Show Reports Archive

Well, due to the ineptitude of AT&T in providing adequate SMS or data service at Coachella this year, most of my tweets during the festival didn’t get out.  All in all, I enjoyed the music and the festival.  At least, when I could actually be in the venue.

Here’s a rough timeline of what would have been sent out (some of them actually did manage to squirm out):

Day 1

2:15PM – Left house at 12:30 and still stuck in immovable traffic. Had to pee on the side of a main road, public be damned.

3:30PM – Stuck in a immovable line to get wristbands for event entry. People are cutting in the front because there’s no security.

4:30PM – Officially pissed that I missed one of the bands I wanted to see the most, Yeasayer. Regretting coming to this thing.

4:45PM – Line is finally moving. Apparently the ticket scanning system went down for a couple hours. Heads better roll for this bullshit.

5:15PM – Feel a bit less cranky after eating some surprisingly good Thai BBQ. I can hear Tom Morello playing a song I don’t know.

6:00PM – She & Him is surprisingly entertaining. The songs are a lot more uptempo and fun than I was expecting. Delightful festival warmup.

6:05PM – Have to admit, zooey deschanel is lookin pretty adorable on stage http://twitpic.com/1g4wq9

7:45PM – Even a mediocre live band like Passion Pit can be great fun with the right crowd. Dancing/singing with the chorus of Little Secrets was a great moment.

8:15PM – I know everyone swears by Grizzly Bear, but I’m finding his set boring. It’s one of those “you have to know the material” situations. I didn’t.

8:25PM – Stopped by La Roux. She sounds okay, nothing extraordinary. Not going to wade through that crowd for “In For The Kill”.

8: 45PM – I only know the Echo and the Bunnymen hits. They’re not playing them, so I’m getting out of here.

9:15PM – The sound for LCD Soundsystem is amazing.

9:30PM – James Murphy is incredibly awkward on stage. He could have command of the crowd, but he’s rambling like a insecure nerd onstage.

10:15PM – LCD Soundsystem had a couple chances to be an epic set, but never quite got there. Going to walk by Vampire Weekend.

10:20PM – Heard Cousins being played and promptly turned around to get a beer.

10:30PM – Pretty ridiculous that the main stage is playing a recorded Vampire Weekend song while the actual band is on the other stage.

11:15PM – Jay-Z makes his entrance by rising from under the stage floor to the intro of “We Run This Town”. As the bass kicks in, he authoritatively commands the audience to bounce. We obey.

11:45PM – The soundsystem here is unreal. Hiphop bass has never sounded so clear. Best mainstream rap show I have seen so far.

12:25AM – Big Pimpin’ starts. The crowd starts to go nuts before Jigga stops it, telling us that we aren’t ready yet. He then continues on with another song. Fucking awesome.

12:35AM – No Dr. Dre or Alicia Keyes appearance, but we get Beyonce as the surprise guest.

12:45AM – Damn, I didn’t plan on staying for all of Jay-Z, but I couldn’t resist.

12:50AM – I have to make a decision to see the end of The Whitest Boy Alive or deadmau5 – I go with Whitest Boy, but really wanted to do both. Damn you, scheduling!

12:55AM – Erlend Oye looks like a dweebier young Bill Gates, if that’s even possible. Still, this set is really good. I gotta see them when they tour next.

3:30AM – Fuck traffic and crowds and lines and godawful parking infrastructure.

Day 2

3:15PM – Well that wasn’t as bad getting in this time. Took a back route and lot. Missed my boy Frank Turner, but a noon start time is untenable.

3:30PM – Day two starts with bluegrass from old crow medicine show. Haven’t seen a guy string his own guitar in awhile. http://twitpic.com/1gmxkt

4:45PM – Have a nice spot by the soundboard for Beach House.  The music is inoffensive, but not really grabbing me. Guess it’s a similar situation to Grizzly Bear.

5:40PM – Man does the girl from Gossip have pipes, this is an awesomely fun set. Crowd loves them.

6:20PM – Holy shit, the entire LCD Soundsystem band is on stage, along with more people I don’t recognize. It’s madness in here.

6:35PM – Stayed for the last couple songs of The Raveonettes set. I like them, but the end of their set was a far cry from the energy level of Gossip’s.

6:45PM – Well, The XX is good music for listening to while you’re eating dinner.

7:15PM – Seem to have found a great spot for Hot Chip with a raucous group of South Americans who sing and do chants. This is going to be awesome.

7:45PM – Steel drums are back, baby! I was wondering where they had gone, but I’m positive I’ve seen at least 3 bands use them so far.

8:20PM – Using Aterciopelados’ set to recover. They’re actually not bad rockers.  Too bad I don’t understand Spanish.

9:35PM – Some kid tries to move past me in a crowd. He says he’s trying to get away from his mom who’s in the crowd behind him for fear she’ll ground him from video games for 2 weeks. wat.

9:45PM – Spent the last 50 minutes in the dance tent with Kaskade and David Guetta. Sensory overload. Bass made my entire body shake. Wish I had drugs.

9:55PM – Major Lazer is fucking amazing!! There’s two Chinese dragons onstage with a black chick in a wedding gown. This is a real party.

10:15PM – Get news that Danny Devito ran shirtless across the stage during Faith No More. That sounds fun.

10:30PM – Muse is way less intense than that dance tent was. They still rock though.

11:20PM – Man, The Dead Weather really vacillate between awesome and boring. Love the blues stuff, hate the slow shit.

12:00AM – F. Dee and mac from it’s always sunny in Philadelphia bumped into my friend wearing a paddys pub shirt at the beer tent and I wasn’t there!

12:15AM – Eating pizza while on a bench with a view of Tiesto on the main stage. I think I’d need to plan my day around Tiesto to properly enjoy his set.

12:18AM – Is it just me or does Tiesto look like Christian Slater? Also, lasers.

12:20AM – Someone brought the wrong visuals for Tiesto, the screen just addressed “Austin”.

12:22AM – There we go, Coachella lets make some noise!

12:50AM – Having to decide between the end of 2ManyDJ’s or Devo, I go with Devo in the hopes of getting “Whip It”. Got old dudes stripping into tshirts and boxers instead.

4:00AM – Fuck traffic and crowds and lines and godawful parking infrastructure.

Day 3

2:45PM – Really surprised to have made it inside the venue in time to catch the end of Local Natives. They were pretty good.

3:45PM – No idea what to have expected for Mayer Hawthorne, but this is kinda cool. Fairly young white dude singing soul. People are dancing, including shirtless pothead in front of me with a gut and no pectorals.

4:10PM – My friend explains to me the lols of Mayer introducing his “break up song” with “Coachella I’m sorry to do this to you but…” Hilarious.

4:15PM – Walk by Deerhunter, didn’t look like a meat jackpot Deerhunter set so continued to De La Soul.

4:20PM – De La Soul is pretty boring.  Nothing else to do but sit on the grass and chill.  Too lazy to walk to Florence and the Machine for a couple minutes.

4:50PM – Surprised to hear Sunny Day Real Estate play Seven so early in their set. Not complaining, this song rules.

5:20PM – Decided to check out Yo La Tengo. Love the pop songs and synchronized light dancing, really dislike the masturbatory jam sessions. Cool how all 3 band members play everything.

6:15PM – Really dig the soundscape that Jonsi/Sigur Ros create. The songs seem a bit more uptempo than Sigur Ros. Plus he’s got a really cool festive outfit and headdress.

6:50PM – Made it into a nice spot by the soundboard for Miike Snow. The band comes out in masks and amidst smoke.

7:15PM – The album is good, but the live show is amazing. This stuff needs to be turned up LOUD!

7:30PM – Would definitely see Miike Snow again.

7:45PM – There’s a ridiculous amount of people for Phoenix, not going to bother getting close for this.

8:00PM – Just realized I only really like 1901 and If I Ever Feel Better from Phoenix anyway. Glad I got to hear those at the end.

8:15PM – Holy laser light show at Little Boots! She’s pretty fun too.

9:05PM – Caught the last few minutes of Orbital’s DJ set. Heard an amazing mix of Halcyon with Belinda Carlisle and Bon Jovi. Lamp shades baby!

9:30PM – As much as I love Radiohead, I’m pretty sick of The Eraser. Some of the songs just don’t translate well to large venues.

9:30PM – That being said, adding someone like Flea really makes the bass come alive for songs like Harrowdown Hill.

12:30AM – Forewent gorillaz to beat the coachella traffic. Surprisingly it worked! Already at the daily pint in Santa Monica playing shuffleboard.

Click through for a photo gallery. (Caveat: They’re iPhone camera pics.)
Read the rest of this entry »