- This was my 3rd FYF in 3 years. For my personal tastes, it was the "weakest" line up yet with only Waxahatchee & My Bloody Valentine as must-see draws. I say this first because it turns out I had a fantastic time anyway. FYF Fest is the best Los Angeles music festival. It's settled. This is my shit and Sunset Junction can suck a dee.
- They've solved their dust problem for the most part. People were still talking about getting dirt in their lungs but they have no idea what it's like to be in the Desaparecidos pit last year living in a perpetual cloud of kicked-up dust. The addition of rubber floor mats and plywood panels made a huge difference. I could actually stay in a pit for more than 3 songs before dying of the black lung!
- Waxahatchee - I came a little late and she started a little early, so that's slightly disappointing, but I got to see "Brother Bryan" so I'm good. Minimalist set, as expected, and the songs I saw were mostly pre-CERULEAN SALT, which I get. I'll probably catch her next time she plays a small LA venue.
- The Breeders - Performing LAST SPLASH. They were absolutely down with giving fans an authentic experience. They recreated what they could from their original recording sessions: they switched drummers for a song because that's how they did it in the studio, and they even brought the exact same wind chimes. I didn't even notice the wind chime sound, but I appreciate the sentiment, and everyone on-stage and in the crowd seemed to be having a ball.
- The Honest Compliments booth. I always want to go, because obviously I'm insecure, but my insecurity runs so deep I know that whatever they say will be interpreted as an insult to everything else about me.
- Delorean - I barely follow this band, but I was feeling buzzed enough that I figured I could go for a dance party. And they provided! They played Samantha's Tent, which is a great & fun dance floor. The acoustics are actually kind of bad & garbled in there, but the atmosphere is top notch.
- Dan Deacon - I wasn't going to see Dan Deacon but, from a distance, I could tell he was doing a long monologue and I had to be part of it. I love stage banter. It was the best decision I made all night. He divided us into teams, made us mimic-dance our team captains, had us kneel on the floor, touch the top of each other's heads, and asked us to yell the name of the person we missed the most into the night sky.
- It was like summer camp. And in between these fun camp activities, he played blistering, 100 MPH killer electronic music.
- TV On The Radio - I like them well enough. Not enough to fight people for a pit spot, but I sat on the ground and enjoyed it from a distance.
- Yeah Yeah Yeahs - What a gigantic, premiere main event. Perfect headliners for any festival, for sure. They played their great, dark rock bangers and had plenty of theatrics -- costume changes, confetti, a giant inflatable eyeball bounced around the crowd. It was a lovely, exciting time, exactly the way you want to cap off a Saturday night.
- Although, to be honest, my favorite YYY songs are the mid-tempo or folksy ones. You know, "Turn Into," "Hysteric," "Skeletons," even borderline ones like "Down Boy." But I wasn't disappointed. I know it's unreasonable to expect them to close a festival with the soundtrack to WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE.
- The Orwells - Because I wasn't psyched about many of the bands, I took the start of Day 2 to "freestyle" and walk around stages with my ears open. The Orwells caught my attention for their full rock & roll sound coupled with their lead singer wearing nothing but a Derrick Rose jersey. They remind me of Girls with a little more grit.
- "Thanks for taking the time out of Mac Demarco's set to see us... he's way better than us, so you're all pretty stupid." -- The Orwells
- No Age - I missed No Age in 2011 because I couldn't get my stages right. This year they were a last minute surprise/replacement for Foxygen and it was tremendous. They're really one of today's quintessential Los Angeles bands, definitely fixtures of FYF festival with 7 out of 10 appearances. They ought to be FYF's mascots at this point.
- What a great ruckus of a crowd, and great songs to background the chaos.
- All I want is a girl that will follow me into a mosh pit.
- Yo La Tengo - I watched 3 or 4 songs, including my favorite off of FADE, "Before We Run." It was fine. Relaxing. A good palette cleanser from all the dancing and moshing that would follow.
- Flume - The guaranteed dance party. I was sold on the tent atmosphere on Saturday and it came through on Sunday. Flume is a great fucking DJ and composer, the type that can headline big Las Vegas clubs like Tiesto & Swedish House Mafia if he stays on this course.
- Beach House - I've seen them play a solid show in San Diego so I wasn't determined to get to the front of the front. I got a good view and sang and danced along. I love Beach House. Some tall girl took my hand and spun me around during one of the songs and then we went back to watching the show. A minute later I realized, wait, that was kind of emasculating. But we were listening to the soft sounds of Beach House, so, whatever, not the place for macho posturing anyway.
- MGMT - I was within 15 feet of the stage, and there were a lot of young kids around me. What can I say? The kids love MGMT. They're a solid performance, I really only dug ORACULAR SPECTACULAR though.
- Weird thing of the night: They brought out Henry Winkler to play the giant cowbell on one song. It's a slow beat, like one hit every 3 seconds, and HE MISSED IT EVERY TIME. Thank goodness there was a backing track that had it correct but THE FONZ CANNOT KEEP TIME.
- My Bloody Valentine - The main event and, to my surprise, one of the best live experiences I've ever had. Yes, there were unfortunate technical difficulties. I don't know if they blew out a speaker, if someone backstage tripped on a cord, or if FYF wasn't prepared for this much rock. This is a band that should never be subject to technical difficulties, it's the equivalent of Mariah Carey losing her voice.
- Still, the fans made this show amazing. Everyone was so nice! I laughed, nearly constantly, and everyone was so sociable and open and just happy to be there. There were so many characters: the guy dead set on crowdsurfing with his camera; the stoner dude that gave me a shot of whiskey; the guy that politely suggested to everyone that we mosh less violently because it's shoegaze; the sweaty 40-something that took off his shirt; the tall eastern European guy that loudly expressed his displeasure about being stuck behind the shirtless dude; the couple from Vancouver that I gave my card to because they seemed fun to talk to; the guy that joked about stealing weed from crowd surfers.
- It was, legitimately, such a fun communal experience. Case in point: we don't really have control over our bodies. We are at the mercy of the currents of the mosh, and that always ends up with someone inadvertently being trapped in the constant push & shove of the pit. The domino effect caused me to shove into some guy, and this guy got an angry look on his face and shoved back hard. He said something to me and as soon as I took out my ear plugs people were defending me. "Peace!" said one guy with a hand between us like it was going to go down. Another guy scolded him, yelling "High school was a long time ago, it's My Bloody Valentine, can you just enjoy half of it?!" It was an amazing group of strangers that just wanted to love the same band.
- Yeah, I used earplugs sometimes. I took them out every other song, or during my favorites, but I understood why we needed them. There are no lulls, bridges or quiet moments during MBV. It's all loud from beginning to end, and sometimes your ears need a rest.
- Kevin Shields seemed a little pissed off at the technical problems, but I hope he had a good time. As I walked away, I talked to a couple of people ("Were you in there too???") and we were all completely happy with the experience.