Candlelight concerts in Los Angeles

Candlelight is Fever's own concert format, played in cities around the world, and Los Angeles has it on most weekends in a handful of rooms. The idea does not change from room to room: a historic space, candles across the floor and the steps, and a string quartet in the middle playing the songs of one artist or one theme. In Los Angeles the players named on almost every listing are the Orchid Quartet; the exception is the Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole evening at the Biltmore, played by the jazz ensemble PureSoul. Every programme is a tribute, and Fever says so on each listing: the concert is not associated with or endorsed by the artist. You hear Queen and ABBA, Hans Zimmer or Bad Bunny arranged for strings, not the artists.

The evening starts at the door. Fever opens it 45 minutes before the concert and lets nobody in once the music has started. Seats are not numbered: you buy a zone and take any free seat in it as you arrive, so early arrivals get the aisle and the front of each block. At the Koreatown church there are four tickets, Zones A, B and C on the floor and a balcony reached by stairs only.

The concert runs for 60 minutes without an interval. The Queen vs. ABBA programme, for example, runs through Dancing Queen, SOS, Bohemian Rhapsody, Killer Queen, Waterloo, Mamma Mia, Don't Stop Me Now and We Are the Champions, about fourteen pieces. At the Koreatown church Fever says light snacks and drinks are sold at a cashless bar.

The rooms are the reason to choose one show over another. Immanuel Presbyterian Church, on Wilshire Boulevard in Koreatown, was dedicated on 5 May 1929 and is Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 78, with a 205-foot bell tower, Fever's venue notes say. The Biltmore, on Pershing Square downtown, has been a hotel since 1923, and Secret Los Angeles, Fever's own city guide, says the concerts there use its Gold Ballroom. The third room is at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center in Burbank, an event space rather than a historic hall, but with the most shows of the three.

The one we would book first is Queen vs. ABBA at Immanuel Presbyterian Church in Koreatown. It holds 4.8 from 620 reviews on Fever on 30 October 2026, it starts at 29.16 dollars with fees, the lowest price of the 25 shows on this page, and it plays on 20 November and 5 December 2026 and 23 January and 26 February 2027. The church is also the easiest of the three rooms to reach from our hotels: it is the nearest of the three venues by taxi to seven of our ten hotels, 7 minutes from Silver Lake Pool & Inn and Hotel Figueroa, 12 from The Hollywood Roosevelt and 18 from The Beverly Hills Hotel. On the same stage the Hans Zimmer evening has the most reviews in Los Angeles, 626 at 4.8, and the Juan Gabriel tribute has the most dates of the Koreatown shows, nine between 20 November 2026 and 6 March 2027. The Koreatown season opens on 20 November, so for an earlier trip look to the other two rooms.

The Biltmore is the choice for anyone staying downtown: it is 3 minutes by taxi from Hotel Figueroa, and Pershing Square station is about 300 metres away. It is the grander room and the dearer one, from 43.20 dollars with fees for Whitney Houston (4.8 from 516 reviews, 13 November to 13 December 2026). The Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole evening there (4.8 from 505) is the jazz option, and the only show on our list played by a jazz group rather than a quartet; it has the earliest date on this page, 1 November 2026. The Biltmore programme on sale ends on 27 December 2026.

Burbank suits guests at The Garland in Studio City, 10 minutes away by taxi. It has 15 of our 25 shows, from 47.52 dollars with fees, including Metallica (4.9 from 283 reviews, 6 December 2026 and 9 January 2027), plus Michael Jackson, Bad Bunny, Taylor Swift and two Christmas programmes in December. Fever also runs Candlelight on the Queen Mary in Long Beach, where the Juan Gabriel tribute holds 4.9 from 434 reviews; it is a long drive from all of our hotels except Terranea. If you want a cocktail evening rather than a concert, see our page on Black Rabbit Rose, the magic bar in Hollywood.

On zones: Zone A is the front of the floor, nearest the players, and Zone C the back. At Immanuel the balcony is the dearest ticket, 55.08 dollars for Queen vs. ABBA on 20 November against 29.16 for Zone C, and it is up stairs; Zone B, 36.18 dollars, is the value pick if you want to see the players' hands.