FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Music

Slaves to the Rhythm: The Scenes and Sounds of FYF Fest Day 2

We caught knockout sets from Grace Jones, ANOHNI, LCD Soundsystem, Young Thug, Saves the Day, Rae Sremmurd, Father John Misty, and more.

All photos by The1point8

"If you missed Grace Jones, you fucked up," James Murphy says by way of introduction early on into LCD Soundsystem's headlining set on the second and final night of FYF Fest 2016. "No really, you just did…I don't care if you finally connected with the person you love the most in the world, if you missed Grace Jones, you fucked up."

It's a point Murphy will harp on with almost bewildered conviction for the duration of his own tremendous headlining set, and he's right. At a festival replete with nostalgia, reunion acts, and long-toiling heavy hitters, as you could overhear Rae Sremmurd hyping a new flock of youth to the merits of Snapchat while Murphy lamented losing his edge with ever-renewed urgency, Grace Jones defied the ephemeral in a corset, body paint, and little else: A 68-year-old ultralight beam, breasts out, smashing cymbals to underscore her bellowed demand: "Make love to me!" In a set that was concluded by having someone throw red paint on her naked body while she hula-hooped for the duration of the song, Jones threw the gauntlet: A study in power, timelessness, and, of course, grace.

Advertisement

Between her spectacle and influence, Jones seems the perfect festival headliner. But to call her that would be to misread her entirely: Rather, Grace Jones is a refreshing anti-headliner in a music and festival culture obsessed by reunions and novelty, and, more broadly, a pop culture equally obsessed by female performers’ Sisyphean struggle to stay “relevant” as they age. There’s no denying that Jones, who claims not to know her age but is about 68, is getting older, but her set had little to do with nostalgia or comebacks, because Grace Jones has never left. We're still thinking about it, but more on that later.

In its 13th year, FYF Fest returned to form as a tastemaking festival en route to becoming the Primavera Sound of the US—albeit sans azure beaches and attractive Spaniards in leather jackets—a vibrant, city-based festival with a stacked, thoughtfully-curated lineup that offers more than the redundant sample platter of acts that happen to be touring that summer. It showcased local talent, noteworthy discoveries, and old guard greats culled equally from the rock, rap, and electronic worlds. It's not perfect, but if the bookers continue to opt for risk over buzz, it's well on its way.

That's not to say it wasn't without its problems. The ongoing demolition of an arena—the historic LA Sports Arena—at the center of your festival grounds is a logistical buzzkill, to the say the least, though that's no fault of their own. Electronic acts like Air, Todd Terje and the Olsens, and Gold Panda struggled to translate to the new outdoor space in lieu of the arena's better-suited dark confines.

Advertisement

Other second day highlights included album rundowns from ANOHNI, who delivered an unflinching rendition of Hopelessness, and Saves the Day, who performed their classic Stay What You Are. Blood Orange brought out Carly Rae Jepsen and Sky Ferreira. Preoccupations managed to draw a massive crowd at 3 PM. Father John Misty exorcised a summer '16-specific combo of narcissism, fear, and apathy with stadium-ready gusto. Young Thug struggled to find his stride, but when he was good, he was great. The Sremmurds proved that even the most whatever of hip LA youth can get wild.

We were on scene to take it all in, including additional sets from Denzel Curry, Julia Holter, Julien Baker, Banks and Steelz, and more. Check out the sights and sounds of Day 2 of FYF Fest 2016 below.

Grace Jones


Young Thug

ANOHNI

Saves the Day

Rae Sremmurd

Preoccupations

LCD Soundsystem

Julien Baker

Father John Misty

Denzel Curry

Charles Bradley

Blood Orange ft. Carly Rae Jepsen and Sky Ferreira

Julia Holter

Banks & Steelz

The1point8 is a photographer based in LA. Follow him on Instagram.

Andrea Domanick is the West Coast Editor of Noisey. Follow her on Twitter.