Fred Armisen
Fred Armisen pulls out one of his “Comedy For Musicians” sight gags during his set at the Place Theatre on LA3C’s opening night Friday. Armisen jumped between guitar, drums and bass for an hour and a half, riffing inside jokes best understood if you’ve ever been in a band, like the unnecessary hammer-ons guitarists do when playing a D chord, or the cliches from drummers during a drum solo. Playing the set like a variety show, as Armisen put it, he also brought out fellow comedian Chris Estrada —who created the Armisen-produced Hulu show This Fool — as well as the band Def Rain.
Lonnie Holley
Lonnie Holley opens the Theatre at Ace Hotel on Friday, November 11th with a trippy, experimental set that preceeded the rapper and producer Flying Lotus, as well as his Brainfeeder-signed group Salami Rose Joe Louis.
Brian Henry
Brian Henry plays a DJ set at LA3C’s Bazaar on Broadway at the Black Market Flea. The flea started in LA in 2021 as a way to showcase Black-owned creative businesses. The Flea at LA3C featured about a dozen vendors selling vintage and custom clothes, jewelry and art.
In Sheep’s Clothing Record Fair
LA3C hosted the In Sheep’s Clothing Record Fair at its Bazaar on Broadway throughout the entire festival weekend, partnering with indie labels and record shops in its vinyl offerings.
Flying Lotus
Flying Lotus performs his “layer three” show at the Theatre at Ace Hotel on Friday, November 10th. FlyLo’s set was the biggest visual spectacle of the weekend, as he stood between an LED screen behind him and a transparent fabric screen in front between him and the crowd. Part live DJ set, part laser light show on steroids, the setup helps make trippy visuals like FlyLo being englulfed in circling stars or atoms. While Flying Lotus has done the layer three shows for over a decade, they remain among the most unique in live music.
“Something tells me you’re not gonna want to sit in that chair the whole time,” FlyLo told the crowd before jumping into the set.
He started with calmer, trancey, ethereal electronic tracks before jumping into heavier electronic and Hip Hop tracks like his Earl Sweatshirt collab “Between Friends” or “Dragonball Durag” the 2020 Thundercat song off the FlyLo-produced It Is What It Is.
Erykah Badu
Erykah Badu plays her Saturday night headlining set at the Orpheum Theatre on November 11th. Fresh off her Unfollow Me arena Tour this summer, the 2,000-cap downtown venue is among the most intimate venues she’s played this year. For nearly two hours, Badu crooned and belted her way through songs including “20 Feet Tall,” “To Each Their Own,” and “Window Seat.” She played “Green Eyes” in her brief encore before finishing with a frenetic, pace-changing rendition of “Tyrone.”
“All you remember is Tyrone, just for that I’m gonna do it super fast, just to be vindictive and spiteful,” Badu joked early in her set. Though by the time she played it, Badu went from blazing through, to slightly slowing down, eventually going back to its normal tempo.
“I’m about to hit a real high note, y’all are going to scream and sh*t,” Badu told the crowd as she sung “Tyrone’s final lines. “I’m gonna go back to my bus and you’re gonna remember this for the rest of your f*cking lives.”
Terrace Martin
Terrace Martin’s band performs on stage at LA3C held on November 11, 2023 at the Theatre at Ace Hotel. Martin was one of several jazz-infused acts playing throughout the weekend, along with Herbie Hanco*ck and his Dinner Party supergroup bandmates Kamasi Washington and Robert Glasper. Washington played night before Glasper took the stage at the Ace just after Martin finished his set.
Aja Monet
Poet Aja Monet performs before Erykah Badu’s headlining set at the Orpheum Theatre on Saturday, November 12.
Sudan Archives
Sudan Archives plays violin during her set at the Orpheum Theatre on Saturday, November 11th. Among the most fascinating new artists in music, Sudan Archives weaved virtuosic violin playing with R&B, performing tracks including “NBMQ (Topless)” and “Come Meh Way.” At one point, she performed an instrumental irish jig, which she said was the first song she ever learned to play on violin when she joined the fiddle club as a child.
Pauli the PSM
Pauli the PSM opens the Orpheum Theatre for LA3C’s second day on Saturday, November 12th.
Marketplace on Main
Attendees dance at the Marketplace on Main during LA3C’s second day. The marketplace — a rotating food hall that featured local chefs and restaurants like Speak Cheezy, Bee Taqueria, Quarters KBBQ and Hotville Chicken throughout the weekend — also hosted DJ sets from Moodymann, Dennis Free and Questlove among several others.
Yrsa Daley-Ward
Writer and poet Yrsa Daley-Ward opens for Herbie Hanco*ck at the Theatre at Ace Hotel on Sunday November 12. Accompanied by musician The Josh Craig, who added synths and rhythm to her peoms, Ward performed several works about love, including the poem “Through and Through.”
“Do you want a poem about love going well or going badly,” she asked at the beginning of the set, as the crowd cheered for the latter. “You guys are dark,” she joked.
Herbie Hanco*ck
Herbie Hanco*ck performs at the Theatre at Ace Hotel to close out the LA3C festival Sunday night. For over two hours, 83-year-old jazz legend played through tracks he either wrote or performed on, fromHead Hunters classics, to the Wayne Shorter-composed “footprints.”
“We’re gonna start off in a forest millions of years ago,” Hanco*ck told the 1,600-cap room before the band jumped into its first extensive jam. “I’m serious, this is gonna be some strange stuff.”
Hanco*ck got his first of several standing ovations after the first track when he introduced the band. “You know how to make an old man feel good,” he said.
Among the other songs he played were “Come Running To Me” off the 1978 albumSunlightand “Actual Proof” off his classicHead Hunters,which turned 50 just over two weeks ago. He closed with his famed “Chameleon,” rising from the piano bench and playing keytar beside his bandmates.
Shabazz Palaces
Seattle-based experimental hip hop group Shabazz Palaces were the opening act to play the Ace Hotel venue on LA3C’s closing day on Sunday, preceeding Yrsa Daley-Ward and Sunday headliner Herbie Hanco*ck.
LA3C – Day 3
The crowd lines up for Herbie Hanco*ck’s headlining set at The Theatre at Ace Hotel on November 12th. Attendees wrapped around the block, lining up several hours before Hanco*ck’s 9 p.m. set to get their tickets.
