Coachella Music and Art Festival is the perfect spring festival for a sullen northwesterner: sun, music, art, grass, heat, and shiny beautiful people. There's big names (Prince, Roger Waters) as well as "who-is-THAT?" discoveries. The grounds are small enough to float stage-to-stage to catch as many acts as possible.
The festival kicked off on Friday with the to-be-expected stupid traffic jam to get into a parking lot. It's just part of the experience, yo. Note to self for 2009: remember to bring a cable to plug the IPod into the rental car stereo.
Due to the traffic I miss out on a shitload of groups I was hoping to see: Midnight Juggernauts, Rogue Wave, Dan Deacon, Les Savy Fav, Battles. Oh well. A housemate drives my rental car and we park next to another car full of our posse. Careful observation of where the car is parked pays off in the dark later since there are no row numbers or markers of any kind. Racing away from the cars, we are in a big rush to get to the meet up place inside for fun and games during peep Adam Freeland's set in the Sahara tent.
At the meet up spot, we don gold lame robes and are each handed a silver balloon of the letter "F." We are stunning. Truly. We congratulate ourselves on how fabulous we look, then the driver of my rental car says, "Do you have the keys?" WTF. No I don't have the keys. You drove. Shit. Where are the fucking keys? Bags emptied, pockets emptied, we come up empty. This puts a damper on our afternoon, but hey: let's just go with the flow and hope it all works out in the end. The fallback position is a cab ride back to Palm Springs (goodbye $175) and calling the rental company in the morning.
All in our shiniest, the 25 posse members walk across the grounds and enter the backstage of the Sahara tent. W00t! Backstage. Hey, there's DJ Mehdi. And Xavier deRosney! And Alicia Silverstone! And a bunch of other people I should probably recognize but don't! I'm the perfect person to bring to a party with celebrities: I won't recognize any and thus can converse without gushing. (Maybe one of them has our keys.)
We laugh and take lots of pictures of ourselves, the balloons, the backstage area: trying to capture what it feels like to live the fabulous life for a minute.
Then it is onstage for Adam's first song. He starts slow, builds up, breaks it down. We dance our asses off, then a few brave posse members stage dive. Holy crap! Off the stage, into the audience, dance madly, cheer for Obama, then get right up front to catch Adam as he stage dives. Yow! One of the funnest times, evah! End of set, backstage again (free water!), more pics, then back out into the teeming masses in our gold robes and balloons.
We get lots of love from the other Coachella-goers. We can find each other all day with those F'ing balloons. People use us as markers to meet up with their friends. "I'm by the shiny people."
The rest of my musical adventures on Friday? Here's the run down as I moved from stage to stage:
Tegan and Sara: 2 songs. Ok, but I don't hear enough to decide if I like them or not.
Dan LeSac and Scroobius Pip: 1 song. I'm not in the mood.
The Raconteurs: 3 songs. Jack White is an awesome rocker. I'm sorry I missed the show at Neumos.
Goldfrapp: 2 songs. The singer is an angel and the band is tight. I could listen to more, but no time.
Santogold: 3 songs. Energetic, great voice, great funk-sounding band. Need to see her when she comes to town.
Aesop Rock: 1 song. I like this guy lots but too much schedule competition and I've seen him before. Next time.
Aphex Twin: 6 songs. He has panda bears dancing on stage. Grreat show; good mix of crunchy techno dance shit.
Datarock: 3 songs. Boys in red tracksuits whip the crowd into a roaring frenzy. Fun, fun, fun. Packed tent. They are a must-not-miss when in town.
The Verve: 2 songs. They feel and play like a schedule-filler band. I won't be seeking them out.
Spank Rock: 1 song. I like his mixes but I'm not in the mood.
Fatboy Slim: 7 songs. Good, reliable, energetic, with an excellent light show. The tent is packed and crowds are overflowing outside. We hang out in the back with elbow room to move around (and dance!).
And the keys? Turns out they were left in the unlocked car. Unfortunately a purse was stolen out of the trunk -- but at least the douchebag didn't throw the keys into the bushes.
At 1:15 am we start the long, painful exodus from the parking lot. An hour later we are out of the walled-in rectangle of a parking lot and we finally roll into our Palm Springs house at 2:45. We are too bummed about the stolen purse to hit the after-party at the other posse house. There's always tomorrow. It's only day one, after all.
Monday, May 5, 2008
F is for F*cking Fab Freeland Friday: Coachella Music Festival
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Santogold is not an M.I.A. clone
One of the fresh acts I caught at Coachella this year was Santogold. I didn't see her full set at Coachella: but what I did hear I liked very much. She's got a strong stage presence and knows how to interact with the audience. Her singing was on-key (which can't always be said for M.I.A.).
Admittedly, the track Creator has an M.I.A. vibe to it, however it is more at the genre level. The songs I heard at Coachella had a fun yet complex sound which makes me want to seek out the Santogold LP. In a March NME interview, Santogold (Santi White) describes her self-titled debut album as eclectic, with dub, hip hop, indie, punk, and electronica influences.
Santogold will be playing European festivals all summer, so if you have chance to see her give her a try.
The official video for her single L.E.S. Artistes:
Monday, April 28, 2008
Monday, April 21, 2008
Coach me through Coachella
With more than 125 performances over three days, one has to be selective yet open to new discoveries. I need your help! Who would you see? Who is on your must-not-miss list? Who are the potential 2008 breakouts?
In my discretionary time, I write reviews and shoot shows for the music site Three Imaginary Girls, based in Seattle. There's a blog post and conversation over on that site in which I've asked for recommendations of who to see at Coachella.
I would love to get your recommendations, either in comments here, or comments there.
Here's the lineup. Check it and get back to me!
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Visit the Steam Punk Treehouse at Coachella
One of my favorite art pieces from Burning Man 07, the Steam Punk Treehouse, will be at the Coachella Music Festival grounds. I'm looking forward to seeing it again! It is cooler than cool.
Here's a BoingBoing TV-produced interview and behind-the-scenes look at the crew responsible for this brilliant piece of interactive art.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Prince @ Coachella: it's true!
Heavily rumored, repeatedly denied, secretly confirmed, and now finally announced via bulletin from Coachella on MySpace.
Prince will headline the Coachella Music Festival on Saturday, April 26th.
The purple one will be reigning raining in da desert!
Uffie and graff artist Monsieur Andre are engaged
Uffie, the tiny powerhouse performer on the Ed Banger label, and French graffiti artist Monsieur Andre are engaged. Andre proposed after the couple spent 10 days together in Tokyo.
Uffie and most of the Ed Banger crew will be at the Coachella Music Festival later this month. Here's hoping Mr. A goes as well and gets his sharpie on.
Hat tip to Hella for the scoop.
Friday, March 21, 2008
Coachella-goers can take a free train ride
Golden Voice has teamed with Amtrak to offer a free Coachella Express train from Los Angeles to Indio, CA for the annual Coachella Music Festival. The Coachella Express departs L.A. on Thursday, April 24th, and returns on Monday, April 28th. Seats are limited to 500 campers.
Available to campers only. Interesting. Baggage limitations: two "checked" items, up to 50 lbs each, plus one carry-on. The free train ride must be geared to the "light" camper. I can't imagine camping within these parameters -- I like a little comfort with my sleeping bag. Such as a tent I can stand up in.
Oh, hold on...I bet this is geared toward the campers who are taking advantage of the new camping options offered this year: "luxury onsite accomodations." Tent and sleeping props provided. (By that I mean something to sleep on, not someone to sleep with. You're on your own for that.)
More details and reservations on the Coachella Express here.
For those keeping track at home, I am not camping at Coachella.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Coachella Festival 08: explore links to artists
The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival has compiled a handy list of links to every 08 artist's MySpace page and YouTube vid. With 120+ artists listed, this reference is a real gift to festival-goers who want to discover new music at the annual event held outside of Palm Springs, CA.
The list was made available on the Coachella MySpace page as a blog post. Links are organized alphabetically by artist instead of in order of the Coachella Festival 08 lineup by day.
check it here:
Listen and Learn Coachella 2008 artists. Don't be left in the dark.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Coachella Festival 08 lineup
Commentary to follow. Just the line up for now. W00t!
Coachella Music Festival
update: Check out artists' myspace pages and YouTube vids here.
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FRIDAY, APRIL 25:
Jack Johnson, The Verve, Raconteurs, The Breeders, Fatboy Slim, Tegan and Sara, Madness, The Swell Season, The National, Animal Collective, Slightly Stoopid, Mum, Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, Stars, Battles, Aesop Rock, Midnight Juggernauts, Does it Offend you, Yeah?, Minus the Bear, Spank Rock, dan le sac Vs Scroobius Pip, Diplo, Adam Freeland, Santo Gold, Jens Lekman, John Butler Trio, Vampire Weekend, Dan Deacon, Architecture in Helsinki, Sandra Collins, Busy P, Cut Copy, Black Lips, Datarock, Professor Murder, Reverend and the Makers, The Bees, Porter, Rogue Wave, Modeselektor, American Bang, Lucky I A.m.
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SATURDAY, APRIL 26:
Portishead, Kraftwerk, Death Cab for Cutie, Cafe Tacuba, Sasha & Digweed, Rilo Kiley, Dwight Yoakam, M.I.A., Hot Chip, Cold War Kids, Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks, DeVotchKa, Flogging Molly, Mark Ronson, Turbonegro, Scars on Broadway, Islands, Enter Shikari, Calvin Harris, Boyz Noize, Junkie XL, Cinematic Orchestra, Jamie T, The Teenagers, VHS or Beta, Carbon/silicon, Erol Alkan, Yo Majesty!, Little Brother, Bonde Do Role, St. Vincent, Akron Family, MGMT, Institubes DJs (Surkin, Para One and Orgasmic), James Zabiela, Sebastian, Kavinsky, Dredg, The Bird and the Bee, Grand Ole Party, New Young Pony Club, 120 Days, Yoav, Electric Touch, Uffie
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SUNDAY, APRIL 27:
Roger Waters (“Dark Side of the Moon”), Love & Rockets, My Morning Jacket, Spiritualized, Justice, Gogol Bordello, Chromeo, The Streets, Metric, Danny Tenaglia, Simian Mobile Disco, Booka Shade, Murs, Dmitri from Paris, Autolux, The Field, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Les Savy Fav, The Cool Kids, Sons & Daughters, Sia, Holy Fuck, Black Kids, Black Mountain, The Annuals, Kid Sister w/A-Trak, Man Man, Duffy, I'm from Barcelona, Manchester Orchestra, Deadmau5, The Horrors, Austin TV, Shout Out Louds, Plastiscines, Brett Dennen
