Live-music venues worth the trip in Los Angeles, California

The nation’s largest natural amphitheatre, cut into a Hollywood hillside and open since 1922. The band-shell acoustics and summer-night setting are the reason it is on every list like this.

A 1940 ballroom that opened with Sinatra, restored in 2008 to a ~4,000-cap standing room. Retro-glam bones and a big, flat floor for touring headliners.

A 5,900-seat amphitheatre carved into Griffith Park since 1930. Trees on three sides and open sky above make it one of the best warm-weather rooms in the city.

Frank Gehry’s 2003 landmark, home of the LA Philharmonic, with a vineyard-seating hall built around its acoustics. Classical anchors the calendar but jazz and contemporary programming run through it.

A 1927 Hollywood Playhouse turned ~1,500-cap venue, now leaning heavily on electronic and dance nights behind a large custom sound rig.

A 1936 Art Deco theatre on Miracle Mile, a city landmark converted to a music venue in 1994. Chandeliers and a balcony over a compact floor.

A 1913 playhouse rebuilt into a ~600-cap ballroom in 2015, with a wide stage and a sound system to match. One of the better-sounding mid-size rooms downtown.

A 1926 theatre reopened as a ~1,200-cap music room in 2012, with a rooftop bar and restored Spanish Colonial Revival detail. A reliable stop on the mid-size touring circuit.

A 1914 downtown theatre that sat dark for over a decade before a full renovation reopened it as a music room. Strong indie and heavier programming in downtown LA’s Historic Core.

A 285-seat listening room off Cahuenga where the 2000s singer-songwriter wave passed through — Adele and Ed Sheeran among the early bookings. Quiet, close, and songwriter-first.