Review: Just Like Heaven
Posted: by The Editor
Photo by Julien Bajsel
It’s mid-May. It’s nice and sunny in Pasadena, California. Perfect weather to throw a party for thousands of music fans as people are in festival mode with the spring underway. This year’s Just Like Heaven Fest once again took place at Brookside Park at the Rose Bowl. And just like last year, there were only two stages: Orion (main) stage and Stardust stage. The lineup featured bands that performed last year as well. Peaches and The Hives. The Hives were originally not scheduled to perform, but due to unfortunate Visa issues, they replaced The Sounds, who couldn’t make it out to the festival. While a lot of fans of The Sounds were bummed out about the news, fans still welcomed their replacement. If you’ve seen The Hives and were already attending the show, then you already knew you were in for a TREAT, especially so early in the day as the band was only the second act of the day on the Orion stage. The band treated fans to hits such as “Walk Idiot Walk,” “Hate To Say I Told You So,” and “Tick Tick Boom.” Thanks to the Swedish rockers getting the crowd amped up, fans were ready to continue rocking out throughout the rest of the day.
Photo by Rachel Polack
Photo by Ashley Osborn
The Faint was a band that I never thought I’d actually see. Learning about the electronic indie rockers during my high school days, I became a fan. With a 35-minute set, I wondered what songs the band would play. The Faint did not disappoint. We were treated to fan favorites such as “I Disappear,” “Glass Danse,” “Paranoiattack,” and “Agenda Suicide”. Whether people watched them standing or sat in the shade, everyone was in party mode.
Photo by Tyler Borchardt
One band that I was not really familiar with prior to attending Just Like Heaven was electronic indie band, Metronomy. I learned quickly why they have a following. Ladytron is another electronic band with a following and one that I have been a part of since I heard their hit “Destroy Everything You Touch” when it was released in 2005. As expected, they did play that song along with bangers such as “Seventeen,” “Discotraxx,” and “International Dateline.” As the day progressed, heavy hitters kept on coming. One that I was stoked for was The Bravery.
Photo by Rachel Polack
Everywhere I looked, fans had their phones out or were just jamming out during The Bravery’s set. The sound was top notch as we heard songs such as “Unconditional,” “No Brakes,” “Believe,” “Fearless,” and of course, “An Honest Mistake.” The Bravery was able to squeeze in some covers and played “Burning Too” by Fugazi, “Suburban Home” by Descendents, and “Wasted” by Black Flag. Before ending their set, the band announced that a new album was on the way, which would be their first album since 2009!
Photo by Tyler Borchardt
One of the bands that have made a name for themselves in the indie rock scene in the last several years is Future Islands. Whether you’ve been a fan of theirs since the start or you just learned about them at Just Like Heaven, anyone watching was just too busy having a damn great time watching the band, specifically vocalist, Sam Herring as he just looked to be having the time of his life! It’s contagious! “We are Future Islands and this is what the fuck we do,” said Herring halfway through their set. He’s not wrong. Future Islands delivered a hell of a performance and played jams such as “For Sure,” “Ran,” “Peach,” “A Dream of You and Me,” and “Seasons (Waiting on You).”
Photo by Ashley Osborn
As the evening progressed, fans were not slowing down when it came to their dance moves because Empire of the Sun would go on to perform their hits such as “We Are The People,” “Alive,” and “Walking On A Dream.” Following the stellar performance from Empire of the Sun at the Orion stage was MGMT.
Photo by Gina Chong
MGMT’s performance in particular was one that attendees were really stoked about as the band performed Oracular Spectacular in its entirety. Some of those fans were also conflicted when set times were announced because their set would overlap with M83’s set. At the end of the day, music fans made a decision and both bands drew large crowds. MGMT would go on to perform Oracular Spectacular, including hits such as “Time To Pretend,” “Electric Feel”, and “Kids”. M83 would go on to perform a 13-song set including hits such as “Midnight City” and “Wait”.
Photos by Rachel Polack
Finally, for those of us that stuck around til the end, here we were ending the night with Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Tired and maybe hungry, the thousands of fans that watched them perform didn’t care as the indie rock trio played a 12-song set. Yeah Yeah Yeahs played fan favorites and the hits such as “Art Star,” “Burning,” “Zero,” “Maps,” and “Heads Will Roll.”
Photo by Julien Bajsel
This year’s stacked lineup showed us that all the bands are still thriving. Whether fans were at a stage rocking out to the bands or they were waiting in line to get some good food or merch, it was a party all around with good vibes, dancing, selfies, and drinking from beginning to end. See you at Just Like Heaven Fest in 2024?!
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Written by Jazmin Lemus
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