Coachella starts out with a dead mouse!!!
So, this weekend as most of you know, was Coachella. How awesome is it that the most respected music festival in indie musicland is right here in Southern California, and we can go every year. This year did not look as big as the previous couple years on paper, but I had an awesome time and think it may have been one of my best Coachella experiences ever. Mixygirl and I started out by driving down to OC to pick up Torosushi and Baby Ruthless. We also dropped off Kapono at MG's parents' house. When I was walking Kapono to go to the bathroom, I noticed what I thought was a leaf in his mouth. When we came back to the house, I reached down to take it out of his mouth. To my shock, something that felt like raw beef was in his mouth. It felt sooo nasty! I got him to drop it and go in the house. We went outside and with a flashlight saw that it was a dead mouse that had been picked at by birds, and was butterflied open. I was too disgusted, so Toro was made to grab the carcass and throw it away.
The drive down to Indio was pretty painless. On the way, we listened to Weezer's new album called Make Believe. Baby Ruthless had downloaded it from some site, before its official release. We all thought it was pretty good, but not as good as Blue or Pinkerton. I would say, its pretty mid tempo, very cleanly produced, but also very melodic and the lyrics are pretty extreme in the emotion category. We stayed at the Embassy Suites where Shopping and Will stayed last time. The next morning we were able to drive to the festival in less than 30 minutes. The whole festival was so low maintenance this year. Incredibly easy to get in and out of parking despite 100,000 people attending (Last year was 120,000).
On the left is Baby Ruthless, Mixygirl, Toro, and Jarschick. On the right are Mixy and I.
On the left was a strange Dragonfly installation, and on the right was a collection of different artists' take on decorating recycling trash cans.
On the left was a very strange installation of a giant baby, police cars, and mannequins. They put on a show later that night but we missed it. On the right is the Raveonettes, the first band of relevance for this year's Coachella. They're a Danish band that I've heard before. I thought their music was too garagey without much else appealing, so I can't say I was expecting much. They blew me away however, it seems like they kinda changed directions on their just released new album called Pretty in Black. They still have the garage edge, but added to that are melodies inspired by Jesus and Mary Chain, and harmonies inspired by 60's groups such as the Ronettes. They even cover the classic 60's song "My Boyfriends' Back", and Ronnie Spector of the Ronettes sings on one of their songs. There was also a dash of the Everly Brothers thrown in. It was perfect music for a beautiful afternoon. I got goosebumps during the set. They had the magic. BTW it wasn't that hot this year, just mid 80's. It still felt somewhat hot, but I can't even imagine now how we made it through last year's festival (temp was 106 last year).
Next, we went to pay our respects to Peretz AKA Perry Farrell. He was doing his DJ thing at the Sahara Tent (electronica tent). He's not that good, but he's always fun to watch, because he is so clearly enjoying himself. He always sings some chants over his simple electronic grooves. This year one of his chants was "It smells good in here!!!"
Next we headed back to the coachella (main) stage to check out Snow Patrol (on the left). They're a Scottish brit-pop band (I guess that makes the scot-pop). I just chilled out and laid on the grass, cause it was pretty hot by them. Overall decent performance. Next we headed to the outdoor (smaller) stage to check out Razorlight (pictured on the right). I didn't know anything about them, but Mixygirl said they were supposed to be pretty good. I thought their set was really good. They sounded similar to the Libertines to me, but was not a rip-off or anything like that. Great energy, and their record which I got yesterday is great.
Next, we headed out to see Rilo Kiley at the Outdoor stage. At the side of the stage was the infamous Efren Ramirez who played Pedro in Napoleon Dynamite (in my opinion he was the only redeeming aspect of the movie). He was wearing a vote for Pedro shirt. He introduced Rilo Kiley, but the mike wasn't on, so you couldn't hear what he was saying. He was really into the performance, and is nothing like the character he played in Napoleon. He seems to be really enjoying his 15 minutes of fame, and Mixygirl says he is always wearing that shirt and some people think its pathetic.
So, Rilo Kiley is an indie-pop band with a country edge headed by former B Level child actress, Jenny Lewis. I really liked their new album, and haven't seen them live yet, so I was really looking forward to this performance. Well, it didn't disappoint. The music was multi layered and was sung with pitch perfect clarity and strength. It was just an incredible set, and was matched by an equally beautiful desert sunset. When I saw Rilo Kiley, I was thinking to myself how clear it was that some bands are destined to toil in the clubs, and some bands with that special magic like Rilo Kiley are destined for more.
After Rilo Kiley we headed to the Coachella stage, saw the last song of Wilco, and then caught Weezer. It would've been good to see the Wilco set, but I'm glad I saw Rilo Kiley instead. I think it was impossible to see Weezer without thinking about the Rollingstone Article that portrayed Rivers as becoming increasingly more bizarre, now dedicating much of his time to Vipassana meditation, celibacy, and trying to apologize to people he's wronged in his life. The old songs they played were "Say it Ain't so", "Photograph", "Undone", "In the Garage", "Island in the sun", "Hashpipe", and "Buddy Holly". The new songs they played were "Peace", "Pity", "Hold me", "We are all on Drugs", and "Beverly Hills". I enjoyed the set. Musically it was immaculate and beautifully played, although they played all the songs in a mid-tempo fashion. Rivers was very into the performance, and closing his eyes when singing, and getting into his guitar solos. Unfortunately that didn't translate very well to a huge festival crowd, and I heard that most people thought they turned in a robotic and emotionless performance. Rivers even said stuff in b/w the songs such as "I can feel the magic tonite", and introduced the band, which is rare for him. But it came out really awkward sounding. My favorite moment of the set was the new song "Hold Me". It's a really beautiful ballad with a quiet intro and soaring chorus. Being outdoors with such a huge crowd in the evening really gave that performance a dramatic feel. Another upside is that everyone was singing along to the old songs.
After Weezer, we headed all the way to the other side of the Polo Grounds to the Sahara tent which was looking pretty psychedelic from the outside (tried to see Bloc Party at the Mojave tent but it was too full). Inside we caught the end of South American DJ, Hernan Cattaneo. It was a great set, lots of fun. Instead of a mosh pit, there was a raver pit, where people were standing in a circle, and would take turns going in the circle, and either breakdancing, or doing light stick stuff, or crazy rave dancing. Very fun.
Next up in the Sahara tent, was the Chemical Brothers. I was really looking forward to seeing them, have been a big fan for many years. Unfortunately, they had a rough transition in my opinion, and the beats just didn't sound as good as Cattaneo's. I decided that instead of sticking with the Chemical Bros, that we would cut our losses and head towards Coldplay.
I'm glad we decided to see the entire Coldplay set, cause it blew me away. I like Coldplay and I think Rush of Blood is an incredible album, but I wasn't expecting too much live. Coldplay connected more with the audience, and was just more beautiful and fantastic than I remember any other Coachella headliner act being (although Chilipeppers for me two years ago was incredible as well). It also helped that this year, the back speakers were down on the ground instead of up on towers, so if you were further back but standing close to the rear speakers, the sound was still great. Chris Martin was absolutely genius/brilliant as a performer. He hit all the notes perfectly and was very energetic and generous without a hint of the irony or stand-offishness that plague indie rockers across the world. Kind of seemed Bonoesque in that way, although obviously Coldplay is no U2.
So, after Coldplay, we headed out to the parking lot. Here's some images of our journey back including a Tesla coil on the left, and a sea of people leaving on the right. It was a great first day of Coachella. I think we even got home in less than an hour. The festival promoters had put people to direct traffic, and balloons in the air to help you find your car. All in all, a kick ass day and there will be more to report on Day 2 as well.
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