FYF Fest Stunned With Kendrick Lamar and Iconic Grace Jones Performance

Matt Matasci

Despite rapid growth in size and notoriety, it’s unlikely FYF Festival will ever approach the scale and influence of Coachella. However, with acts like Kendrick Lamar, LCD Soundsystem and Grace Jones, the event’s organizers clearly have their sights set on the top of the festival food chain. Despite being this second-tier status, all eyes were on Exposition Park as the weekend approached. FYF’s thirteenth edition marked its further transformation towards the mainstream, far from its punk roots in Echo Park.

Day One opened with Brooklyn band, DIIV, on the Main Stage, giving the congested mass of bodies that snaked southward down Vermont Avenue something to groove to. Moments later at the somewhat-isolated Trees Stage, Swedish pop masterminds, Peter, Bjorn and John, blazed through a polished, danceable set. The group’s lighthearted performance sandwiched older hits like their star-making 2004 hit “Young Folks” between songs from their current album “Breakin’ Point.”

At the centrally-located Lawn Stage, Australian electronic-rock group, Jagwar Ma, provided the day’s first highlight. The trio performed with an eye-popping assortment of electronic gear, creating a sound that easily alternated between the breakneck pacing of the early 90s dance/rave scene and the brooding intensity of Nine Inch Nails. With a new album coming out in the fall, keep an eye out for Jagwar Ma in the near future.

The second performer on the Main Stage was Long Beach rapper Vince Staples. Staples, who took the stage with heady enthusiasm to the grinding beat of “Lift Me Up.” Accompanying the music were large with footage of the Long Beach and Los Angeles Harbors, pulled straight from the single’s music video. Having just released a new EP, “Prima Donna,” the previous day, Staples ran through several of new songs, including “War Ready,” “Is It Real” and “Big Time.”

Tame Impala led an inspired set highlighted by an appearance from pop mega-star, Lady Gaga, the most famous musician to set foot on the FYF stage, who came out to give lead singer Kevin Parker a warm embrace as the band finished their set with “New Person Same Old Mistakes” (Parker recently collaborated with Gaga on her latest single “Perfect Illusion”).

Concluding Saturday night was  local hip-hop superstar, Kendrick Lamar, who has risen to the pinnacle of the rap world. Opening with “Untitled 7,” Lamar moved between commercial hits like “Swimming Pools (Drank)” and other songs, like a reworked version of “Backseat (Freestyle).” The majority of his electrifying set was pulled from “Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City” and “To Pimp a Butterfly,” but took a brief excursion to revisit his first album “Section 80,” providing with the night a true highlight.

Day Two was kicked off with several smaller acts, like the renamed Viet Cong performing as Preoccupations, Julia Holter, Julien Baker and Wild Nothing across the Lawn and Trees Stages. Meanwhile, Banks & Steelz, the collaboration between Paul Banks of Interpol and RZA of Wu Tang Clan, provided day two’s first high point performing songs off the years-in-the-making “Anything But Words.”

Blood Orange on the Main Stage was the place to be if you were looking for exciting special guest appearances. The British alternative R&B singer brought up just about every singer he’s ever collaborated with as Carly Rae Jepsen, Zuri Marley, Lorely Rodriguez (Empress Of) and Sky Ferreira all appeared on stage for duets. With “Freetown Sound” having the status as a frontrunner for 2016’s best album, Devin Hynes only made his case stronger with this FYF Festival performance.

As golden hour approached in Expo Park, soul singer Charles Bradley took to the Lawn Stage for another of his jaw-dropping live performances. Bradley moved through songs from throughout his discography, including numbers from the recently-released, “Changes.” Back at the Trees Stage, early 2000s emo-core heroes Saves the Day reprised their crossover hit “Stay What You Are,” earning plenty of sing-alongs and fist pumps.

Father John Misty took to the Main Stage next in his typically flamboyant style, adding color to the songs from his two LPs. He opened with breakout single “The Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings Tonight” while focusing on material from “I Love You, Honeybear,” Josh Tillman and company closed out the late afternoon set with a raucous rendition of “Ideal Husband.”

The next two performers were as much visual performance artists as musicians. First was ANOHNI, the new moniker of Antony Hegarty, performing songs from her “Hopelessness” album. The musician has changed more than her name, dropping the baroque pop of Antony and the Johnsons for loud, brash, electronic-based music. Behind her, faces were projected on the huge flat screens behind her, singing along with the emotional and deeply personal lyrics. At the Main Stage, singer-model-actress Grace Jones put on one of the most memorable performances in FYF history. Donning an elaborate costume, Jones was all over the stage, showing the younger generations how to work a crowd. As James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem would tell fans at his headlining set later that night, “If you weren’t at Grace Jones, you fucked up.”

At the Main Stage, singer-model-actress Grace Jones put on one of the most memorable performances in FYF history. The 68 year old performed with more exuberance than artists one-third her age, donning an extravagant and elaborate costume with body paint, a golden skull mask and a long black cape that flowed behind her as she moved across the stage. Included in her set were covers of Iggy Pop (“Nightclubbing”), Pretenders (“Private Life”), Flash in the Pan (“Walking in the Rain”) The Normal (Warm Leatherette”) and Roxy Music (“Love Is The Drug”). The show stopper came halfway through her set when all of the instrumentalist put down their tool, allowing Jones to perform “Amazing Grace” a cappella. Other songs from her set included “This Is,” “Williams’ Blood,” “My Jamaican Guy,” “I’ve Seen That Face Before (Libertango),” “Pull Up to the Bumper” and “Slave to the Rhythm.” As James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem would tell fans at his headlining set later that night, “If you weren’t at Grace Jones, you fucked up.”

Finally, LCD Soundsystem took the Main Stage for the final performance of the weekend. One of the biggest reunion stories of 2016, fans packed in front of the stage. While not nearly as crowded and rowdy as Kendrick Lamar’s set the night before, the multitudes gathered to hear the dance-punk group perform hits like “Daft Punk is Playing at My House,” “You Wanted a Hit” and “All My Friends.”

Every year it feels like FYF is a little more grandiose and ambitious, and 2016 was no exception. With a lineup focused on diversity and big names at the top of the bill has Goldenvoice taken the little-festival-that-could and turned it into one of the country’s preeminent musical events.

FYF Festival took over Exposition Park Aug. 27-28.