Well, folks. This wraps up our coverage o Filter’s first Culture Collide Festival. If you’ve been checking our photo galleries and reviews out  from Friday and Saturday, it’s not hard to tell that it was pretty much a great success. Bringing people and their culture together through music is always a great thing and it’s always a good time.

Sunday was the big finale to the entire festival which actually started on Thursday and, of course, we were there to capture it all for you through great photos and in-depth reviews. The block party last night basically combined a lot of the artists who had already been playing at various venues throughout the weekend but there were a few big name acts who came out especially for this outdoors festival including Cass McCombs, Tokyo Police Club, Phantogram and Jenny and Johnny. Fran Healy also provided an intimate performance at the Echo Park Church. Check out our photos from Sunday’s block party below!

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After enduring the technically plagued set by Jenny and Johnny, the entire Culture Collide Festival moved indoors and into a house of worship for the rest of the evening. The pews filled up and it quickly became a standing room crowd for the singer and guitarist of the band Travis, Fran Healy.

While some may have caught Fran and Dougie doing an acoustic set featuring the history of Travis songs in the past, it would just be Healy tonight. Without his band members there it was fitting that he was in the comfort of a house of God. He could have felt safe. Instead, the charming Scot started rambling about how insecure he was without his mates and that he would have to open with one of the songs made famous by his band.

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Jenny and Johnny; there’s no doubt that it’s a cute moniker. Immediately after announcing their relationship as a professional one in addition to their personal one, the buzz swarming around Jenny Lewis and boyfriend Johnathan Rice has only gotten thicker since they released their album, I’m Having Fun Now. Fans of Lewis and Rice had gotten a taste of their collaborative writing beforehand on a handful of Acid Tongue songs but this was the time to see if Jenny and Johnny were a credible couple in a live setting courtesy of Culture Collide Festival.

Of course, as the former red-headed queen of Silverlake, Ms. Lewis and her beau took about 40 minutes to come out on stage. Until now, no other act had any trouble starting on time but this delay wasn’t much of a surprise to those who have seen her live before. Finally walking on to the stage at 8:40 pm, their loyal fans screamed with delight.

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The last time we caught New York-based band Phantogram live, we had made the west coast trek up to Sasquatch Music Festival. Five months later, we had the pleasure of seeing them again in our local neighborhood as part of Culture Collide Festival‘s block party. Sarah Barthel and Josh Carter may be one of the most beautiful musical duos who have surfaced within the indie music scene during the last three years, but don’t let their pretty looks deceive you into thinking they don’t hold up on the musical front. With their urban indie rock sound which boasts a variety of influences including hip hop, trip-hop and R&B, Phantogram was one of the bands whose set really stood out from impressive lineup of artists yesterday.

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With bands like Phantogram, Tokyo Police Club and Jenny & Johnny to come later in the day for Culture Collide Festival‘s block party, many had already started to camp out and claim their spot in the front of the main stage to not miss a moment of their favorite band by an obstructed view by some tall person with a hat. As three guys in 80s era basketball shorts started to set a drum kit out in the crowd you could sense the bewilderment growing by the block party goers who were unfamiliar with the hippy, anarchist groves of Monotonix.

It wouldn’t take long for the free for all to start. As the drums started pounding, singer and champion snot rocket blower Ami Shalev, took matters into his own hand to get this party started. Running straight into the crowd, he jumped onto the back of a fan who to give him a lift so that all could see.

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Saturday night was a blast in Los Angeles if you became one of the venue hopping concert goers like us. Culture Collide Festival was still going strong on its third night and the great lineup took us to the Echoplex, Spaceland and the Taix French Restaurant last night.

Once again, we got see some amazing bands from all over the world including 8-piece band Nive Nielsen and The Deer Children, Israeli band Pink Noise, local musicians The Franks, Finnish duo Zebra and Snake and English band White Lies. However, the highlight of our night was seeing Beatles tribute band, Bambi Kino with members from Nada Surf and Guided By Voices, who performed a John Lennon Tribute all night long. Check our photos from day 3 (Saturday) of Culture Collide Festival out below!

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After leaving Bambi Kino’s set on a high, we darted back over to the Echoplex for White Lies‘ set as pat of Culture Collide Festival. As another English alternative rock band playing this weekend’s festivities, we were a bit hesitant about how well would do with their dark but uplifting songs as the closer for Saturday night.

Drawing many comparisons to Joy Division and Interpol for their enticing swarthiness, White Lies also incorporate post-punk and new wave elements into their sound very well. However, based on the reaction from the immobile Klaxons fans last night, we were curious to see if the uplifting aspects would overshadow the darkness.

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As we all know yesterday was what would have been John Lennon‘s 70th birthday and with a music festival such as Culture Collide which brings music and people together, that was bound to be some sort of tribute to the former Beatles and critically acclaimed musician. What we got was even better than we expected. Bambi Kino, an all-star group made up of members Mark Rozzo (Maplewood), Ira Elliot (Nada Surf), Doug Gillard (Ex Guided By Voices) and Erik Paparazzi (Cat Power), have recently recorded a tribute album to the Hamburg, Germany Beatles show from 50 years ago and we were lucky enough to see them play an exclusive set of those covers and more.

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Great, unruly, fun, and local punk describe The Franks. Although there could have been more people at Spaceland as part of Culture Collide Festival last night, this Los Angeles band made sure to show visiting countries how they rock here in the City of Angels. Consisted of one half of another local band called Superhumanoids, the three piece all go by quirky punk aliases such as Jean Don’t, Ron Ray Gunn and Mimi Malone.

There is a carefree flow about The Franks’ sound as it doesn’t quite sound like it’s attempting to imitate or impress. Instead what they offer on stage is raw attitude and simple but effective punk tunes with conversational tones and pop melodies swirled in. Their lead vocalist, however, was really the focal point during their performance as he shouted entertaining and almost Tourette’s syndrome-like remarks to a room full of fans who couldn’t decide if the man was a genius or just out of control.

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