
Just Like Heaven //
Brookside at the Rose Bowl – Pasadena, CA
August 22nd, 2026 //
Who said you still can’t visit heaven in the summer?
Goldenvoice has made its indie-focused festival Just Like Heaven an annual tradition since announcing 2019’s inaugural edition in Long Beach. And although its sophomore installment wouldn’t take place for a three-year stretch due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the one-day event has always occurred during the month of May even after migrating 30-plus miles north to Pasadena for its return in 2022 … until now.
Following up its fifth anniversary that saw Vampire Weekend headlining, Rilo Kiley gracing the stage for the first time since 2008 and slowdive signing on as special guests, JLH will slide back more than three months to welcome The Strokes, LCD Soundsystem, TV Girl, Chromeo and more to the Brookside Golf Course in late August.
It’s worth noting that this marks the third festival appearance in California for The Strokes this year after already being booked for two weekends of Coachella next month and a headlining set at Outside Lands a couple weeks prior to their JLH debut. The quintet, after all, headlined another Goldenvoice festival in 2022, as well as James Murphy and company, at the same exact location when the renowned California concert promoter gave This Ain’t No Picnic new life in the wake of a nearly two-decade hiatus.
Those are just the first few heavenly acts on the bill, however.
Some of the other names we should point out include The Rapture, Feist, Twin Peaks, Porches, WHITNEY, STRFKR, George Clanton, Coco & Clair Clair, EKKSTACY, Matt and Kim, Pixel Grip, Dayglow and Tanlines. Peep the poster above for those who are scheduled to perform.
Besides assembling a roster that caters to Gen X and millenial fans of indie music from the early to late aughts, JLH will also bring back LA’s queer disco party series A Club Called Rhonda for a third straight year after making its debut in 2024.
With the postponed date and lineup announcement coming later than usual, any doubts we had about JLH happening in 2026 have been put to bed. If you’re totally sold, make sure to register for the presale here before GA tickets go on sale this Friday, March 20th at 11 a.m. PT for $209 (Tier 1) and eventually increase to $229 (Tier 2), $239 (Tier 3) and $249 (Tier 4). VIP passes start at $439 (Tier 1) and jump to $459 (Tier 2) with the exclusive Clubhouse experience (21+) costing a cool $699. Expect inventory to go quickly for this one so don’t wait long to secure your spot!










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The focus on larger themes of mortality and spirituality in Modern Vampires of the City have catapulted this indie group from angst-ridden collegians to mainstream players — and in the process Ezra Koenig and company crafted an American classic. Compulsively listenable, this record matured with age in 2013, just like the artistic path Vampire Weekend seem to be on. The album continuously waxes poetically about death and higher powers, and “Unbelievers” sums it up best: “Girl you and I will die unbelievers, bound to the tracks of the train.” The ambiguousness is biting, as it is tough to tell if the statement is earnest atheism or harsh criticism of Godless existence. In “Step”, we’re told, “Wisdom’s a gift but you’ll trade it for youth, age is an honor it’s still not the truth…we know the true death, the true way of all flesh. Everyone’s dying, but girl – you’re not old yet.” Even “Dianne Young” is a double entendre for ‘dying young’. Every track is filled with high-level substance lyrically, but sonically it’s multi-faceted as well, melding baroque sensibilities and African grooves at a wonderfully variant pace throughout. Ultimately, it’s a supremely empowering coming of age album from Vampire Weekend, one that stares mortality in the face while celebrating time’s finite quality.
Early in Run The Jewels, Killer Mike announces, “Producer gave me a beat, said it’s the ‘beat of the year’, I said ‘El-P didn’t do it, so get the fuck outa here.’ El-P, the sole producer of rap music’s most dynamic duo, bases his production in captivating weirdness, micro-sampling everything from classic organ to nintendo glitch sounds to electric guitar, building epic beats for Killer Mike & El-P to deliver clever rhymes, based both in reality and playful hyperbole. One of Run The Jewels’ greatest successes is that it can be both funny and deadly serious within the same song, and often within in the same flow or line at times. So motherfuckin’ grimy, “Job Well Done” highlights how successfully dolphin sounds can contrast with aggressive lyricism, for example. Killer Mike broaches serious topics, bringing up the “elephant in the room” whenever possible, and EL-P is hyperactive and light-hearted as he spits his ‘future shit’. Put these two together and you have the best hip hop album in years.
The beauty is in the build with FOALS, and that is the case with Holy Fire more than prior album as the UK-based festival-headliners-in-the-making have largely abandoned their post-dance punk sound aesthetic for a more ballad-based approach. Sure, “My Number” and “Providence” continue the upbeat, math rock-dance-freak-outs, but overall FOALS have centered their 2013 record around patient song development in order to establish more memorable, ecstatic moments. “Milk & Black Spiders” does just that, taking a full three minutes and forty five seconds to reach it’s blissful summit. “Late Night” is a harrowing slow burner, repeating the line, “Calling out your name,” asking for the subject of the song to “Stay with me.” Lead singer Yannis Philippakis’ impassioned vocals, paired with the band’s guitar interplay and non-standard rhythms make FOALS a unique force in the world of modern rock.
Matt Berninger has a way with words — who else could make the phrase “full of punks and cannonballers” sound eloquent and measured in the track “I Need My Girl”? The National thrives on non-literal lyricism, but the instrumental elements from The National in Trouble Will Find Me prop the singing up on a pedestal better than prior records. Void of any filler, this contemplative record easily allows the listener to take their own meaning from any given track, applying it internally. The first half impresses quickly with “I Should Live In Salt” through “Sea Of Love”, but it is the second half that solidifies the effort as The National’s best work to date. An album that also gets more addictive with subsequent listens, Trouble Will Find Me works well as both a “pick me up” record and one to embrace life’s good times, an odd duality indeed.
Who needs Bon Iver when Justin Vernon is making music like he has with The Shouting Matches and Volcano Choir in 2013? Vernon, the creative centerpiece behind Bon Iver, announced while promoting Repave that Volcano Choir is his new band. Arguably, this is a genius move, as Vernon is exhibiting a higher level of confidence and innovation with this possibly permanent collaboration with members of Collections of Colonies of Bees. Repave traverses a path that balances grandiose and minimalism, choosing off-beat, unexpectedly contrasting moments to ‘drop the sound hammer’ in both “Comrade” and “Byegone”. “Drop the sound hammer” refers to the mesmerizing technique Volcano choir uses to quickly transition from falsetto-based minimalist intros into hard-hitting Philip Glass-like synth blasts and authoritative drums. I’m fine with Vernon considering himself a legend, as long as he continues creating music with cryptic, poetic lyrics and the progressive intermingling of intense and soothing sounds. 




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