At first, it seemed like a tough choice when deciding to end the night with either The Rapture or Panda Bear. One artist is fairly new and the other is not. One artist is a side project and the other is not. One act consisted of a person standing in one spot the entire time and the other did not. The last one was the deal breaker!

Although I’m fan of Panda Bear on record (Animal Collective did put out one of best records of 2009), I was in the need for a full band that could get me moving properly in celebration. This was Labor Day weekend and I wasn’t going to end FYF Fest with my arms folded only to bop my head or tap my feet. The Rapture definitely ensured more than that would happen.

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It was unbelievably difficult for me to leave the !!! (Chk Chk Chk) set early, but the thought of finally seeing Delorean live was keeping my adrenaline at a good fast pace. The excitement had been building up ever since I knew this would be a great night of dancing. The pre-FYF party had Delorean headline the night before but because the event was almost two hours behind schedule, I had to rely on one fantastic set at the actual event.

However, my energy was drastically hit when I walked over from the fun !!! set only to realize that School of Seven Bells were still on the Sequoia stage.

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With the heavier acts done for the evening, it was time for FYF attendees to literally dance the night away and !!! (Chk Chk Chk) was the first band to really rev it up for us. Known for their dance punk music, the Sacramento-based group really was the perfect genre to set the mood for the night. Although School of Seven Bells were over at the Sequoia stage starting their dark, moody electronica beats, !!! was taking care of us at the main Redwood stage with their bright funk and disco-infused dance punk music.

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Ryan Gosling has come a long way from The Mickey Mouse Club. Not only does he have a steady acting career but he’s also put his vocal talents to use on the wonderful album he released with his friend, Zach Shields. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, I really hope you were at Dead Man’s Bones set at FYF Fest this weekend. If you weren’t, you missed out on the most eclectic performance the festival could have brought you.

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Ariel Pink has always been considered to be quite eccentric in both his music style and stage persona. He’s released some extremely odd videos to accompany the songs that are “freak-folk,” with this latest one being “Mistaken Wedding.” However, it’s his music that has caught people’s attention and however weird he may be on stage or in person, people will always give Ariel Pink’s music a chance.

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Like Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, Local Natives have played almost every summer festival there was this year and we don’t blame the booking agents. They strive to get acts while they’re hot but with Local Natives, they won’t have to worry about their popularity dying down for a while. With the successful release of their debut album, Gorilla Manor, both in the UK and later in the States, this five-piece band only continues to entrance audience everywhere we go. It seems just like yesterday we were just watching these guys play residencies at Silverlake Lounge and Spaceland in Los Angeles!

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FYF Fest was experiencing a little New Jersey take-over with band such as Screaming Females, Ted Leo and, of course, indie rock favorites, Titus Andronicus. I have to admit that this was one of the sets I was looking forward to the most all day and as expected, I was not disappointed in the least bit. Screaming Females may have brought us some decent punk rock earlier in the day but Patrick Stickles and company were about to throw down with their own lo-fi punk. Moshing, dust, shouting, were all in the cards.

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I could have gone to see Best Coast but as I was getting ready to embed myself into the heavier acts, I thought a set from AA Bondy was in order for the perfect mood setting. This was definitely one artist I was incredibly happy to see FYF Fest put on the main Redwood stage because when AA Bondy opens his mouth to sing, he moves your soul.

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When you live in Los Angeles, you’ve had plenty of chances to catch the powerful all-female band, Warpaint. As a community, we’ve all actually been quite spoiled with all the opportunities to dive into great droning shoegaze. Yet even with those facts, there was still no doubt in my decision to see them again during FYF Fest 2010.

Although it took a while for me to get used to some of their more upbeat songs (“Elephant” also has a much faster tempo now), their ability to get down to all the dark, gritty psychedelia and  sensuality as a tight-knit collective is absurdly impressive – every single time.

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