**This was my recap from Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio, CA from 2011... Coachella 2011 was 3 days of life changing experiences and music. Its so hard to describe Coachella because it is a completely different event every year and no two people have the same experience. There are 7 stages of music (if you include the Do-Lab which was like a DJ tent this year), and you need to somehow figure out how you are going to be in two places at once as you have multiple bands playing at the same time you want to see. Some call it conflictchella I just call it being lucky and being in the right place at the right time. Sometimes acts you may have had high hopes for dont really bring it for you, and sometimes you are on your way to see an act, and a band is on a stage nearby and they hijack your senses and you find yourself at a completely different mini event. This review is Coachella as I saw it... We stayed at a nice condo near Coachella where we stayed last year, it is deluxe and so nice. It has a stand up old school arcade system with 100+ games on it, a poker table, pool table, BBQ, rock fountain, fire pit, flatscreen widescreen TVs in every room. Yeah, its pretty rough going to Coachella. ; ) We BBQd some sliders, has a couple cool ones, and headed for the show on Friday (the first day of Coachella). We walked quite a ways after we parked and it was hot! Friday was by far the hottest day of the 3. Security was way tighter this year and you needed a firmly applied wrist band to even get within a mile of the polo fields where it is held. We got in no problem this year, took all of 5 min inCoachella 2011 was 3 days of life changing experiences and music. Its so hard to describe Coachella because it is a completely different event every year and no two people have the same experience. There are 7 stages of music (if you include the Do-Lab which was like a DJ tent this year), and you need to somehow figure out how you are going to be in two places at once as you have multiple bands playing at the same time you want to see. Some call it conflictchella I just call it being lucky and being in the right place at the right time. Sometimes acts you may have had high hopes for dont really bring it for you, and sometimes you are on your way to see an act, and a band is on a stage nearby and they hijack your senses and you find yourself at a completely different mini event. This review is Coachella as I saw it... We stayed at a nice condo near Coachella where we stayed last year, it is deluxe and so nice. It has a stand up old school arcade system with 100+ games on it, a poker table, pool table, BBQ, rock fountain, fire pit, flatscreen widescreen TVs in every room. Yeah, its pretty rough going to Coachella. ; ) We BBQd some sliders, has a couple cool ones, and headed for the show on Friday (the first day of Coachella). We walked quite a ways after we parked and it was hot! Friday was by far the hottest day of the 3. Security was way tighter this year and you needed a firmly applied wrist band to even get within a mile of the polo fields where it is held. We got in no problem this year, took all of 5 min inline (normally could be 1 hr to get in easy), so we were so stoked on that! We noticed there was an indoor bar and restaurant by the gate and we made a mental note, this is new, this year is gonna be different for sure. And it was, there was a big huge circular tent for merch, a ferris wheel, a new Dome stage for DJs with a tree inside and the DJs spinning from inside the tree, so cool, way more porta potties, and a ton of new and good places to eat. It seemed way less crowded than last year, vibe was good, and space was plenty, it seemed as if Coachella was back to the way we liked it :) We started off Day 1 at Ozomatli on the main stage. It was sooo hot, so we ducked into the beer garden and watched from there, it was so hot we couldnt really dance, which was a bummer because they sounded good. From the garden we caught a tiny bit of Titus Andronicus on the Outdoor stage, they seemed like they would have been fun as well. Our friends from OC, Kevin and Rachel who were there and camping met up with us and we headed for the main stage for Cee Lo Green. We stood in the hot sun for 25 minutes waiting for him, we could hear Warpaint on Outdoor and they sounded great, I so wanted to move and see them, but we were really hoping to see Cee Lo. Finally it was going to be time for The Pains of Being Pure at Heart to come on at Mojave Tent, so we had to move on, some of the things that came out of our sweaty mouths upon walking away was F*ck You and Im so mad at your ass right now, Cee Lo ha ha ha We headed to The Pains of Being Pure at Heart and we got inside the tent, got a great spot and they came on. They opened with Belong the title track off their new album, and it soared, they really sounded good, and it was this moment that I really felt our Coachella had started. Kevin and Rachel were gonna head to Lauryn Hill, so we split up, and Mike and Josh and I headed to see Australias very own Tame Impala on Outdoor Stage. Mike and I have decided we love being on the outdoor stage for this time slot 5:50 - 6:35 it is mellow, it is between heat and night coolness, and has a great vibe. Tame Impala was perfect for this slot, they sounded like a group straight out of the sixties, they closed with an epic Half Full Glass Of Wine, it did not disappoint, it was an all out jam! After Tame Impala we went to the locker, dropped off our hats and glasses, and got ready for night chella. We tried out the indoor food and bar place, and that was a nice break. We headed over and got a good spot for Interpol. They were so good! They opened with Success and then moved straight into Slow Hands. They played mostly songs from the first two albums which are my favorites. Including NYC and Narc. So good! For the song Lights from their new album they were accompanied by a video done by Director David Lynch titled I touch a red button, um yeah, David Lynch, Interpol, yes it was dark and disturbing. Ok cool. We moved forward after Interpol and got in closer for The Black Keys who came on with the two of them Dan and Patrick and rocked a few older songs including Girl Is On My Mind, which I love! Dan Auerbach let us know that it was Patrick the BKs drummers birthday, so we all shouted happy birthday in unison for him. Such a great drummer too! They brought out three additional musicians to play almost all of Brothers the newest album, and man it was awesome! Especially Next Girl, it was so gritty and deep and passionate. Love those guys. The Black Keys ended with Dan and Patrick jamming alone on stage to an extended version of I Got Mine and it smoked!!! It wailed!! Great set. Next time BKs play chella they will be headlining I predict. On our way to the Sahara tent we stopped by and caught a little Monarchy, they sounded fun. We boogied down to Sasha in the Sahara, music was great, but the crowd was filled with the bros and hos, kinda ruined the scene for me. On our way to the main stage to end the night with Chemical Brothers we saw and heard a little bit of Europes version of Madonna, Robyn. The Friday (Day One) ended with us dancing to the block rockin beats of The Chemical Brothers on the main stage! It was one big dance party filled with stunning visuals, a ton of fun. We were tired and ready to rest up for Day 2. On Saturday we woke around 10:00 am and made some breakfast, lounged around, did a little grocery shopping, BBQs some delicious hot links and then headed to Coachella Day 2 (Saturday). We really wanted to get there early to check out The Joy Formidable, but they came on at 12:50 pm, and that makes for way too long of a day for us old folk. So we decided to miss them (insert sad face here) and get there in time for Gogol Bordello. (on a side note, Kevin and Rachel our friends who were camping saw Joy Formidable and said they were amazing! They smashed all their equipment at the end. Sounded like a solid set. As we walked into the polo fields and to the main stage, Gogol Bordello had already started. We wasted no time and went head first into the crowd and joined the dancing fools on the field, and totally enjoyed their set. They played Start Wearing Purple towards the end, and that was a lot of fun! Gogol has definitely become quite the sweethearts of Coachella. If you ever have a chance to see them live, GO! After Gogol ended we high tailed it to the Gobi Tent to see The Radio Dept. Cooled off and enjoyed a great mellow set from them. The have a sort of New Order vibe to them, I like it. They were a group I really wanted to check out, and they didnt disappoint. We left Radio Dept. and walked next door to Mojave tent and caught a few songs from Two Door Cinema Club, these guys I had done very little research on, I had only heard they would be fun, and they were, I need to follow up on them and download some of their tunes, cool band, it has a good beat and you can dance to it (if you know what I mean). We hit the beer garden chilled out with a cool one to the awesome songs of Erykah Badu. Shes so great and soulful, really enjoyed her set! Only wish we would have heard Otherside of the Game, she either played it before we got there or not at all. We met up with Kevin and Rachel. We had a beer and some food and afterwards we walked to the outdoor stage for what would be one of my favorite sets of the weekend surprisingly, and that was a full blown rock n roll set from Cage the Elephant. Man, these guys put on a great show! Matt the lead singer was wearing a red sun dress, he looked like a slightly taller version of little orphan Annie, and moved and sung and rocked like Iggy Pop. I didnt know too much by them, but by the end, I was a fan. Matt did a stage dive from a high speaker into the crowd and they smashed their guitars and threw one in the audience, Rock N Roll!!! We then walked over to the main stage for Broken Social Scene, the Canadian band set the crowd in a frenzy with such a fun set! We all totally dug it, by the end when they played Meet Me In The Basement it was a sonic dance party, I would definitely see them again. It was still hot out at this point, but the music was so cool it didnt matter. And Day 2 wasnt as hot and there was a nice breeze. It was now time to check out Elbow at The Mojave tent. We were kinda worn out at this point and we werent feeling it. We heard one of their biggest songs Grounds For Divorce and then decided... We needed a drink! So we headed to our air conditioned bar and had a drink and regrouped. On our way over by the main stage we caught Bright Eyes last two songs, and two great ones at that. Road to Joy, and The Calendar Hung Itself. Love Bright Eyes, we have seen him twice at Coachella, he is a great artist, never fails. After some refreshments we headed back in and over to Gobi Tent for the classic post punk band Wire. I really dig these guys and they sounded good, unfortunately we only got to see a bit because it was time for BAD. That is Big Audio Dynamite on the Outdoor Stage. Mick Jones (of the Clash) classic 80s band. And it was a classic set, they opened with Medicine Show and played all the hits E=Mc2 The Globe and my favorite The Bottom Line. He even played a song he had collaborated with the late great Joe Strummer on. It was a great set, I will be honest, as much as I love the Clash and BAD, it sounded a bit dated for me. We had so far heard some amazing music throughout the weekend, and BAD sounded old to me and made me feel old. I guess we are all older, eh. But it was great to see them having so much fun, and I enjoyed it! We had to miss Empire of the Sun as we wanted to catch a bit of Paul Van Dyk and dance before Suede. Paul Van Dyk was sick! Awesome visuals and light show and a really fun set of dance music, great stuff! We then headed next door to the Mojave Tent for The London Suede who I hadnt seen in concert since 1992 when they were just called Suede. They were so good! It was great to see them reunited in all their glory. They played alot off the first record, my favorite, including Pantomime Horse which was a top 5 moment for me of the whole weekend! They are such a great alternative band, they paved the way for a lot of bands like Oasis and Blur in the 90s. Sounded amazing! It was time to close Day 2, and the best place we could see doing that was on Main Stage with The Arcade Fire. Oh boy, this was a doozy of a set! One for the Coachella books. They were sooo good! All the new material off Suburbs sounded great live. The set was a bit mellow until toward the end when they played Neighborhood 3 (Power Out) This song jammed, and a group of 20 people near to us all lit up sparklers. They ended the main set with Wake Up and it was awesome! Not only did the whole crowd wake up, but especially those in the front as about 100 or so HUGE rubber balloons were dropped that all lit up and changed colors in unison. They returned to the stage for the encores Suburbs Reprise, Ready To Start, Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels) which is one of my all time favs, and the closed the night with Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains), it was a dance party I will never forget! On Sunday we all felt surprisingly good, and we had champagne and sliders, which is a new tradition for Sunday Coachellas show we started last year. Caroline was really excited to see Duran Duran and it looked nice as far as the weather. Day 3 began! Started off at main stage again, this time for the chill sounds of rapper Wiz Khalifa, I really dig his music and he had a nice show, everyone was dancing where we were. Roll Up was my favorite song we heard. It was really hot outside, and we needed to dance, so we went to the Sahara Tent and chilled to Jack Beats spinning there. Followed by old school German DJ Sven Vath, great stuff! We headed to the lockers and indoor bar to get ready for night and heard a bit of Death From Above 1979. We walked over to Gobi Tent for Foster The People and their crowd was so huge by the time they came on and from where we stood it sounded awful, so we headed to Outdoor Stage for The National. They sounded so good, opening with Bloodbuzz Ohio I dont know what was redder, the stage lights and background, or the amazing sunset! Awesome! We also got to hear Slow Show which is one of my favorites by The National. Love those guys! We B-lined to Main Stage for Duran Duran and had a good spot. They did not disappoint, sounded great, looked great, and played a lot of hits. Including Rio, Girls On Film, Notorious, View To A Kill, Ordinary World and my personal favorite and top ten moment The Chauffeur with Simon Le Bon in a Chauffeur cap and dramatic fashion. Very cool! We heard some of Chromeos funky dance rock set as we waited for another highlight act on the mainstage... The Strokes stormed onto the Coachella stage and took the crowd by force, tearing through classic songs like Someday, Last Night, Reptilia, You Only Live Once, Juicebox, Take It Or Leave It, New York City Cops and my personal favorite, which I am shocked they played The Modern Age from Is This It. They were so much fun! and sounded amazing! Next up was a living music legend PJ Harvey on the Outdoor Stage. Or The Real Sunday Headliner as someone held up a sign. She sounded great and looked great. In a white wedding-like dress and big tall feathers in her hair, she played a lot off her new album Let England Shake with her amazing band. One of the best back up bands I can recall. So pro and talented. She only went as far back as To Bring You My Love as far as her song choices, playing Down By The Water off that one. She also played Big Exit which jammed. And closed with a rockin Meet Ze Mostra. She is definitely rock royalty! For the end of the festival we split a bit, Mikey went to Kanye West and Caroline and I went and checked out a bit of The Presets at Mojave Tent. They were like 20 min late, and that always knocks the wind out of my sails. They opened with Talk Like That, loved it! and I love the Presets. We stuck around for a while and then went and watched a little bit of Kanye West on the main stage. Surprisingly I was very impressed with Mr. Wests performance and his demeanor. I am not a big fan of the man, but I really felt this was his redeeming moment. It was spiritual and lovely. He dedicated the show to his Mama who passed away a few years back. It was touching and a great end to a great and epic Coachella 2011. In closing, I always feel like I have been on vacation for a month when I go to Coachella. It is such a release emotionally and spiritually. It is highly stimulating and at times exhausting. Its Coachella, and its the greatest festival on Earth. If you want the most rewarding musical experience ever, save your $$ and we will see you in 2012.
Posted on: Tue, 29 Jul 2014 05:49:06 +0000
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