THIS IS THE LIFE
The third annual Life Is Beautiful festival just took place in Downtown Las Vegas this past weekend.
Drawing more than 90k fans over three days, performers included the incomparable Stevie Wonder, along with Columbia's Snoop Dogg, KidInAKorner/Interscope's Imagine Dragons, Republic's Weezer, RCA's Walk the Moon, Red Bull's Awolnation, Island's Brandon Flowers, Death Cab for Cutie and Twenty One Pilots.
Personally, scarfing down an entire personal pizza while Warner Bros.' Duran Duran played "Hungry Like the Wolf" was an event highlight for this writer.
A myriad of rising stars also provided standout sets, namely Astralwerks/Capitol's Halsey, BORNS, Def Jam's Alessia Cara, Harvest's Glass Animals, KidInAKorner/Interscope's X Ambassadors, Wolfpack/Interscope's Pia Mia, Warner Bros.' Royal Blood, RCA's KYGO, DCD2/Crush/Warner Bros.' New Politics, Interscope's Ryn Weaver, Shamir and RCA's Peking Duk.
Even though I loathe Vegas for its anxiety-inducing energy and magnetism for morons, Life Is Beautiful truly was quite beautiful. My only real qualm lies in when its scheduled. Late September in Sin City means temperatures exceeding 101 degrees; add asphalt and my vampiric presence is completely jeopardized.
The Killers made a surprise appearance during frontman Brandon Flowers' set, performing a selection of hits that started with "Mr. Brightside" and ended with "When We Were Young." That was pretty drool-worthy. Other highlights included Best Coast's Bethany Cosentino joining Weezer's Rivers Cuomo for duet "Go Away," Imagine Dragons' cover of The Proclaimers' "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" and, of course, having Stevie Wonder serenade my soul with "My Cherie Amour."
This fest might be new, but considering its apparent appeal to A-List artists, its proximity to Los Angeles (and thusly music biz heavies) and its convenient city setting, it's got massive potential. Move it to November, and I'm sold.
