Past INmusic Festival lineups & sets (Archive)

Death Cab for Cutie actually blew me away—they were seriously good. La Roux killed it too. 👍

EODM was kind of a letdown, though.

Was Josh Homme on drums for this one?

edit: I'm reading now that he wasn't.

Of course not. I didn't make it out to EODM—I'm pretty sure it was... well, a total mud pit. 🤔

I caught Death Cab for Cutie from inside my tent. I don't have any strong feelings about them personally, but they sounded lovely—almost soothing, actually. La Roux was such a pleasant surprise, too; way more upbeat than when I saw her at Terrane a few years back! And Jonathan was totally great.

Today is going to be awesome. :klap:

Ashley Grant66 said:Of course not. I wasn't at EODM—I imagine it was... well, quite muddy. 🤔

I actually made it to Lollapalooza. It’s just that I missed his set—it simply slipped past me. 🙂 😁

Hey, what’s the mud situation looking like out there? 😬
On a scale from basic sneakers to heavy-duty muck boots, what am I actually going to need on my feet?
If I show up and find a muddy Armageddon worthy of a Metallica concert, I’m turning right back around and heading home. 😁

Morgan Wilson7 said:Anyone know how bad the mud situation is over there? 😬
On a scale from beat-up sneakers to heavy-duty garden wading boots, what’s the move here?
If I see some muddy Armageddon like Metallica, I’m gracefully turning around and walking away. 😁

I'm curious about this too.
Anyone got any info? 😁

It was a total mud pit yesterday—honestly, it would’ve been a lot smarter to just wear boots...

Yesterday was nowhere near the level of Metallica; that show at the racetrack was an absolute mess, whereas this gig at Central Park is actually decent by comparison.

But let’s be clear: some rubber boot isn't going to fix a disaster, nor will a plastic bag over your shoes get you through this.

👋

It was such a blast—honestly the wildest, most high-energy day ever. BRMC were pretty solid (though the crowd felt a little flat 🤔, or maybe it was just me?), and Of Monsters and Men were super sweet; I don't usually listen to them, but they were perfect for swaying along with a beer in hand. The repetitor was great, though maybe not quite the legendary live experience everyone made it out to be.
As for Placebo... I have to admit, I was a massive fan back in high school (long time ago now!). When they started, I wasn't feeling it much—I felt like Molko was too busy fixing his hair the whole time, and his vocals sounded a bit off to me. But man, as they got closer to the end, things shifted beautifully. It turned into this total emotional explosion for me during Special K and The Bitter End. And then Bowie! One more for the books! With Infra Red being the absolute peak of my night. 🙏 It sounded incredible and tied in so nicely with the tribute.

The birthday surprise—that little performance with the balloons and fireworks—was lovely. It reminded me of those holiday festivals you see in big European cities, so it wasn't exactly groundbreaking, but it was really sweet. I just wish they hadn't played Do You Realize three times in a row 😬

So, yeah, that’s the scoop. Muscle Tribe was their usual loud selves, Halka was actually pretty interesting, and the organizers did a solid job—no complaints there.

Ashley Grant66 said:Placebo... look, I was a massive fan back in high school (long time ago). When the show started, it felt kind of lukewarm. Molko spent half the time fixing his hair, and honestly, the sound wasn't even that great. But then, as they got closer to the end, things picked up. It turned into this total emotional explosion for me during Special K and The Bitter End. And then the encore! Another one! Infrared was definitely the peak of my night. 🙏 It sounded amazing and they blended it perfectly with the shoutout.

.

My lovely Molko, always the prettiest guy in town 😍
You gotta fix your hair, right? Olsdal looked great to me, and since they swap drummers out like socks, I wasn't even surprised.
They were awesome. It’s actually really cool seeing younger crowds know the old classics. Special K was the highlight for me, and obviously The Bitter End. I love how professional they still are—always introducing themselves at the start, everyone bowing at the end... just classy.

The mud was manageable, but thank God I wore my rain boots. 😁

Placebo played a pretty standard set; I mean, they did their job, but I didn't really feel any deep emotion from them. Plus, compared to their actual albums, their touring setlist felt kind of underwhelming—it’s a shame because they barely played anything from those first two records, which are easily their best work.
The repetitor was absolutely brutal, especially the girls, who seemed to be on a whole different level.
Personally, I found the Islanđanin guys a bit boring, though I have to admit they were super engaged and acted very professionally throughout their set.
All in all, it was a really solid lineup for the festival, with the highlight definitely being the first night at FFS.

It’s pretty standard stuff, but I actually really appreciated it—I love when they don't just play the studio versions word-for-word and throw in some different arrangements instead.
The setlist was alright.
I have to give the backing band credit for their energy—they always kill it, especially considering how young they are—but honestly, those songs aren't really my jam for a full ninety minutes (even though I’ll always go wild whenever they play "Born to Run," for example 😁).

It was cool and all, but honestly, I felt like it was missing that blue-collar 😢vibe

Placebo is alright—there are moments where they’re absolutely brilliant, but then they just drift into being incredibly dull. Muscle Tribe really killed the vibe

I was only there for a single day, though I suppose I left feeling reasonably satisfied with what I witnessed. I caught Busted Marshall Rock Band first, and while they aren't exactly my cup of tea, their performance was solid enough, so I imagine their followers were pleased. To kill some time before 10 PM, I drifted over to the smaller stage for Ashes You Leave and Mirror Trap, which served as decent enough distractions, particularly the latter. Then came The Repeater; they possess an incredibly high-energy stage presence and I found the whole experience quite engaging. I was actually somewhat taken aback by the turnout, as there must have been several thousand people there, which seems surprising given that, from what I understand, they struggle to fill venues the size of Madison Square Garden or the Fillmore in cities like Chicago. Ultimately, I was there for Placebo, and I feel my expectations were met 😁. Their set was polished and professional—bordering on truly magnificent at certain points—and both the sound quality and the overall performance were quite impressive. It was interesting to see the setlist leaning so heavily on songs from Meds, whereas tracks from their latest record only appeared three times; I almost felt a sense of regret that we didn't hear more new material, as their most recent album is quite strong. That said, they played all the major hits, so I can't really complain.
The ground was rather muddy, though if one walked with a bit of intention, one could probably avoid the worst of it (many people just wore Blundstones and seemed to survive 😁). The organization also struck me as being fairly efficient, as I never found myself waiting more than a few minutes for anything, whether it was food, drinks, or the restroom, and the sets stayed on schedule.
All things considered, I am glad I managed to attend for at least that one day. Perhaps next year they might curate a lineup that aligns a bit more closely with my own tastes, allowing me to attend all three 😁.

Morgan Wilson7 said:The mud was actually pretty manageable, but honestly, thank God I wore my rubber boots 😁

And once again, we’re looking at a total organizational meltdown when it comes to the ground conditions... It’s "manageable" only because we’ve been conditioned to accept this nonsense, otherwise, there's no way it should have been allowed.
They really should have done some basic remediation on certain areas. Not everything, obviously—nobody is suggesting they pave the whole damn field over in concrete—and if you aren't prepared for a little chaos, then stay home and skip the festivals entirely, but seriously, they could have put in some effort here. Then again, expecting anything remotely competent from these organizers is basically just wishful thinking at this point.

It’s funny how the final day always seems to attract the biggest crowd. Yesterday was a complete disaster; even the cell service completely crapped out by the end. You couldn't send a single text message if your life depended on it. And don't get me started on the food—everyone was scrambling for rotisserie chicken like their lives were on the line. The mud was everywhere, just absolute filth, like something straight out of the trenches of World War I.

But all in all, it was a good time 😁
Truly 👍

Here’s Frank with an American version of Eulogy 😍

Man, I'm so bummed I missed the whole performance!

Ashley Grant66 said:honestly, I’m glad the songs didn't sound like carbon copies of the album; they always throw in something different.

I guess it’s hard for any band to sound exactly the same in a studio versus being live on stage. That would be pretty much impossible, really.

Ashley Grant66 said:The setlist was fine by me.

de Gustibus....
To me, it feels a bit like Morrissey—he’ll toss out two or three things from The Smiths and then (naturally, since he's promoting solo work) sing his own stuff, which, let’s face it, isn't even half as good as what he did with The Smiths.

Ashley Grant66 said:I have to give The Repeater credit for their energy; they’ve always been great at that, especially considering how young they are. But for me, those songs aren't exactly something I want to listen to for an hour and a half (even though I always end up dancing like a fool during something like Ja, for instance 😁).

I went to see The Repeater right after some Icelandic band that almost put me to sleep, and my body just reacted instinctively to their sound and energy (they remind me of early Mudhoney or Sonic Youth).
They're basically the ideal band for festivals like this.

Still, there's always that weird feeling once everything wraps up, where my feet just start heading toward Lake Merritt on autopilot.😲

Robert James2 said:It’s pretty much impossible for any band to sound identical in a studio compared to being live on stage.

I don't mean they sound literally the same—of course not! I just mean those little improvisations—you know, not sticking to the studio version like it's some holy script. I've been to so many shows where everything is played totally safe, just a carbon copy of the record. It can be a bit of a letdown—honestly, I felt that way at the MGMT show last year.

Robert James2 said:de Gustibus....
To me, it kind of feels like Morrissey—he'll throw in two or three things from The Smiths and then (obviously, since he's promoting his own stuff) move on to his solo tracks—which, let's face it, aren't even half as good as the old classics.

Well, I guess it really comes down to personal taste, and Placebo has so many hits—I think they picked a pretty solid setlist for this tour. I missed a few songs that I personally love, but maybe something like Nancy Boy or teenage angst didn't quite fit the vibe they were going for this time around.
Personally, I definitely prefer The Smiths over the Mozov solo work, but hey—I'm not expecting someone to spend their entire solo tour playing The Smiths songs when that era is clearly behind them. He has some brilliant early solo stuff, though he doesn't play it much on tour lately. Luckily, the latest album he's touring is actually great!

What do you guys think—how many people actually showed up? I’m always so curious about how they even come up with those estimates.
They’re claiming there were 80,000 folks over the three days, which honestly doesn't sound like a total stretch to me. Yesterday was just absolute madness, easily looked like 25,000 to 30,000 people were packed in there, and even on Tuesday, the turnout was way higher than anyone anticipated, especially considering how much it was pouring.