The good, the bad and the ugly at Life Is Beautiful`s Big Beautiful Block Party in Downtown Las Vegas

The lineup and stage: The music brought all 17,000 attendees together over the course of the weekend and two Downtown stages combined to create one mega-altar for dance. Acts kept a tight schedule for the most part, with one concluding just as the other prepared to take the secondary stage. This kept the show rolling, giving partiers a reason to stay put—even if it meant forgoing a bathroom break. 

Jungle: The London-based trio weren’t exactly thrilled about the desert heat (“This is f**ked up,” vocalist Tom McFarland said), but they carried on like pros, conducting their own festival-size discotheque. Backed by a full touring band of percussionists, keyboardists and guitarists, Jungle took up every inch of the stage, in both sound and proximity, as it executed “Casio,” “Back On 74” and “All of the Time” with unflappable finesse, a disco-funk act on the verge being, dare we say, perfect. Lydia Kitto, the newest queen of the Jungle, also beguiled the masses with her vintage falsetto, especially on new single “Let’s Go Back.” The world’s largest dance party then ensued, as thousands surrendered to the groove, writhing and rollicking to “Keep Moving” like their lives depended on it. For those still stumped on how to make a good disco show, take a page from Jungle’s book. –Amber Sampson 

LCD Soundsystem: “We haven’t been here in a while. Sorry about that,” said LCD Soundsystem’s artfully disheveled frontman James Murphy, offhandedly apologizing for the band’s decade-plus gap between visits to Las Vegas. Shortly after that, he added, “It’s hot here. It’s very hot. I don’t know why you guys picked this place.”

That was about it for stage banter, save for an offhand comment later in the set apologizing for the lack of stage banter (“We’re not that interesting”). Instead, LCD adopted a less-talk, more-rock approach, delivering an airtight 12-song set of vintage LCD hits that, contrary to Murphy’s discomfort, burned the place down. Opening with “Get Innocuous!” and careening into “I Can Change” and “You Wanted a Hit,” Murphy really didn’t have to explain anything; the band’s crashing, hypnotic beats said everything.

Picking favorites was impossible. LCD 2024—Murphy on vocals and percussion, Al Doyle and Matt Thornley on guitars, Tyler Pope on bass, Korey Richey and Nancy Whang on synths and Pat Mahoney on drums, though everyone seems to play a bit of everything—is an unfailingly precise alt.disco delivery device, approaching every song as if they’d only come up with it a few days before and had just now perfected it. If you didn’t know that “Tribulations,” “Someone Great,” “Losing My Edge,” “Dance Yrself Clean” and “New York, I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down” hailed from the Obama era, nothing in the band’s fiery and relentless delivery would have let on.

LCD Soundsystem concluded their 12-song Life Is Beautiful set as they began it: Dazzling the crowd with a note-perfect, spirited take on one of the hits they claim not to write. “All My Friends” sent the crowd into a bouncy euphoria, and then LCD Soundsystem disappeared from Vegas once again, hopefully not for another 10 years. Someone, please offer this band a local, lengthy, preferably climate-controlled residency. –Geoff Carter

Badbadnotgood: Auditory abduction are the first words that come to mind when trying to describe Badbadnotgood’s set Saturday evening, September 28. The incredibly versatile jazz ensemble is known to have one of the most impressive production discographies in the game. And although they’ve worked with respectfully hyped rap artists from Kendrick Lamar and Ghostface Killah to dream-like vocalists Kali Uchis and Daniel Caesar, the band’s downtempo sound has the legs to stand on its own. The length of the band’s set felt jammy, but in a deeply personal way that mimics what it may be like to sit in the studio with them as they sweat out a song. There was playful onstage bander, trippy visuals and moments that each instrumentalist stood out, leaving the early audience in a collective awe. The cherry on top was a tribute to one of the greatest composers of our time, the late MF Doom. Badbad’s collaborative track, “The Chocolate Conquistadors,” was met with praise upon the opening drum roll. And as the band carried on, the iconic Madvillain gladiator mask flashed onscreen, as if Doom was still here watching over us all. 

Thundercat: We just wanna party with Thundercat! This neo-funk bass guitar noodler gave this block party the jolt of energy we needed to get the night moving. As the two-time Grammy Award-winning artist took to the stage, the crowd acted accordingly and matched his off-kilter persona and manic charm. It’s impossible to resist his jazzy improvisation and tunnel of musical psychedelia. He, of course, played the certified bangers “Funny Th

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