Not only did I get to see some of my favorite artists, but I got to have some pretty cool encounters with XXYYXX, Chet Faker, and Mac Demarco. Thanks to my friend Sara I was able to go to the music festival known as FYF, which is held in Los Angeles every summer. It was the first music festival I've ever attended, and it completely went above and beyond any expectations I had.
(XXYYXX)
The first set we decided to see was XXYYXX. I was surprised to find out that his music sounded even better (if that's possible) live. I've been listening to his music for about two years, and it was very exciting to finally hear him live. Unfortunately we did not to get to stay for the whole set, but a story about him will come up later.
(Chet Faker)
The second set we saw was Chet Faker. I was the most excited about seeing him live, and you know how everyone has that one artist that is their primary reason for going? Well Chet Faker was my reason. Obviously his performance was amazing, and we were lucky enough to stand really close to the stage even though it doesn't really look like it in the pictures above. (I'm sorry for the quality of the pictures I have an iPhone 4 and couldn't find a good camera to bring, so these will have to do.) Later this day while we were walking away from the Future Islands set Chet Faker walked right past me, and was maybe a foot or so away. It took me awhile to actually realize it was him because he blended in so well with the crowd, and when we tried to go follow him so we could take a picture he walked into the VIP section. It's okay though at least now I can say I basically brushed shoulders with Chet faker, right?
(Tycho)
One of the last performances we saw was Tycho. It was one of my favorites because 1. we were 3 rows behind the front of the stage, and 2. it was one of the creative shows I've ever seen. The whole show was like art to me as they played various clips onto their screen that matched perfectly with the music, most of which were scenes of the beach and crashing waves in soft, pastel colors. There are no words in any of their songs which makes their music very calming, and the instrumentals amazing in person.
(Grimes)
The very last show we saw this day was Grimes. I wasn't really sure what to expect from this show, but she sounded like an angel live. She came out dressed in an adorable cowboy outfit, and the crowd at this show was absolutely insane. It was on the same stage as Tycho so we were able to stay in the same place close to the stage. (They let some professional photographers into the pit in between the fence and stage, which is why it looks like there are more people in front of us.) I almost died (literally) when the whole crowd decided to push everyone forward until I was sandwiched between everyone around me. It was pretty fun smelling everyone's BO (no it wasn't 10/10 don't recommend it) It was to the point where I couldn't even lift my arms. It's okay because if I'm going to die at any show it might as well be at a Grimes show.
(Les Sins)
The second day of the festival started off with Les Sins. This show actually ended up being another one of my favorites, and the best part is we kind of just stumbled upon it. My friend and I overheard someone mentioning how it was the side project of the guy from Toro y Moi, and since we didn't have any other shows to see at that time we decided to check it out. We sat on some ledge that had a great view of the stage and the bass was really intense, which is my favorite part about live music so it worked out perfectly.
(Mac Demarco)
I grew to love Mac Demarco this day (yes I know I'm really late on this). I will admit I just started getting into his music, but I really do enjoy all of it. We wanted to attend his signing, and even though we got there right when the festival opened the line was already too long and he was only going to be there for an hour. We did get to take pictures for a few feet away though, and he seemed like he was a very genuine person while he was meeting his fans. Later on we got to see his show, and it was really great. There were tons of crowd surfers, and he even ended the show by diving into the crowd and surfing it for a few minutes. He also invited people to stick around afterwards to try and get a picture with him if they saw him walking around, which was really nice.
(Earl Sweatshirt)
The Earl Sweatshirt crowd was a pretty big size so my friend and I decided out best bet was to stand on the side of the stage where we could at least see the screen. His show was really energetic and he rapped live just as well as he does when listening through headphones (speaking of headphones there was someone in front of us listening to headphones at this show which was really weird/funny). Another person standing in front of us was XXYYXX (pictured in the second photo above). About 15 minutes into the show I realized he looked really familiar, and when I overheard the girls standing next to me saying the same thing I knew it was him for sure. I didn't ask for a picture because I didn't want to bother him while he was watching the show, but I did get to stand next to him for awhile and who else can say they did that at the Earl Sweatshirt set??? It was definitely one of the biggest highlights for me.
(Flying Lotus)
We only saw 15-20 minutes of this set because it conflicted with The Strokes show, but what I did hear was as great as I expected Flying Lotus to be. He was set up inside a box made of two screens where various animations made of geometric patterns flashed, and it really added to the whole show. I really wish I could have seen more of it, I had to sacrifice it for The Strokes.
(The Strokes)
Finally the weekend ended with The Strokes set. They were headlining the whole festival so the crowd was massive. There were people fainting left and right in the crowd, and they came out on stage 15 minutes late but who cares because The Stokes played live. The vibe of the crowd was indescribable, and you could feel the happiness radiating off of everyone gathered to watch their favorite band. I can't think of a better way to have ended the weekend, or the summer and I am so glad I was able to experience it all.
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