A little late, but here’s a quick band by band breakdown of Coachella weekend.<\/p>\n
You’ll notice no Friday update. \u00c2\u00a0That’s because after 2.5+ hours in traffic we were still miles away from the parking lot and decided to abort until the next day. \u00c2\u00a0So no Perry Farrell, She & Him, The Specials, Them Crooked Vultures, Echo & the Bunnymen, Vampire Weekend, Ceu, Public Image Limited, or Jay Z. \ud83d\ude41 \u00c2\u00a0My favorite quote on the situation<\/a>: \u00c2\u00a0“Whoever is in charge shouldn’t be allowed to organize dinner for two, much less a festival for 80 (thousand)\u00e2\u20ac\u00b3<\/p>\n Saturday, 4\/17<\/strong><\/p>\n John Waters<\/a> Zo\u00c3\u00a9 Jason Bentley<\/a> Old Crow Medicine Show<\/a> Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeroes<\/a> The xx<\/a> Faith No More<\/a> Les Claypool<\/a> The Dead Weather<\/a> Sia<\/a> Devo<\/a> Sunday, 4\/18<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n One EskimO<\/a> The Middle East<\/a> Babasonicos<\/a> Local Natives<\/a> De La Soul<\/a> Matt & Kim<\/a> Florence + the Machine<\/a> Sunny Day Real Estate<\/a> Yo La Tengo<\/a> Julian Casablancas<\/a> Charlotte Gainsbourg<\/a> Spoon<\/a> Phoenix<\/a> Pavement<\/a> Yann Tiersen<\/a>
\nWe started our day in the beer garden across from the Mojave stage listening to John Waters tell stories about his films and just rant in general. Hadn’t clicked before sitting down that this was going to be John Waters the director, but it ended up being a pretty cool kickoff.<\/p>\n
\n<\/a><\/span>This wasn’t a solo set by Ms. Deschanel from She & Him, but a rockin’ Mexican grunge band. \u00c2\u00a0Singer looked like a cross between Bono and Chris Cornell. \u00c2\u00a0Decent daytime rock on the main stage.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nHit the Sahara tent for the only time all weekend to watch the KCRW Music director spin. \u00c2\u00a0But DJs aren’t really my thing, so it was short lived. \u00c2\u00a0Love your show and your station though…<\/span><\/p>\n
\nReally fun twangy, old-time alt-country with fiddles and strings who put on a great set. \u00c2\u00a0I was torn at the end with this debate: \u00c2\u00a0If you prominently feature a fiddle, should you or shouldn’t you cover “The Devil Came Down to Georgia” in concert? \u00c2\u00a0They didn’t, but I think if they had it would have been awesome.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nOne of my favorite albums of last year, and their live show exceeds expectations. <\/span><\/p>\n
\nIf I were to retcon my top albums of 2009 list<\/a> these guys would be near the top, but since I only heard their record for the first time on Christmas<\/del> XXmas eve it needed some time to secure that slot. \u00c2\u00a0Probably the band I was most looking forwards to and they didn’t disappoint. \u00c2\u00a0I hadn’t seen photos of the band before the show, and they ended up looking both not at all and exactly as I’d envisioned them if that makes any sense. <\/span><\/p>\n
\nThis falls under the “more interesting than good” category, though it was still fun and worth seeing. \u00c2\u00a0They came out in suits and played a very faithful cover of “Reunited” by Peaches & Herb before launching into “From Out of Nowhere.” \u00c2\u00a0Neither the band nor the songs have aged particularly well (Mike Patton kinda resembles Michael Douglas nowadays), though it was still awesome to hear “Midlife Crisis” and “Epic” played live back to back. <\/span><\/p>\n
\nYou always pretty much know what you’re gonna get from Mr. Claypool, and it’s always fun. \u00c2\u00a0Highlight for me was “Riddles are Abound Tonight” from the pre-Primus Sausage days.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nI was pleasantly surprised by this Jack White side project that has him on drums and MC duties. \u00c2\u00a0Heard a few songs here and there previously that were just okay, but live was a different story.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nMore upbeat and power-poppy than what I’ve heard of her before, makes me curious about her new record. <\/span><\/p>\n
\nWow! \u00c2\u00a0They are not men, they are Devo! \u00c2\u00a0Sounded great, and seemed to age a lot better than Faith No More. \u00c2\u00a0Really cool visuals\/cartoons in the background too.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nOn their recordings I get a bit of a Damien Rice vibe, but no so much live. Still decent and a good mellow start to day 2.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nActually saw these guys open up for Pavement on Thursday before Coachella. \u00c2\u00a0They’re definitely growing on me, especially this one story song that builds to a pretty rocking crescendo by the end.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nAnother Spanish band, this one a little more dance-y than rock-y. \u00c2\u00a0Of the two I leaned towards Zoe while my wife preferred these guys.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nI was curious to see what the hype was about, and it seems legit. \u00c2\u00a0The crowd overflowed from the Gobi tent for this solid set.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nGreat hip hop set. \u00c2\u00a0 I hadn’t realized these guys had been around since 1987!<\/span><\/p>\n
\nTent was so packed I didn’t actually see<\/em> them, but instead just listened from outside. \u00c2\u00a0This was during the “lightning round” so I only caught 3 songs, but they sold me with a cover of “Rock and Roll Part 2.”<\/span><\/p>\n
\nI was excited for this one, but it wasn’t really doing it for me. \u00c2\u00a0Could have been the crowd though, as it was another overflowing tent and we were so far in the back it was tough to see and hear. \u00c2\u00a0My wife says they sound like a cross between Bjork and something else…<\/span><\/p>\n
\nAhh, nostalgia from a misspent youth…<\/span><\/p>\n
\nThis was probably my favorite find of the festival. \u00c2\u00a0They were so good we broke from the lightning round plan to hear a few extra songs, and have been blazing through their extensive back catalogue since returning. \u00c2\u00a0Good stuff.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nHe was ok, though I think I prefer full on Strokes.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nSpeculation that Beck would be performing with her proved to be false, but she still held her own and delivered a strong set.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nOnly caught the last few songs here since I was sent to the car to get pants, but I loved what I heard and might finally give Spoon another chance to win my musical heart.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nAnother band that’s growing on me at long last. \u00c2\u00a0The crowd for this one was ridiculously large. \u00c2\u00a0Towards the end of this set my wife and I split up so I could see the beginning of Pavement and she could see the start of Yann Tiersen, and both of those stages were quite sparse with the rest of the world watching Phoenix.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nAs mentioned above I caught the Pavement show in Pomona on Thursday, so I didn’t feel obligated to catch their entire Coachella set. \u00c2\u00a0I stayed for the first 5+ songs (Silence Kid, In the Mouth a Desert, Stereo, Frontwards, Father to a Sister of Thought, Two States) and made it back in time for the last 2 (Unfair and Cut Your Hair), while slipping out in the middle to meet my wife at Yann Tiersen. \u00c2\u00a0My timing couldn’t have been worse, as this worked out to be more or less to the exact second that Phoenix ended. \u00c2\u00a0So I was walking one way while 70,000 other people were coming right at me in the opposite direction…<\/span><\/p>\n
\nThe most painful conflict of the original schedule was Yann Tiersen overlapping with Gorillaz. \u00c2\u00a0However, one good side effect of Eyjafjallaj\u00c3\u00b6kull moved Yann into the earlier slot vacated by Gary Numan. \u00c2\u00a0After fighting the crowd and reaching the Mojave tent my ears were blasted with some crazy guitar rocking. \u00c2\u00a0It sounded great, but I was confused. \u00c2\u00a0My previous exposure to Mr. Tiersen was solely from the classical influenced pieces on the Amelie soundtrack, so I thought I was in the wrong tent. \u00c2\u00a0I actually went outside to check the big schedule to make sure. \u00c2\u00a0Confusion aside, he was pretty awesome. \u00c2\u00a0I especially loved how he’d play the violin so vigorously during the rock outs that the bow was visibly fraying on stage.<\/span><\/p>\n