Anyone who grows up in LA is inextricably tied to the culture of celebrity worship. It’s not anyone’s fault in particular, but the proximity to pro-athletes, pop-stars and actors makes it difficult to not be part of that world in one way or another. Some balk against it, and spend their days talking about how celebrity worship is stupid, which just frames their lives in the glow of celebrity from a different angle. Others fling themselves wholeheartedly into the devotion of celebrity and social media, which is at least an honest pursuit. On Thursday night in Laurel Canyon, about 100 of us got a chance to be part of the star culture and it was… remarkably like our day to day lives.

With the exception of the branding and excellent location, The Levi Strauss house that The  Naked and Famous played at was a fairly normal house. There was an area that, in a truly normal house probably would’ve been a kitchen and there was a backyard and a living room. Nothing about the house really screamed “event space” making it perfect for the evening’s festivities. 

Immediately upon entry you were greeted with a line to grab a complimentary jean jacket, which of course we did, those things are expensive. And in what would’ve been the kitchen you could have it embroidered with your name, initials, or some other word of your choosing. The line to have it custom embroidered was the biggest draw of the party, performance notwithstanding.

Out back guests could treat themselves to some pizza or a “Sunseeker” cocktail. While I no longer recall exactly what was in the cocktail, there was certainly Mezcal so it was a pretty good cocktail in my book. People who weren’t waiting in line for embroidery mostly mingled in the backyard while eating pizza. Funnily enough, both members of The Naked and Famous were walking about the party, and almost no one seemed to recognize them despite there being pictures of the band members up in the house.

At 8:30 The Naked and Famous played a short set consisting of “Bury Us” and “Sunseeker” off of their upcoming record Recover and of course finished out the set with an acoustic rendition of “Young Blood” and as soon as it had begun the set was over. 

After the set the crowd dispersed fairly quickly. Some went to try and speak with the band members and others returned to the backyard for a few more drinks. Surprisingly not too many headed for the exits despite the festivities having concluded. If the songs we heard are any indication, we should all be excited for Recover. It seems to be a return to form for the much beloved indie pop duo that captivated our hearts in the mid-2000s. Here’s hoping that their new record brings the weary genre back to the forefront, it’d be nice to have that style of music back.