There’s a lot of great acts that performed greatly at yesterday’s Pasadena Daydream fest, curated and headlined by The Cure. But rather than focus on the Pixies or the Deftones, which were two of the bigger draws, I’m more interested in turning my attention to a couple of the smaller showstoppers.
Like my previous post for The Cure, I plan on including a more expansive write-up on The Joy Formidable, with some great footage from their 45 minute afternoon performance. But for today, it’s just gonna be a setlist/playlist, with a few choice words.
I’ve seen this Welsh trio a few times before. But it’s also been a few years since. They’ve come a long way in the in-between, bringing a surprise knock-out blister and bluster to an undeniably spirited performance. There’s quite a bit of power-pop via shoegazer via punk-rock going on beneath the feedback and infinite riffs. They’ve got seemingly endless amounts of energy, full of rowdy and raucous jams, and an attitude that’s as cocky as it is outright fun.
The Joy Formidable was one of the day’s acts that totally took me by surprise. Here’s their setlist. It’s missing “Passerby,” which vocalist/guitarist Rhiannon “Ritzy” Bryan wrote for her mum, and the Welsh version of “Ostrich.” The former is a bonus track from the 2016 album “Hitch,” and is lacking on Spotify. The latter is due to be released sometime in the fall. Enjoy!
