Kevin Bronson on July 29th, 2013

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Last weekend’s installment of the inaugural FIGat7th Downtown Festival ended with high-fives. It began with high jinks. A formidable lineup of L.A. indie-rock bands – PAPA, NO and LA Font – rocked the plaza between two high-rise office buildings for 2 1/2 hours on Friday night, each band playing a lot of new material and each bringing its own distinctive energy. Openers LA Font paid the price – at least frontman Danny Bobbe did. He chipped a tooth on the microphone during his quartet’s humorous but hard-hitting set. Anthemic rock sextet NO were their charismatic selves as the sun set over downtown L.A., and PAPA ripped through a host of songs from their forthcoming full-length “Tender Madness” (coming in October) behind singer-drummer Darren Weiss’ ferocious beats and fervent crooning. At the end, Weiss high-fived everybody in the front row before bidding adieu.

FIGat7th continues this Friday with different fare – jazz- and hip-hop-influenced singer José James, with Carolyn Malachi opening.

Photos by Carl Pocket