Links
Archives
- 11/01/2003 - 12/01/2003
- 12/01/2003 - 01/01/2004
- 01/01/2004 - 02/01/2004
- 02/01/2004 - 03/01/2004
- 03/01/2004 - 04/01/2004
- 04/01/2004 - 05/01/2004
- 05/01/2004 - 06/01/2004
- 06/01/2004 - 07/01/2004
- 07/01/2004 - 08/01/2004
- 08/01/2004 - 09/01/2004
- 09/01/2004 - 10/01/2004
- 10/01/2004 - 11/01/2004
- 12/01/2004 - 01/01/2005
- 05/01/2005 - 06/01/2005
- 05/01/2007 - 06/01/2007
- 02/01/2008 - 03/01/2008
random thoughts from a member of the yuppie technocrati
Thursday, May 12, 2005
Coachella 2005 - Day 1
Finally my post about Coachella... Overall an incredible experience.
The group of people I went with worked out really well. All of us had our own agendas that we were very excited about but also overlapped somewhat. This was great because we were all cool with going to some of the shows alone but also got to see shows with other people - a nice balance. Liz, Jora, and Mattpaul drove down from the Bay Area on Friday and hung out with some people on campus then spent the night at my place. We didn't try to get there super early - but there was lots of random traffic that we didn't really expect (it is LA after all I suppose) Lots of accidents.
We managed to get there in time to hear the Raveonettes in line and for Jora and Liz to see Ambulance LTD. I didn't have any particular show I was dying to see at that point so I flitted between M83 and Peretz
Peretz being the DJ name of Perry Farrel. Huh - who knew.
The first act I really wanted to catch was Snow Patrol. Their set was kinda lame I thought. Part of it may have been the sound in the area we were sitting. They had some problems with the sound on the main stage. The singer sounded kinda weak and the songs just weren't that exciting live. Probably also the fact that I drove so much and it was hot didn't help. It was soooo much better than last year heatwise.
Then came Razorlight - they played a rockin set. I don't really know their stuff but it was a good show. After Razorlight I think i may have checked out Tiga and got some food etc. Next was Rilo Kiley. They played some of the songs I really like off of "The Execution of All Things" and other stuff from their newer album which i wasn't as into. But it was fun that Liz was so into the show (her childhood crush Blake was the geeky looking guitar? player in a vest.
MF Doom and Swayzak were next. I have to say that Swayzak definitely caught my attention more - pretty interesting more experimental electronic type stuff. On to the heavy hitters. Weezer! they played some old songs which were awesome but also some newer songs which were just boring. Of course I had fun majorly dissing them for never being able to live up to the Blue Album or Pinkerton. Of course they didn't play anything from Pinkerton that would have been way cool. SAGE FRANCIS fucking RULED - his set was one of the definite highlights of the first day. I was especially happy to see him this year doing awesome on the 2nd outdoor stage, a major promotion from the Gobi tent where I saw him last year. Plus he had a real live awesome DJ (last year he had to use a CD for backing) and supporting crew! He did some stuff from the Non-Prophets LP and other stuff from his new album (ooh i should pick that up some time) Right - he was way energetic and political (the pope is a nazi) and laying the smack down on mainstream rappers (99 rappers but Jay-Z ain't one).
Then BAUHAUS - that pretty much blew my mind that I was actually seeing BAUHAUS play - and they sounded GOOD. The main guy singing Bela Lugosi's dead HANGING UPSIDE DOWN in a wierd very goth leather/vinyl getup. I was amazed at how not dated the songs sounded - interesting noise and dissonance. Wow! that is pretty fucking incredible. By that point I just pretty much wandered around between Chemical Brothers, Amp Fiddler, and the beginning of Coldplay. I didn't recognize any of the Coldplay songs - not that i really cared. Finally Spoon! They took forever to set up - i think they were having technical issues. When they finally did start playing - they were really good. I was hooked. Spoon probably qualifies as my major music revelation of the weekend. They have some amazingly catchy songs and their playing was *tight*. I was inspired to since then buy 3 of their 4 albums and go to their instore at Amoeba.
Afterwards I managed to get us out of the parking lot pretty quickly with a bit of assertiveness/being an asshole. I learned my lesson from last year. We got to the sketchy hotel and fortunately had no problems - other people staying there were not so lucky people found strangers in rooms they had checked into, or their key stopped working inexplicably. We kept the door safely bolted all night and I had a pretty amazing night of sleep.
END DAY 1
listening to: Spoon - Gimme Fiction
The group of people I went with worked out really well. All of us had our own agendas that we were very excited about but also overlapped somewhat. This was great because we were all cool with going to some of the shows alone but also got to see shows with other people - a nice balance. Liz, Jora, and Mattpaul drove down from the Bay Area on Friday and hung out with some people on campus then spent the night at my place. We didn't try to get there super early - but there was lots of random traffic that we didn't really expect (it is LA after all I suppose) Lots of accidents.
We managed to get there in time to hear the Raveonettes in line and for Jora and Liz to see Ambulance LTD. I didn't have any particular show I was dying to see at that point so I flitted between M83 and Peretz
Peretz being the DJ name of Perry Farrel. Huh - who knew.
The first act I really wanted to catch was Snow Patrol. Their set was kinda lame I thought. Part of it may have been the sound in the area we were sitting. They had some problems with the sound on the main stage. The singer sounded kinda weak and the songs just weren't that exciting live. Probably also the fact that I drove so much and it was hot didn't help. It was soooo much better than last year heatwise.
Then came Razorlight - they played a rockin set. I don't really know their stuff but it was a good show. After Razorlight I think i may have checked out Tiga and got some food etc. Next was Rilo Kiley. They played some of the songs I really like off of "The Execution of All Things" and other stuff from their newer album which i wasn't as into. But it was fun that Liz was so into the show (her childhood crush Blake was the geeky looking guitar? player in a vest.
MF Doom and Swayzak were next. I have to say that Swayzak definitely caught my attention more - pretty interesting more experimental electronic type stuff. On to the heavy hitters. Weezer! they played some old songs which were awesome but also some newer songs which were just boring. Of course I had fun majorly dissing them for never being able to live up to the Blue Album or Pinkerton. Of course they didn't play anything from Pinkerton that would have been way cool. SAGE FRANCIS fucking RULED - his set was one of the definite highlights of the first day. I was especially happy to see him this year doing awesome on the 2nd outdoor stage, a major promotion from the Gobi tent where I saw him last year. Plus he had a real live awesome DJ (last year he had to use a CD for backing) and supporting crew! He did some stuff from the Non-Prophets LP and other stuff from his new album (ooh i should pick that up some time) Right - he was way energetic and political (the pope is a nazi) and laying the smack down on mainstream rappers (99 rappers but Jay-Z ain't one).
Then BAUHAUS - that pretty much blew my mind that I was actually seeing BAUHAUS play - and they sounded GOOD. The main guy singing Bela Lugosi's dead HANGING UPSIDE DOWN in a wierd very goth leather/vinyl getup. I was amazed at how not dated the songs sounded - interesting noise and dissonance. Wow! that is pretty fucking incredible. By that point I just pretty much wandered around between Chemical Brothers, Amp Fiddler, and the beginning of Coldplay. I didn't recognize any of the Coldplay songs - not that i really cared. Finally Spoon! They took forever to set up - i think they were having technical issues. When they finally did start playing - they were really good. I was hooked. Spoon probably qualifies as my major music revelation of the weekend. They have some amazingly catchy songs and their playing was *tight*. I was inspired to since then buy 3 of their 4 albums and go to their instore at Amoeba.
Afterwards I managed to get us out of the parking lot pretty quickly with a bit of assertiveness/being an asshole. I learned my lesson from last year. We got to the sketchy hotel and fortunately had no problems - other people staying there were not so lucky people found strangers in rooms they had checked into, or their key stopped working inexplicably. We kept the door safely bolted all night and I had a pretty amazing night of sleep.
END DAY 1
listening to: Spoon - Gimme Fiction
Comments:
Post a Comment
