PASADENA– Despite the scorching temperatures, thousands of fans enjoyed the 2026 Just Like Heaven Festival starring LCD Soundsystem and the Strokes at Brookside Golf Course. This is right next to the Rose Bowl, on Saturday, August 22.
This one day festival once again lived up to its name. Extreme heat and tons of people are a recipe for disaster at several concerts, with Just Like Heaven being the exception.
With a festival this well run, the heat barely dented the mood. Misting stations and shaded areas were easy to find, water lines moved fast, and the crowd simply adapted, seeking out shade between sets and saving their biggest bursts of energy for once the sun started dropping behind the San Gabriel Mountains.
By early evening, with a light breeze finally cutting through, the whole place breathed a collective sigh of relief and leaned all the way into the night ahead.
The afternoon featured sun-soaked sets by bands like Whitney and TV Girl, and through the raw, sweaty chaos of Twin Peaks. Feist understood perhaps better than anyone that nostalgia was the assignment.
“We’re going to obliterate it through the power of music,” she said. Throughout a set that included “I Feel It All,” “1234” and “My Moon My Man,” Feist repeatedly asked fans to travel backward with her.
Then came LCD Soundsystem, which delivered one of the most exhilarating sets of the festival.
Opening with “Tonite,” LCD Soundsystem built its set piece by piece, its live band turning already great dance-punk songs into something even bigger onstage. Murphy was magnetic, but the musicians surrounding him were just as essential, building layers of percussion, synths, guitar and bass until Brookside felt like one enormous dance floor.
The Strokes closed the night with their own collection of favorites, including “Hard to Explain,” “Someday,” “Reptilia,” “You Only Live Once” and “The Adults Are Talking.” But between songs, Julian Casablancas seemed just as entertained by his own increasingly loose banter as the audience was. “I know you’re expecting a professional performance and I’m messing it up,” he joked at one point.
Casablancas called the area a “second home” before offering perhaps the cheekiest assessment of the night. He came across as the most charming fellow at the bar.
All in all Goldenvoice hit one out of the park again. This is routine for the promoters of Coachella and the Stagecoach Festivals. The chill vibe, great music and hydrated concert fans made for a great day and evening of entertainment.
