Back From Coachella

Whew! I am tired! Got back last night from the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio, CA, just down the road from Palm Springs. Basically this consisted of two days of driving and two days of concerts. Had a great time, but it takes a lot out of you. Fortunately, I drove down with Carl and Noelle so I only ended up driving about 5 hours instead of 16. The music I was expecting, but there were also a lot art installations there too, such as the giant baby/robot warfare thing. I was wondering why they had this huge baby and dummies hanging from ropes and various other bits of hardware in this little mini-arena. Later I found out that the hardware was in fact a series of robots that tore the giant baby statue, dummies, police car, etc into bits. They also had stuff that burst into flames, giant van de graf generators, the army of decorated recycling bins (which I unfortunately don't have any pictures of), the drum "things" that people could (and did) beat on. It was hot there, though not so blistering hot as I heard it was last year, only 86 degrees in the shade.
The giant dragonfly was a mister by day and was lit up at night.

Day One:

Started out watching Snow Patrol for a bit. They aren't really my thing, so I went wandering to see the show. It was really hot so I was really happy when I ducked into Sahara (aka The Rave Tent) where the last part of DJ Marky was playing and found that a.) it was relatively cool in there and b.) I could lie down not in the sun. Marky was followed by Tiga. Both sets were respectable and I just lay on the ground and let the beats wash over me. Oh, and did I mention it was loud? I mean, really, really loud. I think this is the only time I ever went in someplace with my earplugs in, only to jam them deeper into my ears to keep the sound out.

UNKLE - Another set in the Rave Tent. Interesting stuff coupled with weird videos featuring this kobold motif (google UNKLE, you'll see what I mean). Shook my ass a lot. Good times.

Weazer - Lovable nerds played a fine set, marred only by the drunk kids slurring the lyrics very loudly behind me and he guy behind me (not directly behind me, thankfully) who decided he didn't need to go to the portapotties to relieve himself. :p

Bauhaus - Wow! Loved this set. Opened with Peter Murphy being lowered over the stage from a cable tied to his feet and he proceeded to sing "Bela Lugosi's Dead", upside down. I realized why all the goth kids showed up at this show in their makeup, boots, lace, and latex in the heat during the day. These guys were really great. Murphy intoned "You can say you were there to see it!" As he left the stage. And now I have. :-)

Chemical Brothers - Caught a little bit of this act, which was pretty good. Heard "Music, Response" among others. Left to go see Zap Mama.

Zap Mama - Heard the singer on a local NPR talk show last week and thought it'd be cool to check out a show some time. Much to my surprise, she was playing at Coachella. Hard to describe her/their work. I guess World Music is the usual description for non-American work. African and latin rhythms. A lot of fun and a good end to the evening.

Day Two:

Jem - Perky singer from the UK. Got in during the middle of her set, when she was singing "Baby I'm Amazed". Like most of the singers from the UK, she seemed pleased to see all the sunshine. It was cooler this day and her music was pleasing to the ear and overall got me in a happy mood, before we moved on...

Kasabian - Woo! I was really looking forward to hearing them and they delivered. High energy set that delivered a lot of tunes from their current album plus some new ones. I didn't know they had two singers, but evidently they do.

The Bravery - Another band I couldn't wait to see. Loved this set. I was way up close to the stage. The lead singer has fabulous stage presence and other than some technical difficulties, I thought they really rocked out. I would definitely go see them again.

Gang of Four - Caught a bit of their set and was a little disappointed. They sounded like a lot of punk bands do in concert.

New Order - Watched these guys for a while. They were all playing real instruments which was a bit of a surprise to me. I think they had, by far, the happiest fans at the show. Chilled out on the field for a while, but left after a bit. I never was a huge New Order fan.

Dresden Dolls - Glad I left to see these guys. I caught the end of "Coin Operated Boy" and arrived just in time for them to play a cover of "War Pigs" which they dedicated to our Fearless Leader. And they did an amazing job, which is even more remarkable when you consider that this group consists of a drummer and a keyboard player. It's a duo that wears harlequin makeup and very little in the way of clothing, so, a little unusual. They did "Girl Anachronism" which made me deliciously happy.

Nine Inch Nails - Yay! Yay! Yay! I finally got to see Trent and the boys again despite the fiasco of last week. Seventy-five minutes of gloom rock! They played a few songs from the new album which sounds really good, plus most of the old favorites. It's always interesting to see 70,000 people singing "I want to fuck you like an animal!" at the top of their lungs. My NIN thirst is satisfied for the time being.

Prodigy - Last set of the show. I took my time getting over there because I heard it was just going to be a DJ set and I was really, really tired at this point. Got into the Rave Tent shortly before they went onstage. And, what's this? This ain't no DJ set! Awesome! Despite the fact that my feet were really aching at this point, I managed to rock out for another hour+.

Completely drained, I met up Carl and Noelle and we somehow made our way back to our hotels. Sore and achy the next day, but made it home without incident the next day.

Some more pictures from the show are here.