From the Laurel Canyon songwriter tradition to backyard shows across Silver Lake and Echo Park, Los Angeles has always made room for music close to home. A house concert brings that intimacy to your place - an unforgettable evening with a handpicked musician playing just for you and your guests, in your own living room, patio or backyard. No lines, no valet, no traffic on the way home. Discover talented US-based artists up close before they're playing the big rooms.
Find artists in Los AngelesThe Los Angeles house concert has a famous ancestor. In the late 1960s the songwriters of Laurel Canyon - Joni Mitchell, Crosby, Stills and Nash and the circle around them - worked out their songs in each other's living rooms long before those songs reached a stage. The Sunset Strip supplied the volume, the Eastside now supplies the range: Silver Lake and Echo Park for indie, Boyle Heights and East LA for a deep Latin scene, and a whole city of session players who record by day and play for the love of it at night.
Los Angeles also has the one thing most cities cannot offer - weather. Backyard concerts run comfortably from spring well into autumn, and a patio, a garden or a driveway makes a better room than many clubs. With bungalows and gardens instead of tight apartments, hosts here can put on something closer to a small festival and still have everyone home by ten.
A living room concert is exactly what it sounds like: a professional musician plays a full set in a private home, for an audience the host has invited. You will see the same thing called a house concert, a house show or - because of where we started - a SofaConcert. They all mean the same evening.
There is no stage, no ticket desk and no support act. A typical concert in Los Angeles runs 60 to 90 minutes, often split into two sets with a break, in front of anywhere from 15 to 50 guests. Most take place in a bungalow living room, a patio or a backyard. The artist brings whatever they need; you provide the room and the people.
Everything you need to plan, folded into the order you'll actually do it.
Pick a date and a room - thirty people fit a living room more easily than you'd think. Then browse the artist list for a singer-songwriter, duo or band.
Send as many free inquiries as you like. Each artist replies with a non-binding offer, so you can weigh up a few before choosing. Settle the scope in writing in the booking system - that written record is what the contract is based on.
Confirming creates the contract and reserves your date. You deposit the fee plus the booking fee, which is held in trust and only released to the artist after the concert. You then get their contact details to sort out the last bits.
Browse Los Angeles and California acts, send free inquiries and book the one that fits your evening.
A few of the acts playing around Los Angeles.
List your space for free and touring artists apply to play your living room. You pick whoever you like the sound of, and you're never obliged to say yes - here is what hosting involves.
You would be joining people all over Europe who open their doors a few times a year and have turned their living room into somebody's favorite venue.
Some of the most recent spaces to join.
The choice can feel overwhelming. Don't worry - we'll help you.
Tell us the details of your concert and any particular wishes, and we'll do the rest.