It was in the mid-90s Saturday in Pasadena and the millennials were on fire. Just Like Heaven 2025 — the festival for those of us washed up thirty and fortysomethings that can no longer endure three days of Coachella dry heat — gave those same millennials moments where they wondered if they could even handle a one-day music festival. But a reunited Rilo Kiley and sets from other indie rock favorites Vampire Weekend, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Slowdive, Bloc Party, Empire of the Sun, and more made the treacherous conditions all worthwhile.
I rolled my ankle in one of the many potholes at Brookside at the Rose Bowl but stuck it out because one of my absolute favorites Rilo Kiley was playing one of their first shows in 17 years. Who cares that I saw them in San Luis Obispo on Monday? Seeing them in an outdoor festival in front of their hometown crowd was a moment I will remember forever. Tears in the eyes of people as Jenny Lewis sang the Official Millennial Indie-Kid National Anthem of “A Better Son/Daughter” were all around me. For those of us who followed the band closely, we were unsure we’d ever get this moment. And damn it was so glorious that it became a meme on social media about all the LA kids tweeting and posting about Rilo Kiley.
The crowd for this festival is comprised of people that all have a top 3 favorite NPR Tiny Desk. Many of these bands just don’t fit on a Coachella lineup anymore. That festival has become more and more of a mainstream fest targeted at people in their twenties and though many of these bands have played memorable sets in the Polo Fields over the years in Indio, it would feel out of place for most of them today.
So that’s what brought thousands of grateful people together on one of the hottest days of the year. Courtney Barnett closed her set with “Nobody Really Cares If You Don’t Go to the Party” to a crowd full of people that are perpetually playing a game of “I wanna go out but I wanna stay home” as Barnett sings in the chorus. A crowd full of people that love when plans get cancelled were all gathered in one blindingly sunny place together.
Check out Eric Han‘s Just Like Heaven 2025 photo gallery below!
