"Let's go on a livin' spree..."
"Good Life," Kanye West
According to Arcade Fire's crowd-pleasing anthem "Rebellion (Lies)," "sleeping is giving in." That was certainly proved true this past weekend in the sun-drenched desert heat of Indio's 12th annual Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. While we may have fallen into our beds past 3:00 AM most mornings, the mind-boggling audio overload we experienced each afternoon/night was more than worth a few less hours of shut-eye.
We spent the weekend in an amazing rented house in La Quinta, situated squarely on a beautiful golf course and complete with our own pool and spa. We brought beach cruisers to avoid the traffic to and from the venue, and owe virtually all of the planning to our good friends Phil and Lindsay; Coachella veterans who secured the house, snacks, and beer. On Friday, Tim and I got to the grounds around 5, and spent the first half hour gaining our bearings and taking in the immense stretch of stages, statues, and spectators. As we made our way towards the Main Stage, the mellow sounds of Lauryn Hill's set drifted lazily through the air, and we stopped to take in a few of her songs before heading to the Outdoor Stage. Sadly, we missed her Fugees medley, however we were able to score an enviable spot for Cold War Kids. Their killer set included "Hospital Beds," "Royal Blue," and "Louder Than Ever," and certainly set the stage for what proved to be one of the best weekends of my life.
"Bring the buckets by the dozens; bring your nieces and your cousins..."
15 minutes after Cold War Kids' encore, Brandon Flowers took the stage. Wearing his signature vest and a huge grin, he belted through more than half of Flamingo before bringing out the rest of the Killers to perform "Mr. Brightside" and "Read My Mind."
"Sunsets in neon lights..."
As much as we wanted to stay at the Outdoor Stage and watch Crystal Castles, we left to catch the second half of The Black Keys from the beer garden. This was my first taste of what I'd heard dubbed "Conflictchella" only an hour before: being fully aware that another band I badly wanted to see--Cut Copy-- was playing in that moment and I was missing it...I guess life's full of difficult choices, and sometimes sacrifices just have to be made. However, catching Brandon Flowers/The Killers and The Black Keys more than made up for the fact I'll just have to see Cut Copy the next time they play their way through so-Cal. Kings of Leon came on after the Keys, and they played a long set full of older hits and new material off of Come Around Sundown. As talented as I know KOL is, for some reason I hadn't been overly excited to see them perform. While they sounded good live and their set was entertaining, the highlight headliner of the night was certainly the final act. We ended Friday night watching the Chemical Brothers tear up the main stage, back with another one of those block rockin' beats and ready to send the audience into an electrified experience of lights and noise. Their carefully choreographed visuals exploded off the big screens, and their clean electronics kept the dancing audience on their feet and screaming for more. While I wasn't all-too familiar with the Chemical Brothers before this weekend, I already have half a dozen new songs of theirs now on my iPod. Day 1: Success.
"Cause there's a party over here, so you might as well be here..."
On Saturday, we woke up late and inhaled an AMAZING breakfast of banana and wheat pancakes, eggs, and bacon a la Lindsay and Jessica. We spent the day lounging at the pool, drinking beers, and watching the boys (rather sadly) play the single pin directly in front of our house, carefully retreating into our backyard when actual paying golfers made their way onto the course. By 4:00, we were ready to head back over to the Empire Polo Field for another afternoon of music madness.
Cage the Elephant certainly didn't disappoint. Their crazy set included a handful of their well-known songs and a number of other fast-paced, off-the-wall sing-a-longs. With his rock-star mop and clad in a red gingham-esque dress, lead singer Matt Shultz led an already-excited crowd into a wild abyss of noise and melody, and everyone walked away from his set sweat-drenched, wide-eyed, and happy.
"So all you critics who despise us, go ahead and criticize us...It's your tyranny that drives us, adds the fire to the flame"
We made our way over for the last part of Broken Social Scene's set to get a good spot at the Main Stage for Bright Eyes. I was highly, highly anticipating Conor Oberst's beautifully tragic and soul-searing melodies, and I was blown away by the rawness and simplicity behind his voice. I was virtually entranced by the sound and lyrics of their entire set, which included "Bowl of Oranges," "Road to Joy," "Shell Games," and "Four Winds." While it would have been nearly impossible for me to pick my top two or three songs for Bright Eyes to perform, those are four of my absolute favorites.
"The crowd kept pushing forward 'til they swallowed the police...yeah, they went wild"
Only twenty minutes after Oberst and his magicians left the stage, Mumford and Sons began a set full of high expectations in front of a larger crowd than most. Each member of the band smiled for virtually the entire show; they seemed genuinely excited and honored to be playing in front of the 60,000+ audience. They played most of the songs off of Sigh No More, then also proceeded to play two new songs. London-based they might be, but their U.S. following grows by the hundreds every day.
"So let the memories be good for those who stay"
At this point in the night, Empire of the Sun was about to rock out on the Outdoor Stage. As tempted as I was to see their high-intensity and much-talked-about performance, I didn't want to give up our awesome seats for the final act of the night, so we opted to stay through Animal Collective in order to wait it out for Arcade Fire. In all honesty, I wanted to like Animal Collective. I'd heard good things. The Coachella-powers-that-be deemed them 9:00 PM Main Stage worthy. However, I just couldn't get into the electronic-psychodelic-synth that boomed through the speakers, or the sensory-dripping colorful images that invaded the big screens. Perhaps it was because I knew I was missing Empire, or perhaps it was because I knew Arcade Fire would be gracing the stage in mere minutes. Whatever the case, I wasn't disappointed when their final disconnected-noise-beats song ended and the heavy crowd stood in patient desperation, anxiously awaiting the next band's arrival to the stage.
Before I left, I was looking forward to lots of Coachella bands. Old favorites, current favorites, and bands I only just recently discovered-- music overload I could hardly wait for. However, if I had to pick just one group I was most excited for, it was undoubtedly Arcade Fire. I am a relatively new Arcade Fire fan....while I've been aware of them for a few years, I only this year started listening to them on a regular basis. I don't know what took me so long, because every single time I put on any one of their CDs, I'm immediately sucked into the mind-blowing lyrics and anthemic beats. I had extremely high expectations for Arcade Fire's live show, and I was absolutely not let down. From start to finish, this band delivered the best live performance I've ever seen.
"And now the music divides us into tribes"
Their set covered songs from Funeral, Neon Bible, and The Suburbs, with an (understandably) bigger focus on their newest album. Their energy was almost tangible, their focus was spot-on, and their enthusiasm involved every member of the audience whether or not the listener knew the words. In the middle of "Wake Up," the final song before their encore, they released 2,000 huge beach ball-esque orbs from above the stage, each filled with an LED light which was later set to the beat of the music. They ended their time on-stage with a three-song encore featuring "Ready to Start," "Neighborhood #1," and "Sprawl II." Day 2: Pure Perfection.
"Now our lives are changing fast...hope that something pure can last..."
We woke up on Sunday morning, and I honestly remember wondering how this third day could possibly compare to the magical music overload of Friday and Saturday. Due to the dusty heat, we opted to forgo both Jack's Mannequin and Wiz Khalifa, but made it to the festival grounds in enough time to catch one of my favorite bands of all-time, Jimmy Eat World. While I've seen them before, it was years ago and I forgot just how much I love watching this band perform live. I think I can easily classify over a dozen of Jimmy Eat World's songs my "all-time favorites," therefore I honestly didn't know what to expect for their set. They pulled songs from all seven of their studio releases, however their hour-long performance primarily featured choices from Invented, Futures, and Bleed American. When the first chords of "23" came blaring steadily out of the speakers, I had to close my eyes for a second to recognize and appreciate just how happy this weekend--this moment--was making me. At so many junctures over the course of the three days, I had to stop and remember to take it all in--so excited to "play my little part in something big," as Jim Adkins might say.
"Hey now, we're wide awake and we're thinking, my darling...Believe your voice can mean something"
Because we decided to watch Jimmy Eat World on the Outdoor Stage, we missed most of Nas and Damian Marley's set...(I still cringe a little when I think about the fact we deliberately chose not to watch the duo sing "Road to Zion"). By the time we made our way to the Main Stage, they had about two and a half songs remaining, and we got to hear them cover "Could You Be Loved" before they left the stage.
"I've got joy in abundance; I've got life full of substance...So I count my blessings"
We caught a little of Death From Above before heading to the Gobi Tent for Foster the People, a relatively new band I got to see perform at BellyUp in Solana Beach a few weeks ago. The three-person group is loud, musically talented, and full of energy, and although they came onstage half an hour late, once there their music made up for the audience's impatient restlessness.
"I took a sip of something poison but I'll hold on tight"
Duran Duran played on the main stage right after Foster the People, and I remember having a moment of "this can't be real life," as I walked away from the Gobi Tent. Before the final chords of "Pumped Up Kicks" had even finished, I could already hear the beginning notes of "Ordinary World" pummeling out of the sky-high speakers adorning both sides of the Main Stage. While Duran Duran wasn't on my list of weekend "must-sees," I was thoroughly impressed. Those guys can rock.
"You know you're something special and you look like you're the best"
The Strokes headlined at the main stage after Duran Duran. The Strokes are a band I want to like, and they have quite a few songs I have on a few random iPod mixes. From what I've heard so far, I'm a fan of their latest album, Angles. It's too bad that the lead singer, Julian Casablancas, is pretty much a raging, self-centered jerk. He didn't seem excited to be there, he spat crude jokes and cutting phrases at the audience, and he ridiculed people for being excited to see Kanye. I guess maybe I'm just unaware of the way Casablancas garners his stage presence, however I was disappointedly unimpressed with him. The Strokes songs live, however, are just as sharp and clean as they discs they're immortalized on.
"We've got the right to live; fight to use it...Got everything and you can just choose it..."
Arguably the most anticipated act of the entire weekend, Kanye West came out at 10:45 to deliver what is already being touted as one of the best rap performances of all-time. I'm probably biased because 1) I was there and 2) I haven't seen a whole lot of live rap performances, but I have to say I was completely and blissfully blown away. Entering on a crane, back-dropped by a beautifully crafted canvas, and surrounded by his now-signature ballet dancers, Kanye's performance was nothing short of a perfectly-crafted artistic masterpiece. He blasted through 25 songs spanning his entire career, pausing only momentarily to praise his fans and remember his mother. To many people's dismay (and initially, mine too), Kanye brought out virtually no guests-- Bon Iver's Justin Vernon was really the only other noticeable artist sharing the stage, and only for a couple songs. Instead, Kanye chose to make the moment completely and entirely his own, and it worked. As he sings himself: "No one man should have all that power." Perhaps that's true, but last Sunday night, Kanye single-handedly commanded the crowd like few can. Day 3: Brilliant.
"How do you...refresh the page and restart the memory? Respark the soul and rebuild the energy?"
"I guess every superhero needs his theme music"
I arrived home in San Diego tired, dirty, and sore on Monday--(Tim didn't even sleep, but rather just drove the 3.5 hour drive to Santa Barbara as soon as we arrived home from Kanye's performance). The weather hit 100 degrees almost all of the days we were in the desert. The beers were expensive and the grounds dusty. And yet, the weekend was absolutely magic. I'm already counting the days until 2012...
