FYF Fest, now in its 13th year, takes place over two days (August 27 and 28) and five stages.
Festival Founder Sean Carlson talked to Morning Becomes Eclectic host Jason Bentley this morning about how he works tirelessly to tweak the lineup so it’s the perfect mixtape and then agonizes over set times, trying to predict the movements of thousands of people. In fact, he says he finished deciding set times just yesterday!
He gave us a deep dive into that process this morning, revealing how some of the stage lineups will play out when the festival arrives in 10 days.
He took us through the entire day on The Lawn on Sunday, starting with Preoccupations (formerly Viet Cong), followed by Wild Nothing, a sunset set from Charles Bradley, and then a powerful performance from Anohni once it’s dark (with no competition on the Main Stage). Young Thug will close out the evening.
On Sunday’s Main Stage, he’s hoping fans of LCD Soundsystem will arrive early to take in the wonder of Grace Jones, who is preceded by Father John Misty and Blood Orange.
He talked about the newly created Club tent, which replaces the Arena, has a 3,000 person capacity, and will feature bands like Sheer Mag.
Their set is after Tame Impala finishes on the Main Stage and he’s hoping fans of rock will get their fix with the Philly rockers or head to Hot Chip on The Lawn.
He started his Guest DJ set with Air, who will play a sunset set on The Lawn on Saturday. It’s their first LA date in five years.
One more artist to keep an eye on: Chicago DJ The Black Madonna, who plays The Woods, an area especially for extended DJ sets.
Fun Fact: Before Sean walked in our studio, we went into the KCRW Music Library and discovered a treasure trove of Grace Jones vinyl, going back to 1982. He said of all his years of the fest, his proudest booking is the artist Jason describes as the “original fierce ruling diva.”
He also really enjoyed playing Saves the Day, knowing that it’s probably a first on KCRW’s airwaves! The band will play their 15-year-old album “Stay What You Are” in its entirety. We closed his Guest DJ set with a song from Anohni, doing her first LA performance behind her phenomenal record “Hopelessness.”
Tickets are almost sold out — only Sunday single day passes and VIP available as of now – so get ‘em while you can!
Setlist from Sean Carlson’s 8/18/16 guest DJ set on Morning Becomes Eclectic.
Songs from this year’s FYF lineup:
Air — “Sexy Boy”
Sheer Mag — “Nobody’s Baby”
Saves The Day — “At Your Funeral”
The Black Madonna — “We Don’t Need No Music (Thankyou Rahaan)”
Anohni — “Drone Bomb Me”
Sean didn’t get a chance to play all the songs from his setlist, but here are the rest of his picks:
Bonus tracks:
Grace Jones — “Pull Up To The Bumper”
Julien Baker — “Sprained Ankle”
Charles Bradley — “Changes” (Black Sabbath cover)
Todd Terje & Brian Ferry — “Johnny & Mary”
Songs from FYF past:
Pulp — “Do You Remember The First Time?” — Sean’s favorite band. Booked for the festival for 10 minutes.
Jay Reatard — “See Saw” — In 2007 he played for 14 minutes.