April 26, 2008, 2:26 pm : It’s officially summer….Coachella Festival 2008

Day 2 & 3 | Saturday and Sunday April 26, 27

Sunday
This was interesting as most folks were there to see the three-legged dog, er, Roger Waters, not groovers like Does it offend you, yeah (awesome) and Simian Mobile Disco (ears still ringing). RW did the complete Dark Side of the Moon, as well as some other Floyd and solo things (like his solo smash ‘BEER RUN’). Although not a huge fan, it was definitely the show with the best stage effects (inflatable pigs, great films) and enough pyrotechnics that I was wondering how he got permission in the middle of a brush desert during a water shortage. I enjoyed how mellow the day was (I think that everyone but me was pretty stoned by the time RW came on) and sat back and enjoyed the heat and the really fun set from Love and Rockets.
But, all good things must come to an end and after a whirlwind book shopping trip on Monday morning, back on the plane and back to work Tuesday morning. Next up, Isle of Wight Festival - stay tuned!

Saturday
The day started in a very very cool way. Saw MGMT and got so close that when they jumped off stage, they ran right past me and geez, they were so little! Massive big day: Kraftwerk, Portishead and Prince! Kraftwerk was amazing, as usual and I was praying for a new song to come blasting out of the speakers, but no, still waiting….Portishead, on the other hand, over-delivered. I loved Dummy when it first came out, but then it became the power source that seemed to run every cafe, dinner party and hairdresser in the universe. The second record didn’t do it for me and to tell the truth, I forgot that they even broke up. I went along to get a good place for Prince and was knocked out by the new record, their groovy visuals and the scary, big sound they had live. Actually spent money and bought the record - highly recommended. Prince came out (late as usual), but it wasn’t really Prince, it was Prince era 1985, with Morris and Jerome and Sheila E. playing first, with Prince as ringleader and guitarist. After a few jams, he got into the hits and started knocking them off, playing so long that I was waiting for the Coachella Valley cops to come and throw us out. Prince came out for one more jam at the end (which I heard from the parking lot) as I drove off in my ugly blue Jetta into the desert night, thinking of living in Minneapolis and seeing Prince playing piano at the Loon Cafe…ahhhh

Day 1 | Friday April 25
Well, I waited and waited and waited and I’m here. Coachella is my indication that winter is over. Some people look for the bulbs to bloom, I wait for a plastic wrist band ticket-thingie, a beer and a massive sunburn to tell me that winter hibernation is over and it is now, my friends, time to rock. When I first started coming here to the Coachella Valley (and staying in Palm Springs CA), the festival was only two days, so having an extra day of music is a treat. Like most 3-dayers, the up and comers (or terribly dull) bands are on the first day, which kept the crowd light in the afternoon, with most folks showing up post-work time. Each year I feel older and older and much more self-conscious of being called ’sir’ when someone apologises for slamming into me in the pit at front of the stage, but as my friend Jim says “at least we still dress kind of cool and know how to dance”, which makes me feel a little better.
I love to check out what people are wearing and this year they seem to be in Noah’s Ark-style sets - 2 hippie girls, 2 dudes with wide gangbanger-style headbands and the accessory to have appears to be big David Bowie-ala-The Man Who Fell To Earth-meets-Fallon-from-Dynasty-styled sunglasses, the bigger and cheesier the better. American Apparel also has lots to answer for. Their ad campaigns have spawned roaming hoards at Coachella dressed like they just left 3rd hour gym class on their way to a porn movie audition. I love to listen in on conversations here and there, but the main thing I love it finding a new favourite band or seeing one that I really love live for the first time. So here they are:
New fave: Cut Copy, Spank Rock
Old fave live first time: The Breeders, Goldfrapp, Aphex Twin
Disappointments: Vampire Weekend (who made me think of Haircut 100), the dorky guy from the movie Sing and the Verve
The biggest treat of the day was a tie between Breeders (who were fun and cool and had the awesome drummer) and Goldfrapp, who were just plain awesome. The sound mix was shit for most of Goldfrapp and Ms Goldfrapp was obviously having problems hearing herself, from the mad gesticulations combining pointing at her throat, making a talking-gesture with her hand and then scowling and pointing upward. I think that the sound guy is probably buried in a shallow grave somewhere out in the desert by now…
Left after one Jack Johnson tune (JJ falls into my terribly dull column), grabbed some cool shirts and hit the road. Day Two tomorrow!

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