JUST LIKE HEAVEN PROVES WHY FEMALE-STACKED LINEUPS STILL MATTER AND STILL ROCK
Just Like Heaven returned to Brookside at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena this past weekend for the third year - and perhaps its best year ever. Featuring a pitch-perfect lineup of acts that we now categorize as peak indie sleaze and sad-boy indie pop, Just Like Heaven was undeniably the only destination for music fans who miss their iPods and believe music peaked in the mid-to-late 2000s.
Before headliners, The Postal Service, The War On Drugs, Death Cab For Cutie, and Phoenix took the stage, Just Like Heaven laid the perfect ground for a full day of music. With the weather in the mid-70s, dozens of food and drink stalls lining the grounds, plenty of space for shade, and a shockingly painless security process, it was clear early on that Goldenvoice had brought the festival a long way. If there were any doubts that this festival wasn’t special, I’d point out that 12 of the 21 live acts featured at least one woman. What other festival can say that?
Fans recognized how unique this year was, coming out by the thousands when gates opened; because of this, early acts like Be Your Own Pet, The Go! Team and CSS had huge audiences before 1 pm. As always, Jemina Pearl of Be Your Own Pet brought so much energy to the band’s killer set that you might’ve mistaken them for headliners. Brazilian-born CSS matched that energy by opening their set with the singalong “Suxx” just before announcing, “This song is about oral sex, not about us sucking.” It was a great way to start the day.
On the opposite end of the fest, another female-fronted band - Warpaint - brought a cool, laid-back vibe to the Stardust stage. Their breezy atmosphere matched indie goddesses Tegan and Sara, who appear to have barely aged despite mentioning they were 43. The twin sisters sounded just as they did more than 20 years ago performing throwback “The Con,” though Tegan Quin’s oversized IDLES t-shirt proved that, yes, time had passed, and it was 2024. In a fun surprise, a reunited Gossip, led by powerhouse singer Beth Ditto, brought bombastic vocals and a snarky southern charm to a unique set that interpolated tracks from both Aretha Franklin and Talking Heads.
Just as the sun finally escaped behind early morning clouds, Sleigh Bells put on one of the day's best performances at the main Orion stage. Singer Alexis Krauss danced, jumped, and flipped her hair for nearly 40 minutes straight, shocking the crowd when she later revealed that she had recently given birth and her baby Wilder was experiencing their first-ever Sleigh Bells show. They closed their set with the iconic “Crown On The Ground,” and it felt like everyone in the crowd was singing along.
The crowd wasn’t still for long; with only five minutes between set times, Irish rockers Two Door Cinema Club got people dancing and tossing beach balls with their plucky guitars and colorful stage design. Just as golden hour was sweeping Brookside, Just Like Heaven veterans Passion Pit played one of the liveliest sets of the day, reminding the crowd of their legendary set at the same festival back in 2019. Their spacey and intergalactic stage production fit the festival vibe so perfectly that I don’t think anyone would complain if Passion Pit played every year.
Phantogram and Metric, though billed around the same time, fittingly offered similar performances: dance-worthy tracks sung by singers in sparkling dresses and blunt bobs. It felt like a case of indie kismet for fans who managed to run between both stages to catch their acts. Once the indie sleaze portion of the day was winding down, it felt appropriate to bring in the sad-boy indie rock.
Ben Gibbard - making his first of two appearances on the bill - ushered in the sunset with Death Cab For Cutie, playing the entirety of their 2003 classic, Transatlanticism. Dusk fell over the grounds as more and more of the crowd began to find a permanent spot at the main stage, sitting on blankets and singing along with “The Sound of Settling.”
Back at the Stardust stage, Miike Snow - led by Andrew Wyatt - were dressed in matching outfits that included suspenders and dress shirts, making the band resemble a group of nerdy dads from the 90s. Strobe lights and fog permeated their set as a tall, computer-like panel of knobs and reels sat at the center of the stage. The War On Drugs closed out the evening at Stardust, leaving a lasting impression with their atmospheric lighting and beautifully contemplative songs. They felt like a dark horse act on the lineup and did not disappoint.
At the main stage, Phoenix managed to draw the biggest crowd of the entire festival, and it was no wonder why. Festival veterans, at this point, Phoenix’s sound and production level were both thoughtfully intentional and pitch-perfect. Whether standing in the front row or more than 500 feet back into the crowd, you could enjoy the sophisticated lighting and towering screens behind them depicting everything from the inside of Versailles to close-up diamonds. Thomas Mars was as spry as ever, dancing across the stage, while drummer Thomas Hedlund nearly stole the show with a drumming style you can’t help but become enraptured by. Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig made a brief appearance during the final track in a joyous and fun moment.
When it felt like the night couldn't get any better, Ben Gibbard made his second appearance onstage - this time with Jenny Lewis in tow - as he performed the entirety of the Postal Service's seminal record, Give Up. While The Postal Service has been touring recently, the popular Gibbard side project had been on hiatus for over a decade. Judging by the performance, you'd never know that, however. Practically two-thirds of the festival grounds were covered by fans singing along with the catchy tracks, now more than 20 years old. Upon hearing a single note of “Such Great Heights,” the sea of people pulled out phones to capture the moment, and Jenny Lewis twirled around the stage with elegance. Notable standout moments were “Clark Gable” and “We Will Become Silhouettes,” though both Gibbard and Lewis truly sounded better than ever before for the whole set.
Just Like Heaven is simply a festival that indie and alternative rock fans cannot miss. In a time when it can be challenging to see guitar-driven acts on festival lineups - never mind lineups that make room to showcase so many women - Just Like Heaven has continually offered a space and outlet for indie fans. I can't wait until next year.
