Indie nostalgia descended onto the Brookside at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena as the one-day festival Just Like Heaven returned for another year of melodic bliss. This year's lineup featured heavy-hitting acts including the Postal Service, Death Cab For Cutie, the War On Drugs, Miike Snow, Metric and alternative darlings Passion Pit and Phantogram.
The festival began at noon sharp with DJ sets at the Orion and Stardust stage from Them Jeans and Chris Cruise. It was a delight to see so many women-fronted acts in the lineup this year including Be Your Own Pet, CSS, Sleigh Bells, Tegan and Sara, Phantogram and Metric. Even though people were barely making their way to the Orion Stage, punk rock group Be Your Own Pet's snappy lyrics and Brazilian rockers CSS's witty meme-infused set had everyone roaring with applause. While Sleigh Bells’ singer Alexis Krauss was having the time of her life on stage as she revealed her infant baby was watching her perform for the first time.
Then one of the most celebrated gay pop acts of the 2000’s, identical twin sisters Tegan and Sara cruised through favorites from their extensive catalog including "Walking with the Ghost" to "Closer." Their fun banter was especially entertaining to watch, during the introduction of their song "Smoking Weed Alone" when the twins teased each other about weed and eating edibles. Towards the afternoon, New York music duo Phantogram and Canadian indie rock Metric showcased their best musicianship with vibrant sounds of electric rock.
Two Door Cinema Club and Passion Pit had everyone dancing at the Orion stage with their alternative electro sets. Passion Pit frontman Michael Angelakos energy was never-ending as he kept running and jumping back and forth doing mic tricks like a madman. Perfectly matching the chaotic energy of their dance tunes from "Take a Walk" to "Sleepyhead."
The biggest draw of the night were French indie rockers Phoenix who kept things simple, opting to play all their hits. Frontman Thomas Mars told the crowd “LA, I would love to talk to you but we have seven albums and 50 minutes.” The band gave all their energy to the performance as Mars also announced that it was the last show in the U.S. for a few years as they are focusing on creating an album. Ending the show with a bang, the crowd gasped as Ezra Koenig from Vampire Weekend joined them mid-song to sing “Tonight.” Then Koenig stayed to play guitar on Phoenix’s last two songs of the night “1901” and “Identical,” from the movie On The Rocks.
The night belonged to Ben Gibbard as he played double duty for the night. First performing the entirety of Transatlantacism with Death Cab for Cutie. Their fourth studio album celebrated its 20th anniversary last year. Then closed out the entire festival with the Postal Service. The band embarked on a reunion tour last year performing their only studio album Give Up in its entirety. For Just Like Heaven, the band mixed things up with Gibbard and Jenny Lewis performing an acoustic version of "Such Great Heights." Ending the night on a nostalgic high note, the band had everyone singing along to Depeche Mode's "Enjoy the Silence."
For more on Just Like Heaven, visit justlikeheavenfest.com
