For the average music fan, Saturday was spent catching up on new releases from the day prior and fitting in some classics in their rotation to reach that perfect level of nostalgia. For other music nerds, their Saturday was spent showering in that nostalgia as some of the biggest acts of the early aughts fled to Pasadena, California for this year’s Just Like Heaven festival. The likes of MGMT, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and M83 made their way to the Golden State on May 13 for a full day of unforgettable performances with setlists that toed the line between classics and new material.
The day was split up into two stages, the Orion Stage and the Stardust stage. Swedish rockers The Hive made an appearance early on the Orion stage, highlighting their short yet potent catalog with performances of “Walk Idiot Walk” and “Bogus Operandi”, the latter coming off of their upcoming The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons LP, due to be released August 11. A few hours later the Orionn stage welcomed the recently reunited Walkmen for a stop on their 2023 reunion tour. The band focused on their 2004 Bows + Arrows LP, pulling out classics like “The Rat” and “Thinking Of A Dream I Had”. The Walkmen were followed promptly by the electric Future Islands who held nothing back with performances of tracks like “Tin Man” and “Plastic Beach”. The Orion stage went for a terrific three-peat with Future Islands being followed by the mystical Empire Of The Sun. The famed duo focused their setlist heavily on their classic debut Walking On A Dream, pulling out songs like the title track, “Half Mast”, and “Delta Bay”.
The Orion stage was also home to the unforgettable MGMT performance, which saw the synth duo perform their debut Oracular Spectacular in full with an accompanying children’s choir to emphasize the youthful fun that echoes through that album. MGMT’s appearance at Just Like Heaven marked their first show in over three years. The Orion stage waved goodbye with an eccentric performance from the legendary Yeah Yeah Yeahs, who shut things down with a setlist that selected some of the best songs from their discography. The band performed “Art Star” for the first time since 2018 and found time to feature tracks from their GRAMMY Award-winning LP, Cool It Down.
The Stardust stage held just as many memorable moments. The likes of Hot Chip took the stage and pulled out tracks like “Over and Over” from their classic 2006 LP, The Warning along with a select few tracks from their most recent release, 2022’s Freakout / Release. They were followed by electronic artist Caribou who mixed his song “Never Come Back” with the legendary Four Tet remix. The Stardust stage was capped off with an eclectic performance from M83, who pieced together a setlist that celebrated their fantastic 2023 album Fantasy along with bringing back some essentials from the band. M83 performed “Sunny Boy” and “Earth To Sea” from their latest and threw it back to their classic Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming LP with songs like “My Tears Are Becoming The Sea” and the fan-favorite “Midnight City”.
Check out footage from Saturday’s Just Like Heaven set and see the full setlists from some of the biggest performances of the weekend below:
M83: https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/m83/2023/brookside-park-pasadena-ca-43b98743.html
MGMT: https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/mgmt/2023/brookside-park-pasadena-ca-33b9843d.html
YYY: https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/yeah-yeah-yeahs/2023/brookside-park-pasadena-ca-5bb98754.html
EOTS: https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/empire-of-the-sun/2023/brookside-park-pasadena-ca-53b98741.html
