I realize this is really late, and many of you really don’t care at this point, but I’ve been typing a little here and there over the past few days and just wanted to put this all out there:
Some random, disjointed thoughts about my first ever Coachella experience:
I feel like I need to start all of this by admitting that I have been a long time blind Coachella hater. Based on reports of overcrowding, heavy celebrity/media coverage, awful temperatures, and an overall vibe of "assholeness" from the attendees, I've never found myself interested in this festival. With that said, I have to admit that eventually, if not immediately upon entering this festival, every single one of those negative preconceptions was completely wiped away.
From everything I've heard, the attendance/overcrowding issues and security problems were all addressed excellently this year. I have nothing to compare these things to, but other than a few times in the tents during more popular performers, I never once felt overwhelmed by the amount of people, and lines for just about everything were relatively short and fast!
Security for the most part was efficient, helpful, and very easy-going for festival staff. They never managed to find any of my booze or stash so I thank them from the bottom of my drunken/high drugs heart for that
As far as the celebrity aspect goes. I really expected this festival to feature red carpets and tabloid reporters running amuck, but there really isn’t any of that to be found. Yes, the celebrity encounters do happen. Yes, I stood next to Tara Reid in line for beer. But the presence is not felt like I was worried it would, and that made me very very happy.
Danny Devito and other stars of the Always Sunny cast were spotted all over the place, and I even heard a rumor that they were filming on location for "The Gang Goes to Coachella." Holy shit would that excite me to see that episode!
I’ve always heard about how nice the people of Sasquatch are compared to people at festivals like Coachella. I must say, every festival has their share of douchebags, assholes, jerks, and freaks, but overall I was so incredibly pleased by the Coachella attendees that it really blew my mind. I met some of the most amazing people last weekend and found myself constantly smiling and thoroughly enjoying some excellent people watching down there.
The temperatures were definitely hot…upwards of 100 degrees on Saturday. Especially for a pale white boy like me that sweats profusely when temps rise above 75 degrees. There were plenty of shaded areas and water stations though, and as soon as it reaches 6pm or so the temperatures cool down to an absolutely amazing level.
wompwomp and I ran into each other outside of the port-o-potties Friday evening. All I know was that it was after Magnetic Man because we both expressed our disappointment in their set. Only chatted with him for a few minutes but he is one cool dude.
I met knowidyuh early on Saturday and we spent a few hours together melting away in the desert sun. We ran into each other a few other times throughout the weekend and caught some other acts together. Since I was staying in a nearby hotel, he was nice enough to invite me into his campsite a couple nights to wind down after the festival. Saturday night I absolutely needed a safe place to sit and come back to planet Earth, so I’m particularly grateful for his hospitality and free beer that night. Know, you're seriously one of the nicest and most easy-going people I've met in a while. I genuinely enjoyed getting to know the "IRL" you.
knowidyuh likes pizza.
The festival and entire polo ground property in general is not designed to be easily navigated by drunk and/or high people. The letters “FML” ran through my head many times each night trying to find our way to the taxi stands and parking lots.
As soon as I entered the festival and caught my first artist, I knew this would end up being a weekend of 2-3 song sets, half sets, and “ok I saw their face so now I can say I’ve seen them” sets. There was just TOO much going on for me to sit still and watch a single artist or band for an hour. This won’t even scratch the surface of the total number of sets I caught, but these are some of the highlights, low points, and “gee I bet *insert name* from the board would like to hear about this” moments.
Skrillex - He makes some fun music to listen to, but he is by far one of the worst live DJ's I’ve ever seen/heard. I’m sure I will end up in the dance tent for him at Sasquatch just for the hell of it, but man oh man was he atrocious.
A-Trak - Didn’t even plan on catching his set, but I found myself over there and couldn’t bring myself to leave. Such an amazing performer and one of the best DJ’s around. What a fucking dance party that was!
Magnetic Man - Man, what a disappointment. They were probably number 2 or 3 on my must see list but I left after about 4 songs. The music just didn’t translate live AT ALL. Big bummer.
Kings of Leon - My friend wanted to catch a bit of them and I had a small break in my schedule so we watched about 20 minutes of their set. They played 4 songs in a row off their first 2 (or 3) albums, which surprised the hell out of me. The singer said “We’re sick of playing our new shit, so here’s some old tunes.” Pretty interesting I guess.
Robyn - Only caught the first 3 songs since I plan on watching her at Sasquatch as well. Anyone who is on the fence about her should definitely try and catch her set. She is a phenomenal performer and her live band sounded amazing as well. Each song was played a little differently than on album which was really cool too.
The Chemical Brothers - What can I say. Probably the most insane and intense live music experience of my life. I can’t even put into words the emotions that were going through my body during their set. By far my favorite show of all time. Thank you Chemical Brothers, and thank you high drugs. They alone were worth the trip and I will remember it forever.
The Joy Formidable - Stumbled upon their set in the Gobi tent while hiding from the sun waiting for Trampled by Turtles to begin. Much like A-Trak, I had no intentions of catching their set but ended up being blown away. I didn’t care for their album too much but I may have to revisit it now. Awesome wall-of-sound band with a ridiculously cute and energetic front woman.
Bright Eyes - I had about 30 minutes to kill before Shpongle so I figured what the hell. Ended up watching 4 or 5 songs and have to admit, I really enjoyed what I watched. Connor never sounded whiney and everything was crisp and sounded really great. I’ll definitely post up on the hill for their Sasquatch set if there isn’t anything else going on.
One Day as a Lion - I can say I’ve seen the two most important members of RATM now. Unfortunately, much like Street Sweeper Social Club, this band is pretty forgettable. I really need to see Rage live…
Animal Collective - I can dig what they’re all about live, but I wasn’t in the right mindset AT ALL for their set. I was waiting (and waiting, and waiting, and waiting) for certain substances to kick in, so instead of being able to enjoy the set I just sat there frustrated with the universe.
Arcade Fire - Substances had set in just fine at this point. Only problem was, they wanted my body to be dancing to really loud EDM and looking at flashy things, not standing on the grass and staring at Win Butler’s weird haircut. This turned into (quite possibly) the first recorded bad Molly trip in existence. Everything about Arcade Fire and rock music in general made my blood fucking boil. I had to get as far away from them as humanly possible. I made my friend (who was having the time of her life) leave Arcade Fire with me to go get lost in the Sahara tent with Steve Angello. Along the way to the Sahara we passed the Scissor Sisters playing in another tent and I remember not knowing who they were but wanting to burn down that tent. This was only the beginning of what became one of the strangest nights of my life. I completely bypassed what should have been a wonderful night of rolling to instead some bizarre full-on freaky geeking out mode. The only thing that saved me from possibly stripping naked and running into the woods scratching my flesh off was a collection of glow sticks that my friend found me to stare at for about 4 hours until I came back to earth. I don’t know what happened, I can’t explain it, but it sucked. It also provided for a hilarious story so I’m sort of happy it happened. I doubt I will ever be able to listen to Arcade Fire again though. Fuck those guys.
OFF! - Punk. Rock. Yummm. Thanks to knowidyuh's “Mosh pit at off!” text, I ran into the tent they were playing at to catch the last few songs of their set. God damn was that a fun change of pace from everything else I had heard throughout the weekend.
CSS - I was actually pretty let down by their set. Made me feel a lot better knowing that I wouldn’t be missing much by them not being at Sasquatch anymore. I’m MUCH happier to have Glitch Mob on the bill instead.
Jimmy Eat World - Coachella almost marks the exact 10 year anniversary of the last and only other time I saw these guys. They’ve always been a secret favorite of mine and it absolutely warmed my little emo heard to sing along to every word once again with them.
The National - I was “that” drunk guy during their set. Holy fuck was I drunk, and holy fuck did I have fun jumping and singing along.
Chromeo - Biggest dance party I’ve ever been in. They’re going to absolutely bring it to Sasquatch and I fully expect ALL of you to be down their dancing to them.
Kanye West - Started off with a bang, but after 30-45 minutes it all sort of became the same thing. Really glad I got a chance to see him though.
Other artists I caught and particularly enjoyed: Excision, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Cut Copy, Sasha, The Tallest Man on Earth, Shpongle, Mumford & Sons, Paul Van Dyke, Empire of the Sun (even though this is when the Saturday night weirdness started kicking in for me), Jack Beats, DFA 1979, Bloody Beetroots Death Crew 77, Leftfied, and every single artist and stage show that took place in the Do-Lab. That place was unbelievably fun every time I strolled through there. It was like a little carnival oasis in the middle of the festival.
Like knowidyuh said, this festival really can’t be compared to Sasquatch. It just isn’t fair. You really can't grasp the full magnitude and importance of it until you experience it for yourself. The visual and audio stimulation on your brain NEVER stops from the second it starts, and it really takes every bit of energy out of you. Last weekend was honestly the most insane experience of my life, and definitely one of the best I‘ve ever had. Between Sasquatch 2010 and Coachella 2011 I feel like I was able to be part of two of the most amazing festival experiences ever. I would even go as far as to say that the surrounding landscape combined with the palm trees and breathtaking sunsets even rival some (not all) of the natural beauty the Gorge provides. By every account, the festival organizers did an absolutely phenomenal job at improving everything they could after last year, and if next year is even half as great as this year was than it will still be a success in my opinion.
See you kiddies at Coachella 2012!