By Lexi Lane
Life is Beautiful may seem like an odd name for a music festival, but that is what the three-day event that took over Fremont Street from Sept. 25 to Sept. 27 is called. The third annual festival drew thousands of people to see performances staged on different venues throughout the downtown area.
The first night began with performances by X Ambassadors, Lindsey Stirling, and Hozier.
“My favorite part of photography is the live shows,” photographer Kobby Dagan said. “Hozier is my favorite artist I’ve shot this year.”
Shortly after, Twenty One Pilots went all out during their set and performed several songs from their two albums, Blurryface and Vessel. Drummer Josh Dun headed into the crowd with a platform drum set as vocalist Tyler Joseph continued his song “Ride” on the main stage.
Stevie Wonder closed out the night with a powerhouse performance on the Downtown Stage as the audience sang along to his songs until one in the morning.
New Politics kicked off the second day complete with guitar solos, crowd surfing, and acrobatics from the band as they performed songs from their new album “Vikings.”
There were also performances early Saturday afternoon from Mercy Music, Alessia Cara, and Night Terrors of 1927.
Local band Brumby provided a fun taste of western rock ‘n’ roll at the Container Park stage and had everyone singing along to their closing song “The Ballad of the Westwind Kid.”
“No matter what version we do, The Ballad of the Westwind Kid always takes the cake for me,” said drummer Dylan Self. “The stylism of that song, the narrative, the theatrics and the musicality we put into it live make it such a fun performance.”
Duran Duran, also performing on the Downtown Stage, had the whole festival running towards the stage the moment they began playing their 80’s hit “Hungry Like the Wolf.”
Large crowds were also drawn to rapper Snoop Dogg where he performed his hit songs over the course his one-hour set on the Ambassador Stage.
Imagine Dragons, another band native to Las Vegas, ended day two with hits such as “Radioactive,” “It’s Time,” and covers from other songs they used to sing when they first began here seven years ago.
“Well, Life is Beautiful is pretty much THE music festival in Las Vegas. So as a Las Vegas band, it seems like a good place for us to be hanging out. It was different for us, because there were so many big names on the lineup like Imagine Dragons, Stevie Wonder, Brandon Flowers, etc. that we just love. I mean, as if going to the festival wasn’t cool enough, we get the treat of playing as well,” Brumby’s singer Oliver Tingey said.
On the final day of the festival, artists and groups such as Saint Motel, Two Gallants, and Ryn Weaver opened early in the afternoon.
Walk the Moon rocked out to their hit song “Shut Up and Dance” on the Downtown Stage shortly after.
Later on that night, Halsey performed songs such as “Gasoline” and “Roman Holiday” to an energetic crowd for her first show in Las Vegas and her first time playing “Strange Love.”
Frontman of The Killers, Brandon Flowers played several songs from his new album The Desired Effect before revealing a special surprise. The rest of the band came out on stage and had the crowd going crazy while they played “Mr. Brightside,” “Human,” and “Read My Mind” for their second time performing at the festival.
“My favorite part of Life is Beautiful was when I looked down at my phone and I saw that my dad texted me saying that The Killers were on,” Meghan Hoss, sophomore, said. “All of the sudden I heard Mr. Brightside.”
Alternative bands including Weezer and Death Cab for Cutie drew large crowds and played their hits and favorite songs throughout their careers.
While listening to “Alright” and “Good Kid, MAAD City,” Kendrick Lamar ended the festival as he had spent it, jumping and dancing along to the music.
With so many headliners and other performers to choose from “this festival was certainly beautiful,” finished Hoss.
And so it does seem the festival is accurately named.
