Crimson Mohawk’s M3F Adventure Ft. LCD Soundsystem and Justice

M3F, short for Mcdowell Mountain Music Festival, is a music festival in Phoenix, Arizona, usually around March or April. I’ve gone a few times, though for only one day each time, like in 2017 where one of the headliners was The Shins, and I remember seeing Grouplove and Bob Moses. I also went in 2020 (right before Covid took over) and went the day when Bon Iver headlined, and saw bands like Jawny (aka Johnny Utah) and Local Natives. I had fun both times, and I’m sure every year the festival has been good. It’s a really well put together festival with tons of vendors, food trucks, and talented acts, but the last few years haven’t had any artists or bands that really sold me on going. Except for 2025’s M3F, where they manage to get garage/electro rock legends LCD Soundsystem, and modern EDM kings, Justice; two groups I’ve been wanting to see for the longest time. I knew I had to go, whether it was with other people, or by myself. It ended up being the latter.

I’ve been to a few shows by myself, but I had never gone to a festival multiple days alone, or even with friends or family. I couldn’t live with myself though if two groups I adore came to my home state and I missed them. I was slightly nervous about going by myself, but my excitement overshadowed the worries. I was so pumped for the weekend to hit, that the day before felt like Christmas Eve. I had been listening to LCD Soundsystem for about 10 years, and Justice for 5 years, so to be able to finally see them, and both in the same weekend is a dream come true. The day finally came, and it was almost a nightmare.

Day One:

Day one of the festival got off to a rocky start. Early that morning, it rained, and remained cloudy the entire day. I wasn’t really worried though, because it’s Arizona. It will rain for 5 seconds, and then it won’t rain until late that night or the next morning. Boy was I wrong. From the time I got in line to get through the gates, to when I got my merch, it was bone dry. It wasn’t until I got to the main stage. I started to catch the first band on the main stage, aka the Vista stage, which was The Hourglass Cats, but a song in, it started to sprinkle, and two more later, I had to run for cover because it was actually raining. Of all the weekends it decides to actually rain, It was this one. We didn’t even really get Monsoon Season last year. Luckily, my parents insisted I bring a rain poncho with me, which I fumbled around to put on when I found a tent to get under. I ended up wearing it all day, which made me feel like a tank because I had it over my leather jacket and mini clear backpack I had brought.

I want to shout out Pickers Playground and Lookout News for being really nice to talk to and help me stay dry under their tents, because it was raining on and off the entire day. With all that happening, I did miss most of the sets at the beginning of the day. When it wasn't coming down, I bounced around the Vista and Daydream stages, in which I saw Dev Lemons, Late Night Drive Home, Summer Salt, and Orions Belte. I hardly went to the Cosmic stage, because for some reason it was covered with way more mud than any of the other stages. I almost forgot the fourth stage they had; the Valley stage which was right at the entrance. I caught Hyperbella there, and they were really good. I really dug their more laid back psych-rock, neo-soul sound, and the main vocalist shouted out a song to all cat lovers, which was super cute. I didn’t catch as many bands as I wanted to, but I was still able to see a decent amount.

The time was almost up, though. In order to get as close as possible for LCD Soundsystem, I booked it to the Vista stage thirty minutes before the band that went on before them, Alvvays, and I was able to get to the barrier. To be specific, I was more on the right side of the stage, but I was thrilled to be able to get that close. Alvvays did their set, and they sounded pretty good, and the crowd was really into them. I didn’t know much about them, but I had seen the name around for a while. I’ll definitely check them out at some point.

After a long day of mostly standing outside and having to deal with the rain, I was pretty tired and my legs kinda hurt. Despite that, I had to hold the line, because I needed to see James Murphy and company after years of adoring LCD’s discography. Hell, if I was going to see them, I thought it would be during their own tour, where floor and pit tickets would cost $500 plus, and I would have to travel because they never come to Arizona. Once they came out, it finally stopped sprinkling for the night, and they put on one of the best shows I’ve been to. 

They started with “You Wanted A Hit” (after walking on stage to “Everybody Loves the Sunshine” by Roy Ayers), which on paper sounds like a weird one to open up with. It’s a really good song, but I never thought of it as an opener. They manage to make it work really well, though. The live version has a little more bite to it than the album version. It turned out to be a great way to kick things off.

After that they went into “Tribulations”, another good one, but one I honestly haven’t listened to as much as others, and went right into “I Can Change”(with an intro referencing “Radioactivity” by Kraftwerk), and that’s when the setlist completely clicked with me. I believe that's right around when James Murphy started to introduce the band, and let me say, he’s one of the best frontmen I’ve ever seen live. He’s always been one of my heroes, but it was so satisfying to see him live up to the hype. Murphy was full of energy, super playful with the rest of the band, and sounded almost exactly like he did on the albums. I even got to see him mess around with a cowbell. He didn’t miss a beat. 

They then burn through “Tonite”, “Oh Baby”, and one of the greatest songs of all time, “Daft Punk is Playing At My House”, which is where I started to lose my voice to cheering and singing along. After a small technical difficulty, they ended with “Home”, “Someone Great”, “Dance Yrself Clean”, and “All My Friends”, aka, four more of the greatest songs of all time. It takes a lot to get childhood wonder to win me over, but as soon as I heard them starting the drums and synths for “Home”, I audibly gasped, covered my mouth, and said, “Oh my god, they’re doing ‘Home’!” 

Ten songs, one killer setlist, and my voice was almost completely obliterated. They could have easily kept on going if it wasn’t for curfew, but I was still extremely satisfied. After a long, cold and rainy day, seeing LCD Soundsystem felt like the biggest, coziest group hug I’ve ever had. But that wasn’t the end. I still had one more day.

Day Two:

The weather for day two was flawless. There was not a cloud in sight, and it felt pretty breezy. The gates opened an hour earlier that second day, but I decided to sleep in a little, and get there an hour after. Even though I was very tired and my voice wasn’t completely there, I washed up, chugged an energy drink, and was ready to finally go. I finally got to see one of my favorite bands the night before, and was ready to see Justice, as well as discover several more bands and artists.

As soon as I got to the festival, I went and thanked Pickers Playground and Lookout News for the previous day, and went to get some food before heading to the stages. After getting some lobster mac and cheese (it tasted okay), I went to the finally dried up Cosmic stage and caught The Frost Children, who did a very good DJ set remixing Lady Gaga, Charli XCX, Sabrina Carpenter, and plenty of other dance hits. I then bounced from that stage to the others catching bands like The Strike, Confidence Man, Eggy, as well as AZ locals, Upsahl. All of which I enjoyed watching. The Strike and Eggy were both really jammy, Confidence Man brought a ton of camp, and Upsahl busted out some covers during a string of her own original alt-pop songs with a ton of energy. But with that, doing two days at a music festival was starting to catch up with me. My ears, my right one specifically, were starting to ache. I had brought ear plugs, but didn’t want to put them in until Justice went on because I didn't want to worry about losing them

I went and got some deep fried Oreos, and rested my legs for a little bit before the main event. In doing that, I caught guitarist Black a.m. and the group Leisure from a distance. After Leisure finished their set on the Vista stage, they let people access the barrier, and I got even more center to the stage than I did the previous night. Sylvan Esso was up next, and I put in my ear plugs. From what I was able to hear, they were a pretty good duo, and the crowd was really into them. They’re another one I still need to check out.

After waiting for an hour and a half and talking to the other people up at the barrier, it was finally time for Justice. If LCD Soundsystem was a nice warm hug, Justice was thunderous, like going on Space Mountain for an hour and twenty minutes without getting tired of it at all. They first started with an intro song that hasn’t been on any of their albums, and strictly for the tour, that sounded very triumphant and whimsical, with a hint of uncertainty. While that was still happening, I took out my left ear plug, because I needed to hear this show fully. Especially to take in “Genesis” in its full glory. While I always love the more pop centric side of Justice (I’ll get to those songs later), I adore when they sound harsh and evil, so them going from “Genesis” to a remix of “Phantom Pt. 1 & 2” was a stellar way to open. My favorite part of the set though is the build up at the end of “Phantom” that keeps on ramping up, and then dropping right into “Generator”, my favorite song off of Hyperdrama.

Everyone was bouncing like crazy, my throat was already sore, and we had just started the set. After that they would tear through remixes stretching through all four of their albums, remixing classics like “D.A.N.C.E.” with newer cuts like “One Night/All Night”, and bouncing around old and new favorites, doing “DVNO”, “Stress”, “Neverender”, “Safe and Sound”, and plenty of others. Just like LCD Soundsystem, they packed the set heavily for almost an hour and half so tightly. Their visuals were, while simple, absolutely perfect for the music, with their signature cross logo popping up in the background every so often, the duo standing on a light up dance floor, and lights above them that moved up, down, and flipped around. What made it feel even more like Space Mountain was that they made the light show look like stars, as if you’re taking off into orbit during their remix of “Safe and Sound” and “Neverender”

To end the show off, the duo finished with playing the Hyperdrama closer, “The End”. As that started to play, both of them stepped down from the stage, and went from one end of the barrier to the other end high-fiving everyone and signing stuff. While I was unprepared to get any autographs, I can proudly say I got to high-five Gaspard Augé and Xavier De Rosnay of Justice! What an absolutely killer way to end the festival.

I should have been extremely exhausted that Sunday. I was a little, but, seeing LCD Soundsystem and Justice just energized me. Plus, while there were bands and DJs I wish I could’ve caught, like Badbadnotgood and Girl Talk, I got to discover so many other artists as well. I plan to keep an eye on Hyperbella, Summer Salt, and a handful of others. I’m extremely pumped to see who M3F gets next year, because I’m not sure if they can top this one having two of the best shows I’ve ever seen. It was my first concert/festival of the year, and I’m so pumped to see as many shows as I possibly can.

Here are some pics I took of LCD Soundsystem, Justice, my POV after high-fiving Justice(Lets goooo!!), Dev Lemons, Black A.M., Hyperbella, Frost Children, Confidence Man, and the worlds largest Volkswagen Bus