Coachella 2008

[Ghoulish Delight]

I'm going to have a hard time saying no to any of the 3 days.

[Alex]

Worse (or better depending on perspective) than last year. I think I've only heard of three of those bands and Gogol Bordello only because I believe they've been mentioned here before (Fatboy Slim and Dwight Yoakum being the other two and I've only heard of Yoakum because of his movie performances, most prominently Panic Room).

[CoasterMatt]

So you've never heard of Roger Waters? What sad part of the universe have I staggered into here?

[Alex]

No and mine. I don't listen to music. No interest in the stuff, the fact that music causes such emotional responses in other people is one of life's great mysteries to me and the biggest sign that I'm either an alien or brain damaged (Oliver Sachs would tend towards putting me in the latter).

So when I've heard of a band, generally it is a sign that they've either hit upon major success or made some random crossover into parts of the universe that I actually care about.


That said, I'm sure there is music by a great many of them that if I heard I would know I had heard before, I just wouldn't have a clue who was making the music, just as I don't know the name of the author of most books I read.

[CoasterMatt]

Roger Waters, as a member of Pink Floyd, created "Dark Side of the Moon" - It went on to be a certified 15x Platinum album, that was on the Billboard charts for 741 weeks, only to be removed by a rule change.

Not a major success at all.

[CoasterMatt]

I'd love to see Kraftwerk, probably only because I've been listening to a lot of old Afrika Bambaataa and Soulsonic Force records lately (Planet Rock is just a big rap throwdown on top of a mix of the melody from Kraftwerk's TransEurope Express, and the drum pattern is based on Kraftwerk's Numbers).

[Morrigoon]

Here's how out of touch I must be... I've only ever *heard of* 7 of those acts.

[CoasterMatt]

But you've ridden in the Lilly Belle, so it doesn't matter

[Disneyphile]

Oooooh, I'd love to see Kraftwerk.

Not sure if I want to brave the desert heat to do it though. Is it really hot out there at that time?

[Alex]

Originally Posted by CoasterMatt

Roger Waters, as a member of Pink Floyd, created "Dark Side of the Moon" - It went on to be a certified 15x Platinum album, that was on the Billboard charts for 741 weeks, only to be removed by a rule change.

Not a major success at all.

Ok. I've heard of Pink Floyd. But I couldn't name a member of the band. Same with Def Leppard or AC/DC or Heart or Red Hot Chili Peppers or the not-Gwen Stefani members of No Doubt, and most other bands I've heard of. And I don't meant to suggest that unless I've heard of them a band or person hasn't had great success, that isn't true at all. There are thousands of incredibly successful musical artists I've never heard of.

If you want to have success and for me to know your name, you better put it in the band's name to have much of a chance.

And if you played me tracks of Dark Side of the Moon*, I'm sure I'd recognize the music but wouldn't be able to tell you who was playing it. Is that song with the children singing part of that album?


*On a middle school field trip we saw the Pink Floyd light show thing at OMSI in Portland, Oregon (the old one by the zoo) but I snuck out about 10 minutes into it so I could go see the interesting stuff.