Kevin Bronson on July 24th, 2017

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By Kevin Bronson, Andrew Veeder and Britt Witt

There is a fine line between blinding rage and utter despondence, and for 90 minutes on Sunday night, Nine Inch Nails straddled it, ending the biggest and most rewarding FYF Fest in its 14 years with a almost-pyrotechnic display of emotions.

Coming almost eight years after their memorable “Wave Goodbye” tour shows, it was billed as NIN’s first concert since 2014 — which turned out not to be the case, after a late-added warm-up show Wednesday in Bakersfield. But you’d find nary a person Sunday night who’d quibble over that distinction. As festival headliners and as proprietors of music that remains as relevant in 2017 as it was in the ’90s, NIN were back.

With Trent Reznor’s voice at full-throttle and the band connecting on all circuits, their career-spanning set included two songs apiece from their 2016 and ’17 EPs, every bit as spine-tingling (if less familiar) than material like “Closer” and “March of the Pigs” from “The Downward Spiral.” And just past the halfway mark in the set, Reznor reflected on the band’s time away.

“This is the first real show in three years,” he said. “We’ve been busy in the studio hiding out, watching the world go crazy. Since we’ve been gone, I’ve lost a few people that meant a lot to me — one of which meant a lot to you, my friend David Bowie.” He explained that Nine Inch Nails received permission to rework a song from Bowie’s final album, “Blackstar,” because “it helped us heal.” Then NIN performed it: “I Can’t Give Everything Away.” And there was scarcely a dry eye in the massive crowd assembled at the Main Stage.

On a day that saw FYF Fest’s diverse lineup make strong statement after strong statement, Nine Inch Nails were the exclamation point.

||| Photos by Zane Roessell

||| Also:| Our Day 1 coverage; Day 2 coverage

Chronologically, we share our day:

3:25 p.m. — A minor kerfuffle breaks out at the entrance when a bro, asked to empty the contents of his water bottle (as festival rules dictate), decides to splash it on a female security guard. Dumb. He walks away before security reinforcements arrive and escort him back toward the entrance. Boorish behavior never plays well at festivals, and at FYF it seemed even more out of place since all the security personnel we encountered were unfailingly polite — even chipper. (— K.B.)

3:35 p.m. — Is Baked Cherry Glazerr a delicacy? On the blazing stage at The Lawn, the L.A. kids tear through “I Told You I’d Be With the Guys,” “Trash People,” “Sip O’ Poison” and other gems from this year’s album “Apocalipstick,” with Clementine Creevy working herself from serene to scream. A lot of early adopters are here; they know the words to the early songs. (— K.B.)

4:11 p.m. — Whitney are perfectly slotted for the 3:45 kickoff at The Trees, with a breezy and mellow big-band folk set to help us all ease into FYF’s third and final day. The six-piece played a new song “about being depressed,” as well as tracks from their debut album “Light Upon the Lake” and a cover of NRBQ’s “Magnet.” They closed with their standout song “No Woman,” complete with trumpet accompaniment, and the beer felt even crisper in the shade.

4:18 p.m. — Is Scorched Chicano Batman on the menu? Every time the nattily attired psychedelic soulsters play a festival, they sweat through their suits/tuxedos in the first five minutes. Which was the case Sunday on The Lawn. “We’re Chicano Batman and we’re from right here,” says Eduardo Arenas, who shucks his suit coat after the second song. “We belong to you, yeah?” Three background vocalists, one of whom played additional keys, added big body to the sound of the band that has a charisma all its own. Smiles … sweet, sweaty smiles. (— K.B.)

4:51 p.m — Everybody is wishing The Club had lawn chairs to sit back in as Andy Shauf recreates “The Party.” His hair impressively reaches down to his guitar, standing straight and tall, as everyone sings along to “Quite Like You.” (— B.W.)

5:04 p.m. — DJ Harvey is in the middle of a five-hour DJ set under a pop-up tent and shrouded by fake trees and a plastic flower garden. The marathon dance party has a funky worldly flavor to it, as evidenced by him dropping Tullio de Piscopo’s Italian disco classic “Stop Bajon.” The Woods stage showed the multi-tiered levels of festival goers’ energy, ranging from sitting to standing to swaying to shuffling to shaking it like you can’t stop, won’t stop. (— A.V.)

5:20 p.m. — Seated in the shade is a fine way to enjoy British foursome Temples, playing songs from their new album “Volcano” as the frontman of the psych-rock quartet James Bagshaw, too, battles sun and takes off his coat. It’s as if phased 12-string guitar has created a breeze; Temples are tight and polite, nothing you’re going to remember next year but nothing you’re going to avoid next week. (— K.B.)

5:52 — “I hope you have a good day and wear sunscreen,” Ty Segall tells the crowd on the lawn in between ripping it up song after song. Backed by his long-time band including Mikal Cronin on bass, the five-piece outfit plowed through a set full of chaotic guitar distortion and riffs on riffs on riffs. It was easily the loudest set of the weekend. It was loud to the right of the sound booth, it was loud against the VIP beer garden fence, it was loud rounding the corner toward the Coliseum, and it was still loud approaching the Main Stage restrooms. It was also great. (— A.V.)

6:45 p.m. — Creole shrimp and corn grits from the booth manned by the folks from Pico Boulevard eatery My Two Cents. Now that works. (— K.B.)

7:08 p.m. — Bathed in blue light and fog, Moses Sumney responds to someone in the audience with, “I love you too … more than I love myself.” The self-deprecating singer-songwriter plays fan favorite “Plastic” and a cover of Bjork’s song “Come to Me” before inviting his band on stage, noting, “I do have friends, contrary to popular belief.” His all-too-brief set at dusk also features tracks from his forthcoming debut album “Aromanticism,” including “Lonely World” and “Quarrel,” a song “about fighting, because I like fighting,” he said. For a man who began making music by looping vocal percussion and playing guitar solo, it’s a welcome transformation to see him now backed by a multi-instrumental three-piece as the sun was setting at The Club, and hopefully also on a time before everyone knows who he is. You can’t fake “soul,” and Moses Sumney exudes it. (— A.V.)

7:15 p.m — Everyone is rushing to Iggy Pop. Meanwhile, Mac DeMarco is shirtless, shoeless and crowd-surfing at The Trees with a cigarette in his mouth. (— B.W.)

7:20 p.m. — Three months past his 70th birthday, Iggy Pop comes out swinging at The Lawn stage, starting with “I Wanna Be Your Dog” and “Gimme Danger.” We wonder if anyone notices that The Lawn is situated outside the south entrance to the National History Museum, which displays a banner advertising the exhibition “Extreme Mammals.” As Iggy starts “The Passenger,” a middle-aged woman barrels through the crowd calling out to somebody in front her before pausing. “Damn millennials,” she says to a bystander, smiling and sighing. “She’s my daughter.” “Well, no one forced our generation to procreate,” the bystander jokes. “I know, I know,” she replies. “I named her Sunshine too.” (— K.B.)

7:45 p.m. — “Lust for Life,” “I’m Sick of You,” “Repo Man,” “Search and Destroy” … vintage, bare-chested, foreboding, in-your-face Iggy, punctuating the moments in between songs with F-bombs. “Hey back there,” he calls out to the back of the massive audience. “Fuckin’ cool, fuckin’ thanks.” As the set reaches the 45-minute mark, some of the younger denizens depart, having had their moment with one of rock’s living legends. (— K.B.)

7:54 p.m. — Mura Masa’s bass at The Trees is so heavy I think my heart is forgetting its own beat. Now I’m losing my breath rapping along with special guest Desiigner during “All Around The World!” (— B.W.)

8:25 p.m. — Delighted to report that The Club is almost full for Blonde Redhead’s set — a performance of their 2000 album “Melody of Certain Damaged Lemons.” Fans alternately close their eyes to concentrate on the music’s complexities and open them to see the backlit trio of Kazu Makino, Amedeo Pace and Simone Pace work their precise magic. After the album performance, fans get bonus material, the trio ending with “Dripping” (2014) and the soaring “23” from 2007. It makes you feel like you went to college. (— K.B.)

8:31 p.m. — The main stage is immersed in red light while Solange and her backing band are clad in red garb as they begin running through selections from her excellent 2016 album “A Seat At The Table,” starting with the mellow “Rise,” soulful “Weary,” and beautiful “Cranes In The Sky.” They move onto tracks from her 2012 EP “True” as “Some Things Never Seem to F*cking Work” ups the energy and the masses groove as Solange slinks around the stage and barely stands still for the duration of the set. Neither do the couple dozen horn players who come out for “F.U.B.U.” (— A.V.)

9:06 p.m. — During her cover of Blood Orange’s “Bad Girls,” Solange whips her hair so much that after the song, she’s checking it, remarking that she “had to make sure her weave was still on after that shit.” One of her band members also notes that Solange choreographed the entire show. She closes out with “Losing You” and the dynamite “Don’t Touch My Hair.”

9:35 p.m. — In his typical fashion, Trackstar the DJ asks the crowd if they are ready to run the jewels, Queen’s “We Are The Champions” blares through the speakers, El-P and Killer Mike stride on stage, Mike says something about burning this motherf*cker to the ground, and then Run The Jewels launch into it. Their hour-long set to close out The Lawn stage leaned heavily on tracks from their third album, “Run The Jewels 3,” but was peppered with choice cuts from the first two, as well as their DJ Shadow collaboration, “Nobody Speak.” RTJ are a well-oiled and world-traveled machine at this point, with the duo playfully commanding the stage, like Mike saying, “This my sh*t!” at the bridge of “Legend Has It” before the lyrical call and response of, “And the crowd goes!” “RTJ!” Gangsta Boo joins them for “Love Again (Akinyele Back),” likely causing the most people in the history of Exposition Park to simultaneously yell, “Dick in her mouth all day!” as the music cuts out, then leads her own call and response of, “Pussy!” “Power!” (— A.V.)

10:03 p.m. — El-P and Killer Mike find time to praise the mosh pit that had formed up front, but firmly note the audience on having proper pit etiquette, being courteous and picking others up when they fall, and not sexually harassing others, as in, “Don’t put your dick on strangers.” “That’s the way we prefer it,” El-P states. He later also mentions the recent passing of Chester Bennington and urges anyone present with suicidal thoughts to call someone and ask for help. RTJ continue to deliver social messages while also putting on some of the most fun rap shows you can attend.

10:39 p.m. — For most everyone not rushing over to Nine Inch Nails’ live return on the main stage or over to The Trees for Kehlani’s bland and forgettable R&B-pop, Canadian DJ Tiga is wrapping up a two-hour set in The Woods of house-y tracks, full of percussive ebbs and flows, vibrant bass lines and the occasional sax solo. This feels like a dance party on a large backyard deck littered with stomped water bottles and stacked with a crowd diverse in age and ethnicity, shaking those hips as the weekend winds to a close. (— A.V.)

10:46 p.m. — Nine Inch Nails start with the new song “Branches/Bones” as daisy-chains of fans snake through the crowd in search of a better vantage point. By the fourth song, “March of the Pigs,” it’s clear this is going to be special and hardly anybody is moving. (— K.B.)

11:35 p.m. — Reznor talks about Bowie, followed by the cover from “Blackstar.” All eyes on stage.

12:05 a.m. — After the pummeling main-set closer “Head Like a Hole,” Reznor returns to deliver the ballad “Hurt,” the song famously covered by Johnny Cash. In that (and this) context, it reinforces music’s ability to connect generations. Time to file out, happily, with the millennials.