Coachella!

[Cadaverous Pallor]

We were fortunate enough to get to spend two days at the Coachella Valley Music Festival (http://coachella.com/) last weekend in Indio, CA.

It was awesome.

I went in without any real mandate. I really wanted to see Jem, but everything else was negotiable. I let others lead me to bands that they wanted to see. I didn't know many of the bands very well, although I'd heard random bits of them before.

Highlights:

Boom Bip - nice, groovin', jam-style band. Good first act to check out.

Keane - Absolutely blew me away. They had tons of energy and it was infectious. Sound was perfect, you heard every note.

Chemical Brothers - they really packed them in. Great visuals, and a really sweet mix of songs. Mostly stuff from the new album but a few older cuts thrown in, including Block Rockin' Beats.

Cafe Tacuba - I enjoyed the music but I gotta say, it was the crowd that made this show. They were totally into it, dancing, linking arms and spinning...what a blast.

Bauhaus - I've never been much of a fan, but I was totally enthralled at their set. I'll let the real fans tell that one. ;)

Gram Rabbit - Handed out bunny ears to the crowd and then played a rather hard to describe mix of country influenced rock. Very eclectic, very entertaining, great sound.

Sloan - Wow! One hell of a live band. I've been listening to clips of them yet was still totally unprepared for such a spectacular performance. Guitar rock, 1970's Tom Petty style, with a hard edge...loved it!

Jem - Good performance. Nothing spectacular. I just really enjoyed getting to dance to her live. They were good, not amazing.

Futureheads - didn't know these guys and I was surprised how much I enjoyed it. Something about them made me dance a lot. I usually don't like that kind of music that much.

Roni Size with Dynamite MCing - I knew the name but never knew the music, and man, this was the FASTEST Jungle/Drum n Bass I've EVER danced to. GD and I could barely pause to let us breathe. Amazing beats, amazing bass. Music that will fvck you up!

The Tesla Coil - not a band, a crazy-ass electricity thingy that makes lightning bolts! Quite the spectacle. I alternately wanted to touch it and run the hell away from it.

Disappointments:

Rilo Kiley - Blech. Didn't know her before, now hope I never hear her again.

New Order - They totally sleepwalked through it. And they played TWO Joy Division songs. Lame.

Robots - not a band, they had these crazy scary looking robots and a giant robot baby. We anticipated it all day, but the show was lame. The scary robots attacked shopping carts. The baby moved a bit. The robots moved menacingly. Attacked shopping carts again. That was it. Lame!!

Nine Inch Nails - I was never a huge fan to begin with, but I was expecting to at least be entertained. There seemed to be speaker problems, but still, I was actually bored by the music.

I was kind of annoyed that Bright Eyes ended up with the last set of the day on Sunday. We were destroyed far before then and left. I think he got screwed line-up-wise. He was after NIN and Prodigy.


The weather was hot, but nowhere near as bad as last year, so I won't complain too hard. Drank a lot of water, tried to stay in the shade as much as possible, got religious about the sunscreen, and we didn't even burn. The venue is awesome, plenty of room for all the people, and sitting on grass was a treat, even after it got filthy out there.

Pics (and music clips and mini-movies) will be up later, and I know I left a lot out. Anyway, I had an absolute blast and left with that "Life is good" feeling. :cheers:

I just might have to go back next year...

[Ghoulish Delight]

Hey, did you mean to put the tesla coil under disappointments??

I definitely echo everything CP said. I enjoyed Boom Bip more than the others with us. Their drummer, particularly, was phenomenal. Never heard anything like it.

Hard to really pick a favorite, but if I were pressed, I'd say Arcade Fire. They were a blast. Definitely the act with the best on-stage energy. 7 people on stage, and they were just having so much fun. And so talented. All 7 of them constantly were switching off playing different instruments. One chick went from vocals to accoridian to drums to keyboard to xylophone. So cool and entertaining. Totally made me want to go see a full show of theirs.

Day 2 was a better day for me. I don't know if that was because the acts were better, because we approached the day much smarter, or because it was 5 degrees cooler. Actually, the weather wasn't that bad either day. But the first day, we got there way early (before the gates were even open), and did a lot of sitting or standing in the sun. Being only 85, it wasn't horrible, but it was definitely draining. The second day, we got there 3 hours later and made much better use of shade tents. Made all the difference in the world. And here's the real miracle...I didn't burn! 2 days in the desert sun, and no burn anywhere. Yay!

All in all, an awesome birthday gift to ourselves.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Hey, did you mean to put the tesla coil under disappointments??Oops. Fixed. :D


Hard to really pick a favorite, but if I were pressed, I'd say Arcade Fire. Ack, forgot them! Good show, definitely. I wish I'd had more energy at that point, but still, totally enjoyed it.

[Not Afraid]

We saw 20 bands over 2 days at Coachella. It was a great event and we saw some AWSOME music.

Favorite Moment: Peter Murphey of Bauhaus appearing on stage suspended upside down and looking like a bat. He stayed that way through all of Bela Lugosie's Dead.

2nd Favorite Moment: Cafe Tacuba band members performing a John Travolta/Chippendales choreographed dance.

Band who met my Great Expectations: Bauhaus. They were as wonderful as when I saw them circa 1981 at The Whiskey. Maybe even more so.

Most Disappointing: NIN. They just seemed a little slow, although they got better as their LOOOONG set progressed. They just didn't have the energy I've seen before.

Too bad about the sound at the Outdoor Stage: Probelms really blew it for Eisley and Rilo Kiley (and others I'm sure). I'm glad it was fixed for Arcade Fire and Firery Furnaces.

Best theatrics: Bauhaus, Dresden Dolls and Gram Rabbit - all AMAZING performances.

Best improvised theatrics: Arcade Fire. OMG, these multi-talented youngsters were so much fun to watch! Their tight set ended with the singer's mic and stand being thrown into the audience.

Too much fun not to mention:

Gang of Four
Chemical Brothers
Keane
Ravonettes
Jem

Thought they'd be better:

Bright Eyes
NIN
Firery Furnaces (I'd rather not have heard a medley)
Snow Patrol (just eh)
UNKLE

I am a bit crispy on the left side (which was facing West most of the time) and I probably will sleep very well tonight in my own bed. Everyone was very well behaved. I didn't see a lot of drunken assholes (very few, actually) and it was a great couple of days. The temps were in the mid 80's and cooled down at night. It was NOT the grueling 104 it was last year (thank God). I'm ready to go again next year.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Wow, I forgot all about Snow Patrol. Definitely forgettable.

[wendybeth]

I thought of you all when we were driving home from the airport Saturday evening- the news report on the radio did a spot on Coachella, and it sounded like it would be a blast! Glad you had fun!:cool:

[€uroMeinke]

Coachella was great this year. For me the highlights were Bauhaus, Gram Rabbit, Dresden Doll's, and the Arcade Fire.

Bauhaus ruled Saturday as far as I'm concerned and I was doubly please that they pulled this show off so well 20 years past their prime - Last year's Cure show was so dissappointing it make me worry when these "old timer" bands get back together. Gotta Mention that Gang of Four (also in that genre) put in a great performance as well. I hear New Order, didn't - glad I picked the new band instead.

That would be the Dresden Doll's - if Kurt Wiel were doing rock music this is what we'd be hearing in the caberets. These two artists grasp that sense Wiemar quirkyness that I truely appreciate. Thier rendition of "The Port of Amsterdam" was better than any I've ever heard (and believe you me I've heard and own dozens of renditions). I definately would like to see a full performance for them in the future.

Gram Rabbit was a delightful start of Sunday - They are my new favorite band (I keep passing on thier CD to every one I know) and have a great sense of Kitsch and performance art. Songs about Cowboys, Aliens, Bloody Rabbits in the Road, and Cults - who could ask for anything more. The skeletal bunny dance girls were awsome - pics will definately be posted.

The Aracde Fire was the surprise hit for me this year. We got thier CD in anticipation of Coachella, and enjoyed it well enough - but seeing this band perform just upped the energy to a whole new level. This is another group I'd love to see on their own.

I have to also mention someof the stuff going on in the DJ tent was amazin I saw bits of UNKLE, Miss Kitten, Chemical Brothers, and Prodigy. If there weren't so many other bands to see, I would have loved to hang out and groove hear - the music and energy was infectious.

Well, can't wait to see what's in store for next year. I can't believe how much fun I continue to have at this event.

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

Swanky! I just got Keane for my birthday... how special!

[blueerica]

:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:


Don't mind me, I'm just jealous. ;) :p ;)

[Cadaverous Pallor]

I totally missed you, E! We would have had even more fun if you'd come with. :)

[Claire]

Sounds like fun!!! :snap:

I loooove Keane. Love their sound and they're incredible live! Too bad that New Order was disappointing....love them.

And my ex-boyfriend has been opening for Jem lately. :rolleyes: But before that, I saw last spring here in Portland and they were pretty good.

[Name]

awesome to hear bauhaus came back together for another show, I saw them in denver during their last tour together and they were great then, I can just imagine that they were good at coachella too.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Bauhaus (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v246/gdiddy/IMGP1628.jpg). One of my favorite shots of the weekend. Didn't get him hanging upside down, unfortunately, but this shot turned out well (thank the camera, not our locaction, we weren't nearly as close as this makes it seem). Tons more pics where this came from, gotta get an appropriately cool website set up to do it justice. I FINALLY found a use for our camera's feautre that allows you to record a sound clip and associate it with a photo. Had a lot of fun taking shots of bands and recording a 30 second clip of music. Not exactly hi-fi, but they didn't turn out so bad for a crappy camera mic. Hopefully I'll have time to get it all up tomorrow.

[Eliza Hodgkins 1812]

I really would like to see, in a smaller venue, Gram Rabbit, The Arcade Fire and Bright Eyes.

I love Rilo Kiley. Name of the band, not the lead singer. They're cds are so much fun and I love most of their songs. It's too bad if they're no good live, but we might simply disagree on their music. One of the other band members is also in a pretty nifty band called The Elected (hevily influenced by Elliot Smith, and I believe they knew each other).

Surprised to hear that Keane was so good. I heard their cd once and found it uninspired and totally boring.

So glad much fun was had by all!!!!! Wahoo!

[Cadaverous Pallor]

It's too bad if they're no good live, but we might simply disagree on their music. I think it is simply a taste thing. When they played their hit song (Bad News?) I went "oh, it's THIS band :rolleyes:". Not my style of music.

When Keane played their hit, it was quite the opposite for me.

BMG is sending me Sloan, Keane, Roni Size, and two other CDs for $26 total, incl. shipping. Hooray for free CDs! I'm stopping to buy more CDs during my lunch break today.

It's about time that I got into music again.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Grrr. Well, I WOULD have had the photos up tonight if SOMEONE didn't have their birthday. The thumbnails are all ready to go, just working on captioning and setting site navigation. Tomorrow, I promise!

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

Surprised to hear that Keane was so good. I heard their cd once and found it uninspired and totally boring.

I saw them on SNL first and was quite impressed. The CD is good, but I think I'd rather hear the live version again.
:snap:

[Not Afraid]

A few days later and I can't stop listening to Arcade Fire and Gram Rabbit. They were SOOOOOO GOOD!

[Ghoulish Delight]

As promised, pictures. (http://www.jenniegreg.com/coachella/coachella.htm)

A couple things to note, if the thumbnail has a little speaker icon under it, there's an audio file you can download if you open the full size pic. If it's got a film reel, there's a video. NOTE: If you click on a sound clip or a movie and all you get is a screen full of garbage characters, you'll unfortunately have to jump through a hoop or two to get the file. Here's what you do (in Windows....if you're on a Mac, you may be out of luck if clicking on it doesn't work):

1) go back and right click on the link
2) right click and select "save target as..."
3) pay attemtion to where you're saving it
4) go to the folder you saved it in and change the file from IMGP###.htm to IMGP###.MOV for a video, .WAV for audio.

Sorry about that, there's something weird about the server I host these on.

Otherwise, enjoy the photos!

[Giant Chicken]

Coooooool Pictures!

[€uroMeinke]

Here are some of mine (http://photos.xenarchy.com/thumbnails.php?album=10)

http://photos.xenarchy.com/albums/userpics/10001/normal_Coachella013.jpg (javascript:;)