Erykah Badu and The Alchemist at the Hollywood Bowl

Erykah Badu plays the Hollywood Bowl on Tuesday, September 29, and it isn't a standard headline set. The night belongs to Lauren Halsey, the South Central LA artist whose huge, candy-colored sculptures have ended up at the Met and the Venice Biennale. She's building a stage set just for the Bowl, and Badu shares it with hip-hop producer The Alchemist. If you're scanning upcoming events Los Angeles has on a weeknight, this one's hard to top.

The idea behind emajendat

Halsey staged a show called emajendat in London in 2024, and this is the Bowl's version of it. The Bowl calls it an immersive production, with a technicolor set designed for this one stage. Halsey's work usually pulls from the storefronts, signs and hand-lettered walls of her own neighborhood, so expect something loud and layered rather than a clean backdrop behind a band. Her pieces sit in the collections of MOCA, the Guggenheim and the Whitney.

Badu and The Alchemist

Badu has been doing her own thing since Baduizm in 1997, and she still sounds like nobody else. The Alchemist made his name producing for Mobb Deep and has spent the last decade cutting sample-heavy records with rappers he likes. The two of them have a collaborative album, Before the World Blows, and fans have been waiting on it. Billboard caught them together last year and said his "dusty, vibey production is a perfect fit" for her.

The rest of the bill is stacked too. Anderson .Paak spins as DJ Pee .Wee. Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers joins in. Visual artist Charles Gaines brings his Collective with LA jazz group Black Nile and Devin Daniels, and actor Yvonne Orji hosts.

Practical info and getting there

Gates open at 6pm for pre-concert events, and the concert starts at 8pm. That early window is your picnic time, and the Bowl lets you bring food up to the terraces. It's a Tuesday, so plan for traffic on Highland.

The Hollywood Bowl is on North Highland Avenue in the Cahuenga Pass, just off the 101. The stacked parking lots are slow to empty after a show. Park & Ride buses or a walk from the Hollywood/Highland B Line station usually beat driving.

We didn't have a confirmed ticket price from our source, so check the Bowl's box office before you go. All sales there are final, and the lineup is subject to change. For more things to do in Los Angeles near the Bowl, browse our Hollywood page and the arts and culture section. It's one of the more unusual Things Happening In Hollywood this fall.