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=> GENERAL DISCUSSION => Topic started by: K8teebug on May 02, 2005, 07:51:00 am
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I was really sorry I didn't go, but it was a little too late on friday to decide that! Hope all who went had a great time and didn't get beaten down by the heat.
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i think it was only like 90 degrees there this weekend. and didnt it just end like 5 1/2 hours ago?
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this site was posting updates throughout the weekend:
http://www.mxdwn.com/ (http://www.mxdwn.com/)
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a quote i found re: saturday
"It was a LONG, tiring day, but worth it when Coldplay finally hit the stage. There was this horrible, weird band that came on before them called Bauhaus. Sorry to anyone who are fans of theirs, but they were just scary and way over the top. I can't even describe their music. It was very hard rock, kind of gothic and satanic. Not a good thing to have them on the same stage right before Coldplay. UGH. It was torture."
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Originally posted by distance:
a quote i found re: saturday
"It was a LONG, tiring day, but worth it when Coldplay finally hit the stage. There was this horrible, weird band that came on before them called Bauhaus. Sorry to anyone who are fans of theirs, but they were just scary and way over the top. I can't even describe their music. It was very hard rock, kind of gothic and satanic. Not a good thing to have them on the same stage right before Coldplay. UGH. It was torture."
that comment almost makes me glad i didn't go this year...to see bauhaus, one of my favorite bands, live for the first time would have surely been ruined by the surrounding douchebag coldplay fans. how a band with only a halfway decent debut album and not much else under their belt could headline coachella is beyond me. coldplay blows.
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Ugh, breaks a heart to read a reaction like that....
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Originally posted by joz:
that comment almost makes me glad i didn't go this year...to see bauhaus, one of my favorite bands, live for the first time would have surely been ruined by the surrounding douchebag coldplay fans. how a band with only a halfway decent debut album and not much else under their belt could headline coachella is beyond me. coldplay blows.
i had to reply. basically stated that bauhaus was more influential than coldplay will ever be and that bauhaus isn't nearly hard rock.
to that:
"Well, everyone has their opinions. I have been a music lover my whole life and consider myself to be fairly up on the scene. I had never even heard of Bauhaus prior to Coachella, so not sure how influential they would be.
In my opinion, they were hard rock - or whatever you want to call it. Not my type of music whatever it is. And I use the term music lightly in this case. The music I listen to doesn't have to be ground breaking or influential. I just want it to sound good and Coldplay's music sounds good to my ears. That's all that matters."
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Coldplay is an OUTSTANDING band...I'm a musician and I've yet to come across anyone who has mentioned BAuhuas as an influence...Coldplay keeps influencing current musicians and will prolly do the same for kids growing up...god you hipsters..
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Originally posted by distance:
to that:
"Well, everyone has their opinions. I have been a music lover my whole life and consider myself to be fairly up on the scene. I had never even heard of Bauhaus prior to Coachella, so not sure how influential they would be.
So much for being "up on the scene". Good Lord.
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Originally posted by distance:
Originally posted by joz:
that comment almost makes me glad i didn't go this year...to see bauhaus, one of my favorite bands, live for the first time would have surely been ruined by the surrounding douchebag coldplay fans. how a band with only a halfway decent debut album and not much else under their belt could headline coachella is beyond me. coldplay blows.
i had to reply. basically stated that bauhaus was more influential than coldplay will ever be and that bauhaus isn't nearly hard rock.
to that:
"Well, everyone has their opinions. I have been a music lover my whole life and consider myself to be fairly up on the scene. I had never even heard of Bauhaus prior to Coachella, so not sure how influential they would be.
In my opinion, they were hard rock - or whatever you want to call it. Not my type of music whatever it is. And I use the term music lightly in this case. The music I listen to doesn't have to be ground breaking or influential. I just want it to sound good and Coldplay's music sounds good to my ears. That's all that matters." [/b]
so this was a post on a forum somewhere? unless this person is like 14, i bet they would at least remember "so alive" by love and rockets. wonder if they're ears bled for nine inch nails too.
has anyone seen bauhaus' setlist?? if so, a link would be appreciated...
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Originally posted by Fico:
Coldplay is an OUTSTANDING band...I'm a musician and I've yet to come across anyone who has mentioned BAuhuas as an influence...
Does launching Goth an entire genre count as influential?
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Originally posted by Fico:
Coldplay is an OUTSTANDING band...I'm a musician and I've yet to come across anyone who has mentioned BAuhuas as an influence...Coldplay keeps influencing current musicians and will prolly do the same for kids growing up...god you hipsters..
try jane's addiction and interpol for starters. correct me if i'm wrong...coldplay has released only three studio albums so far, the first of which came out less than 5 years ago. i own that album. i'd like to know who has come out within the past couple of years that coldplay has "influenced"? seriously.
...and your e-mail implies that a "hipster" is a music snob. i don't think i'm either. i do have pretty eclectic taste in music, but i have no respect for a band that puts out the same album over and over (e.g., coldplay, the strokes, etc).
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Originally posted by Fico:
Coldplay is an OUTSTANDING band...I'm a musician and I've yet to come across anyone who has mentioned BAuhuas as an influence...Coldplay keeps influencing current musicians and will prolly do the same for kids growing up
You forgot to put the [/sarcasm] tags on your post.
For a second, I almost believed you were serious.
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and i also think Bauhaus are give given credit in creating post-punk as well...
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Over the years my tastes have evolved. I've gotten to the point where Coldplay sucks and Frank Black screaming wave of mutilation is somehow melodic. Buy I have a theory that we will are revert back to our pop roots one day, and do the cycle all over again. I can't tell you the number of times I slip in a "cool" album when my parents (I'm 32) are present and think, "this sounds terrible" as they converse about the one Cher concert they saw or the latest American Idol. Makes me think. Isn't it all about entertainment? Who makes the call on what does it for whom? Maybe we think about it too much. Let's face it... all musicians are thiefs. No one is original really. Live and let live I suppose.
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I can see Bauhaus being pretty boring live.
actually.
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Oh my.....
I leave for a while and I return to people wondering who Bauhaus is? This is unaccepable.
I'm going back to the Star Wars thread.
And Fico, you know I love you, but Bauhaus will have a much more profound effect on your music than Coldplay ever will. Give 'em a listen.
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OK. Yay Bauhaus. Boo Coldplay.
Good. That's over and done with. What about the other bands that played Coachella? How were Arcade Fire, British Sea Power, Amublance Ltd, Doves, etc.
The lineup is so awesome. Why do they have to do in the middle of a f**king hot desert?
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Originally posted by xcanuck:
OK. Yay Bauhaus. Boo Coldplay.
Good. That's over and done with. What about the other bands that played Coachella? How were Arcade Fire, British Sea Power, Amublance Ltd, Doves, etc.
The lineup is so awesome. Why do they have to do in the middle of a f**king hot desert?
Doves didnt play, and i agree canuck, i think Edmonton would be the perfect setting for this show! or Moose Jaw!
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Originally posted by xcanuck:
OK. Yay Bauhaus. Boo Coldplay.
Good. That's over and done with. What about the other bands that played Coachella? How were Arcade Fire, British Sea Power, Amublance Ltd, Doves, etc.
The lineup is so awesome. Why do they have to do in the middle of a f**king hot desert?
could see (or could have seen) all the bands you listed within a 6 month period in dc. no need to stand in a desert for those.
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Originally posted by joz:
could see (or could have seen) all the bands you listed within a 6 month period in dc. no need to stand in a desert for those.
quit it with that god-awful lame stupid excuse.
jesus.
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Originally posted by sonickteam3:
Originally posted by joz:
could see (or could have seen) all the bands you listed within a 6 month period in dc. no need to stand in a desert for those.
quit it with that god-awful lame stupid excuse.
jesus. [/b]
it's not a lame excuse...i went to coachella last year. totally worth it. this year's lineup wasn't. anyway, i was just pointing out that if xcanuck thought the lineup was great but standing in the desert isn't, that he could easily have seen the bands he mentioned in dc.
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I heard Wilco wasn't "eh"
From another board:
"Wilco:
War on War, Shot in the Arm. They also played:
I am trying to break your heart
Muzzle of Bees
At least that's what you said
Spiders"
"Weezer was great except they still refuse to play anything off of PInkerton their greatest album. It's total B.S. They played a bunch of new stuff too. Here is their entire set list that I wrote as they played for someone on another board.
Say it Ain't so
Don't Let Go
Sweater Song
(new song) Peace
(new song) This is such a Pity
In the Garage
(new song) Hold me
Island in the Sun
(new song) We are all on drugs
(new song) Beverly Hills
Hash Pipe
Buddy Holly"
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Originally posted by joz:
it's not a lame excuse...i went to coachella last year. totally worth it. this year's lineup wasn't. anyway, i was just pointing out that if xcanuck thought the lineup was great but standing in the desert isn't, that he could easily have seen the bands he mentioned in dc.
i think he was just mentioning some of the list off the top of his head.
sure, if he only wanted to see those 4 bands he mentioned then you are right, but if by chance he likes a few more bands on that bill...how "easy" would it have been??? easy??
if i remember correctly all 4 of those band are/were playing on Weeknights. and say you wanna see more than that.
you can go out
thurs 5/12 for Kasabian $10
thur 5/19 for Stereophonic $20
fri 5/20 for a long Dresden Dolls, Gang of Four/Radio 4 night $40
sun 5/22 for pinback $14
mon 5/23 for doves and mercury rev $20
tue 5/24 for snow patrol $20
thur 5/26 for bright eyes / faint $25
fri 5/27 for blood brothers $12
sat 5/28 for rilo kiley $15
wow. that is easy, if you have nothing else to do besides go to rock shows.
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Originally posted by abulum:
"Weezer was great except they still refuse to play anything off of PInkerton their greatest album. It's total B.S.
hahaha, i love it. god bless Weezer.
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Originally posted by sonickteam3:
Originally posted by joz:
it's not a lame excuse...i went to coachella last year. totally worth it. this year's lineup wasn't. anyway, i was just pointing out that if xcanuck thought the lineup was great but standing in the desert isn't, that he could easily have seen the bands he mentioned in dc.
i think he was just mentioning some of the list off the top of his head.
sure, if he only wanted to see those 4 bands he mentioned then you are right, but if by chance he likes a few more bands on that bill...how "easy" would it have been??? easy??
if i remember correctly all 4 of those band are/were playing on Weeknights. and say you wanna see more than that.
you can go out
thurs 5/12 for Kasabian $10
thur 5/19 for Stereophonic $20
fri 5/20 for a long Dresden Dolls, Gang of Four/Radio 4 night $40
sun 5/22 for pinback $14
mon 5/23 for doves and mercury rev $20
tue 5/24 for snow patrol $20
thur 5/26 for bright eyes / faint $25
fri 5/27 for blood brothers $12
sat 5/28 for rilo kiley $15
wow. that is easy, if you have nothing else to do besides go to rock shows. [/b]
figure in $50+/day for food/water/"beverages", tix at $160 for 2-day pass, lodging at $100+/night (luckily, i stayed with my friend's family last year) and airfare at $200+...that's well over $800. not to mention 2 days off work (fri/mon), assuming you want to see the entirety of both days. it's not necessarily easy, nor is it cheap. i don't know about you, but i don't take days off work to go to weeknight shows in the district.
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Originally posted by joz:
figure in $50+/day for food/water/"beverages", tix at $160 for 2-day pass, lodging at $100+/night (luckily, i stayed with my friend's family last year) and airfare at $200+...that's well over $800. not to mention 2 days off work (fri/mon), assuming you want to see the entirety of both days. it's not necessarily easy, nor is it cheap. i don't know about you, but i don't take days off work to go to weeknight shows in the district.
i thought we were talking easier, not cheaper.
and certainly more fun. But i guess:
a. i dont live in DC, so i get home from weeknight shows in time to sleep for about 5 1/2 hours.
b. i dont really enjoy going to the same place twice a week with the same people and drink the same beer and drive the same way home, etc. to see all these bands.
nor do i have the free time to be going to shows 3 nights a week.
saying that you could see all the bands in DC and thats why you arent going is really the lamest reason you could ever come up with.
unless you are just seeing the bands to say you saw them....cause i can guarantee that 2 days in coachella (and a weekend in socal) is much more enjoyable than 25 nights at the dark smokey 930 club!!!!!
even if it costs twice as much.
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oh, and me and the lady went to Coachella last year, and spent 2 days in San Diego beforehand for a total of, $1500.
and that includes the oceanfront hotel room (in san diego) and convertible we rented.
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Originally posted by sonickteam3:
saying that you could see all the bands in DC and thats why you arent going is really the lamest reason you could ever come up with.
it's perfectly valid to say that you'd rather see these bands over the course of 6 months or a year or something in the district rather than flying out for a weekend, it's the exact reason why i don't go.
what flew up your ass?
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Originally posted by sonickteam3:
oh, and me and the lady went to Coachella last year, and spent 2 days in San Diego beforehand for a total of, $1500.
and that includes the oceanfront hotel room (in san diego) and convertible we rented.
actually, i'm not sure why we're disagreeing. i personally think that desert heat is a pretty bad excuse for not going. i didn't really mind the heat too much last year. like you, i thought coachella was a great experience...well worth the money and time i spent traveling there. like i said earlier in this thread, i'd do it again in a heartbeat if, and when, the lineup is better. i thought the bands were pretty weak this year. most of the bands playing (with the exception of bauhaus and a couple of others) have come or will be coming through dc. last year, there were a few that, at the time, were standouts (pixies, kraftwerk, radiohead, muse, belle & sebastian just to name a few) in that i may not have gotten to see them all otherwise.
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he's just passionate. :)
personally I love the desert.
But I'm saving for SXSW (still) vice Coachella.
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I think the issue with Bauhaus is they're not necessarily referred to as a direct influence, but those bands claimed to influence today's bands looked back to Bauhaus. Does that make sense? Definitely a progenitor of Goth and post-punk....Kinda like a band like the NY Dolls, in that a lot of newer bands grew up on the bands influenced BY NY Dolls, perhaps not NY Dolls directly (but the influence is so clearly there...).
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Originally posted by HoyaSaxa03:
what flew up your ass? [/b]
i was thinking the same thing...sonick and my opinions on things are generally agreeable. maybe some invasion of the body snatchers shit is happening...rhett's been missing for a while you know.
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Originally posted by abulum:
I heard Wilco wasn't "eh"
*edit*
Wilco WAS "eh"
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Ouch. What did I start?
From a personal point of view, I would've loved to go Coachella. I have friends from all over the States that like the lineup and it would've been fun for us to get together at Coachella. Half the fun would be seeing old friends and half the fun would be the music. But after going a few years back, I swore I'd never go again (as did many friends) because of the heat and remoteness.
Now, I think the Intonation Music Festival in July in Chicago is going to be awesome. I'm digging the lineup - Decemberists, Broken Social Scene, Death From Above, among others. Fingers crossed that Stars and/or Arcade Fire will join the lineup. Already got my flights booked!
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Originally posted by joz:
last year, there were a few that, at the time, were standouts (pixies, kraftwerk, radiohead, muse, belle & sebastian just to name a few) in that i may not have gotten to see them all otherwise.
yeah, i didnt go cause i have no money, or i am buying a house. but i thought the lineup was good enough. when i looked at the set times. i see for instance on Sat, i would've seen Buck 65, K-os, raveonettes, roli kiley, unkle, weezer, secret machines, bloc party, mercury rev and chemical brothers.
with some scattering in between, i couldnt ask for much of a better show....
cant wait to see who crawls out of the woodwork next year!
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Originally posted by HoyaSaxa03:
Originally posted by sonickteam3:
[qb] it's perfectly valid to say that you'd rather see these bands over the course of 6 months or a year or something in the district rather than flying out for a weekend, it's the exact reason why i don't go.
what flew up your ass? [/b]
thats not what joz said, (and actually its not joz that really get me going, i hear that lame excuse constantly)
saying you would rather see them all in the same place, down the st from your house, is one thing....implying that the experience of seeing the bands all at one festival is the same as seeing them all seperately at the same place, is the same? not valid, at all.
perhaps i am just mad that i didnt go, but that excuse is still really lame, though i would expect it from you Hoya.
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Originally posted by sonickteam3:
thats not what joz said, (and actually its not joz that really get me going, i hear that lame excuse constantly)
saying you would rather see them all in the same place, down the st from your house, is one thing....implying that the experience of seeing the bands all at one festival is the same as seeing them all seperately at the same place, is the same? not valid, at all.
perhaps i am just mad that i didnt go, but that excuse is still really lame, though i would expect it from you Hoya.
awww, thats cute sonick ... :p
i will fight to my death for sensible gun legislation and to preserve the notion that seeing these bands separately over a long period of time in my hometown is just as reasonable as flying out to see them in one weekend.
to the death!!
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NPR's All Things Considered (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4627797) will run a story on Coachella this evening.
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Originally posted by HoyaSaxa03:
awww, thats cute sonick ... :p
i will fight to my death for sensible gun legislation and to preserve the notion that seeing these bands separately over a long period of time in my hometown is just as reasonable as flying out to see them in one weekend.
to the death!!
you dont even read the posts you're responding to, do you?
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leave the east coast for a short stint - it does a body good!
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for me the farness is what usually makes me back out of coachella. if it was in north carolina or something, i'd be all over it. but yeah, last year was the year to go
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anyone want to review the show?
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Originally posted by sonickteam3:
you dont even read the posts you're responding to, do you?
shit, you're right ... your logic here is just crystal clear:
Originally posted by sonickteam3:
saying you would rather see them all in the same place, down the st from your house, is one thing....implying that the experience of seeing the bands all at one festival is the same as seeing them all seperately at the same place, is the same? not valid, at all.
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Well, just got back from my trip out West.
First of all, Coachella 2005 was FAR more subdued than 2004. It was a totally different audience though. If you had 3 times as many of the folks that showed up this year, you would have had a lot of jerks. IT just seemed like there were more people messed up on drugs and the lack of major heat allowed people to drink more booze and get messed up more.
But that being said, there were the positives: fewer people, less heat, more room to hang out, dance, etc. Less time getting out of the parking lot. But the bands just didn't blow me away like they did last year. The one exception was the Chemical Brothers, whose performance was easily one of the best things I've ever seen. The energy coming off of them blew everyone out of the water. Weezer were really great, so were the Faint. Prodigy rocked the house...Bauhaus were really good and Peter Murphy hanging upside down during Bela Lugosi was the most memorable single moment. New Order likewise had some great moments doing Joy Division tunes like Transmissoin and Atmosphere, some not so great too. Nine Inch Nails were OK...but honestly there was no Radiohead or Pixies this year, it seemed like there was more emphasis on style and delivery than on actual songs and substance. Even Bauhaus, whose music I like, didn't really capture my attention fully for their whole performance. New Order are notoriously hit and miss live, and this time it just seemed like they didn't rehearse. Bernard Sumner was using a teleprompter for his lyrics.
Random celebrity sighting: Carlos D from Interpol last night, eating a slice of pizza and looking like part of the Goth gestapo as always. For me, the trip was just as much about hanging by the pool during the day as it was about the performances. It was a great time.
I'm sure I'll think of more, but I'm pretty wiped out. Time for bed...hope everyone that went had a blast!
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Originally posted by HoyaParanoia:
Originally posted by sonickteam3:
you dont even read the posts you're responding to, do you?
shit, you're right ... your logic here is just crystal clear:
Originally posted by sonickteam3:
saying you would rather see them all in the same place, down the st from your house, is one thing....implying that the experience of seeing the bands all at one festival is the same as seeing them all seperately at the same place, is the same? not valid, at all.
[/b]
i am not sure how you can't understand it, try reading it slower.....
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figure in $50+/day for food/water/"beverages", tix at $160 for 2-day pass, lodging at $100+/night (luckily, i stayed with my friend's family last year) and airfare at $200+...that's well over $800. not to mention 2 days off work (fri/mon), assuming you want to see the entirety of both days. it's not necessarily easy, nor is it cheap. i don't know about you, but i don't take days off work to go to weeknight shows in the district.
Joz, you forgot the 200 bucks to rent a car. Glad to see one review of the show on here.
COLDPLAY SUCKS!
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Originally posted by K8teebug:
Joz, you forgot the 200 bucks to rent a car.
you dont have to get the Jag, you know :)
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Originally posted by sonickteam3:
Originally posted by K8teebug:
Joz, you forgot the 200 bucks to rent a car.
you dont have to get the Jag, you know :) [/b]
actually, k8teebug and i went to coachella together last year...we definitely didn't rent the jag. when we got off the plane, we were kicking ourselves for not reserving a convertible...we tried to upgrade but they're weren't any available. ;)
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Originally posted by joz:
actually, k8teebug and i went to coachella together last year...we definitely didn't rent the jag. when we got off the plane, we were kicking ourselves for not reserving a convertible...we tried to upgrade but they're weren't any available. ;)
hmmm, i forget who i rented from (in San Diego) but we were going to get the convertible, but it was $179 for the whole weekend, so we were just getting the regular Mustang. Only they didnt have the regular Mustang when we got there, so they gave us a white convertible Mustang, $118 for 5 days. damn sweet, considering the year before we got the Pontiac Grand Am cause they had no Mustangs....
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oh, and it was so fucking hot there last year, we only had the top down in San Diego and on the way home from the show each night.....
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Originally posted by sonickteam3:
oh, and it was so fucking hot there last year, we only had the top down in San Diego and on the way home from the show each night.....
did you drive back and forth to san diego each night too? if so, that must ahve been a long drive...
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Originally posted by joz:
Originally posted by sonickteam3:
oh, and it was so fucking hot there last year, we only had the top down in San Diego and on the way home from the show each night.....
did you drive back and forth to san diego each night too? if so, that must ahve been a long drive... [/b]
no no no. but at night, back to Rancho Mirage or wherever, we had the top down. but on the way to the show in the AM, shit no, it was 100 degrees by 11am (and we were already sunburned from Sea World!)
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Originally posted by sonickteam3:
but on the way to the show in the AM, shit no, it was 100 degrees by 11am
yeah, on the way to the festival on saturday of last year some gas station thermometer said 103 and that was at 11something.
last year would have been so much more enjoyable with this year's weather.
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Originally posted by distance:
Originally posted by sonickteam3:
[qb]
last year would have been so much more enjoyable with this year's weather. [/b]
maybe not, if what the bearman said is true...i didn't really come into contact with any really annoying, drunk or drug-addled people last year. i think the heat also helped to quell any agression within the crowd. i know that i was definitely too damn hot to get really worked up over anything. i think it kept people in check and the crowd was nicer for it.
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Last year there were the folks into Belle and SEbastian, Air, Radiohead, etc. That attracts a different kind of audience. When you've got NIN, Prodigy and Bauhaus playing, it's a different vibe. I saw bodysurfing during Weezer, which I was surprised by. But the crowd didn't bug me too much, except for the guys who were stoned out of their heads and tried to hug me. They got to my sister and we bailed pretty fast.
I couldn't get over just how EMPTY that place felt to me. I know there were like 30,000 people there, but somehow by Sunday night it just felt like a ghost town. Last year had a different energy for sure. I guess the most "feel good" moment for me was that into of "Hey Boy Hey Girl" from the Chemical Brothers, then when the song kicked in the place just exploded. It was unreal. Tom and Ed were totally in their element, they rocked the house. The visuals were stunning too...I would give anything to see that again.
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In a strange way, I am glad to hear it wasnt packed this year. I was afraid that with last year, this year may sell out on hype alone. that not happening did two things in my mind.
1. it will keep Goldenvoice in check with getting great bands to play, and not thinking thier name alone can sell out the show.
b. I was afraid of another sell out causing them to expand the show or move it to somewhere larger.
the best thing Coachella has going for it, is that you can go from any one stage to any other in like 5 minutes! and a lot of times, just walk right up front! I bet you cant do that shit at Glastonbury.
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I agree Sonickteam. Though it was a good line-up this year, I think the problem was the lack of strong headliners. The round-out bands made me want to go, but the fact of the matter is that both Coldplay and Nine Inch Nails really don't do it for me. I think a lot of people that are interested in going to something like Coachella probably wouldn't be that into Coldplay, and the people really into Coldplay probably aren't that keen on going to see them in the desert. I think that now that they're getting big, most of their fan base would rather just them on their own...they're not a good festival band, at least not in the U.S. That might be different in England though.
I think that a headliner for Coachella would be something like Depeche Mode (esp. because they are still HUGE in Southern California). Then bring in diverse acts from the Shins and Yo La Tengo to Supergrass and Grandaddy to St. Etienne and Peaches. Aphex Twin would be cool. It would be cool to see them add something random like Soft Cell or Devo, maybe Patti Smith (it seemed like female artists were lacking this time around). Possible reunions: the Jesus and Mary Chain, the Stone Roses, and (my personal favorite) Catherine Wheel. And of course round it out with all the latest up-and-coming bands, which seem to change monthly according to hype.
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Originally posted by bearman:
Aphex Twin would be cool.
i'd like to see aphex twin again.
i don't know if he's doing much live stuff other than djing stuff in the past few years though.
if he did tour again i'd be all over that tour.
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There is always that one band that at the time we had no idea who they were...and then come after the festival we got a Filter sampler CD placed on our windshield of the car in the Coachella parking lot with a sample tune of the band Gram Rabbit which was really good..Disco #2
If you are looking for something new..maybe give them a listen..
The various fans walking around with bunny ears on their heads got us wondering..
My only gripe with this year was there was too many bands I wanted to see..and there were a lot of bands I wanted to but didn't get to see. They also scheduled bands in the wrong tents..Kasabian's tent was overflowing with people and there was no way you could see anything..while if you wandered by the main Coachella stage..Thrice was playing to its fan club of 20. This happened with Autolux as well..
They spread the tents out a bit more this year in order to prevent the various bands from interrupting each other..however that meant it took longer to walk from one place to another..and that's prime listening time!
Parking was better than last year..the weather was much better..I don't remember seeing any drunks or disturbed individuals..
I really enjoyed New Order live..they played Atmosphere, Transmission, Love Will Tear us Apart, Regret, Blue Monday, Bizarre Love Triangle, Waiting for the Sirens Call, Jetstream, Krafty, Crystal, Hey Now What You Doing..
hmm..let me know if I missed anything..
Bauhaus started off with Bela..and like mentioned before Peter was strung up by his feet and he sang the entire song upside down..and his voice was near perfect..
dark entries, she's in parties, stigmata martyr..hmm burning from the inside..I'm drawing a blank..any assistance on that is appreciated.
The Faint were another great live show..I had never seen them live before and they drew quite a crowd and were really impressive live.
British Sea Power were very good..so were M83..UNKLE, Junkie XL, and Miss Kitten also did good DJ sets.
Too much good stuff..Coachella doesn't substitute for club shows...I see Coachella as kind of a sampling of everything. You have to stay and watch 2 or 3 songs..and see if they grab your attention enough to go see them at a club near you. In some cases, like this year...you may have already seen several of them live..and in which case you try and focus on the bands you have never seen or heard much of before.
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That's so funny b/c I was hoping for a Depeche Mode reunion at Coachella this year.
I hope the lineup is good next year. I thought it looked pretty good this year, but I didn't have enough spare cash to go.
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May 3, 2005
MUSIC REVIEW | COACHELLA VALLEY MUSIC AND ARTS FESTIVAL
Embracing the Random
By KELEFA SANNEH
INDIO, Calif., May 2 - "It's awesome. Totally rules." Jeff Tweedy, leader of Wilco, was squinting out at tens of thousands of fans. "And I don't even like festivals. But this one's cool."
It had better be something. Every year for six years running, a small town's worth of alt-rock fans pay for the privilege of driving hours into the desert (and, depending on traffic, a few more hours into the parking lot), all so they can attend the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. As you might imagine, the phrase "music and arts" is slightly misleading, since it implies some sort of parity; surely no one forked over $150 (the price of two-day admission) so they could gape at a herd of hand-painted trash cans.
With about 90 bands and singers and rappers and D.J.'s on the bill, no one seemed much worried about the "and arts" bit. Coachella is one of the country's best and best-run music festivals, so fans spent Saturday and Sunday on a vast but orderly polo field two hours east of Los Angeles (the proprietor is the Empire Polo Club), enjoying amenities no festivalgoer should take for granted: good sound, friendly security, $2 water.
Some fans were content to spend the weekend performing impressive science experiments. (Endeavoring to find out, for example, what happens to a human stomach when you fill it with beer and then let it roast in the sun for eight hours.) But others traipsed endlessly between the five stages, or else they secured a good spot and waited hours for a favorite band. And no matter what they did, they knew they couldn't possibly see everything they wanted to. When you jump into a pool this deep, part of the fun is knowing you'll never hit bottom.
The weekend's headliners were two different sorts of alt-rock behemoth. One was old and American: the electro-punk pioneer Nine Inch Nails, which played an utterly convincing Sunday night set. And one was young and British: the ballad-happy band Coldplay, which played an utterly crowd-pleasing Saturday night set.
A few years ago, some music festivals seemed to reflect a world that was increasingly organized around obsessive fan Web sites. Like-minded listeners were forming micro-communities online, and you would see something similar at multistage festivals: ravers in the D.J. tent, hip-hop kids watching the rappers, thrift-store shoppers swooning over the indie-rockers, and so on.
But this year's Coachella festival suggested a different model: narrow obsession has come to seem less appealing than broad familiarity. Insular Web sites seem positively old-fashioned compared to the scrupulously eclectic world of MP3 bloggers and iPod Shuffle owners, all of them finding ways to make chaos part of their listening experience. As the current Apple slogan has it, "Life is random," and listeners seem to be finding ways to make that truism true.
And so Coachella 2005 was a Shuffler's delight, the perfect festival for a crowd that seemed happy to hear a bit of everything. The people who got a geography lesson from the Peruvian-American underground rapper Immortal Technique ("We're not in Southern California, we're in Northern Mexico," he declared) didn't look much different from the people swaying along to the indie-rock band Rilo Kiley an hour later.
The veteran goth-wave act Bauhaus put on an absurdly (and gloriously) theatrical show, but many of the same people who watched the singer, Peter Murphy, howl "Bela Lugosi's dead" also stuck around to hear Weezer play a set of loud but sunny rock songs; Rivers Cuomo led a sing-along on the famous refrain, "Ooh-wee-ooh, I look just like Buddy Holly." From Bela Lugosi to Buddy Holly in about an hour: that's the joy of hearing music shuffled.
Of course, this shuffled world isn't quite as neutral as it may seem. If listeners are just browsing, that probably means they mainly want to hear hits; leave the unreleased new songs and the ultra-rare old ones for the fanatics. Nine Inch Nails was an exception to this rule: Trent Reznor (the group's only voting member) made songs from the new album, "With Teeth" (Interscope), sound just as bilious and propulsive as old favorites like "Head Like a Hole" and "Closer." Then, in more proof of how random life can be, he ceded the stage to the hip-hop duo of Mos Def and Talib Kweli, who closed the main stage on Sunday night.
On the other hand, Coldplay fans were clearly more excited about the old chestnuts than about the songs from Coldplay's new album, "X & Y" (Capitol), due out in June. The band's set started with "Square One," from the new album, but the applause was much louder for favorites like "God Put a Smile Upon My Face," in part because the new songs seemed to have a few more twists and a bit less swagger than the older ones.
One way to attract browsers is to fill the stage with old stars. The legendary new wave band New Order played a set that included a handful of songs by its even more legendary precursor, Joy Division; it was odd (but not unpleasant) to hear the group bounce through a fast, peppy version of "Love Will Tear Us Apart," arguably one of the most unpeppy songs ever recorded. Gang of Four, the postpunk band that smuggled funk into its furiously compressed punk songs, sounded every bit as vigorous as the younger acts (like the Futureheads) that uphold the Gang of Four legacy.
There were newly minted stars, too, who packed their tents to overflowing: Bloc Party (another Gang of Four follower) and M.I.A. (the thrilling British female rapper of Sri Lankan descent) drew some of the weekend's biggest crowds and ravest reviews.
One of the weekend's most anticipated sets came from the Canadian band Arcade Fire, which performed as a 10-piece on Sunday evening. The group took the stage in suits and dresses, oblivious to the sweltering heat and ready for the coming chill. The band's songs are full of characters surviving nights and winters and blackouts and fires, and so even in a field surrounded by mountains and a gloriously setting sun, the members seemed positively - and thrillingly - defiant.
By contrast, on Saturday night, Wilco serenaded the sunset instead of fighting it. The band recently added the brilliant and unpredictable guitarist Nels Cline, who helps the songs expand and contract, crack and fizz; Wilco is a classic rock band in the best and weirdest sense. In the setting - on a field, surrounded by fans who were surrounded by palm trees that were surrounded by mountains - it was hard not to take Mr. Tweedy's lyrics literally. "So he slept," he sang, and pointed, before singing the next words: "on a mountain."
A festival has a way of warping music to fit its own agenda, and the promise of Coachella, like the promise of an iPod Shuffle, is that it will let you hear your favorite music in a totally different context. Wilco's set seemed likely to have that effect. "You were right about the stars/Each one is a setting sun," Mr. Tweedy sang, and it seems likely that more than a few Wilco fans will never again hear that lyric without picturing the desert sky: daylight taking cover behind a row of palm trees; a few clouds left behind, burning yellow.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/03/arts/music/03coac.html?8hpib (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/03/arts/music/03coac.html?8hpib)
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great review, but sorry, this is just not valid:
Originally posted by cheshirecat44:
I see Coachella as kind of a sampling of everything. You have to stay and watch 2 or 3 songs..and see if they grab your attention enough to go see them at a club near you.
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2005 COACHELLA MUSIC FEST
Valley high:
World's best cutting-edge rock, rap and electronic music converge at the festival in the desert
By Greg Kot
Tribune music critic
Published May 2, 2005
INDIO, Calif. -- Coldplay had the right song for the right moment Saturday at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
"Look at the stars, look how they shine for you," Chris Martin sang beneath a canopy of lights in the California desert sky. It was the opening line of his band's breakthrough song, "Yellow," and when Martin thrust his microphone into a sea of more than 40,000 fans, they were more than eager to finish the chorus for him: "And everything you do, yeah, they were all yellow."
Martin couldn't help giving the line a little twist as he came around to it a second time. "Yeah, they were all at Coachella. ..."
Martin cracked himself up, and the audience sang the line his way, a giddy moment to end a 12-hour day of music by 45 bands and performers. By the time Coachella concluded its second day and sixth year on Sunday night, it was certain to have reaffirmed its status as North America's most prestigious rock concert, a legitimate answer to massive European summer festivals such as Glastonbury and Reading.
These are gatherings that bring together the cream of cutting-edge rock, rap and electronic music from around the world.
Coldplay isn't exactly cutting edge after selling 20 million albums, but Martin and company have established themselves as heirs to U2, a band capable of reaching a massive audience with ambitious music.
The British quartet debuted several songs from their forthcoming album, "X&Y," and besides an increasing emphasis on wide-screen rock drama in new tracks such as "Low," also included a welcome acoustic meditation originally intended for Johnny Cash, "Till Kingdom Come," with drummer Will Champion on piano and backing harmonies.
Coachella also provided a forum for lesser-known bands to shine. Out of all the performances I managed to catch Saturday, the most riveting was delivered by the Kills on one of the four ancillary stages. The duo does it with just a distorted guitar, a hell-raising voice and electronic rhythm tracks that sound cheap and loud. The ersatz dime-store beats -- no attempt was made to simulate a "real" drum kit --only added to the trashy vibe, as guitarist Hotel fed his instrument into an unseen trash compactor, while VV, a pale, black-haired vixen, yowled the stray-cat blues.
The songs were built on blues-flavored chants and incantations more than actual verses and choruses, and the momentum kept surging as the couple interacted. At one point, they stood so close that VV "played" Hotel's guitar with her chest, torso and thighs. It was a cool day by desert standards, but by the end of this set, everyone in the tent needed to dry off.
The Kills' dime-store theatrics trumped the more expensive gestures delivered by Bauhaus on the main stage. The U.K. progenitors of goth rock made a ghoulish entrance, with black-clad, white-blond singer Peter Murphy singing "Bela Lugosi's Dead" while dangling vampirelike from a stage beam by his ankles. But the quartet, which reunites every few years to play its circa-1980 crypt-kicking hits, looked a bit silly prowling the fog-shrouded stage like Bela in search of yet another B-movie starring role.
Weezer would've starred in a movie of a different sort -- "Revenge of the Nerds," maybe? Rivers Cuomo looked terribly out of place, as usual, in his plaid sport jacket, but his quartet delivered one sing-along moment after another, including absurdly dark new entries such as "We Are All on Drugs" and "Beverly Hills."
Last year's indelible sunset moment at Coachella was delivered by the Pixies, in their first big reunion show, as Kim Deal's harmonies echoed through the valley on "Where Is My Mind." This year, it was Wilco's turn, as the Chicago sextet turned "Jesus Etc." into an Al Green-worthy soul ballad, drenched in gospel-organ atmosphere as the burnt-orange hues of the surrounding mountains glowed in appreciation.
The band closed its set with a looser, rougher and inspired take on its quintessential drive-forever ode to German art-rock, "Spiders (Kidsmoke)," with Nels Cline twisting his guitar around Jeff Tweedy's.
It was rougher going for other touted main stage acts: Snow Patrol's wan anthems sounded lost in the valley, and Keane vainly tried to turn its piano-driven ballads into fist-pumpers. Save it for the lounge, guys.
There were other disappointments. French electro-pop architect Anthony Gonzalez, aka M83, took his lush studio creations out into the daylight, but these expansive orchestrations lost something as he tried to filter the music through a fairly conventional four-piece rock band. Similarly, Mercury Rev tried too hard to translate its brilliant studio recordings into the live setting. Rev's tightly scripted songs were accompanied by an overbearing multimedia presentation, complete with feel-good quotes from the likes of Erica Jong and Jonathan Livingston Seagull. The philosophy lesson just distracted from the band's intricate guitar tapestries.
But whenever a set grew ponderous, it was possible to jump around and find something to smile about. Cafe Tacuba blew them both away on a side stage with a performance high on passion and humor, as Mexican folk traditions blended with punk tempos and electro-tinged rhythms. The Raveonettes offered a Danish take on '60s garage rock, Phil Spector ballads and surf music, and their Scandinavian a-go-go energized the early arriving crowd. Immortal Technique was as much a street-corner preacher as a hip-hop MC. Four Tet quietly forged intricate electronic soundscapes that were equally useful for listening, trancing or dancing.
There was something for everyone: indie-rock and rap from several continents, guitar maestros and electronic gurus, and musical drama delivered in costumes or straight, no chaser. Over in the rave tent, Lollapalooza founder Perry Farrell was working the turntables in his techno guise of DJ Peretz. One hopes he was taking notes, and that the Lollapalooza he brings to Chicago this summer will be as rich in options.
Chicago Tribune (http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/chi-0505020090may02,1,1239421.story?coll=chi-leisuretempo-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true)
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Originally posted by HoyaParanoia:
great review, but sorry, this is just not valid:
Originally posted by cheshirecat44:
I see Coachella as kind of a sampling of everything. You have to stay and watch 2 or 3 songs..and see if they grab your attention enough to go see them at a club near you.
[/b]
its actually a perfect description :)
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New Order are notoriously hit and miss live, and this time it just seemed like they didn't rehearse. Bernard Sumner was using a teleprompter for his lyrics.
Barney uses a teleprompter these days. On the New Order 511 dvd which showed the Finsbury Park show in 2002, he was using a teleprompter as well. It comes with the territory for New Order. I really enjoyed their set but I'm a big fan and the only drawback was that Hooky's bass seemed too loud and drowned out the lyrics at times but hearing them do Transmission was great. Shame it was only an hour..but I'm heading up to NYC on Thursday for the show at Hammerstein so I'll get my fix then.
But what stands out to me for this weekend is the variety. The very fact that Bauhaus would precede Coldplay is what makes this a great event. What I appreciate about alternative music is the variety. Snow Patrol to Keane to Wilco to Weezer to Bauhaus to Coldplay..talk about different styles. Another highlight for me was Kasabian...they put on a great set and am now looking forward to the show on the 12th.
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Originally posted by LakerFaninExile73:
but I'm heading up to NYC on Thursday for the show at Hammerstein so I'll get my fix then.
[/b]
nice. i'll be there too.
what are the chances of them playing "subculture"?
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Hey serious question.... how do you pronounce "Coachella"...
is it 'Coach' (like the dude in the tracksuit)..
or 'Coa' - rhyming with 'Goa'.. Co-ah-chella.
You people who went there should know.
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Originally posted by My Cat Can DJ:
Hey serious question.... how do you pronounce "Coachella"...
is it 'Coach' (like the dude in the tracksuit)..
or 'Coa' - rhyming with 'Goa'.. Co-ah-chella.
You people who went there should know.
the first way...although there's a bugs bunny cartoon (him vs. the bull) where he pronounces it the 2nd way. yeah.
what kind of stuff does your cat play?
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Originally posted by SalParadise:
Originally posted by My Cat Can DJ:
Hey serious question.... how do you pronounce "Coachella"...
is it 'Coach' (like the dude in the tracksuit)..
or 'Coa' - rhyming with 'Goa'.. Co-ah-chella.
You people who went there should know.
the first way...although there's a bugs bunny cartoon (him vs. the bull) where he pronounces it the 2nd way. yeah.
what kind of stuff does your cat play? [/b]
Thanks, it seems you are correct! (http://www.coachella.org/history.htm)
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Shake and Bake
At the Song- and Sun-Blasted Coachella Music Festival, Gang of Four and SPF 30
By Sean Daly
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 4, 2005; Page C01
INDIO, Calif.
O n a lush plot of paradise in the cruel heart of the California desert . . . in a logic-defying wonderland where you can drink 14 bottles of water in one day and somehow never need the bathroom . . . where half of the crowd looks like porn stars and the other half looks like porn renters :
More than 50,000 of the nation's young, hip and Coppertoned (Cameron Diaz included) and 90 of the world's hottest rock, rap and pop bands (Coldplay included) invaded this sun-baked, dust-caked retirement town last weekend for the sixth annual Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, a two-day endurance test and the ultimate concert-going experience on the planet.
You think the HFStival is a long day? You think braving the Warped Tour takes courage? Try scampering across an oven-hot 80-acre field and darting among two outdoor stages, three concert tents and various performance-art installations, all the while ducking and weaving through swarms of music freaks who are just as hyper as you to hear Weezer play brand-new music.
Now repeat this over and over for 24 hours .
Like skydiving, streaking and driving across the country with annoying friends, Coachella (a bargain at $150 for both days) has become one of those things in life you just gotta try once. It's rewarding, but it's a slog, too. Since its humble beginnings in 1999, when it was modestly launched by longtime Los Angeles punk promoters Goldenvoice, the event has taken on mythic status. Think rock-and-roll at the end of the world -- aka the Empire Polo Fields, a well-manicured ocean of lawn caught between the majestic San Jacinto Mountains and the Mojave Desert.
They don't sell shade at Coachella, but they could. Until the sun goes down, of course, when the temperature drops into the low 60s and suddenly sweat-shirt sales are outnumbering concert tees.
Although the end of the world was 20 degrees hotter last year -- a satanic 106 -- the milder microclimate this time in no way diminished the drama. First of all, there are the palm trees, hundreds of the cinematic suckers, like God's green darts perfectly framing the grounds; at night, the desert wind blows through the trees (many of which are illuminated by red, yellow, and blue spotlights), and you can hear a collective life-affirming sigh from the half-naked masses.
Everyone is beautiful: the men, the women, the folks selling the roasted ears of corn, the dudes running the 10-foot-tall Tesla coil that shoots out bolts of electricity and freaks out the stoners. Even the people trying so hard to be twisted -- the pierced, the tattooed, the curiously hirsute -- are foxy underneath all that posturing. Check yourself out in the mirror: You're not looking too shabby either, my friend.
Plus there are all those reminders of mortality spread across the grounds. Signs and announcements and tsk-tsking security: If you don't slather sunblock and guzzle water throughout the day, there's a very good chance YOU COULD DIE. Death in the desert: How rock-and-roll is that!
"I don't even like festivals. I hate 'em," Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy said during his band's Saturday set. "But I'm happy to be here. Really. This is so cool. So awesome ." Tweedy is not a man known to gush, but who could blame him: Wilco's abstract musical musings have left a lot of people bored of late, but darned if the band's odd jazz-country breakdowns didn't make beautiful sense as the sun was setting behind the mountains.
Rock stars love Coachella: for the scenery, for the exposure, for the chance to see other bands without having to worry about getting mauled by fans. This is laid-back Southern California, after all. Drooling over, say, Keane's cherubic frontman Tom Chaplin while he gets a beer is a serious party foul.
Coachella is the kind of place where a crowd will demand an encore not from Weezer or Gang of Four or the Futureheads but from M.I.A., a young, lanky, relatively unknown Sri Lankan rapper whose childlike enthusiasm is just as infectious as her loopy techno-meets-reggae rhymes. Like Salt-N-Pepa with a social conscience, M.I.A. used the event as her own coming-out party, and "Did you see the M.I.A. show?" became the festival's favorite catchphrase.
Of course, Coachella is also the kind of place where you can be sitting on the grass, enjoying British synth-rock heroes New Order work through "Blue Monday," when all of a sudden Melissa Rivers (Melissa Rivers?) walks in front of you, blocks your view and starts yammering away with her pals, like she's back on the TV Guide Channel breaking down Oscar Night fashion with mummified mom Joan. But she's not. She's just a fan. Or something.
Although not exactly a sign of the apocalypse, Melissa Rivers is a clear signal that Coachella is changing.
Whereas the event started as a sexy little secret six years ago, it is now the place to be not just for hungry music fans in their twenties but also for Hollywood celebs hankering for some bold-face attention in the gossip columns. The sprawling VIP section at Coachella is its own curious universe: a series of tents, sparkly bars, plush black leather sofas and bouncy fake breasts. Many concertgoers spend as much time trying to sneak into the VIP area as they do listening to music. At any second, you can gaze across the top of your pina colada and scope out a mingling of A-, B- and C-listers.
Look! There's Cameron Diaz, in green shirt and jeans, waving to her public. Cameron Diaz, it should be noted, looks just like Cameron Diaz.
Click. Click. Click. Thirty-one-year-old Marty Lopez, who lives nearby "in the desert," is snapping away with her disposable camera, giggling as Diaz gets closer and closer. A tall, pretty blonde, Lopez is attending her fourth Coachella. A few years back, she arrived at the show seven months pregnant. "It was pretty cool," she says.
Look, there's "America's Next Top Model" judge Janice Dickinson. The tall, tan brunette is surrounded by muscular men 20 years her junior, perhaps because she's wearing a barely there miniskirt and a too-tight bikini top.
Look, there's beleaguered "Insider" host Pat O'Brien, fresh out of rehab. No one bothers him, perhaps because he's wearing a too-tight black T-shirt and has barely-there hair.
On one of the couches, a young blond woman, displaying as much of her skin as California laws allow, chats away into her cell phone: "Oh, there's much better-looking people back here," she says.
West Hollywood's Ben Chavez, 42, is one of those people -- well, sort of. The tanned, handsome federal worker says that even though he's back here, drinking and smoking in the VIP section, he doesn't agree with the "segregation" of the pretty and the not-so-pretty. "That's the thing that runs counter to the spirit of Coachella. It shouldn't matter if you're black or white, or gay or straight." He pauses: "And I'm gay."
Go ahead and laugh, but there actually seems to be such a thing as "the spirit of Coachella." The fest was founded the same year as the last Woodstock, which erupted in flames and violence. And while there certainly have been angry young men at Vans Warped and Lollapalooza, Coachella is mostly mellow. The promoters make it a point to keep metal bands to a minimum, and it's actually considered cool to brag about how much water you've had. The first-aid tent had a smattering of visitors, mostly sunburn victims and drunk little girls, not broken bones and smashed noses.
Chavez, who is attending for the fourth time, says the "passion of the music" and the "indie spirit" are what count at Coachella. The event's quickly growing reputation as a national to-do could change things. "It's a double-edged sword," he says. "If it gets too popular to the point that it's hard to get tickets, then it's a problem."
Outside the VIP section, among the commoners, the social order is breaking down at the portable toilets. The lines are getting long, smelly, aggressive. The spirit of Coachella is being sorely tested. Twenty-three-year-old Crystal looks terrified. "My brother said there weren't enough port-a-potties last year, so they started pushing them over," says the Salinas resident, who drove for 10 hours to see Weezer (and is not comfortable giving out her last name while in line for the toilet).
"I love Rivers," Crystal says of Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo. Now there's shoving. Cursing. Sweating. "Please don't leave my side," Crystal says. It isn't long before the "tip it over" chant starts.
And sometimes a music festival is just a music festival.
For most fans, Coachella is all about collecting, making lists, who you've seen, who you want to see, who you missed because you were standing in line for those awesome tacos. VIP tents aside, there is a genuine love of music here. Music writers can get jaded about the biz, but Coachella, despite displaying more cleavage than a Russ Meyer retrospective, restores faith in even the most cynical. The sound quality is pretty good considering all the different stages, and artists are accommodating with their set lists, showing off new bits but also closing with the hits.
In hindsight -- and using a program to help my weary brain -- I can see that Saturday had the better lineup of talent. But essentially I'll remember the weekend as a tasty blur of power chords and keyboard twirls, singalongs and shout-'em-outs.
So here's my collection, my lists:
Best Pure Moment of the Weekend: Coachella is a tightly run ship, with bands coming onstage and leaving exactly when the program says they will. But when her newfound fans started chanting "M.I.A.! M.I.A.!" at the close of her 50-minute set, the doe-eyed rapper (aka Maya Arulpragasm) returned for the weekend's rare encore. Never mind that she had worked through the entirety of her album and had nothing left to play. "I only have one album," she said by way of apology after messing around with the beat from Jay-Z's "Big Pimpin'," "but I'll be back." That's for sure.
Bands I Can't Wait to See Again: As one of the festival's first acts, Nic Armstrong & the Thieves tore up the second stage with a Stonesian swagger and a surf-rock playfulness, a bunch of young, hunky Brits paying homage to the swinging sounds of the '60s.
Underground rap collective the Perceptionists -- MCs Mr. Lif and Akrobatik plus DJ Therapy -- unleashed their "black dialogue" on the big stage. The crowd grew as the set went on, indie kids asking "Who are these guys?" and sticking around for the answer.
Bands I Missed Because I Was Stalking Cameron Diaz: UNKLE, Stereophonics, MF Doom.
Bands Who Seemed Bored to Be There: Brit-pop trio Keane, family of folk-poppers Eisley.
Old Dudes Who Can Still Thrill the Kids: Punk progenitors Gang of Four, New Order.
Old Dudes Who Need Naps: Goth-rockers Bauhaus (although frontman Peter Murphy should get points for playing "Bela Lugosi's Dead" while hanging upside down like a wrinkled gray bat).
Biggest Surprises: All day Saturday and Sunday, rumors swirled about "surprise" acts. The White Stripes in the parking lot? The Gorillaz at the afterparty? No such luck on either of those, but there was a wee bit of trickery here and there. Under his DJ pseudonym Peretz, former Jane's Addiction frontman Perry Farrell put together a way-trippy techno display in the Sahara Tent, the unofficial drug den where kids came to stop, drop and roll. "I would say this is the perfect place to beeeeee! It's nice and shady! It's shaking my booty!" Farrell said.
At the end of Z-Trip's guilty-pleasure set -- Z-Trip essentially being a wedding DJ who's really bored with his job, mixing AC/DC and Ray Charles with electronic beats -- he invited Linkin Park's Chester Bennington onstage to sing "Walking Dead," a moody cut from Z-Trip's new album, "Shifting Gears."
Biggest Freaks: Whoever created the art display featuring the exploding baby should probably seek counseling, and Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo is a power-pop nutjob who's increasingly making Beach Boy Brian Wilson seem like Mister Rogers. Cuomo has taken a vow of celibacy. He's alienated his band mates. He just seems so uncomfortable . That said, Weezer's new material -- including "Peace" and "We Are All on Drugs" -- are shimmering cuts of fun fun fun, proving that as Rivers gets crazier, his songs get better.
Nine Inch Nails mastermind Trent Reznor is one intense son of a gun: He peered into the Sunday night crowd as if he wanted to eat us, and his new techno-rage songs are chock-full of Grade A self-loathing. Classic NIN love song "Closer" made for the most unlikely singalong of the festival, a pretty little hate machine to cut through all the niceties.
Best Claim to World Domination: "Is there anybody out there who is lost and hurt and lonely, too?" Coldplay's Chris Martin -- you know, Apple's dad, Gwynnie's hubby, heir to the Brit-pop throne -- is such a dope. But man, can that guy write some pretty music. There wasn't a bigger band at Coachella this year. (Pity poor Spoon and the Chemical Brothers and Fantomas, all of whom headlined their stages but had to play the same time as Coldplay.) Next month Coldplay will release "X & Y," and if the smattering of new tunes played at Coachella is any indication, the third album is going to be the biggest.
Martin, alternating between piano, acoustic guitar and standalone mike, displayed a newfound swagger and edge, brought on perhaps by marriage, fatherhood or bazillions of dollars. And if there once was concern that Martin was going to go the way of Radiohead's Thom Yorke (obtuse, difficult, cuckoo), you can forget about that. A master at writing sweeping melodies for the masses, Martin's mission is to pull close rather than push away. And does he have a flair for the dramatic. As a crisp wind whipped through the palm trees and across the grounds, the black night yawning overhead, Martin signaled the lovely piano pounds of "Yellow," the band's breakout hit: "Look at the stars / Look how they shine for you."
Rock-and-roll at the end of the world. See you next year.
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Boy am I glad I didn't go with this person. WHA-WHA-WHAAAAA...
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Had a great time out in SoCal and not just at Coachella. There's just so much to see and do. We tried to hit the Tim Burgess show at Viper Room Thursday but the line wasn't budging, however, I got a good look at him as he came strolling by the line to get in the door. Also saw Snow Patrol coming to the show.
The concensus was that New Order, despite being veterans, were disappointing, although the JD tunes were surprising. The sound was off and the show seemed unrehearsed. I have to admit being wowed by the intensity and performance of Trent et al, esp. not being a fan. The Faint played a tight, energetic set. Prodigy put on an entertaining show complete with Liam postures. And Ms. Kittin really got the crowd moving. We missed a lot of other bands but there is only so much time. If DM "reunites" next year, I'm SO there!
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Originally posted by Dandy01:
New Order, despite being veterans, were disappointing
that pretty much sums up their nyc show.
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Originally posted by bearman:
Well, just got back from my trip out West.
The one exception was the Chemical Brothers, whose performance was easily one of the best things I've ever seen. The energy coming off of them blew everyone out of the water.
I spent a few days in Arizona post-Coachella recuperating so I'm a little late to the discussion...but I gotta go on record supporting this statement.
The Chem Bros show rocked. Hard. You had to be there to believe it. The palm trees outside the tent were all alight in different colors - kaleidoscope graphics were transmitted onto the tent walls - inside the tent was seriously decked out with pulsating lights & this floating jellyfish type thing that picked up laser lights from the stage - it looked like floating Northern lights. The only thing they didn't do is hand out hallucinogenics at the door.
And then there were the tunes. I've not heard a band/group/dj so adept at building to a crescendo. Multiple times (Hey Boy.../Block Rock Beats/Galvanize) they made that tent literally explode.
3 other bands that really made me say WOW and stand back & smile were Autolux, M83 & the Faint.
Autolux & M83 were just super good & the Faint may have been my highlight - which shocked me since I really don't care for their records - way too much synth cheese.
And am I the only one that thought Jeff Tweedy was being 1000% sarcastic with his various over the top proclamations about how "cool" it was to be there?! Newspapers & other writers are using it as an endorsement, but it made me cringe. He seemed so obviously condescending - especially when you then watched him hop around clapping like it was romper room. Wilco may have been my biggest disappointment - especially since I had to endure Keane to see them up close. They had great song highlights (Jesus, etc.) but overall I'm just tired of their noodling shtick. If I never hear their tribute to "krautrock" again, I'll be very happy.
I'd rate the bands (total experience: vibe/performance/etc.) I saw as:
1 Chemical Brothers
2 The Faint
3 Autolux
4 M83
5 New Order
6 Bright Eyes
7 Gram Rabbit
8 Kasabian
9 Wilco
10 Snow Patrol
11 Gang of Four
12 Keane
I also caught a bit of each of these...but not enough to include:
Secret Machines
Hernan Cattaneo
Armin Van Buren
Pinback
I was not happy to miss Bloc Party - but I sacrificed them to stay with my group to get to the Chem Bros early. I've got tickets to Webster Hall though as consolation.
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I totally couldn't agree more about the Chemical Brothers...that was one of the best things I've ever seen, the best I've ever seen them. The atmosphere up towards the front was so electric that I thought I was being shocked. The lighting and sound were mind-blowing. I cannot wait for them to tour later this summer.
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Originally posted by DeanMoriarty:
Originally posted by Dandy01:
New Order, despite being veterans, were disappointing
that pretty much sums up their nyc show. [/b]
Couldn't disagree more...I had a great time at the NYC show, was great to see them in person...you get what you get with them...that's their show...they aren't Radiohead perfectionists...thats them live..and it has been 12 years since I've seen them...glad to catch them twice in one week alone...just one man's opinion...(and apparently Newsday and the NY Post agrees with me..their music critics had positive things to say)