Awakening our core memories from the indie aughts, Just Like Heaven returned to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on Saturday, May 13, for a full day and night of all that sweet indie nostalgia.
Words: Sandra Burciaga Olinger
Photography: Bryan Olinger
Right from the jump, I knew I was in for a nonstop day of running from the Orion stage to the Stardust stage to relive some beautiful moments from my 20s and 30s; the days of hanging out in East Los Angeles indie venues, such as Spaceland and The Echo. Those were some epic times for the indie music scene, and being at the start of it all, to see those bands grow into world-renowned acts, really pulls at your heart.
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That’s precisely what Just Like Heaven did and does every year it returns. It was a festival with a lineup built to make you feel, laugh and smile, and remember those days of hitting shows multiple times a week without too many adult responsibilities. So many of us who attended Just Like Heaven are now in our 30s and 40s. We have high rents or mortgages to pay; we have little mouths to feed, and these days, it’s rare that we get a music festival that speaks to our prime (or shall I say the good ‘ole days).
From the wild garage-rock of The Hives, who came in as a last-minute replacement for fellow Swedes The Sounds (soooo sad they didn’t play, btw) — to the playful indie dance-pop sounds of MGMT and Empire of The Sun — and the jaw-dropping, heavy serving of badassery that was Peaches, and headliner the Yeah Yeah Yeahs — Just Like Heaven was indeed a marathon of early 2000s indie music. Act for act, we were transported to a delicious era of really fucking cool music.
Check out our photos below for from all the performances we caught, along with the people that make this music scene vibrant and full of life: the fans.
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