Your Saturday nights called. They’d like a soundtrack. We have a suggestion.
The Art Deco bandshell at Old Pasadena’s Memorial Park has sat mostly quiet since 2017. Enter the Levitt VIBE Pasadena Music Series — ten free Saturday-night shows, back at the 1930 “Gold Shell” for the first time in nearly a decade.
Great music in a laid-back atmosphere. The run hops genres without apology: jazz, Latin and soul, from Yuko Mabuchi to a closing night with Troop and Jon B.
Every Saturday performance opens with “The Vibe Set,” a local-artist showcase, before the headliner takes the shell. No cover, no ticket, no catch: just a lawn, a blanket, and four hours of live music from 6 to 10 p.m. Shows run every Saturday, July 11 through Sept. 12.
The bill refuses to sit in one lane. The city promises jazz, pop, rock, Latin, R&B, soul and funk across the ten nights, with Julian Torres y Mariachi Cenzontle, Chris Pierce, La Verdad, and the Lao Tizer Band all taking a turn. Closing night hands the shell to Troop and Jon B. for a proper R&B send-off you don’t usually catch free on a public lawn.
None of this happened by accident. The Levitt Family Foundation put up a matching grant worth up to $120,000 over three years, and Pasadena had to earn its spot, one of 66 communities picked from more than 300 that applied. A homegrown push called “Bring Levitt Back Home” rallied the votes. The old Levitt Pavilion ran this same shell from 2003 to 2017, drawing more than 75,000 per summer before it went dark, and nearly a decade later the Gold Shell has its music back.
Pack a blanket, round up your people, and stake out your patch of grass early — the good spots go fast.
85 E. Holly St., Old Pasadena. Saturdays, July 11 through Sept. 12, 6 to 10 p.m. Free; all ages; no tickets required.
For the complete artist program, please visit https://levittvibepasadenamusicseries.com
