Live Review by: PALACE PARKER
On Saturday, thousands of music enthusiasts descended onto Los Angeles State Historic Park in downtown LA to catch the 2011 FYF Fest. In its eighth year of conception, the festival didn’t disappoint with an eclectic range of acts such as Future Islands, The Descendents, Broken Social Scene, OFF!, The Cults, and many more.
With the help of Goldenvoice — the savvy, juggernaut producers behind Coachella and Stagecoach — significant improvements were noticeable upon entry. No long, winding lines at the front entrance like last year and the festival grounds were much easier to navigate on foot compared to years prior. The festival still has more growing pains to iron out (long lines at the food vendor trucks/port-a-pottie maintenance), but this year was definitely noteworthy and the behind-the-scenes organization had improved substantially.
Stage names on the festival grounds were named after characters from The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. OFF! played to an enthusiastic crowd of mosh-pitters on the Donatello Stage. Future Islands’ front-man Samuel T. Herring, drenched in sweat with microphone in hand, raptured the crowd in Splinter’s Den (a place that also served as the comedy tent during the duration of the festival). Landing from London two hours prior, The Cults played a beautiful set to a sun-kissed crowd on the Leonardo Stage. Canadian indie-rock gods Broken Social Scene played their hearts out later in the evening (unfortunately without Feist in tow). Punk rock legends The Descendents served up old school punk on the Leonardo Stage. With so many great moments at the festival, one can only hope they extend FYF Fest to a full weekend in the years to come.
I think it’s safe to say FYF creator Sean Carlson and Team have hit their stride.
photos by: Ivan Samadan, Palace Parker & Jasper Bernabaum