Kevin Bronson on April 23rd, 2015

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Brokechella is made for polyglot tastes and short attention spans.

The upstart local festival returned Saturday for its fifth year, and its second at the re-purposed warehouse complex in the shadow of the 6th Street Bridge in downtown Los Angeles. Conceived as an affordable alternative to that big shindig in Indio, Brokechella is part music festival, part arts-and-crafts fair and part beer bash. This year it drew a crowd of about 4,500, organizers said, and there was scarcely a dull moment.

It was an egalitarian, headliner-less affair, with pop and rock bands playing on an outdoor stage, with three indoor rooms devoted to an eclectic mix of rap, EDM, rock and comedy. In the corners, walkways and passageways, were art installations, chalk drawings, interactive stuff, vendors, food trucks and (a change from last year) ample beer dispensaries, as this year’s festival allowed patrons to carry their beverages anywhere rather than restrict drinking to a beer garden.

Oh, and there were dogs.

The highlights? It depends on where your wandering soul and curious ears took you.

► The Brownies & Lemonade Stage raged for most of the afternoon and evening, with a mix of rappers and singers, and the party often expanded to the stage, as when Marvel Alexander’s set turned into a dance spectacular. Best thing I saw in that room: San Bernardino rapper Noa James displaying some serious skills.

► The indoor Shifty Rhythms room turned into a mini-rave after the sun set, leading up to a tripped-out hour-plus from DJs from the TeamSupreme crew.

► Making the biggest impression on the cARTel Indoor Stage were the Neighbors, whose string- and horn-fueled folk-rock got some of the partially seated crowd off their butts. It was ambitious and audacious, considering the sometimes-iffy audio at such events. Also on the Indoor Stage: Anabot’s Analise Nelson in silver body paint and a mini-dress with a Peter Pan collar, suggesting a schoolgirl Tin Man as the band dispensed its electro-pop.

► Finally, the cARTel Outdoor Stage offered several memorable performers, probably none moreso (for not necessarily the right reasons) than Babes. The pop quintet had sound issues, equipment issues (the keyboard tumbling off its stand at one point) and crowd engagement issues, as singer Sarah Rayne jumped into the photo pit and tried in vain to open up the barrier between the crowd and the stage. They plowed ahead in the-show-must-go-on fashion, still sounding surprisingly good, and the set ended up being a light-hearted moment. Also, Babes had oversized inflatable lollipops, so there was that.

Also great on the main stage: Figs Vision, throwing free T-shirts to the crowd and dispensing edgy Talking Heads-influenced pop; Dutch Party’s sunset set of fun/funky retro-pop; Smoke Season, bringing the smoke and sultry electro in the late-afternoon sunshine; and Oyls’ big closing set.

Overall, Brokechella offered a plethora of modest experiences that added up to a good hang, and while it’s like a big festival structurally, the difference is its resistance to top-down thinking. At any festival, you can find some of the finest moments in the fine print — and Brokechella is all fine print.

And did I mention there were puppies?

Photos by Bronson