After a first day that was full of highlights including a once-in-a-decade performance by Le Tigre, hip-hop karaoke from Ying Yang Twins and a punctuating set by LCD Soundsystem, it was time for day two of the inaugural This Ain’t No Picnic Festival at Brookside Park in Pasadena. While The Strokes were the most anticipated act for many attendees, Sunday’s lineup was arguably even better than Saturday, with a punk-heavy schedule in the later hours of the festival.
Speaking of punk, the first thing most early birds heard upon entering the festival grounds was one of SoCal’s first legends of the genre: Mike Watt. For those that don’t know, he was a founding member of the groundbreaking hardcore/funk/punk band Minutemen, formed a band called Dos with Kira Roessler and just generally been a presence in the local music scene for decades. If it wasn’t for the tragic death of Minutemen’s D. Boon in 1985 right as the band was peaking in popularity, he could be headlining festivals like this as a nostalgia act a la Pixies in the ’00s. While most of his set with the Missingmen was funky jams, the band did touch on some old-school Minutemen classics like “One Reporter’s Opinion” and “Shit You Hear at Parties.”
On the other side of the festival at the main Fairway Stage, Oakland’s Spellling was putting on a set of her avant-garde alternative R&B. Her set opened with two songs from her most recent album The Turning Wheel, “Always” and “Awaken.” “Under the Sun” from her Sacred Bones debut Mazy Fly was a mid-set highlight and the only song she performed that was not on The Turning Wheel.
Somehow Sunday seemed to be even hotter than Saturday, the blistering Southern California sun getting some last-minute August vengeance on the thousands of people that crowded onto a golf course in the shadow of the Rose Bowl.
Across the way at the Green Stage, the deep-voiced Kris Esfandiari led her band King Woman through a set that was heavier than just about any other act over the weekend. Esfandiari has a strong, rich vocal delivery that is well suited for the crushing doom metal her band plays. The bulk of the set consisted of tracks like “Boghz,” “Morning Star,” “Entwined” and “Psychic Wounds” from Celestial Blues.
Throughout King Woman’s set, Esfandiari expressed how excited she was for Nothing’s set, which followed immediately on the Green Stage. Well, maybe immediately isn’t the best way to put it because their set was the first of several delayed sets on the festival’s smallest stage. While Dominic Palermo’s shoegaze band sounded tight, the sound seemed a bit “off” during the set, making it extremely difficult to hear the lyrics. They performed “Say Less” from their 2020 album The Great Dismal.
Smack dab at the center of the festival was the 19th Hole, a dance floor that hosted DJ sets by Four Tets + Floating Point, Honey Dijon and more. We were able to check out the club a few times throughout the weekend, as Romy of The xx and Sofia Kourtesis offered a dance-infused respite between the sets on the main stages.
We also had a chance to check out Despacio, the massive sound system built by James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem and 2manydjs. The darkly-lit room was a nice place to get out of the sun and listen to some dance music, but it’s hard to imagine it’s worth waiting a long time in line to view.
There was a bit of a lull between sets so just relaxing at the central area of the festival where you can hear just about every stage wasn’t a bad experience. On one side Pachyman was laying down some dub vibes that were a perfect fit for the festival’s atmosphere. In the other direction, Mdou Moctar was playing their Tuareg rock on the main stage, adding a touch of attitude to the vibe.
Next up on the Fairway Stage was one of the most anticipated sets of the festival from Wet Leg. The duo from Isle of Wight has had a whirlwind year since 2021 when they released their debut single “Chaise Longue.” Their This Ain’t No Picnic Set further established the group as one of the most exciting indie rock bands of the last few years.
They opened with a one-two punch of “Wet Dream” and “Being in Love,” a couple of the best songs from their self-titled album. Considering they only have one album, the whole set was from that Domino debut. The band deftly saved “Chaise Longue” for last, satiating the audience who was dying to hear them exclaim “I went to school and I got the big D.” Other highlights of their performance were “Oh No” and “Angelica.”
We caught just a few minutes of Tinashe as she was finishing up her set at the Back Nine stage. She was performing “Bouncin’ Pt. 2” and the atmosphere was electric, her straightforward R&B received well by a largely alternative music festival crowd.
Over on the Green Stage was a highly anticipated set by blackgaze band Deafheaven. Hopefully you weren’t anticipating it that much because they were very delayed and only ended up playing four songs. These days their sound is way more on the “gaze” side of things, with extended clean guitar and vocal passages occasionally pierced by searing black metal shrieks.
They opened with “In Blur” from the controversial Infinite Granite. The band’s abrupt transition from black metal to shoegaze is incredibly stark; a good recent comparison would be Ceremony going from powerviolence to goth rock over the course of a few albums. However, unlike Ceremony there’s still some metal in Deafheaven’s sound as evidenced by the performance of non-album single “Black Brick.” This track brought back the heavy riffing and dissonant screams from singer George Clarke. Because they were so squeezed for time, the band cut the set early and promised to return to LA soon.
Idles just keep getting more and more popular with their grinding, mid-tempo punk and outspoken perspectives of singer Joseph Talbot. They opened with the epic “Colossus” from Joy As An Act of Resistance, which begins with a droning, grinding verse and chorus before breaking into an all-out speedy hardcore conclusion. With that, the punk portion of the night had begun.
From there, they touched on their new album Crawler with “Car Crash” and the snarkily uplifting “Mr. Motivator.” Before launching into “Mother,” a song about misogyny, Talbot sarcastically commented on how much he loves being in our country. He didn’t say it, but it’s hard not to read between the lines and see this as further proof of the outside world’s unimpressed reaction to our own country’s regressivism. “Never Fight a Guy with a Perm” stood out and while we had to leave to get ready for Turnstile the sounds of the joyous “Johnny Nedelko” could be heard over the PA.
Watching Turnstile on the Back Nine was an incredible experience. It’s hard to think of a hardcore band that has managed to build such a wide, diverse fanbase without sacrificing the harder edge of their sound. Not only are their songs fun, it’s clear from the way touring guitarist Greg Cerwonka shreds and lead singer Brendan Yates dances along to the music that these guys love to perform.
While melodic songs like “MYSTERY” and “UNDERWATER BOI” are the melodic tracks that bring in extra fans, the Baltimore hardcore crew still loves a breakdown as much as the guys from Youth of Today. “Drop” from their debut showed off the raw potential the band displayed in their early days while the second-to-last song “HOLIDAY” displayed their knack for making hardcore accessible. Other standouts of the set include “DON’T PLAY” and “Moon,” during which founding bassist Franz Lyons takes over lead vocals.
At this point, Beach House must be one of the artists that most frequently appears on festival flyers. They have an appeal that reaches across genres — hell, Turnstile singer Yates mentioned specifically how the band’s music has soundtracked so many important moments in his life. Maybe we’re going out on a limb here, but nobody hates Beach House and most people love them.
On the other hand, this universal popularity also means they’re a bit passé on the festival circuit. There’s something sad about being so consistently great that diminishes your future accomplishments. Either way, even if nobody will be talking about it today, Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally put on one of the best sets of the festival. They opened with “Once Twice Melody” before drawing from the past on the 10-year-old “Lazuli.” Mid-set performances of “PPP” and “Lemon Glow” were standouts, before the duo launched into the triumphant “Myth,” also a 10-year-old song.
At this point, folks were headed out to claim a space for The Strokes, who would bring this successful two-day festival by Goldenvoice to a conclusion. That set would not disappoint, as the band was on-point running through songs from their earlier days like “Barely Legal,” “Reptilia” and “New York City Cops” (during the encore) to more recent offerings like “Bad Decisions” and everything in between like “Juicebox.”
About halfway into the set Julian Casablancas lamented how festivals always pit groups against each other. He admitted that if he was an audience member he would watch Godspeed You! Black Emperor over his own band — GYBE was playing across the way at the Green Stage.
Such is life for a festival goer — sometimes missing a few songs from a band you love is just the hand you’re dealt. Ultimately, the experience of being around your fellow music lovers, taking in a smorgasbord of music over the course of two days is well worth that small sacrifice.
Photo by Stephen Hoffmeister
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