Coachella Weekend

I'll start off by saying that I am exhausted. I battled 180,000 people, 115 degree temperatures, dust blowing in the wind, congested traffic (LA to Palm Springs in... six hours??? What?). But it was all worth it for one reason... The Music.

Friday didn't turn out quite as I'd hoped. Instead of getting there at 4pm, we got there at 8pm. It was enough time to catch Interpol (I barely remember), Brazilian Girls (fun as hell!) and Bjork (shoot-me-in-the-head boring). The highlight for me was being messed up out of my mind and falling on top of two enormous bodyguard-sized men watching Interpol as I navigated to Brazilian Girls. I fell on top of their heads and landed on their backpack. In my non-sober state, I thought I had fallen on top of their baby. I seriously thought I killed a baby.

Afterwards, went to the GQ Lounge and then called every fast food joint in the Greater Palm Springs area at 4am until we found a Jack in the Box.

Saturday. Still didn't make it to the show as early as we'd hoped, but that's probably good because it was like going to a concert on Planet Mercury. It was fucking hot! Marc had a little "episode" and we spent an hour or two in the ATT Air Conditioned Tent. Sweet relief. Besides that, we saw some incredible acts.

We saw a few minutes of Sparklehorse. They had an anemic crowd, which kind of sucks. Everyone looked like they'd smoked too much pot and were barely there.

Peter Bjorn and John - Due to Marc's "sode," we only caught a song from a faraway tent, but they are fun pop for sure. Love that whistling song!

New Pornographers - Great musicians, their original music really translates well to a live setting. Only problem: They talk too much. And they are not comedians. Stick with the music.

LCD Soundsystem - They were fun in one of the tents, but we only watched 2 songs since we had to go check out...

Gotan Project - They mix tango and electronica, and it was close to perfection. Get this CD now.

Kings of Leon and Travis put in good shows, but neither band really "does it" for me.

Chili Peppers, just what you'd expect. I think I saw the same concert in college.

The Good, the Bad and the Queen - I love Damon from Blur and Gorillaz, but this was just kind of a deressing, buzz kill.

THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE NIGHT: ARCADE FIRE. This will go down as a legendary performance (think U2 at Live Aid). Their first notes caused a frenzy in the crowd, eventally swallowing up the whole of Coachella. This is electric, mood-altering music. Brilliant.

Ended the night, once again, at the GQ Lounge. They served drinks until 4am!!

Sunday. Another good day, and it felt like we were back on Earth as the temperatures fell to a cool 98 degrees.

The Roots - kind of loud. Lily Allen - Totally cute pop. Amos Lee - good singer/songwriter. Nothing revolutionary but enetertaining (think Gaven DeGraw).

Jose Gonzales. Love him. Second time I've seen him. So mellow, but what a voice.

Willie Nelson - I bet I remember as much of this show as Willie did. It was his birthday.

Damien Rice - This was the show of the night. If he recreated his albums in a live setting, it would be good but mellow. Luckily, this boy ROCKS out live. The crowd went wild, so it's too bad he only got to play for 30 minutes. I will be seeing him again. Brilliant.

RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE. I literally thought I was going to die. The crowd went nuts. Supposedly the largest crowd in Coachella history (180,000 they say?). It was a historic event, and I hope these guys get together for real.

That was it! Now to bed.