The first Just Like Heaven festival arrived in 2019, bolstered by strong headliners MGMT, Phoenix, Beach House and Yeah Yeah Yeahs. After a brief hiatus due to the 2020 pandemic, the event returned in 2022 with Interpol, Modest Mouse, the Shins and M.I.A.

Since then, the Goldenvoice festival focused on early aughts indie rock has become a staple, popping up annually at Brookside at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.

For Saturday’s installment, the self-proclaimed “carefully curated celebration” produced a somewhat underwhelming set of undercards, with LCD Soundsystem and the Strokes carrying the momentum for the entire affair.

With roasting summer heat reaching 95 degrees, event organizers set up misting fans and cooling buses to serve as a haven for festivalgoers. Refillable water stations were provided at each of the two stages and lined the fences between.

Even so, the blistering Pasadena sun produced an unusually hostile crowd environment. At the VIP barrier of the Orion Stage, a set of fans planted their flag early on. For hours, they stood unbothered — and then LCD Soundsystem took the stage.

During the set, swaths of fans attempted to crawl forward, desperate to be in sight of James Murphy. Arguments broke out, the crowd rumbled, and one younger woman suggested that an ill-tempered intruder needed to “dance hrself clean.”

Meanwhile, those at the back of the “Clubhouse” tier danced freely in yards of open space, twirling, to the dismay of the onlooking VIP crowd. That same space in front of the VIP barrier remained empty throughout the festival until the Strokes took the stage around 9:50 p.m.

As one security guard confessed to those checking to see if their VIP wristbands granted them access to the coveted Clubhouse lawn, “I wish I could let you all in.”

We’re happy to preface that no act this year was overwhelmingly horrendous, like the Go-Go’s last year at Cruel World. Still, someone has to rank them.

6. Chromeo

The flashy and perhaps overwhelmingly bright Chromeo took the Stardust Stage just before 9 p.m., with David Macklovitch donning a T-shirt with a very low neck and a glittering blazer. To his left, Patrick Gemayel (aka P-Thugg) wore a rhinestone durag and a leather vest over a bare chest.

Chromeo aren’t necessarily bad performers; in fact, they’re well-seasoned after their two decades in the game. But they were stuck between two of the “best bands in the history of recording music,” Macklovitch told the audience.

As a result of this, the crowd waned throughout their performance, with the duo reduced to desperate pleas: “What happened to the hand claps?” Hilariously, Gemayel requested the crowd to move via a talk box, seemingly hooked up to a synthesizer — think Stevie Wonder covering “(They Long to Be) Close to You” by the Carpenters.

You have to feel for the pair of Canadians, as they gave it their all. But they felt like an odd nu-disco inclusion in a lineup peppered with indie rock bands.

5. Twin Peaks

Unfortunately, the beginning of Twin Peaks’ set at 4:30 p.m. was plagued by technical issues, highlighted by an extensive sound check that leaked into the first 10 minutes of their allotted time on stage. It’s important to mention that this wasn’t necessarily their fault.

As they continued into their first set of songs, it became apparent that the volume on their microphones was a bit low, leaving lyrics drowned in the rest of the mix. Thankfully, they picked things up by the time they performed “Butterfly,” and the crowd responded accordingly.

As bassist Jack Dolan lost his glasses while headbanging, guitarist Clay Frankel rolled around on stage, and members of the crowd began surfing. A special shout-out to the gang vocals during the performance, which helped to set the tone.

The band closed out with their best song, the mellowly mesmerizing “Blue Coupe.”

4. Dayglow

In my late teens, I remember “Can I Call You Tonight” being an integral part of my life, frequently filling the background of my collegiate tasks. By my 20s, during the Depop-high of the pandemic, I purchased a “Dayglow” green tee, featuring the band name in yellow, ‘70s-esque font. I’d later give it away to a summer fling who liked them better than I, and I’m here to confess that I wish I’d kept it.

Instead, during their 5:10 p.m. set, I sat on the lawn of Brookside in a navy blue Watergate Hotel tee, with tongue in cheek.

According to frontman Sloan Struble, it was their only performance of the year, so they were genuinely happy to be there.

“What’s up L.A.?” he paused before correcting himself. “Pasadena!”

By the time they made it to “Can I Call You Tonight,” the crowd was buzzing, matching the accumulated energy of free-spirit Struble. “This is so freakin’ fun!” he cried out, while a nearby woman twirled in her long, floral summer dress.

Overall, their set was simple but thoroughly enjoyable, which is why they fit cozily midway through this list.

3. The Strokes

It’s hard to put the Strokes at number three. To refer to the Manhattanite rock quintet as third best in any context feels like music sacrilege. But the must-see band, currently on fire, were simply outshone.

The group took the stage around 9:50 in electric fashion.Their stage presence is incredible, and they’re currently riding the high of“Reality Awaits” paired with their first Coachella performance in 15 years, marking a well-deserved return to the limelight.

Julius Casablancas kicked things off with “Hard to Explain,” leaning onto his microphone and crying out its lyrics like it was 2009 all over again. Green lasers shot out into the crowd, revealing the faces of fans who’d waited all night on aching feet to see their favorites.

And then the banter began, which is always a highlight: “Home sweet not home,” Casablancas began, before adding, “Almost home. Second home.”

He remarked that it was a pleasure to play near the “soon-to-be-abandoned Rose Bowl,” as “no one wants to go there.”

“No one wants to play with me anymore!” he joked, seemingly referencing Toy Story.

They then played “Someday,” which he said he’s “really been f— that one up recently,” which surprised him as he’s “played that song maybe 20,000 times.”

Other highlights included his claim that the festival was “like a better Coachella,” and a tale about LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy.

“LCD played before us… that was nice,” he began. “I feel like… years ago James Murphy asked us to play ‘SNL’ and said he was retiring. What was that about?”

“What a pleasant surprise, I thought he retired 15 years ago!”

The set officially ended with “The Adults Are Talking,” shortly before an expected encore. They were able to fit in two more songs, the last being “Selfless,” before “they give us the old hook.”

2. TV Girl

Arriving at the Orion Stage at 6:05, the “traveling all-star band” and “highly professional” group were unfathomably amazing.

Jordana Nye accompanied them to the stage, wearing an ocean blue blouse and purple skirt. Brad Petering enthusiastically pressed away at his Roland sampler, with a green vape in hand and a Sublime shirt. Zoe Zeeman swayed back and forth behind her bass, simply dressed in a tee and vintage Lakers shorts.

“I can see my house from here!” Petering said before performing “Birds Don’t Sing.”

“Please don’t stalk me,” he added, just before he broke into a tap dance.

Nye would eventually perform some solo tunes, which featured impressive vocals; she had no problem hitting high notes on “Sweet to Dream.” Soon after, they brought out George Clanton to a screaming crowd: “Some back and forth with his agent, we settle on a fee, and here he is!”

Clanton strutted out with three water bottles, one of which he poured on Petering. The two others were pried open and thrown into the crowd. The camera quickly cut to Jordana riding piggyback on a band member.

The atmosphere was beyond any of my expectations. To say they stole the show may be discrediting, however, as I’m sure they had it in them all along.

1. LCD Soundsystem

Who else could it have been?

I recently saw LCD Soundsystem at the Hollywood Bowl, where they played a show in collaboration with Britpop outfit Pulp. I hadn’t heard them outside of the hits — blame my father, who insisted on blaring Bob Dylan — but it was one of those experiences you wish you could live through on repeat.

At Brookside around 7:40 p.m., I looked over at 404 reporter Rebecca Castillo in envy, knowing she was about to witness the Brooklyn outfit for the first time.

Visually, the entire set was stunning, with fast cuts of Nancy Whang pounding on her keyboard, Al Doyle whirring his synthesizer, and Murphy shouting into his microphone, wrapped around his arm. Whang wore a cheetah print blazer, and Doyle wore a wide-brimmed black hat — they both had on gold and red eye makeup.

“Hi everybody,” Murphy said. “We are going to try to be efficient… our songs are f— stupid long.”

But the set flew by, and the only reason I checked my watch was to check how much time we had left with the band, treasuring every second.

At that same Hollywood Bowl concert, my friend turned to me in the lead-up to “All My Friends” and claimed it was the “best song ever made.” She added that there was a reason Matty Healy continually referenced the song’s addictive piano riff for the 1975.

As I stood amid the crowd feeling an unmistakable catharsis and shouting its lyrics, I thought of how I agreed.

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