Pasadena’s Just Like Heaven Festival has becomes synonymous with Millenial indie rock since its inception, but as all festivals must, it has continue to evolve, though thankfully not far from its guiding light. Now equally featuring younger, up-and-coming artist who have come to attention thanks to Gen-Z along with the bands who inspired them, the music remained cool, even as the Pasadena sun friend skin and melted faces off.
Surprisingly, this was my first year attending Just Like Heaven, and my first time back on the Brookside landscape for a show since Arroyo Seco nearly a decade ago. Aside from one dip into When We Were Young, my festival attendance has been primarily Beachlife Festival in Redondo Beach, a smaller fest, literally speaking.
I arrived as gates opened at noon, began the long march to the festival ground. Going around the Rose Bowl, I entered the grounds right next to a stage. Unfortunately, it was not the stage that Girl Tones was playing on – that was a distance away. Already sweating, I trekked across Brookside, scouting out where the food booths and water refill station were, and found the VIP entrance to the Orion stage area. Despite there being a number sitting areas with shade covering and a scattering of trees, shade still felt in very short supply – especially by Orion. Not quite understanding why there was a second fencing around the area right up next to the stage, I went through that secured entrance to get up close for the duo from Kentucky.
I had already seen Girl Tones earlier this year on the Troubadour stage, but playing an intimate venue like that is far different than a huge festival stage. And while the two young women looked tiny alone on that massive stage, their hard-rocking songs were sonic explosions across the field. From their smashing originals to their ferocious cover of The Vines’ “Get Free” (btw – can the fest booker try to get The Vines for next year?), Girl Tones made sure they were heard and left a mark.
Waiting in the shade of a tree after the set, it was a quick turn-around before This is Lorelei came on stage. One of the younger artists I was most looking forward to seeing, the group writes exquisite indie pop gems that remind me of The Shins’ best work. I was actually surprised they were so early on the bill considering the hype around them, but it just meant less crowd between me and the band. Songs like “Where’s Your Love Now” stood out with their subtle, power-pop hooks and dreamy lyrics, and one of his newest singles, “Billy Came Back”, will certainly be remembered at year’s end. The soft-spoken frontman Nate Amos (who funnily enough wore a Metallic St. Anger t-shirt) kept his banter short, and finished up their six-song set with “I’m All Fucked Up” and “An Extra Beat for You and Me.”
I went back into the main VIP area to grab some food, followed by a cone from the McConnells truck (It was a GREAT day for ice cream), and headed by to the Orion stage to see Whitney. While trying to get back into the enclosed area in front of the stage, I was told that the area was for Clubhouse members only, and there had been a miscommunication earlier when I and other VIP members were let in.
Well that sucked. Don’t get me wrong – I was grateful to be given a VIP ticket to cover the festival, but I was hoping that would allow me to get close up to the stage. Unfortunately, to get right up there, you had to either upgrade to Clubhouse, or fight your way up via the GA pit. The closest you could get from VIP was the back of the Clubhouse fence, and there was zero shade on the VIP side after a certain hour (one tree in the center of the fence provided a bit, but that shadow fell more and more over the Clubhouse area as the day progressed). I will say that the amount of space given to the Clubhouse members was more than needed, and I would encourage the organizers next year to move the fences in a bit so that the VIP holders can be closer to the stage.
While Whitney was bringing their breezy, yacht rock tunes to the stage, there was still a bit of covering from the tree in the Clubhouse area, so I stood there enjoying my ice cream and the band. One of the few groups to have their drummer also be their lead singer and frontman, Whitney sounds like if The Band grew up and wrote music on the beach in Cape Cod instead of a barn. The songs were classically melodic, light and enjoyable, and made me long even more for an ocean breeze.
I ventured out into the GA area to meet up with a friend and watch Matt and Kim. It had been thirteen years since I last saw the husband and wife duo (Riot Fest 2013 in Byron, Colorado), and it felt like a very long time since I had heard anything about the group in general. Though they released a covers EP in 2021, their last proper album of original material came eight years earlier in 2018. I believe they took time off to raise their kid (perfectly admirable), but it was nice to have the energetic couple back on a stage and dropping bops like “Its Alright” and “Camera.” Accompanying the music were a mix of hilarious video clips from movies like Harry and the Hendersons, along with quotes from movies like Spaceballs. Kim kept things hilariously TMI, asking the audience at one point spread out wide (at one point saying something like “I just had sex this morning and this should be wider than my vagina after that”), and telling the crowd to come together for a ‘dance orgy’ on her mark.
Having been away from the stage so long, the group looked genuinely thrilled to be playing again, and the crowd were definitely into everything they played. The duo closed their ebullient set with their gold single “Daylight” and “Let’s Go” before saying their sincere thanks and farewells. Later that day, I spoke to Matt in the VIP area to see what was next for the group. He said that he and Kim were still deciding on their next steps, so I simply told him I hoped there would be some new music from them in the future.
I took another break back in VIP, sitting in the shade while STRFKR came out on stage with dancing astronauts in shiny space suits. Accompanied by psychedelic visuals, the indie dance group were a relaxing listen while I enjoyed a Mango Agua Fresca and tried to bring my body temperature back down. The vibes shifted dramatically as Vancouver’s Ekkstacy came on stage. Shirtless, wearing just jeans and a belt, the punk rocker unleashed his raucous, pop-tinged tracks, encouraging a pit to open. While the JLH crowd aren’t necessarily the moshing type, the crowd certainly got moving. I’ve liked the artist’s music since first hearing him 2023, though I wasn’t familiar enough with it to recognize the songs he played. Still – they sounded good, and brought a bit more heavy music to the fest.
A number of the artists on the bill owed a great deal of thanks to TikTok virality. Indie pop artist Dayglow for sure owes a debt to users on the platform, who helped his song “Can I Call You Tonight?” become a triple platinum smash. Unlike many other artists, Dayglow has proven to be more than a One Hit Wonder. His set was full of very catchy tracks like “Hot Rod” and “Every Little Thing I Say I Do”. All the songs were easy to bounce along to, and had audience members dancing in the sunlight (heat be damned). The group closed out the show with his most recent hit, “Close to You” before making room for TV Girl to take the stage.
Though I have listened to a number of TV Girl‘s songs, which were consistently on the Spotify Viral chart in years past, I knew next to nothing about the group. At one point I thought they were a French group, based on their moody, classic pop songs, and I expected the people to take the stage to be terse, emerged in their instruments and overly serious.
I was very wrong.
TV Girl are a Los Angeles-based troupe, down to their frontman rocking shorts and a Sublime tee (though he said that the shorts were only because he forgot to pack pants). Joined onstage by their frequent collaborator Jordana, the band mixed live instrumentation with eclectic samples to create their uniquely baroque, indie chill sound. Though when performed live, their songs were far more playful than has come across from the studio versions I’ve heard. The group played their own songs for the first half of the set, including hits “Cigarettes Out the Window” and “Birds Don’t Sing”, before letting Jordana take over and perform their collaborative songs “Sweet to Dream” the streaming smash “Better in the Dark.” And while I didn’t catch George Clanton‘s set earlier in the day, TV Girl brought him out for the party-rock banger “Summer 2000 Baby”, with Clanton pouring water over TV Girl’s Bradley Petering’s head as they traded vocals. Petering would joke about the band graduating by playing JLH, saying they could now coast by and play the hits and rake in cash going forward. With hits like the beautiful “Lovers Rock,” which they closed with, they very well could.
I’ve had friends obsessed with LCD Soundsystem for years, seeing the James Murphy-led group live whenever they can. Personally, their disco-punk sound had never fully hooked me. I’m not huge into electronic music, so earlier songs in the set like “Tonite” and “Tribulation” were fine for moving but did connect much with me. But thankfully the group aren’t simply an electronica act, as “I Can Change” shows. Underneath many of those elements, Murphy provides introspective lyrics, and while not a natural singer, Murphy’s natural voice has a soulful element to it that brings heart into songs like this one, and the grief-filled “Someone Great.” The band also has some knack for melody, showcased in “Home” and “Dance Yrself Clean.” And while I normally wouldn’t find myself listening to the more dance-floor oriented tracks like “Losing My Edge” and “North American Scum”, I could definitely hear what could make those singles stick in your head, thanks to their attitude and grit.
What made the set a crowning achievement for me was getting to hear “All My Friends” live. This is not just my favorite song of LCD Soundsystem – it’s one of my all-time favorite tracks. The thoughtful treatise on aging and feeling disconnected from your youth and friends hits on so many levels. The piano-build that gets the song going, mixed with the indie rock instrumentation stirs my soul every time I hear it, and the older I get, the more the lyrics hit me. With the sun finally down and the heat cooling off, I was able to get myself dancing more than I had that whole day.
And finally began the long wait until The Strokes hit the stage. A friend kindly got my water bottle refilled, and I made sure to bend my legs and take pressure off my feet for a few moments. 9:40pm came, and the wait continued. I began to worry. The Strokes had a reputation for the occasional underwhelming live show, depending on frontman Julian Casablancas’ mood and soberness. After seven minutes, the band finally came on stage to a dazzling light show and went into “Lonely in the Future.” And the band sounded GOOD. From Casablanca’s vocals to Albert Hammond Jr.‘s incredible guitar work, the band was in fine form.
I had seen more Strokes shirts in the crowd than any other group that day, and hearing everyone in the audience singing along to “Hard to Explain”, there was no doubt that the NY rocker’s resurgence after their last album was no fluke. While Jack White still holds court as the modern blues guitar rock king, and The Hives boisterous live show remains a thing to behold, The Strokes have proven to be the most successful survivors of the early 00’s rock revival. And while the band’s frontman has courted controversy with frequent off-the-cuff remarks and rock star behavior, he still held court as one of the most captivating figures of the fest. And based on his performance of “Juicebox,” his voice was in fine form.
The band played the first single from their new album Reality Awaits next, the peppy “Going Shopping.” While I’m still not won-over by the decision to use autotune on the song, it’s still an undeniably enjoyable track. Like many in the audience, it was oldies like “Someday” that really got me excited, even if Casablancas was clearly over those ones. Messing up the lyrics a couple times, the singer admitted after that he’d sung the song thousands of times and that it was “just words” to him now. While I can certainly understand the sentiment, hopefully he can still appreciate that the song has meaning to the fans watching them.
The group continued to play a mix of their memorable singles (“Reptilia”, “You Only Live Once”) with deeper cuts (“Life is Simple in the Moonlight”, “Dine N’ Dash”, “Automatic Stop”), while bathed in an array of laser lights and effects. The group gave a nice shout-out to Matt Pinfield, who was in attendance, before closing their main set with their most recent hit “The Adults are Talking”. As it was 10:55pm (when their set end-time was), and I knew the band wasn’t going to play “Last Nite” and “Under Cover of Darkness” was not likely, I began my long trek back to my car. The band did encore with a live debut of “Going to Babble On” from their new album, along with “Selfless”, which were a fine soundtrack to my walk home.
The day was long, hot and tiring, but I have no regrets. The music was great, which remains the most important aspect of any festival. Thank you for having me Just Like Heaven! Looking forward to seeing what you cook up for us all next year.
See what you think of The Strokes‘ latest album here. And keep an eye on our socials for videos from the fest.
The Indy Review 