To say 2022 has been a rough year for women would be, well, a bit of an understatement. For years women’s health care and abortion rights have been eroded, and just a few months ago, the other shoe dropped — a heavily politicized SCOTUS overturning Roe vs. Wade, setting the stage for a nationwide ban under a Republican-controlled Congress. Maybe a better way to put it is that 2022 was a devastating year for women. Devastating is also a great word to describe Le Tigre’s set last night at This Ain’t No Picnic in Pasadena. Devastatingly emotional, devastatingly personal and devastatingly fun.
Plus, it was Le Tigre’s first show in 11 years! From crushingly heavy guitars to socio politically-charged lyrics that still ring frustratingly true some 20 years after they were written, it was an emotional and apt return for the groundbreaking electroclash trio.
Le Tigre’s most famous member may be Kathleen Hanna, but last night’s set showed that the band is hardly all about her. Joined by Johanna Fateman and JD Samson, the three members took turns singing, playing dagger-sharp riffs on the guitar and adding idiosyncratic flourishes of percussion. Every song in the set had its lyrics projected on the big screens, further hammering home their message (which is helpful because oftentimes, it can be hard to discern what Hanna is saying).
While the band is fiercely outspoken, this wasn’t heavy-handed grandstanding — there was plenty of joking around. In the opening moments of the set, there was a “false start” with the lyrics of “The The Empty” out of sync with the band’s performance, so Hanna had everyone in the audience close their eyes and pretend like Le Tigre entered a time machine and allow the set to start over again.
Later, Hanna related a great anecdote about getting the stink eye from Gwen Stefani at the VMAs in the ’00s because she was wearing an outfit that read, from head to toe, “Fuck Bush.” (For those that don’t remember, Stefani was married to Bush’s Gavin Rossdale. Different Bush.) Another joke came before “My My Metrocard” when an exasperated Fateman lamented that she still has to sing about fucking Rudy Giuliani, who, despite himself, is still relevant in far-right politics.
Other highlights of the set include the reverential, referential “Hot Topic,” “What’s Yr Take On Cassavetes,” and “On the Verge.” Before the band played “On the Verge,” Hanna got emotional as she talked about how the song’s meaning had changed for her over the years. Now it makes her think of the difficulty and anxiety that comes with meeting new people and essentially, asking someone to be friends.
The set concluded with the band’s most iconic song, “Deceptacon.” The crowd understandably went nuts as the opening bass line and . The song concluded with a visual feast, from Samson humorously triggering the samples of “See you later!” and for some reason, Hanna jumping rope for the final 30 seconds. It was glorious, it was hilarious, was amazing and it will be a hard highlight for day two to top.
While Le Tigre’s reunion show could have easily been the perfect conclusion for a successful day one, there was still more music to come. Dance punk legends LCD Soundsystem got the crowd grooving for one last hour with their excellent headlining set, going the extra mile to ensure they packed as much music into their slot as possible — there’s a strict 11 PM curfew due to Brookside Park’s multi-million dollar mansion-owning neighbors.
James Murphy and company opened with the funky, hooky “Change” from This Is Happening. They followed that up with the snarky “You Wanted a Single” from that same record and the emotionally resonant “Someone Great” from Sound of Silver. Murphy lamented a gentrified NYC during “New York, I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down” before setting his sights on everyone else’s hometown on “Yr City Is a Sucker.” Rounding out the night was “Dance Yrself Clean” and “All My Friends”
The festival opened with a low-key, slightly psychedelic set from LaLa LaLa. “I remember my name it’s always the same” sang Lillie West on “Bliss Now!” over crunchy guitars.
Next up on the main stage was Dawn Richard, the first of many exhilarating sets that would take place on the Fairway Stage (the festival takes place on a golf course). Rocking a massive spiky mohawk she energized the early birds with recent tracks like “Bussifame” and “Girl From The Nine.” Interestingly, she worked a surprisingly-effective cover of System of a Down’s “Aerials” into her set.
Indigo De Souza came on next, marveled by the impressive rotating stage. Not only did the rotating stage cut down on the wait time between sets (because one band could do soundcheck while the other band performed), it was just cool to watch the artists slowly, slowly rotate onto the stage. De Souza got a kick out of it, giggling as she ever so slowly rotated into view. Her set was full of visceral emotion with angular guitar riffs and a slightly rambling, ultra-personal confessional lyrical style that reminds of early Modest Mouse. Her set included songs like “Home Team” and “Bad Dream.”
Genesis Owusu was the first major highlight of the day, taking the stage along with three backup dancers. He brought an intense but positive energy and whipped the crowd up into a fun-loving dance party. Songs from his impressive debut album were scattered throughout the set, including “The Other Black Dog,” “Don’t Need You” and the chilled-out “Waitin’ On Ya.” “Get The Fuck Out” was a newer song and a clear crowd favorite — who doesn’t love yelling “get the fuck out” into the beautiful Southern California sky?
Owusu and his dancers gave the handful of audience members old enough to get the reference a little throwback by doing the “Crank That (Soulja Boy)” dance near the end of the set. Then during “Black Dogs!” he jumped down into the audience, the pit instantly contracting around him as he bravely danced and sang along with the crowd.
Ying Yang Twins were certainly the big outlier amongst the lineup, though their set certainly proved popular if for nothing more than a little nostalgia for the heyday of crunk. The performance was essentially like karaoke, with Kaine and D-Roc touching on just about any song the duo performed on over the last few decades. “Salt Shaker” and the ultra naughty “Wait (The Whisper Song)” were just a few of the radio hits that Ying Yang Twins packed into their performance.
The festival hit a bit of a lull during the mid-afternoon. Isaiah Rashad and Earl Sweatshirt put on technically-adept rap performances, but their lack of big hits hindered their ability to connect with the audience like the Ying Yang Twins could.
It’s hard to believe it’s been 10 years since Mac DeMarco broke out as the latest indie rock slacker with 2. Don’t let the goofball act fool you, DeMarco and his band are professionals — while their sound was loose and relaxed, they work like clockwork, churning out the songwriter’s most beloved anthems. He opened with “On the Level” and continued with performances of “Salad Days,” “The Stars Keep On Calling My Name,” “Cookin’ Up Something Good” and “Passing Out Pieces.”
Circle Jerks were another slight outlier on the festival set, a hardcore punk band on a bill of indie pop, electronic music and hip-hop. Lead singer Keith Morris introduced the band members, noted about how much they hated each other’s guts a few years ago and made one simple request of the audience: create a huge dust cloud that rises up, heads east over the hills and lands right on famous Pasadena David Lee Roth’s lawn. About midway through the set, Morris voiced his approval and appreciation for the dust cloud, praising and thanking the audience. The pit was wild but not out of control as the band fit dozens of songs into their set with highlights including “Deny Everything,” “Beverly Hills,” “Wild In The Streets,” “Moral Majority” and Morris’s personal favorite, “When The Shit Hits the Fan.”
Unlike past festivals at Brookside Park, this is the first one that came close to matching the glory days of the now-defunct FYF. It was a little dusty and hot but certainly not the dust-caked affairs that went down at the pre-renovation State Historic Park in the early 2010s. It was pleasantly attended, with plenty of great people watching but not so overcrowded that it was hard to get food and drinks. The only prohibitively-long lines were for Despacio, the mega sound system designed by LCD Soundsystem’s Murphy and members of 2ManyDJs. It’s no surprise, but Goldenvoice has once again has shown there are few promoters capable of putting on a festival like they can.
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