What a year for shows in Los Angeles 2018 was. This is undoubtably the best city in the world for live music, so consider each list by our contributors 10 reasons why. Reunion shows alone were off the chain, Burger Boogaloo featured two comeback sets, Devo and Le Shok. Both performances were wild and unforgettable, making much deserved appearances below. Lets not forget about Stray Cats reuniting at Viva Las Vegas or Helloween’s epic Pumpkins United at the Palladium or Bleeding Through at the Observatory or My Bloody Valentine at The Shrine either.
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So many promoters delivered the goods in 2018. Das Bunker brought Covenant to 1720, Part Time Punks gave us Jay Aston’s Gene Loves Jezebel at the Echoplex, Church of the 8th Day sold out the Teragram with Napalm Death, and Lethal Amounts sold sex at Sex Cells with Hercules and Love Affair. Each of these shows are among the many these promoters held that were rare highlights of the year.
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Punk rock represented hard, especially out of the Latin sector of Angelino culture. Club Scum held an anniversary party featuring the likes of Limp Wrist and San Cha. The Dead Milkmen played two nights at the Teragram and reminded everyone why Philly will always be more punk than you. Though not exactly punk, anymore at least, Pussy Riot made three rare appearances at the Echo.
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Metal made a mark with multiple landmark shows. Danzig closed out an incredible Halloween Hell Bash that featured one of the spookiest lineups of the year. On the sludgier side of things, Boris played their 25th anniversary show opening for Melvins at Echoplex. Perhaps the most metal concert moment of the year was Nasty Savage’s set at Strike Fest when the crowd chanted “ECW, ECW, ECW” after Nasty Ronnie broke a TV set over his head.
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Psych rock was a wellspring of inspiration this year with Desert Daze relocating to Lake Perris and showcasing the best lineup they’ve ever had. Latin Legends Os Mutantes even played a show at Catch One on the hottest day this city has felt in decades. And perhaps most poignantly, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard sold out the Hollywood Palladium, signifying that they were no longer an underground darling but a straight up phenomenon, the band that will be this generation’s icons.
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Hip Hop was as strong as ever, flexing their supremacy over rock and roll in contemporary culture, most notably with Camp Flog Gnaw selling out in 10 damn minutes and featuring an epic once in a lifetime performance by Kanye West and Kid Cudi as Kids See Ghosts. One of the best hip hop/r&b performances of the year was by DRAM at Air + Style, who showed Los Angeles why he is such a beloved personality in culture and music.
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Festivals this year were off the chain. Goldenvoice brought Neil Young and Robert Plant to Arroyo Seco. Sound and Fury had Ceremony headlining at the Belasco for a set that became one of the most important in the festival’s history. Music Tastes Good had the best sound quality I’ve ever heard popping off during New Order’s headlining set. Nature World Night Out bridged together hip hop and hardcore and made two scenes realize they had much more in common than they thought. The Growler’s reclaimed the name they invented and brought Beach Goth back to L.A. with the wackiest lineup of the year.
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A few new, little venues made big splashes in 2018, both in the OC. I’m talking about Marty’s on Newport and Garden Amp in Garden Grove. If you want to see a band that could sell out a huge place put on an insane show in a tiny, cramped room, these are the places to be. Marty’s opened up with the Dwarves and Bushwick Bill playing and Garden Amp held New Age Records’ 30th anniversary show in the Locker Room.
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Lastly, before we go into our lists, we have to say goodbye to the artists that played their goodbye shows this year. Slayer played at Five Point Amphitheatre for their farewell tour, it was a eulogy for the greatest metal band of all time. George Clinton is getting too old to tour and his Observatory send-off was a sad, beautiful, and cathartic encounter for one of our photographers. Black metal band Satyricon played their final Los Angeles show to a sold out Regent Theater that was just as much pagan funeral as it was concert. Finally, perhaps the most upsetting end was Death Hymn Number 9’s final show at The Continental Room, the band’s impact still hasn’t been forgotten.
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The top ten concerts of 2018 according to Janky Smooth contributors are:
Danny Baraz, Publisher at Janky Smooth
- Ty Segall at Teragram
- Slayer at Five Point Amphitheatre
- Death From Above at Teragram
- DRI at Beauty Bar
- Cro-Mags and Eyehategod at The Dive Bar
- Subhumans at Los Globos
- Danzig at Five Point Amphitheatre
- Surfbort at Resident
- Death Grips at Desert Daze
- The Dead Milkmen at Teragram
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Rob Shepyer, Editor at Janky Smooth
- Devo at Burger Boogaloo
- Neil Young at Arroyo Seco
- New Order at Music Tastes Good
- Helloween: Pumpkins United at the Hollywood Palladium
- Slayer at Five Point Amphitheatre
- Robert Plant at Arroyo Seco
- Midnight at Catch One
- Dead and Company at Dodgers Stadium
- Bleeding Through at The Observatory
- Limp Wrist at The Echoplex
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Jessica Moncrief, Photographer at Janky Smooth
- Erykah Badu at Smokin’ Grooves Festival
- Killing Joke at the Regent
- Dead Milkmen at Teragram
- Devo at Burger Boogaloo
- Thom Yorke at the Orpheum
- David Byrne at the Shrine Auditorium
- George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic at The Obersvatory
- KRS-ONE at Marty’s on Newport
- Slayer at Five Point Amphitheatre
- Murder City Devils at Teragram
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Robert Cohen, Author at Janky Smooth
- Daikaiju at The Echo
- Death From Above at Teragram
- Electric Six at The Bootleg Theatre
- Franz Ferdinand at The Wiltern
- Giorgrio Moroder at The Globe
- Hinds at Teragram
- Marc Rebillet at Los Globos
- Michael Gir at The Regent
- Pond at Zebulon
- Terry Gross at The Bootleg Theatre
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Albert Licano, Photographer at Janky Smooth
- Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds at The Forum
- Killing Joke at The Regent
- Devo at Burger Boogaloo
- Nuclear Assault at Show Us Your Scars Fest
- The Dead Boys at Alex’s Bar
- Excel at Catch One
- Le Shok – Alex’s Bar
- Negative Approach at Sound and Fury
- Giuda at Garden Amp
- Forward at Redwood Bar
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Dave Unbuckled, Author at Janky Smooth
- Leftover Crack – Gothard Sound
- Me First And The Gimme Gimmes at The Fonda
- Modest Mouse at The OC Fair
- Kali Uchis at Tropicalia Music and Taco Festival
- Alkaline Trio at The Obersatory
- Vampire Weekend at The Observatory
- Le Shok at Alex’s Bar
- Hi Guppy at The Locker Room
- Sad Girl at Tropicalia Music and Taco Festival
- American Football at The Observatory
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Jonathan Reyes, Author at Janky Smooth
- Ghostemane at The Echo
- Death Hymn Number 9’s final show at The Continental Room
- The Paranoyds live soundtrack to Night of the Living Dead at LACMA
- Amyl and the Sniffers at The Echo
- Starcrawler at Echo Park Rising
- Azalea Banks at The Fonda
- Beth Ditto at The Fonda
- Pusha T at The Belasco
- Freddie Gibbs at The Observatory
- Nick Cave at the Forum
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Maggie St. Thomas, Photographer at Janky Smooth
- Janet Jackson at Outside Lands
- Elvis Costello and The Imposters at House of Blues Anaheim
- LP at The Independent
- X at Marty’s on Newport
- Sparks at The Palace Theatre
- Culture Club at The Big Fresno Fair
- Roky Erickson at Marty’s on Newport
- MC50 at The Observatory
- The Great American Smokeout at Citizens Business Bank Arena
- Summertime in the LBC at the Queen Mary
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Michael Haight, Photographer at Janky Smooth
- Kitten at The Smell
- Fyggy Fest at The Locker Room
- Joynoise at
- Blivet at The Observatory
- Skating Polly at The Locker Room
- Los Hurricanes at El Rincon
- Pusha T at The Observatory
- Janelane at FTG
- The Premonitions at Riff Mountain
- 3LH at The Locker Room
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Anthony Mehlhaff, Photographer at Janky Smooth
- Midnight and Bat at Catch One
- Amyl and the Sniffers and Surfbort at Moroccan Lounge
- Slayer at Pechanga Arena
- Andrew W.K. at The Fonda
- The Manx at The Church of Fun
- Municipal Waste at The Regent
- Daikaiju at 1720
- System of a Down at Aftershock Festival
- Surfbort at The Resident
- Flames of Durga at 6660’s Bands in a Barbershop
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Aria Silva-Espinosa, Author at Janky Smooth
- Janelle Monae and Oliver Tree at Music Tastes Good
- Erykah Badu at Smokin’ Grooves
- Rico Nasty and Wicca Phase Springs Eternal at Nature World Night Out
- M.I.A. and RL Grime at All My Friends Music Festival
- Plasmic at Sex Cells
- Phoenix and Gucci Mane at Air + Style
- Pussy Riot at The Echo
- David Byrne at The Shrine
- BROCKHAMPTON at The Observatory
- Fever Ray at The Hollywood Palladium
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Dillon Vaughn, Photographer at Janky Smooth
- Sting and Shaggy at The Wiltern
- Black Moth Super Rainbow at The Lodge Room
- Grouper at The First Congregational Church
- Animal Collective performing Tangerine Reef at The Vista Theater
- Insane Clown Posse at the Regent
- Zeta at The Blvd
- Nasty Savage at Strike Fest
- Joe Bataan at Steven’s Steakhouse
- Grim Reaper at The Whisky
- Demolition Hammer at The Whisky
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