According to Damien Kulash, daylight “is the mortal enemy of rock ’n’ roll,” referring to OK go’s 3:30 p.m. Saturday timeslot at Life Is Beautiful. That being said, even sunshine couldn’t impede the impressive set performed by one of the more straightforward rock acts on the weekend’s bill.

I've always felt that the quality of the viral stars’ songs was overshadowed by their admittedly genius videos, but Saturday’s performance put the focus squarely back on their music, with the LA quartet toning down the pageantry and schtick from the previous times I’ve seen them. Handbells and furry guitars didn’t make the cut for this set, though OK go must have struck a deal with The Flaming Lips' party cannon vendor, judging by the amount of confetti shot into the crowd. Their set of catchy, well-crafted pop covered the evolution of the band’s sound, pulling heavily from their two most recent albums. The newer collection of jams is lighter, with tight pocket drumming, driving bass and funk-swept guitars complementing catchy melodies and witty yet simple lyrics.

The recent tunes are some of their best; “Turn Up the Radio” in particular cemented in my brain. The only holdover performed from OK go’s first record was their maiden single, “Get Over It.” Wrapping up the set with crowd-favorite sing-along “This Too Shall Pass,” Damien and crew cunningly played on our Phoenix-envy to whip up the audience’s energy, comparing our gang vocals to our southern rival’s performance the previous night, and we took the bait. Sunshine aside, the rock prevailed.