Continued...

Hahaha, Coachella Fashion 2009 did not disappoint. Glad you apparently had a great time .... but I've got to say you were missed at various California Lash locales ... and it's hard to believe you were not among the dizzying revolving cast of LoT swankers involved.


At one point near the end (last night to be specific), your expertise in a certain area of specialized interest would have been helpful. Expect a quizzling later.

We've survived! Through near riotous parking lots, 3 days of heat, and more man-thongs than I care to think about. Ended on a FANTASTIC note with Etienne de Crecy (though the set was a disappointingly short).

We danced the shimmy shake again, to the delight of those on stage. We made the serpent breathe fire at our command. And we found the perfect mate for the Cubatron.

I will sleep well tonight, knowing I will not be standing in the sun tomorrow. Farewell to another amazing Coachella.

looked like fun
<sigh>

So. Many. Pictures. and Video to Edit. I gave our new Flip HD cam a work out and it performed beautifully.

May I just post publicly that NA and € were sorely missed. Yes, we had a blast, but there were definitely moments where I looked to the side, wishing they were dancing along with us.

There is much to tell. Later. :)

Photos and videos will be compiled in due time. Until then, some thoughts;

Artwork
Wow! Some of the most spectacular art this year. Highlights being the Hand of Man, a giant hydraulic hand that anyone could line up to control with a suped-up power glove...and pick up a car! Video to be posted. We did not wait in line, but we did view. And then there was the serpent mother. The comment I heard from one of the artists on hand to answer questions and encourage people to push the "make fire" buttons was, "Yeah, the fire marshal had some issues once we got on site here." :D :D

And we got to see the tesla coils a bunch this year! Phew!

Paul McCartney
Yeah, I know I already gave my reaction. But it bears repeating. He is worthy of his status as legend.

As is, apparently, his sound engineer crew. I don't know for sure how things like this work at this kind of festival, but I imagine the Goldenvoice hires its own sound engineers to set up all the equipment and be on hand to assist, or to do sound for bands that don't travel with a crew. But I figure the headliners all hire their own engineers to do sound for their individual sets. And if so, Paul McCartney's are earining their pay. The difference between how he sounded compared to every other headliner we heard on the same stage was staggering. My Bloody Valentine being the worst. Guess Paul can afford the best in the world.

Dancing in the sun
It never fails. Evey year there is at least one act that's on one of the two outdoor stages at ~5PM, right when the sun is at it's most heinous angle, that absolutely REQUIRES dancing. This year's entry was Michael Franti and Spearhead. Undeniably good dance reggae. It wasn't until the next day that we finally listened to CP and went around to the other side of the crowd so we at least weren't staring into the sun on that stage. Lesson learned.

Best stage show, worst music
N.A.S.A. His set was unfortunately grade-A douchebag material, and it seemed to attract that demographic. I say unfortunately because I really wanted to like someone who turned his D.J. booth into a mock lunar lander, and who brought out green alien chicks and a dude in a giant robot suit as dancers. But no, he was a douche, and his set sucked. Sad.

Shimmy Shake it Baby
Adding up the one time we saw Lucent's full show, and the 2 partial shows we saw comes out to about 2.5-2.75 viewings. And 2 performances by us of the Shimmy Shake. I'm STILL disappointed that I chickened out the frist time, but thrilled that I got over it. I'm bummed that next to no one else joined in (we only saw one other couple, once), but I do know that the performers appreciated it as at least one of them acknowledged us from the stage.

And aside from the non-starter interactive bit, the show was fantastic. They are such wonderful performers, and their band rocks. Though they've really got to work on their sound equipment. As usual, microphones seemed to have issues with being around all the water, and by Sunday there was a blown speaker that really hurt the sound.

Black Keys
What a talent! I spent a while trying to figure out why I couldn't see the other guitarist on stage. But no, it was just a drummer and the one guitar with one astounding guitar player. Really really dug the set.

The Cure
What to say. They sounded really good. But Robert Smith just looks like a ridiculous human being up there, especially paired with Uncle Fester on guitar next to him. And I know they want to have some focus on their new music, which is great. But it was at least 5 songs in before they played anything anyone knows, and that's silly at a festival like this. Plus, I'll admit to preferring their later poppier songs over the moody stuff they built themselves on. Sue me. On the plus side, I DID get to smoke a clove while watching The Cure live, that's a pretty awesome experience. But we bailed early to catch a bit of...

Throbbing Gristle
A new name to me, but recommended by NA and €, they were pioneers in punk and industrial noise. And with their age, may very well have been actual pioneers in wagon trains too! The stage lighting was nothing but bright white lights aimed at their equipment and note sheets, presumably because their eyes aren't so good anymore.

That said, those old folks made some fabulous noise. Weird beyond all getout, and perhaps a little melodramatic for my tastes. But bless 'em they're still going for it as white-haired geezers! Best overheard comment, 'What am I looking at?" :D

Scandanavian Showcase
Complete with bizarre Swedish guest singers, Peter, Bjorn, and John put on a stellar show on the main stage. I'm digging what I've heard of their new ablum, and they've got such a great range from uber-minimalist to beautifully layered rock. And they're just so...Swedish!

You'd think after 10 years...
They still fvck the parking thing up. And Saturday always seems to be the worst.

Got to our car in the far, far, parking lot late Saturday night. We a go a short distance, then nothing. Dead stopped, measuring progress in minutes and quarter-car-lengths. CP hops out to take a walk, discovering that our lot was merging into a single lane, which was merging into another lot, which was merging into another lot. So we were at the end of a long line that was being continually fed in front of us with more cars. Boned.

Meanwhile, while she was out, I notice somse comotion from the direction of the driveway we originally entered the lot from which was presumably, and inexplicably, closed for exiting. Next thing I know, people are telling the drivers to turn around and head for that driveway. I called CP to hurry back, and aimed thataway. It seemed at first like it was clearing up, but then stopped dead again. CP once again went to investigate.

Turns out, poeple broke the gate across the driveway down. But very shortly after that, presumably once cars were seen coming from somewhere they weren't suppposed to be coming from, the cops rolled up and shut the exit down. That's when things got nearly ugly as all of us who had turned around to exit that way were jammed with no where to go. After some tense negotiations and a few rumblings of riot, the cop said, "gimme 15 minutes to re-cone the streets and we'll let you out."

All of this might have been more amusing, if my low-gas light hadn't just come on. I was seriously sweating it, did NOT want to go dry in the middle of all of that. But made it through, and in the process found what may be a better way in and out of the venue in the future. So, bonus!

I'm sure I'll have more to add after sorting through photos.

We missed NA and € big time. Hope we'll have a bigger group next year!

Sounds like a great time! Parking hell, however.

Too hot for this snowflake, but I can appreciate and will await the videos!

It is hot, I won't deny that. But we learned our lesson well last time, and by timing it such that the earliest we were through the gates was 2:30 in the afternoon, it makes things far more tolerable. Arriving shortly before the hottest part of the day, rather than being there for hours while it's reaching the hottest part of the day makes a tremendous difference.

I will see if I can find out who his FOH and monitor engineers are.

Surprisingly, artists tend to hold on to their monitor engineers more closely than their FOH guys - it takes a while for an engineer to learn just how to tweak it to make the artist happy.

But I imagine that McCartney has his own FOH guy as well. I'll see what I can find out.