jimmy kimmel liveSeeing live music in Los Angeles is an expensive endeavor, but sitting right in the heart of Hollywood is an inexplicably well-kept secret for seeing great live music: The “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” outdoor concert stage.

Seeing a taping of Jimmy Kimmel Live is free, and to get in, all you have to do is reserve tickets online and wait outside the show for about an hour. Once you’re in, you’re treated to music by some of the world’s biggest musical acts and even at maximum capacity you’re never more than 100 feet away from the stage (so it still kind of feels like an intimate performance). In the past few years, I’ve seen bands on that stage like No Doubt, Green Day, Kanye West, Neil Young, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Stone Temple Pilots, Modest Mouse, and Slayer – just to name a few.

The bands that play outdoors always do two songs “on air” for the show, and usually do a few more after that just to thank the crowd for coming out to watch. If you’re lucky, on rare occasion a band will play a full-on set (I’ve seen both The Arctic Monkeys and 50 Cent do this very thing.)

The show also has a lobby stage, which is much more intimate. You aren’t always treated to extra songs when a band plays on this stage, but if an artist you really like is playing, it’s like watching them perform in your living room (and you don’t have to clean up rock-star vomit afterward).

You can check out the concert schedule and get tickets at 1iota.com; and really, you should.

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