Coachella 2006
This year was different for a couple of reasons - we had more people with us being the biggie. of course, we are the "experts" so we know what time we need to leave to get there by a certain time, the way out, other things to remember.
Except this year traffic was a huge nightmare. It took us at least an hour longer to get in than last year.
The first thing I want to see on Saturday may be known as the Mike Lupica position,
since for the second year in a row, it was something I learned from that WFMU show. (Last year Radio 4, this year Lady Sovereign.) I mostly wanted to see Lady Sovereign because I'd bet Tom that the woman we saw in the restaurant the night before was not Lady Sovereign because she was about 5'9 and Lady Sovereign is so wee. But the tent was so crowded that it was hard to tell her height (the woman in the restaurant had definitely cultivated the Lady Sovereign look.)
The crowded tent, however, was surely a sign of things to come. Another thing we knew is that some tents are crowded and most are not. At least that's how it had been in the past. This year most tents were extremely crowded - it was nigh impossible to just wander in and check something out.
We also needed to get the newcomers oriented so we wandered around to give everyone the lay of the land. I caught a little bit of the Zutons while we were checking out the swings in the middle of the area - their pop was a lot more powerful than I thought. I checked out a moment of Lyrics Born (too righteous - I'm sure it was fine, but I'm not much in the mood to be enlightened at an outdoor festival.)
Wolfmother is the first thing I saw in its entirety. The next big thing tag fits them well. Everyone has already said it before, they are just the new Sabbath/Zeppelin - but they have their own power too. Three people make a ton of racket. I do NOT like the song about the Apple tree that sounds like the White Stripes. We also made acquaintance with other Coachella returnees around us, who joined us in saying "Man, is it really crowded this year or what?"
I separated briefly from my friends, and we were meeting at the Animal Collective stage. Which was just a whole lotta racket that I couldn't get away from fast enough (Tom rather liked but the rest of us, ICK.) So we did some eating, and then dug in for the long haul.
Tom was mostly there for My Morning Jacket, but I'd already seen them twice and found them to be too hippie for my taste. I wanted to check out Kanye West, and TV on the Radio was one of my don't misses. So I wait and wait for Kanye, who is at least 15 mintues late. This is another new thing this year. In 2003, Ladytron was late but no one else. In 2005, Mike Patton's stupid band was late, but no one else. This year, lateness was common. Not sure what that was about, but again, when I tell my friends a great thing about the show is that it is not too crowded and it runs like clockwork, well so far neither of these things are happening. At least it wasn't 50 degrees and raining!
I caught the beginning of Kanye, then ran over to TV on the Radio, who had already started doing "Dreams", my favorite song of theirs. In person, they sound less like Peter Gabriel, and more just like themselves. It was a dynamic set, with songs being done with very different arrangements from the cds. Wish they were touring on their own (though I'm sure that'll come soon) rather than with 9 Inch Nails. Other Coachella people tend to really like this set too - they are getting some of the best buzz. (As are My Morning Jacket.)
I head over to the My Morning Jacket stage to catch a little Damian Marley. Tom was not a fan of the cd, but I found him more interesting than I might have thought - a nice combination of traditional reggae and dancehall/dance.
Next, Devendra Banhart. A great thing about Coachella is the ability to check out things that you're not sure if you'll like or not, without wasting it on a whole show. I don't usually like folky music, but something about Devendra has always intrigued me. I have also spent a lot of time trying to determine if he's hot or not, and if he's a legitimate hippie or it's all an act. I'm still not sure about his legitimacy, (Tom saw him walking around and said he looked VERY stylized) but as for his hotness? YUM! And it wasn't just me, some screaming girls essentially followed him out of eyesight when he was done.
Carl Cox had a 2 hour set, which would have been ideal if I was at a club, but it's tough to give 2 hours to anyone with so much else going on. So I decided to check out a little Franz Ferdinand before settling in to get my spot for the night at the dance tent. I was so glad I did - the Killers had kind of dampened my enthusiasm for the big 80s retro acts, but Franz played with a lot of energy - and I was also surprised at how many songs I recognized from just their 2 albums. I guess we can thank the BBC for that.
Now back to Carl Cox. So much energy - the day is really building nicely. Bonus points for playing Underworld's "Two Months Off." Following Carl are the Audio Bullys - a dance act most known for their version of Nancy Sinatra's "Bang Bang My Baby Shot me down." The Audio Bullys are 2 guys - a dj and an mc. The djing was adequate at best, but a little choppy, but the mcing was awful. Flat, unenergetic, and when the camera was on him, he looked damn miserable to be there. They both huddled right at the turntables. A shame they got such a good spot - I finally decided to run over and take a peek at Depeche Mode.
Who were pretty boring too - and despite reports to the contrary, I thought Dave Gahan looked fat and old. The two songs I heard were dirgy and drony and going nowhere, so I headed back to suck up more Audio Bullys and wait for Daft Punk. High point of my return was the appearance of Santino from Project Runway, who was spotted by Tom, and was so nice to both of us, as well as all of his fans.
We were all there for Daft Punk, and Daft Punk indeed. What a show. Energy for almost everything, but especially "One More Time" was through the roof.
At leaving, it took forever to exit, and forever again to find our car, despite our best efforts, incuding taking a hint off the Coachella message board to take a picture of your car to aid finding it on the way out. It was well after 3 (nearly 3 hours after the show ended) to get to our hotel. Sigh. So we prepared better for the next day.
The focus of Day 2 was Madonna and Tool. What a funny combo - considering Madonna fans and Tool fans are natural enemies in the wild, it was surprising that they day was as calm and conflict free as it was.
We got there early enough to check out Murs, who I've seen before but never enjoyed this much. His lipsyncing to Coldplay was a high point! As was his apology to young fans when he swore and talked about sex, but he assured them that someday, they'd be thinking about sex too.
After that, we peeked in an Amadou and Miriam (my friend Kirk said it best - they took some good Afropop and crackered it up.) And James Blunt (Yawn.) So we relaxed on the lawn for Ted Leo, who was a real fan, singing Daft Punk songs and his wiry punky pop. I heart Ted Leo. (No Since U Been Gone tho.)Tom did not heart Ted Leo, and napped on the ground beside me.
After Ted Leo, I checked out Phoenix (apparently Sophia Coppola did too) but they were pretty dull. Here, there was a real lag time. I met Tom at Matisyahu, which was fine, but I think that guy is a bit of a joker, so whatever. We met at the beer garden, which was, you guessed it, too crowded. So we wandered around and did our t-shirt shopping.
I took a peek at Paul Oakenfold (what a cheeseball! Although he's grown his hair out and now somewhat resembles Grant Hart) but I just don't like his technique. Coachella message boards said he was a trainwreck, so it apparently wasn't just me.
Gnarls Barkley was my other don't miss. What a show! Dressed like a troup of the Wizard of Oz, complete with Danger Mouse as tin man, a string section of winged monkeys and backup singer Dorothy's, and Cee-Lo as the "Mean Ol' Lion." I hope my predictions are correct and "Crazy" is as huge as it can be in the states. Their cover of "Gone, Daddy Gone" was a pleasant surprise to me and the crowd loved it.
Next, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Another band that always brings it. But I'd seen them before so I only checked out a couple of songs, before heading off to Seu Jorge. Who may be good, but too mellow for a festival - after the Yeah Yeah Yeahs I just couldn't pay attention. The Editors were next door, but I was meeting my friends at Seu Jorge to head to Madonna. So I just kept running back and forth. The Editors were surprisingly energetic, and the songs sounded great. Can't wait to buy the album and see them on their own later this summer.
Ah, Madonna. Apparently there were about 30,000 people checking her out in an area really made for less than half that many. Even though I'm going to check her out alone later, to see her at the first festival appearance of her career seemed like a don't miss.She....was quite late. Which was a blessing because I could hear the Editors more. She played 5 brief songs, used some salty language, danced and left. I'm mostly psyched for the full show later.
Ending the event was Scissor Sisters. I love them, but I think they made some new fans. Ana was funnier than ever, Jake looked awesome in his gold lame suit. I'm not sure if it's just me, but I don't like that they interrupt the super awesome gay disco for the ballads. Maybe one ballad to end the set, but to tone it all down in the middle really messes with the momentum.
Summary: Best: Daft Punk, TV on the Radio, Gnarls Barkley.
Will I go again? Oh, probably. We'll see. I'll be interested to see where they take it next year - more poppy? (there's been a lot of backlash about the Madonna/Kanye additions.) I spent most of my time in the smallest tent this year, and less time at the big stage (I never saw one thing on the Main stage in it's entirety.)
posted by jamie @ 2:38 PM
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