Indie kids and hipsters alike flocked to Los Angeles Historic State Park this past Labor Day weekend for the seventh annual FYF fest.
An estimated 20,000 people crammed into the park to listen to 35 bands for 12 hours in the blistering sun. Shade was a luxury due to lack of normal sized trees. Nourishment and hydration were hard to come by unless you stood in line for an hour and sacrificed seeing the few bands you’ve been dreaming about for weeks. Another rarity was trash cans. If you could find one it was overflowing, as were the recycling bins, poor planning on the festival’s part.
But you ignore the fact that the sun in slowly frying every inch of exposed skin, you realize what a great deal a 25 dollar music festival is.
The Blow is a band made up of a girl, Khaela Maricich, and vocals backed up by pre recorded beats. On stage Maricich described herself as a spaz in between songs and paused frequently to give the audience anecdotes about a certain celebrity’s album she had written songs for.
This celebrity was obviously Lindsay Lohan as she kept mentioning how the girl recently broke up with her long time girlfriend and then promptly spun out of control. The girlfriend being Samantha Ronson and the spinning out of control was obviously Lohan’s stint in jail and then more rehab earlier in the summer.
Maricich sang one of her more popular songs while impersonating Lohan. She ceremoniously adjusted her outfit to look more provocative in a jazzercise kind of way (she wore a baggy t-shirt over a black leotard) and strapped on a pair of dangerously high platform heals that she claims Lohan sent her. Then she robotically lunged across the stage; it was the most conversational set of the day.
A senior at the Westridge School in Los Angeles, Veronica Verdin said of Local Natives’ set, “The band mentioned how excited they were to be home for the first time all summer, which I am sure attributed to their high energy level throughout the set. When the band played the song “Sun Hands” was probably my favorite moment, it was amazing to see the crowd react. The entire band shouts and sings throughout the song, and the audience all put their hands up in the air as if they were reaching with their own sun hands.”
One of the best performances of the day was given by Dead Man’s Bones. Ryan Gosling (actor in The Notebook, Fracture, and Half Nelson) and his friend Zach Shields debuted their band in 2009.
At FYF they were accompanied by a children’s choir dressed up like zombie celebrities, for example Charlie Chaplin and Marie Antoinette. Every time one of the kids had a solo the crowd would “awww” at the cuteness.
It was surprising how talented Gosling was musically, he and Shields switched instruments just about every song.
“My favorite was Warpaint, their music is like being in a strange dream. They had so much energy and they were amazing, even better live than they are on their album!” Tara Niami, a senior at Archer school in Los Angeles, commented.
The hands down best show of the night was Panda Bear. Aside from his more popular band, Animal Collective, Panda Bear’s solo work is beginning to gain attention.
At FYF he hypnotized the crowd with electronic melodies that crushed everyone’s eardrums while vibrantly eccentric images were projected on the screen behind him.
Bill Grundler, a senior at Foothill commented, on the festival: “A real hope for modern music.”
