By Jed
I'm back from the Mint 400...er...Coachella 2009, and will do my best to give a small sense of what I saw, limited of course, by my memory...
My first trip to Coachella was in 2004, at the urging of a friend of mine who informed me that there was no way that he would permit me to miss the Pixies reunion (even though I had a final in federal income taxation 2 days later). Five years later, I'm amazed that I'm still a regular (I chose my own graduation ceremony over Coachella 2005, oh well), but considering that the weekend has consistently been one of the best the year, I shouldn't be surprised at my loyalty to the event. Unlike most previous years, this year my base was a comfortable house in La Quinta, where I could rest my feet, drink margaritas and sip coffee, so things were immediately off to a good start.
Friday
Despite my best intentions, I didn't arrive at the venue until about 2:45 PM, and had already missed all of the earliest acts, but there was nothing scheduled before 4:05 for which I was terribly excited.
1) Airborne Toxic Event: Thanks to Mr. Fielder, I was lucky enough to catch several of the Airborne Toxic Event's earliest performances, but beginning with their extremely sold out Spaceland residency, I haven't had the opportunity to see them. While the Coachella main stage doesn't really compare with with the intimacy of Boardners or the Viper Room, I was pleased with the set, and the (typical) graciousness of lead singer Mikel Jollett. The set list contained no surprises (all from their self-titled album), but many kind words said in regard to the Silverlake Scene and the other bands with which ATE is friends. Surprise moment: violinist Anna Bulbrook attempted to stand on an amplifier during "Does This Mean You're Moving On?" and inadvertently Marilyn Monroe'd her dress during an unexpected gush of wind. Without losing a beat, Mikel remarked "What's up Anna????" as she stepped back onto the stage.
2) Los Campesinos: Rushed across the polo fields to the Gobi tent, caught just a few songs. Didn't realize how many people were in the band, and enjoyed what I saw of the performance.
3) The Hold Steady: Had just enough time to catch the last two songs of the Hold Steady's set, unfortunately didn't recognize either, but immediately regretted missing seeing them play at the Troubadour a year or two ago. Would love to see them again.
4) The Black Keys: Was sorry not to catch them from up close, but what I heard from the nearby beer garden redeemed my "eh" feeling about them from 2004.
5) Franz Ferdinand: Were great. I've always been struck by their energy and the catchiness of the songs, but for some reason I've never noticed how good Alex Kapranos' singing is.
6) Leonard Cohen: All I had hoped for, although I would have preferred a few more of his songs from the 1960s and early 1970s. Dressed in a black suit and hat (as were most of the other members of his band) his set list was comprised of mostly well known songs such as "Everybody Knows," "Bird on a Wire," "Hallelujah", "The Future." I would have liked to have taken better notes (at least mental notes) of the experience, but I decided just to enjoy myself. Surprising moment -- For the song "The Future" , he changed a line from "white men dancing" to "white girls dancing" and two of his three backup singers performed backwards cartwheels.
7) Morrissey: As did many others, I missed the beginning of Moz's set in order to catch the end of Cohen's. I believe he was playing Irish Blood, English Heart as I arrived. Not the best show I've seen of him, but I was still thrilled. The guy looks great, his voice sounds great, his renditions of "Some Girls are Bigger Than Others" and "How Soon is Now?" were perfect, at 50 years old he manages to still look good with his shirt off and his "I SMELL BURNING FLESH. I HOPE IT'S HUMAN FLESH!!!" comments were entirely inappropriate. Oh Morrissey!
8) Paul McCartney: By the time he went on, I was very, very tired, very, very sore, and very, very annoyed by the fact that he went on half an hour late. He seemed to mostly alternate between Beatles songs (which were typically accompanied by cheesy and completely unnecessary animations. The band was extremely professional -- I was particularly impressed by drummer Abe Laboriel Jr., who I could have sworn I saw drum for Eric Clapton, when I saw him play this August in Reykjavik. Touching moment amidst an otherwise phony feeling performance when introducing "My Love Does It Good" , mentioned that Linda had died 11 years before to the day. :( I left early, so I could get back to the house at a reasonable time -- 1:30 AM.
Saturday
1) Ida Maria: I struck out on my own so I could catch this Swedish lady, and was glad to have done so. Probably one of my better experiences of the weekend. Her show was early in the day, so I was close up, watched her appearance transform as she became engulfed in her own sweat, and confirmed my belief that there is some bizarre Ida Maria/Sting connection (her guitarist was wearing a Police T-Shirt). Her vocal delivery actually reminded me a bit of Bjork, which is surprising, because I'm usually annoyed when others make that comparison. Her closing with "Oh My God" was fantastic. Unfortunately the sound recording capability of my digital camera is not.
2) Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffitt: I thought, "hmmm...I'm supposed to be putting together a roundup of Coachella for Radio Free Silver Lake...I'd really be missing the point if I skipped Ariel Pink, right?" So I showed up, caught two songs, saw my share of Silverlake hipsters, and went on my way.
3) Liars: Awesome, even though the heat at the Outdoor Theatre was only barely bearable. Angus Andrews was in red shorts, shorter hair than I remembered, and all over the place.
4) Blitzen Trapper: Was standing next to a couple who had come all the way down from Portland and who could barely contain their excitement at seeing local guys making it big. I managed to traverse the crowd horizontally to meet up with friends.
5) Amanda Palmer: Was introduced on stage by a lineup of painted bodies reading "Amanda Fucking Palmer." First comment: "Thank you so much for coming into my tent." Had a cellist. Wore a corset. Crowd surfed off the stage into the back of the crowd. Finished off with a ukulele cover of Radiohead's "Creep."
6) Tinariwen: Only caught the last two songs. Does liking "world music" mean I'm getting old?
7) Fleet Foxes: Maybe a little too mellow for Coachella, but I was happy with what I heard. Some of the harmonies sounded slightly off for a bit, but by 7:30 PM what do I know?
8) Thievery Corporation: Definitely one of the highlights of the festival. I can hardly remember a thing about it, but I know I was dancing, maybe I was singing, no doubt having a blast. I still don't plan to buy their album, but I'd love to see them again.
9) Band of Horses: Was too far away to make any meaningful observation, but I think they sounded good.
10) The Killers: Definitely too far away to hear much anything. Spent most of the set relaxing in one of the tents set up in the middle of the field, watching some of my friends dance.
Sunday
1) Okkervil River: Had some trouble getting into it until the last few songs. Great band, but I was cooking in the 100+ degree heat.
2) Fucked Up: Somehow (I can't imagine how) I confused hardcore Fucked Up with electronic/rock Holy Fuck, that I saw at Coachella a few years ago. After a ferocious performance interspersed with mentions of how cool Dungeons and Dragons and video games are and how much sports and high school suck, the lead singer held up a set of car keys and asked who had lost them dancing. What a gentleman!
3) Lykke Li: Starting with this set through My Bloody Valentine was one of the best runs I've seen at Coachella yet. She started off with "Dance Dance Dance", later bragged to the crowd that Kings of Leon were backstage, and managed to get the crowd dancing in heat in which it was almost impossible to stand. In fact, I saw a girl get carried out through the crowd (apparently passed out) by her arms and legs. Throughout the show, I hoped she would bring out Swedish star Robyn (recently featured on the Daily Show) as a surprise guest, but I did not get my wish.
4) Peter Bjorn and John: For the song "Nothing to Worry About", they brought out Robyn (yeah!) and for "Young Folks" brought out Lykke Li. I don't know if some people think that for PB & J the bloom is off the rose, but I was glad to have made it a priority to see them, because they put on a great show. Peter Moren made an amusing comment about being on the same stage as Paul McCartney a few nights ago but that "I wouldn't know, because I was walking my dog in Stockholm."
5) Yeah Yeah Yeahs: Karen O and friends have maintained their reputation (in my mind) as one of the best live bands around (despite only "pretty good") records. Everyone around me was singing and dancing. I felt slightly better about my own skeels when she messed up the beginning of "Gold Lion" as I always do when I give it my best karaoke try.
6) My Bloody Valentine: I'm glad they got back together. This was one of the better Coachella performances I've ever seen. I wasn't sure what to make of the 10+ minute distortion/fuzz bit they did towards the end, but somehow it worked.
7) The Cure: Listen, Robert Smith. If you are going to go on half an hour late, and not start your show until 10:00 PM on Sunday night and I have work the next day, you are going to have to not start your set with three songs I've never heard before in my life, okay?
Think I got it all wrong? Did the Ting Tings blow your mind? Email me at RFSLjed@gmail.com and let me have it.
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