Just Like Heaven //
Brookside at the Rose Bowl – Pasadena, CA
May 18th, 2024 //
With two of Southern California’s biggest music festivals releasing their lineups last week, it seems only fitting that we would begin the next week off with another one, right?
Of course, it is that time of the year for us to look ahead toward the warmer months when we can all be outside again and festival season certainly falls right in line with such as folks start to make their spring and summer vacation plans.
Less than seven days since Coachella and BeachLife Festival revealed their plans for 2024 though, and Goldenvoice is making news again with another announcement for one of its premiere events.
That’s because Just Like Heaven is back this May for its fourth year after a 2023 edition highlighted by Yeah Yeah Yeahs, MGMT, Future Islands, Empire of the Sun and M83 among others, and California’s premiere concert promoter has once again managed to assemble a roster that any fan of indie music should be able to appreciate.
Coming off last year’s co-headline tour featuring The Postal Service and Death Cab for Cutie that saw them book three nights at the Hollywood Bowl in October, the two Ben Gibbard-led projects will each take the stage in Pasadena with the former serving as this year’s headliner.
Phoenix, The War on Drugs, Miike Snow, Passion Pit, Alvvays, Two Door Cinema Club, Phantogram, Metric, Tegan and Sara, Washed Out, Broken Social Scene, Sleigh Bells, Warpaint and CSS round out an incredible undercard that could just be the fest’s best yet. Check out the poster above for those who haven’t already been mentioned but are scheduled to perform at the Brookside Golf Course next to the Rose Bowl, including the return of indie-rock band Gossip for the group’s first U.S. festival appearance after releasing the forthcoming Real Power to mark their first studio album in 12 years. Moreover, JLH will be Swedish electropop act Miike Snow’s first performance since 2019, while Brazilian rockers CSS get ready to celebrate 20 years together as a band. And finally, there’s LA’s queer disco party series A Club Called Rhonda making its official JLH debut.
Ready to buy your tickets? You’ll want to register for the presale here before GA passes go on sale this Friday, January 26th at 11 a.m. PT for $159 (Tier 1) and eventually increase to $179 (Tier 2) and $199 (Tier 3). GA+ wristbands are no longer an option, but VIP and Clubhouse tickets are available for $379-389 and $659, respectively, prior to any additional fees.
Set those alarms and mark your calendars now because Goldenvoice’s latest celebration of all things indie rock and electro dance is only a few months away!
UPDATE (April 15th): We are still more than a month away from Just Like Heaven 2024, but you won’t have to wait any longer for set times. Tough choices remain though, and there are a couple early when Sleigh Bells and Broken Social Scene take the stage within 15 minutes of each other and an hour later just as Phantogram and Washed Out face off against one another. The good news is that there will be less conflicts later in the day and into the evening’s performances, which won’t overlap much. Find out who’s playing on which stage and when in the full list above.
UPDATE (May 14th): Just Like Heaven has unveiled this year’s map with a layout that looks similar to the festival’s last two editions. Whether you are going as GA or VIP, make sure to bring a good pair of walking shoes because you will need it at the Brookside!
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With perhaps the most appropriate name for musical act on the planet, Massive Attack capped Treasure Island Music Festival 2014 in stunning fashion. With a balancing act of bass-infused downtempo brilliance highlighted by Martina Topley-Bird’s singing and industrialized synth-stabbing electronic pieces, a range of emotion is achieved for the listener. With contrasting tempos and a duality of tranquility then intensity, a cause-and-effect narrative starts to take shape — especially when paying attention to the video elements of the intense songs. “United Snakes” left nothing to the imagination with its barrage of corporate logos and national flags. It appeared the expanded duo slipped in one frame of a Ferris wheel, reminding us that yes, us consumers at TIMF, the only U.S. festival Massive Attack played on this tour, are part of the system. “Future Proof” visuals stripped out rows of zeroes and ones, using the simplicity of computer code to inspire multiple paths of thought, especially while absorbing this show in the Bay Area. And Tunde Adebimpe from TV On The Radio joined in for “Pray For Rain” for the grand finale.
It’s almost the end of the biggest reunion tour in decades, and TIMF patrons were lucky enough to witness one of OutKast’s last shows. The Bridge Stage was more packed in than any show in memory, and festivalgoers outwardly had more fun compared to performances from past years. The set was perfectly paced, with André 3000 seemingly having a fun time — an important part of the equation compared to Big Boi’s rock-steady appearances throughout 2014. The guys gave shout-outs to Casual and The Misfits in the “local love” part of the show, and “Roses” (including a half-hearted apology for the “crazy bitch” outro) once again was one of the highlights. The set ended at least 20 minutes before the scheduled end of the day, emptying a large percentage of patrons into the shuttle line at the same time — there were some reports of people not making it back to SF until 2 a.m.
TVOTR gave one of the best sets of the weekend with their wonderful mix of slow burners, dance-punk blasts of energy along with three new songs: “Happy Idiot”, “Careful You” and “Could You”. The latter two were particularly impressive and fit perfectly into the band’s catalog. A couple other notes on the show: producer and multi-instrumentalist David Sitek now looks like Bono, Kyp Malone is still professionally chill and Tunde Adebimpe continues to be offended when listeners don’t give him full attention. After completing “Wolf Like Me”, wherein the TI faithful went nuts, the lead singer said that he couldn’t believe he saw someone leave during the song. Agreed Tunde, and we’re looking forward to the forthcoming record.
Chet Faker had the crew bring out a huge bass speaker to put directly behind him after his first song to give his music more oomph. And when he dipped into his career-making collaborations with Flume, “Left Alone” and “Drop the Game”, the Tunnel stage instantly began moving like the rhythm of the ocean. But otherwise, the set was downtempo to the point of boredom. And it’s not a good idea to take one of your best songs, “Talk is Cheap”, and strip it down even more. Some ladies still felt compelled to rock their friend’s shoulders as if it was a dance show, something that I’m still trying to figure out.
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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