgery. But even her 100 million albums sold, not to mention number one U.S. singles in seven consecutive decades, only hint at her sonic significance. Cher’s 1998 hit “Believe” popularized the Auto-Tune vocal processing software that’s since become almost a pop music standard. And yet, even beneath that gloopy digital layer, her deep, commanding and epically tremulous contralto remained singularly, wonderfully Cher. Tickets at AXS include a copy of her book.

As he mulls turning 60 next year, Brooklyn’s Lawrence Parker, aka KRS-One can proudly reflect on being one of hip-hop’s most influential MCs: a pioneer of hardcore and socially/politically conscious rap in the 1980s with Boogie Down Productions and as a solo star since the early ‘90s. While his own releases seldom matched the acclaim of his work with Boogie Down – a group also comprising rapper D-Nice and DJ Scott La Rock – KRS-One talked tough while toning down the preachiness as he established his own brand, notably on 1997’s Gold-certified I Got Next. While today viewed largely as a cult legacy artist, he’s continued to release albums every couple of years. His latest, 2022’s I M A M C R U 1 2 has been widely hailed as a return-to-form collection of energized socio-conscious rhyming and hardcore battle-rap braggadocio delivered with the enunciated articulation and attention-holding flow of an artist nearly forty years in the game. Tickets at Ticketweb.

John Legend has achieved almost every imaginable career accolade, including being the first African American man to join the exclusive EGOT club, having won Emmy, GRAMMY, Oscar and Tony Awards. After years of behind-the-scenes contributions to releases by Lauryn Hill, Jay-Z, Janet Jackson and more, the distinctively debonair R&B crooner-pianist came out swingin’ with his four-million-selling 2004 debut Get Lifted and hits including 2005 breakout “Ordinary People,” 2013 number-one “All of Me,” and 2016’s Platinum-selling “Love Me Now” have kept on coming ever since. Two years ago, he also checked off that now requisite requirement of “established stars,” a Las Vegas residency. His latest album My Favorite Dream, released in August, is Legend’s first foray into children’s music, but his current “A John Legend Christmas” tour revisits 2018’s A Legendary Christmas collection, comprising heartwarming holiday hits performed alongside a four-piece band, segued with revealing stories from his glittering career. Tickets at Ticketmaster.

South Korean entertainment companies have become expert at forming and launching K-pop artists to often almost overnight international success. One of the latest is the all-girl Kiss of Life, the first creation of S2 Entertainment, launched by Hong Seung-sung, founder of genre powerhouse Cube Entertainment, which debuted last year with their eponymous and Born to Be XX EPs. As with many Cube acts, Kiss of Life’s members are involved in writing their music and lyrics, with American-born Shim Hye-won (aka Belle) in particular being an established songwriter for other acts. The group’s name alludes to their stated goal of breathing fresh life into the K-pop genre, which the foursome at least partially achieves by infusing their fairly predictable perky pop with nostalgic R&B flourish. Although barely in their twenties, all of Kiss of Life are entertainment industry veterans with resumes spanning reality TV, studio background vocals, and solo rap releases, so finding themselves already filling overseas theaters is no big surprise. Tickets to the all-ages shows at AXS.

With his smeared, raspy diction and blingy yet gritty, tells-it-as-he-sees-it imagery, Babyface Ray has become a staple of Detroit’s famously vibrant hip-hop scene and, more recently, a name to drop nationwide. While he didn’t self-release his first mixtape, 2015’s MIA Season ‘til his mid-twenties, Ray’s made up for lost time with an incredibly prolific decade since. He released four full-length albums in under three years, beginning with 2022’s Face, all of which made the top half of the Billboard 200, alongside a swarm of EPs and mixtapes. Throughout, his shrugging, nonchalant style almost sounds like a microphone has been held up to his inner dialogue. It was Ray’s Unf*ckwitable EP three years ago that really helped spread his rep beyond Michigan. Although criticized for diluting his previously distinct Detroit sound with self-consciously Southern influences, Ray has retained his signature focus on small, often aesthetic details to illustrate bigger societal pictures, many of them revolving around cash and its trappings. Tickets at Ticketmaster.

The music industry has gotten way better at keeping its teen pop stars at the top well into adulthood, as evidenced by Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and Justin Timberlake. But in the 1980s, such prodigies might burn brightly yet briefly, leaving the likes of Tiffany and Martika on ‘80s nostalgia package tours and the similarly successful Debbie Gibson at Hollywood’s intimate Bourbon Room, albeit for three nights. Unusually among teen poppers, Gibson wrote and produced much of her material, including becoming the youngest female to write, produce, and perform a Billboard Hot 100 number one single (1987’s moody “Foolish Beat”) and sharing ASCAP’s Songwriter of the Year title with Bruce Springsteen. While no longer a household name, Gibson is also no has-been, having starred in Broadway musicals and enjoyed her first top five single in decades with 2020’s “Girls Night Out.” Headlining the Bourbon Room will be a much more worthy platform for her prodigious talents than the short, rushed sets of multi-artist retro tours. Tickets at Ticketweb.

Part ska-turned-indie band, part cartoonish comedy troupe, Orange County’s Aquabats have become a veritable cult institution that has occasionally manifested in the mainstream. Originally part of a late 1990s ska-punk wave propelled by Sublime and No Doubt, their ’97 sophomore album The Fury of The Aquabats!, featuring now ubiquitous drummer/producer Travis Barker, scraped the Billboard 200 chart. Follow-up The Aquabats vs. the Floating Eye of Death! ushered in a more eclectic new wave sound that saw the band dropped by their label. Since their return to regular recording and touring in 2005, the zany, superhero-costumed Aquabats have exhibited an indie rock sound that, while never revisiting the popularity of their heyday, stabilized their following at a time when ska was a commercial kiss of death. For all of their silliness, the serious reverence for The Aquabats is evidenced by their touring with big names like The Offspring and Blink-182 (who promptly poached Barker), and by these two doubtless sell-out nights at The Glass House. Tickets at Dice.

As the son of former Ludacris collaborator I-20, it’s little surprise that Atlanta’s Destroy Lonely started rapping early and today, at just 23, can already boast two hit albums. Delayed viral traction for his 2019 single “Bane,” which took two years to command serious attention, led to him signing with Playboi Carti’s hugely influential Opium label, and the rest has been a short but meteoric history. DL’s erratic, unnerving Auto-Tuned flow lends a late-night ominousness to his largely braggadocio lyrics, assisted by ultra-atmospheric trap beats and ambient synths/samples. While his subject matter is familiar – self-aggrandization, firearms, financial crime – Lonely’s skittish scattering of words, melodic instincts and occasional humor atop grimly cinematic programmed canvases sets him apart. The reception to Destroy Lonely’s 21-track sophomore effort Love Lasts Forever, released in August, is common to contemporary mainstream rap - mixed reviews yet defiantly popular with the listening public. Tickets at AXS.

There’s not much that iconic Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli hasn’t achieved on stage, from rapturous receptions at New York’s storied Madison Square Garden and a hugely moving memorial concert at that city’s World Trade Center site; to performing on a floating stage for a PBS special and at London’s 2007 “Concert For Diana.” Effortlessly traversing classical and pop genres, his voice brings an aura of sincerity, purity and light to everything it touches, endearing him to fans worldwide. Bocelli is one of those rare performers who has achieved “legend” status within their lifetime and, with little left to prove at age 66, won’t be touring forever. So, shows like this first-ever appearance at Kia Forum should be savored. To mark 30 years since coming to international attention by winning the 44th Sanremo Music Festival, Bocelli just released Duets, an album of collabs with Ed Sheeran, Shania Twain, Celine Dion and more. Tickets at Ticketmaster.

For their millions of fans, seeing superstar Mexican grupera band Los Temerarios on their farewell tour is a must. With roots reaching back to late 1970s Zacatecas, they learned their craft in a traditional, organic fashion - plying their rancheras, organ-based ballads, and lighthearted cumbias around parties and weddings for years before really making an impact across Mexico and beyond. Their much-imitated bubblegum ranchera became a soundtrack for millions of young Mexican and Mexican Americans with 1991’s Mi Vida Eres Tú, an album of romantic loss and longing so consistent that radio programmers often played tracks other than its four singles. Led by brothers Adolfo and Gustavo Ángel, Los Temerarios have spent much of their career on the road (pandemic years aside), with sets distinguished by Gustavo’s soaring, emotive tenor, eccentric dance moves, and between-tunes humor. Their long goodbye has included 2019’s Sinfonico re-recording of hits with an orchestra and last year’s La Colección compilation album, including ten previously unreleased tracks. Tickets at Ticketmaster.