Murmurs in anticipation of singer-songwriter Melanie Martinez’s arrival erupted into screams as she took the stage at the Kia Forum on August 14. The “Hades: The Sacrifice Tour” brought her fourth studio album to life through immersive sets, dramatic lighting and theatrical choreography that mirrored the album’s dark themes.

BelicoFest set foot in California with headliner Tito Double P at BMO Stadium on Sunday night.
For The Culture co-founders Ramiro Bojorquez and Andrés Charvel – the latter of whom is responsible for promoting some of Shakira’s Mexico performances – brought rising regional Mexican talent to the United States with the first BelicoFest in Arizona in 2024.

Black smoke billowed. The stench of rotting food permeated the neighborhood.
This is not a scene from a science fiction novel. It is the reality of the seven-day Lineage warehouse fire in Boyle Heights, which began June 17.

This post was updated July 12 at 10:42 p.m.
With its Los Angeles expansion, BelicoFest is regional no more.
The music festival will make its California debut at BMO Stadium on Sunday with headliner Tito Double P after two years in Phoenix.

Daniela Andrade is an ode to independent artistry on the “Oda Tour.”
The Honduran-Canadian singer-songwriter returned to Los Angeles after nearly a decade for a performance at the El Rey Theatre on Friday.

Vibrant handmade dresses spun in unison to the beat of drums and trumpets in Bruin Plaza.
Grupo Estudiantil Oaxaqueño de UCLA hosted its annual Guelaguetza performance May 30, featuring dancers from El Ballet Folklórico Oaxaqueño Nueva Antequera, Maqueos Music Academy and Diablos Nueva Unión.

Concertgoers won’t have to cry this summer.
 
Shakira resumed the U.S. leg of her “Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran World Tour” on Saturday. The limited run of the Colombian singer-songwriter’s discography-spanning tour is being staged in smaller venues in comparison to the tour’s original record-breaking stadium shows.

After teaching Latin dances for 16 years, UCLA alumnus Nicole Gil is looking to build community in Westwood through new classes.
Dancer University, a Los Angeles-based Latin dance organization, hosted a salsa and bachata class in Westwood on May 23.

Alexis Alemán and Irvin Garcia did not expect to amass more than 350,000 followers when they started the Instagram account @foosinmedicine.
But now students have told Alemán, who will graduate this spring with a master’s in social science, and Garcia, who graduated from the David Geffen School of Medicine, that they pursued professional degrees because of the account.

A UCLA student who amassed more than 300,000 followers on social media by sharing his experience as a Latino and first-generation Bruin in medicine spoke at an on-campus event May 8.