Photo: Elli Papayanopoulos for FYF Fest

By: Fiona Hannigan

Saturday at FYF Fest 2016 seemed like enough of a lineup to make the festival shine, but Sunday put it over the top. From amazing guest performances, to legendary artists showing giving it their all (looking at you Charles Bradley & Grace Jones). Father John Misty performed in typical sardonic fashion, Young Thug pumped the bass and brought the party, and Beach House spun their dreamy tunes. But these were our favorite moments of the day.

Photo: Elli Papayanopoulos for FYF Fest

Julien Baker

A huge crowd, especially for a 2:45pm set, swarmed the Club stage for Memphis musician Julien Baker, and rightfully so. Hers was one of the most unexpectedly delightful performances of the weekend, and a great way to start off Sunday. Her heavenly vocals filled space, but with just her and her guitar, the performance was intimate and warm. Her voice carried, swooping and arching, and her guitar rang out harmonically, accompanied only by the occasional pedal and backing track. Her songs are tender, yet fulfilling, and she took the audience on an emotional journey that could make your chest ache. With just the right amount of lightness to balance it out, she was a treat to see live.

Julia Holter

Julia Holter followed Julien Baker on the Club stage. This was her first festival in Los Angeles, she mentioned, “So good to be performing in my hometown.” It was heartfelt. Her unique musical style mixed sounds in an enchanting way, with a tight, talented band and earnest vocals. With almost grungy bass and steady beats, to more light, cascading keys and drums–not to mention the rich strings in her band–the musical layering they created made for a dynamic, rich performance. Her full vocals, despite being rather mixed back, carried the songs forward. While at some points delicate and crooning, they didn’t shy away from discord. We heard her crooning lullabies, foot-tapping songs, and experimental tracks. Playing primarily from 2015’s brilliant Have You In My Wilderness, she and her band dazzled between more sparse and simple sound to rich and layered and back again. She seemed to deconstruct the songs and put them back together again, her classical training shining. Hers was a performance with a serious edge, and a beautiful musical experience.

 

Photo: Laura June Kirsch for FYF Fest

Blood Orange

Devonté “Dev” Hynes has proved himself to be an incredible talent, and never disappoints live, but he left this one to the women performers to steal the show. He performed on the Main stage, truly bringing his excellently produced work alive, but not without the help of some surprising guest appearances. Blood Orange set the atmosphere by beginning with a reading of “For Colored Girls (The Missy Elliott Poem),” the poem by Ashlee Haze that appears on Freetown Sound’s opener “By Ourselves.” He then launched into the groovy “Augustine” from the same album, showing off the great full band accompanying him.

Sparkly sounds announced the beginning of “Better Than Me,” where the audience was surprised with featured artist Carly Rae Jepsen coming up to sing. She strutted on the stage and got the crowd really dancing. It didn’t stop there. Zuri Marley sang her part with “Love Ya,” and Sky Ferreira took over to sing “You’re Not Good Enough,” (from earlier album Cupid Deluxe) raw and beautiful. When he wasn’t sharing the stage gracefully, Dev was dancing across the stage, full of earnest emotion. He was joined by yet another collaborator, the shimmering Empress Of, who took the stage for “Best to You.” The jewel beats moved the crowd, and the contagious verses had everyone singing along. Even Blood Orange had to stop and say, “Hot damn that was fine.” In between these killer guest performances, Dev shredded on the guitar, the horns and synth carried the songs forward, and the backdrop shifted between cityscapes layered with images of dancing.

After taking things to a super funky place with “You’re Not Good Enough,” just when the audience thought the amazing guest appearances were over, none other than Nelly Furtado took the stage for their single “Hadron Collider.” As they sang together, facing each other as if they were the only ones there, the crowd went wild. The dancing could not stop as Blood Orange rounded out the set with drum-heavy “Juicy 1-4,” the immediate crowd pleaser “It Is What It Is,” and the funky, danceable “Uncle ACE.” No one wanted this amazing dance party to end, and the lady power stuck with everyone throughout the rest of the day.

 

Photo: Laura June Kirsch for FYF Fest

Grace Jones

James Murphy of LCD SOundsystem said it right: “If you missed Grace Jones, you fucked up.” No disrespect to Mac Demarco or Beach House (great acts whose sets overlapped with Jones), but Jones’s performance lived up to her legendary status. She moved like no one else, donning an array of elaborate costumes, backed by a phenomenal band and even her own male pole dancer: Tarzan. At one point she hula-hooped, danced, and sang for at least 8 minutes without a blink. She was empowering and awe-inspiring, and just may have stolen the whole weekend. If you don’t know who she is, look her up, and get listening.

 

Photo: Laura June Kirsch for FYF Fest

LCD Soundsystem

An enormous crowd swarmed the Main stage for perhaps the most highly-anticipated performance of the weekend: LCD Soundsystem. James Murphy and Co. kept the crowd going for almost two hours. “One of our favorite things to do at festivals is to play after the headliner. Everyone either wants to see you, or is too fucked up to go home. Tonight is kind of like that, since we got to play after one of our heroes,” Murphy said in another nod to Grace Jones. A huge disco ball turned the stage into a dance hall and some really interesting birds-eye-view camera work appeared on the side-screens. Both added a really complementary visual element to the performance. The band powerfully played through their discography, transitioning quickly as if every single song was the one everyone had been waiting for. The audience clapped along until their hands were raw, sang along until their lungs hurt, and moved effortlessly despite everyone’s tired feet from the long weekend. It was the only way to end a weekend so packed with talent.