Those who attended the FYF Festival this last Saturday September 3rd, witnessed a music festival on its tipping point of becoming a “must” for music fans and concertgoers in Southern California. On its eighth year, FYF Fest saw big improvements from previous years. According to information from The Los Angeles Times Music Blog, the 2010 festival left many fans disappointed with lots of dust and dirt, insufficient amounts of food and water, and miserably long lines. This year, the curator Sean Carlson and his team of only five others, decided to team up with the large event promotions company Goldenvoice, who also put on the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. This decision increased the tickets from last year’s $25 to $35 (and then $40 closer to the festival), but also saw huge improvements on how it was run.
With 20,000 in attendance, fans at FYF could now focus on the festival itself, and not if they were going to be able to get a bottle of water. With a free water station, free sunscreen, two beer gardens, and plenty of porta-potties, Goldenvoice brought out its corporate muscle to help make the festival a success. Of course, it’s the lineup that made the festival one to remember.
FYF included a variety of 36 artists that could satisfy all tastes. Punk icons The Descendents, high-energy dance-rock Death From Above 1979, house-infused electronica Simian Mobile Disco, LA-based Cold War Kids and Nosaj Thing, as well as variety of newer artists like Cults, Smith Westerns, Girls, Yacht, and Purity Ring. The festival had four stages for music that spread out over the Los Angeles State Historic Park in Downtown LA’s Chinatown.
Once through the chain-link fences, you were in a musical Shangri-La (to reference Yacht’s newest album title) for twelve hours. The space around you became your personal auditory haven, where you could walk freely based on preference. The Cults’ harmonies drifted through the sunny open air. Cold War Kids’ percussions perfectly complimented their twilight performance as they played fan favorites from their first album. Four Tet’s beats were impossible not to dance to with the setting sun as a backdrop and as excitement for the night set in. Nosaj Thing’s deep hip-hop electronic sound reverberated through the night air as he stood in front of striking black and white visuals. Dance-parties spontaneously ensued everywhere you walked (including next to an ambulance), smiles were frequent and head bobbing was a norm. “What’s so awesome about FYF is that it’s local, and super cheap compared to other festivals,” says concertgoer and FYF veteran Kelly Hawthorne. This year’s great success has talk that FYF may become a two-day event next year. Watch out Coachella, in a couple years you might have major competition.
Hopefully next year's festival continues to add on to the improvements of this year. It'd be great to have a local festival yearly that doesn't engulf my savings.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I had to look up what FYF Fest was; I had never heard of it before. Also, I think the only name I recognized of the artists mentioned, was Cold War Kids. Obviously, this is not a festival that would appeal to me, however, it looks and sounds like a lot of fun for those who are in to this type of music. I am glad they were able to learn from what went wrong in previous years, and improve upon their festival this year. There is nothing like a great concert experience, so for the fans' sake I hope next year will turn out just as good, if not better!
ReplyDeleteI've always wanted to experience a festival similar to FYF, preferably Coachella or Burning Man though. The vibes seem so chill since everything is there to have a great time, hopefully.
ReplyDeleteI have had the opportunity to attend other festivals though, such as Rock the Bells, but the music is obviously not too similar.
I don't necessarily agree with you that Coachella may have some serious competition in a couple of years, simply because the festival is so widely known. On top of that, the headlining artists are huuuuuge -- from Kanye West and Jay-Z to Muse.
I just don't think, nor can I imagine that FYF will be any competition for Coachella at all. The prices and budget are much smaller and the artists do not have as large of a fan base. Not only that, but since Coachella tickets are so expensive, the crowd expects much, much more because of what they are paying for a weekend festival.
I heard about this festival for the first time earlier this year, which I think shows how much this festival has grown in the last eight years.
ReplyDeleteWhile I wasn't too fond of any of the artists that played this year, I think the location for this festival is awesome. The fact that tickets are so cheap, at least for now, are a big draw too. It can be nice for those that can't afford tickets to the bigger name festivals; there may not be huge artists, but at least the festival experience can still be had by those on a budget.
I also disagree with the above commenter, but rather agree with you. Right now, FYF Fest is no Coachella or Lollapalooza, but I think it could be in time. I mean, Coachella has been going for twelve years now, and Lollapalooza has been going off and on since '91, so FYF Fest is fairly new in comparison. It can still gain momentum, money, and eventually the big-name artists that both of the aforementioned festivals now boast. From the looks of the way the festival is going, I wouldn't be surprised to see that in a few years.