After an inaugural year that featured performances from stars like Lil Baby, Snoop Dogg, Seventeen and Maluma in 2022, Los Angeles festival LA3C is significantly overhauling its sophomore edition this weekend, switching locales from a traditional festival ground at LA State Historic Park to a combo of four venues in the middle of downtown LA: The Theatre at Ace Hotel, the Orpheum Theatre, The Palace Theatre and the Los Angeles Theatre.
The festival was founded to celebrate Los Angeles as the “capital of creativity and culture” — hence the three c’s — and the result this year is an eclectic, artsy lineup led by Erykah Badu and Herbie Hancock, and featuring sets ranging from jazz and hip-hop to R&B and electronic acts.
Meanwhile on the food front, LA3C is bringing “Marketplace on Main,” a food fair walking distance from the four venues featuring eats from nearly 30 celebrated restaurants and chefs from around the city. The festival is also collaborating with Black Market Flea, a local initiative to support black-owned businesses, to set up Bazaar on Broadway and give Black Market Flea a spot for their vendors during the festival.
From the acts you can’t miss to to food you have to try, Here’s our guide on everything to check out at the fest this weekend.
Note: Penske Media Corporation, Rolling Stone’s parent company, owns and operates the LA3C festival.
Erykah Badu
Over 25 years into her tenure, Badu has enjoyed one of the biggest tours of her career this year with her 25-city Unfollow Me tour over the summer, jumping from theaters to the arena and stadium circuit. While the tour wrapped in her hometown of Dallas in July, those who missed out have a chance to see her at LA3C in a much more intimate setting. Badu will play her 10 p.m. Saturday headlining slot at the Orpheum Theater, a venue about one-tenth of the size of Crypto.com Arena, where she played in LA in June.
Herbie Hancock
2023 marks the 50th anniversary of Herbie Hancock’s influential masterpiece Headhunters, which intricately wove jazz and funk and redefined the genre while becoming the first jazz album to go platinum. We hope the jazz legend will give the album some love during his festival-closing headlining set at the Ace Hotel on Sunday night.
Flying Lotus
There’s no artist on the bill more fitting to celebrate Los Angeles and its cultural impact than Flying Lotus, one of the city’s most integral musicians for the past 15 years. The multi-hyphenate rapper, producer, composer and indie label founder plays the Ace Hotel at 9:30 Friday night, and FlyLo is the first heavy hitter of the weekend. LA3C marks his first hometown show since he played the Hollywood Bowl in August 2022.
Sudan Archives
Singer, producer and violinist Brittney Parks, better known as Sudan Archives, is one of the most compelling young artists in music and was featured in Rolling Stone’s Future of Music package (selected with help from none other than Bad Bunny). “The sound is classic and futuristic at the same time,” Benito said of Archives’ sound. “I always like that combination.” Sudan Archives will play the the Orpheum Theatre at 8:15 on Saturday.
Questlove
None other than Questlove will be playing a DJ set from the Marketplace on Main on Saturday, while nearby festivalgoers will be stuffing their faces with tacos and hot chicken while sipping locally crafted IPAs. The Roots co-founder and oscar-winning Summer of Soul director goes on at 8 p.m. Saturday.
Kamasi Washington, Terrace Martin and Robert Glasper
Kamasi Washington, Terrace Martin and Robert Glasper are three of the most innovative jazz players today. Those outside of jazz circles know them best for their work on Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly or DAMN, while their fans know them for their individual genre-pushing jazz works and the Dinner Party supergroup they formed three years ago. Washington will play the Los Angeles Theatre on Friday at 11:30 p.m., while Martin plays the Ace Hotel at 8:30 on Saturday, and Glasper takes the stage from Martin two hours later that night.
Quarters BBQ
LA’s Koreatown offers some of the best Korean food in the United States, and Quarters is one of the neighborhood’s busiest establishments. Featured in the Michelin guide, Quarters is best known for its high-quality beef and extensive wait times at its Wilshire Center restaurant, and is a must-try this weekend.
Sidepie and Speak Cheezy
LA’s pizza scene lives in the shadow of more established giants like New York or Chicago, but the city has more than its share of quality pizza. And since its start amid the pandemic, Sidepie out of Altadena is establishing itself as one of the best. Speak Cheezy, which cooks up a variety of Sicilian, New York and Neapolitan sourdough pizza and was featured in the Washington Post’s Best Pizza in America guide, will also be on site.
Wanderlust Creamery
Wanderlust Creamery is a Los Angeles ice cream staple, and as its name suggests, its flavors are inspired by cuisines from around the world. They bring one-of-a-kind scoops like sesame cookies and cream, sticky rice and mango, and a japanese neapolitan trio of matcha, hokkaido milk and cherry blossom. Make sure to try the Ube Malted Crunch.
