Best things to do this week in Los Angeles and Southern California: February 3 - 6

There’s no shortage of fire relief benefit concerts this month, and this one has some heavy hitters on the lineup. St. Vincent (who did a bang-up job with members of Nirvana at FireAid), Finneas, Jenny Lewis, Fred Armisen, local punk band The Linda Lindas, Perfume Genius, Lucy Dacus, Paramore’s Haley Williams, and more headline the Give A F*ck benefit show at the Palladium.

A wide-ranging new show featuring more than 70 artists is on view at the Brand Library and Art Center in Glendale. The exhibit, PERSEVERANCE: 20 Years of Thinkspace, celebrates the L.A. gallery Thinkspace with works by local artists and site-specific murals. The show is on view until March 29.

British farce at its best! The La Mirada Theatre production of The Play That Goes Wrong uses physical comedy and clever design to keep you laughing. Broadway World loved the “meta-theatrical elements that pile up on top of another like a runaway train that just keeps getting funnier and funnier as it keeps hurtling forward.”

While this conversation was planned before the devastating wildfires, it’s become an opportunity for healing and to hear from climate experts. New York Times International Correspondent Simón Romero moderates a chat with artist Tanya Aguiñiga, paleobotanist and curator Regan Dunn, climate mobility scholar Liliana Gamboa, and New Nomad Institute co-founder Badruun Gardi about what it would take to build a more interconnected and resilient world.

I think we all have some rage we probably need to get out about the state of the world and what better way than with an expert on just that? See Rage Against the Machine's Tom Morello — plus some special guests! — at the House of Blues in Anaheim. Morello is supporting his solo single out last year, “Soldier in the Army of Love.”

Few visual artists represent Los Angeles better than Ed Ruscha. At 87, Ruscha is a staunch advocate and ambassador for Los Angeles, presenting images of our city and all its flaws for decades. His iconic works comment on consumer culture and entertainment; his latest retrospective was held at LACMA in 2024. He heads to Occidental College for a discussion with interviewer and curator Paul Holdengräber.

All films are free to support the community post-fires at the California Science Center through Feb. 9, but might we suggest heading down for the IMAX film The Blue Angels? Go behind the scenes with the Navy’s elite Flight Demonstration Squadron in an immersive film that puts you in the cockpit. “When our guests watch this documentary and view the F/A-18A we have on display – a predecessor to the F/A-18E Super Hornets flown by the Blue Angels today – we hope they are inspired by the wonder of flight,” Jeffrey Rudolph, president and CEO of the California Science Center said.

Get your meal deal in and support fire relief efforts in the next few days as your last chance to enjoy DineLA is Feb. 7.  Remember, for every reservation at a participating restaurant, L.A. Tourism gives $5 to the American Red Cross with a match from Banc of California, raising the total donation to $100,000.

A three-course dinner and signature craft cocktails to support LATTC’s culinary students are part of TLV Tapas Bar’s Anniversary Celebration. Book reservations via OpenTable using the link HERE.

Yama Sushi Marketplace is organizing volunteers to help assemble bento boxes, each containing Chicken Katsu, Spam Musubi, sushi and veggies that go to people affected by the Southern California fires. Volunteers can also include handwritten, heartfelt notes, to help provide comfort and send love; the boxes have already gone to places like the South Pasadena San Marino YMCA, Pasadena-Sierra Madre YMCA, Pasadena Buddhist Temple, Altadena Presbyterian Church, Pasadena Japanese Cultural Institute and more.