Just Like Heaven 2025 Recap

Just Like Heaven, a single day festival at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, is the place to be if you love the 2000s and 2010s era of indie music. Every May, Goldenvoice delivers a stacked lineup of acts that every millennial gasps at, with this year as their sixth (!) iteration. It’s the time of year to get nostalgic! KCSB’s Publications Coordinator, Galilea, and Digital Media Coordinator, Avery, trekked down to Pasadena to get you the scoop on the best sets of the day.

words by Galilea Trujillo and Avery Morgan

photos by Avery Morgan

Avery’s Recap:

After catching last year’s Just Like Heaven fest, I thought Goldenvoice wouldn’t be able to book a better lineup. Seeing the Postal Service/DCFC, Broken Social Scene, Passion Pit, and Phoenix (and more!) in 2024 set my expectations very, very high. (Check out KCSB’s 2024 fest review here.) And then, they announced another legendary lineup for this year — Rilo Kiley, of Montreal, TV on the Radio, Courtney Barnett, Slowdive, and countless other stellar picks. The lineup has over 20 artists, but Just Like Heaven only lasts one day. With grounds opening around noon and the last set wrapping up by 11pm, it’s amazing they manage to fit so many performances in one day. On the Orion Stage, they schedule only 5 minutes in between sets, thanks to a clever rotating stage, where the incoming act’s gear is set up while the outgoing band plays. 

I began to worry in the days leading up to JLH when I noticed the high for the day was supposed to be 100 degrees. My fears were definitely valid, as the moment I got out of my car in the parking lot, a thick wave of heat made me dizzy. I’d gotten too comfortable in Santa Barbara’s perfect weather, and lost all my heat tolerance from my Texas days. To escape from the heat, we met up with some student staffers from Chapman Radio in the press tent, who were preparing to interview Peter Bjorn and John. I caught a solid mix of pop acts like Empire of the Sun and Grouplove, heavier alt-rock bands like TV on the Radio and Bloc Party, and experimental acts like Toro y Moi and Panda Bear. Like many others there, I was most excited to see the reunion of Rilo Kiley.

The last time Rilo Kiley played their hometown of LA was 2008, which ended up being their final show before a 17 year hiatus. For lead singer Jenny Lewis, the past years have been devoted to the Postal Service reunion tour, which began in summer 2023 and was extended to September 2024 due to overwhelming demand. The Postal Service made a stop at last year’s Just Like Heaven fest, performing 2003’s Give Up in full. I was extremely greedy and saw that reunion tour several times, and was always entranced by Jenny Lewis’ confidence in performing (perhaps due to her background as a child actor). Goldenvoice seems to have had a direct role in the reunion of Rilo Kiley — they reached out to Lewis during her 2023 tour with the Postal Service, and asked if Rilo Kiley would consider reuniting to play Just Like Heaven. The reunion was a clear draw for many people to get festival tickets this year — I saw sooooo many Rilo Kiley tattoos and t-shirts. Though the term “parasocial” (to describe the one-sided relationship someone develops towards a performer/artist/etc) has a pretty negative connotation to it, I think a one-sided connection is always formed when one frequently interacts with/consumes someone’s artistic outputs, and it shouldn’t always be dismissed as a nefarious interaction. Lewis touches on this idea indirectly in old-ish interviews when asked about the possibility of RK reuniting. When touring for the Postal Service reunion, she talked of how meaningful it was for her to watch fans sing along to the songs that were their early 2000s anthems, and was open to give Rilo Kiley fans that same opportunity, saying, “Giving people the satisfaction of hearing songs that were a part of their formative high-school experiences — that’s a very special thing to provide.” via an LA Times interview. (fun fact: Katie Crutchfield of Waxahatchee cites hearing Rilo Kiley’s music in high school as her inspiration to make music, has the cover of The Execution of All Things tattooed on her arm, and was just announced to be opening for the LA dates on Rilo Kiley’s tour next fall!)

Rilo Kiley’s set started with the instrumental intro of “The Execution of All Things”, which got the people around me exclaiming “Perfect song to start with!” Fans stretched back into the festival grounds as far as I could see, piling up on the golf course hills to catch a better view. The set got emotional during “With Arms Outstretched”, as everyone seemed to realize the line “Now, some days, they last longer than others // But this day by the lake went too fast” applied perfectly to this day, and screamed it all together. When Lewis sang the line that includes the song title, everyone’s arms shot up, stretched as high as possible. Part of the beauty of Just Like Heaven to me is getting to see so many bands that have been on my concert bucket list since middle school, but individually have pretty hefty ticket prices, so I get to check a lot of boxes off. However, rather than checking off a box by seeing Rilo Kiley’s set, I might opened up a Pandora’s box — I will be catching as many dates on their reunion tour as possible. Unlike Lewis’ reunion set with Ben Gibbard last year, which was a full play-through of an album, Rilo Kiley played a variety of songs throughout their catalog. This format had me desiring hearing more from the band (they didn’t play my favorite: “Science vs Romance”).   

At one point, Jenny Lewis grabbed a GoPro-esque handheld cam, and the giant festival screen switched to a Lewis-POV. She stuck the camera in each band members’ face, twirled around in circles, and eventually set it down so she could blow some up-close kisses to the crowd. With over 25 years of influential history in indie-rock, Jenny Lewis is solidified as a beloved trailblazer. The crowd at Just Like Heaven was glued to her every move, swooning when she winked at the camera or blew us a kiss. A concert-goer near me shouted “I didn’t know it was gonna be this rock-and-roll!”.  

Lewis wasn’t the only band member who shined — lead guitarist and vocalist Blake Sennett commanded the crowd with his complex solos. Sennett greeted the audience with “You guys are smoking so much weed right now, I feel like there’s more weed than air”. When Rilo Kiley formed in 1998, Sennett and Lewis were dating. Their relationship is chronicled throughout music journalism sites if you’re really nosy, but they’ve been described as the indie-rock version of Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. Lewis and Sennett’s lyrics often read as a diary entry, not sparing any words to fully get the feeling across. By not cutting out words for the sake of a cleaner sound, they dig into the feelings surrounding the complexities and ending of relationships on fan-favorites like “Silver Lining” and “Does He Love You?”. Many of the songs performed were over 20 years old, but Lewis’ voice sounded as good as ever. Some songs in RK’s discography take on a twee sound, with Lewis grabbing a bright red microphone + voice modulator for some of songs that have a muffled/delayed vocal effect. For songs with more pop roots, she belted out verses strongly and beautifully.

The RK set was slated to end at the exact same time Vampire Weekend’s set started, but I NEEDED to see “Portions for Foxes” live. Of course, this ended up being the last song they played. It was worth the wait, but then I sprinted across the festival grounds to catch Vampire Weekend’s set. The sole fault of Just Like Heaven is the difficulty of catching every set on its stellar lineup! -AM

Galilea’s Recap:

Picture this: A trek across the hills of the make-shift golf course parking lot (why we didn’t have access to the actual rose bowl’s parking lot, a burning question I will never find the answer to), followed by a journey across hot black pavement to retrieve our press passes. then a hellish instance of being denied entry for, god forbid, bringing in equipment every other photographer at the festival relies on. “Go on without me,” Avery said to me. “I’ll find a way”. And I did go on. and she did indeed find another way inside. Separated when we were closest to our destination, I knew we would soon find our way back to each other. I had been wise enough to slather myself in sunscreen before our journey, still, I took shelter from the sweltering heat under a tree with a decent view from the Orion stage. Just Like Heaven was only the festival I had covered for KCSB, and the third one I’ve ever attended. I vowed to stop at NOTHING in pursuit of a good time and the glorious opportunity to bring to the people (that includes you, dear reader) the awesomeness that I witnessed. 

In the nick of time, Of Montreal took the stage and started their act before I had the chance to sulk about the midday heat. Though they weren’t the first act of the festival, I’d say they were the first to bring to the stage the essence that I imagined was at the heart of JLH. They played their beloved hits from all eras of their discography–from Cherry Pel, to their greatest hits on The Sunlandic Twins and Hissing Fauna. They even tossed me my favorite track, Paranoiac Intervals/Body Dysmorphia. Behind them was a kaleidoscope animation of what looked like the contents of a scene kid’s Invader Zim backpack that had been dumped on the floor and swept up by the musical stylings of our beloved Kevin Barnes. I was surprised at the lack of synths and modifiers in their set. Barnes voiced the [electronic ad libs] on the vocals himself, and he and the band put the “rock” in indie rock throughout the show. It was a cheeky and nostalgic set, and a perfect way to start the day (my day, at least).

Grouplove delivered a truly unique act, the likes of which I had never seen before and will likely never see again. Their energy on stage was contagious, spreading across the crowd like a dance fever you couldn’t sweat out. All but Ryan Rabin on drums, the bandmates bounced around on stage like kids in a first grade recital that decided to ditch the curriculum and dance to the beat of their own choreo. They butted foreheads and one-armed hugged one another and played guitars shoulder-to-shoulder. I was half expecting them to jump on each others’ shoulders and play chicken. You could tell they weren’t just bandmates, but longtime friends. Family who couldn’t perform without each other. They gifted us their most beloved tracks, and some songs that I wasn’t expecting but glad to see live. I couldn’t shake my ear to ear smile if I tried. The unwavering happy-go-lucky lyrics and upbeat instrumentals transported everybody to a different era; a simpler time before the world got so heavy. For a moment, everybody in the crowd seemed to be connected, setting aside their worries until tomorrow. 

Then came the act I was most looking forward to: Slowdive. My white whale, my holy grail. A band that I had missed the opportunity to catch live too many times, slipping through my fingers, just out of reach… until today. The band stepped out on stage and my heart skipped a beat. I first noticed Rachell Goswell in a vibrant blue tulle dress and a soft blond shoulder length haircut, different from her signature dark look. But today, her vocals shined through her fluttery appearance quite fittingly. They said very little as they settled into their instruments, wasting no time in starting their set. Then came the feathery voices and the dreamy keyboards and, of course, the familiar guitar reverbs. I swayed, and people around me swayed, and I was entranced, and so were others. I saw teenagers in heavy eyeliner and studded belts. I saw kids wearing bulky noise-cancelling headphones, sitting on their parents shoulders. You could feel the waves of nostalgia reaching anybody and everybody. 

It was a snowfall of chilling melodies and cold-wave vocals, but their presence on stage was anything but. Rachell gave us warm smiles between tracks and [knowing glances] at her bandmates as she rotated between vocals, guitar, and keyboard. Half the time Neil Halstead and Christian Savill gazed at the ground, transfixed on their pedals as they strummed along. But the other half of the time, they looked at the audience, seeming glad to be there and spend some time with us. They were dressed like you could have a short and sweet conversation with them at a bar. I smiled at their Beach Fossil t-shirts, who had played earlier that day. They probably bought their merch just hours before going on stage. How sweet! They played into the evening as the sun was setting and the air was cooling. They played their last song and shuffled off stage, just as sheepish as they had arrived. What a show. And what a day. It was nothing like I expected, and everything I dreamed of at the same time. There were still a few more acts to catch before leaving, but I wouldn’t have missed Slowdive for any other set of the day, or any show in the world for that matter. -GT