THE SCOOP: HOW TO SURVIVE FYF FEST

Photo credit: Oliver Walker, FYF Fest

It’s mid-summer, you’re all out of vacation days, and you can practically fry an egg on your roof. Best way to escape this inferno? Head to the embodiment of indie music bliss, F*ck Yeah Fest, at LA State Historic Park. It’s FYF’s 10th anniversary this year, and the festival has put together one of its best and meatiest lineups to date.  So if you haven’t already got it on your calendar, save the date for August 24th and 25th for what’s sure to be a kick-ass, reverb-filled weekend, with Yeah Yeah Yeahs and My Bloody Valentine headlining. See our list of survival tips and must-see acts to make your FYF experience parking-lot-porta-potty-I-don’t-know-who-to-see disaster-free.

QUICK TIPS:

1. Go Public: Unless you want to sound like a bad impression of SNL’s The Californians skit, take public transport. There’s the gold line to Chinatown that will shave a good hour and a lot of fury from your commute. Option 2: Bike. (Just remember to employ festive decorations or drop a pin on your phone’s GPS, so your beer-goggled self can remember where you stacked that shit later.)

2. Pre-game in Chinatown: Since you’re smart, you’ve arrived via subway right in the heart of Chinatown. Best advice? Relax, get some cocktails or some dim sum in Chinatown before heading into the battlefield. If beer’s your think, we recommend Melody Lounge on Hill St. for $7 beer flights.

3. Be Fashionably-Practical: We got the advice from DJ Heidi (arguably one of LA’s most fashionable vinyl-addicts/DJs): “Bring your fashion A-game, this ain’t Glastonbury or Outside Lands–sure, there is a little dust–but you are not going to ruin your shoes.”

DOs: Hat, scarves (to field the dust), comfy shoes, summer dresses, ear plugs (Etymotics or Earpeace are great for lowering volume without distorting sound like those crappy foam ones do).

DON’Ts: Heels. And any outfit that looks like it belongs at EDC.

4. Stay Cool: It’s hot as balls out there…so it’s important you drink plenty of water. F* Yeah Fest provides water bottle hydration stations. How did the legendary DJ Harvey (who performed in 2012) escape the heat? Ice Cream.

Photo courtesy of DJ Harvey

5. Porta-Potties: It’s definitely gotten better every single year on this front. But with this shit (pun intended) it’s really logical: either plan ahead and go before you need to go, wear a diaper, or as festival regular Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips once recommended “do some practicing where you hold your piss a little bit longer.” Obviously option A is advised. Also, pack a sealed bag of wet-wipes to avoid catastrophic oh-shit-I-took-a-shit-but-there’s-no-TP moments.

6. Bring $$$: FYF is one of the few festivals that has an awesome selection not only of food, but also of rad clothing designers, artists, and records. Just remember, if you are going to buy, make sure you do the rounds and figure out where to stash it.

2013 FYF ACTS TO CATCH (In no particular order…)

Poolside: Former LAC feature and LA-based duo Filip Nikolic and Jeffrey Paradise are signed to Echo Park records and craft the type of sunny, loose disco that you dig hearing poolside. Considering how hot and dusty Echo Park is, it’s time bring on the pool jams.

Charles Bradley : We are psyched this soul crooner will be dropping through. Let the hip swaying, “Amen!”-ing, and smoke wafting begin. And then let’s all hug and make out.

Glasser at Coachella 2011

Glasser: Cameron Mesirow crafts shards of ethereal electronica, a la Zola Jesus and Fever Ray–dripping with eccentric percussion and electro-pop scintillation. She’ll let you just float away.

Flume: The 21-year old electronic beat wonder-kid from Australia is garnering buzz all around the world these days, particularly for his remix of Disclosure’s “You and Me” and single “Sleepless.” You’ll want to see this one up close …because it may be the last time you can. And you’ll want to d-a-n-c-e.

!!! At Pacific Festival 2011

!!! – There’s a 90% chance that the lead singer will run into the crowd and try to eat his microphone. ‘nough said.

Dan Deacon : Dan is a Brooklyn-based avant-garde hipster whisperer. He turns on his deck of neon-colored knobs and gadgets, lets the layers of wacky DIY electronic sounds emanate and poof: hipster chicks get naked and skinny boys go nutso like fat kids on fire.

Devendra Barnhart: It won’t matter if you don’t know what language DB is singing in half the time and that he undulates from folk balladry to neo-psychedelia to self-described “space reggae.” He allows you to let your freak flag fly and that’s pretty much what F*ck Yeah Fest is all about.

Toro Y Moi at SXSW 2012

Toro Y Moi : Sure he’s may appear to be a sweet, unassuming guy with a laptop and glasses, but he crafts the type of blissed-out electronica that will have you in a shimmery dance tizzy.

Death Grips: After so much sunny electro-pop, it’s nice to sink into your dark side. If you like it rough and you dig dirty experimental hip-hop, you may find yourself moshing to these guys. Ear plugs are especially necessary here.

TVOR At Spin’s Party SXSW 2011

TV On The Radio & The Yeah Yeah Yeahs: These two rock acts are old friends from Brooklyn so we’re dreaming of a lot of creative cameos within their performances. Maybe even some kinda mash-up?! Tunde and Karen – ya heard?

My Bloody Valentine: The band is stopping in before touring Texas and the rest of Cali. It’s a hipster’s wet dream to close out the weekend by dipping our heads and swaying slowly in the night to their tendrils of shoe-gazy reverb. Yes, please!

{ PHOTOS & TEXT: Faith-Ann Young, unless otherwise credited }

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