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As you might be aware, I went out to the devastatingly hot California desert last April for my first Coachella. It was good, sweaty (emphasis on the sweat) fun. This year, I've opted to head to Austin for my springtime festival, but I thought I ought to weigh in with my two cents on the festival lineup, both as it compares with last year and the huge lineup I'll be pondering over for weeks to come for the week at SXSW. On Friday, the bands I would definitely try to take on the heat for are without question the Black Keys, Silversun Pickups, Morrissey, Crystal Castles, the Presets, the Airborne Toxic Event, White Lies, and most of all the divine, legendary, genius of Leonard Cohen. Of all the bands scheduled to play over the whole weekend, he's probably the artist I will shed a tear for missing this year. I'd love to see Cohen live, but the middle of the California desert isn't my ideal choice of location. Come back east, please, Mr. Cohen. I'm fairly non-plussed with the rest of Friday.
Saturday recommendations are as follows: TV On the Radio, Fleet Foxes, Band of Horses, MSTRKRFT, Henry Rollins, Hercules & Love Affair, Glasvegas, Dr. Dog, Liars, Blitzen Trapper, Ida Maria, and Cloud Cult. Amy Winehouse is hit or miss, evidently, and that's if she a) even shows up, and b) shows up before 4 in the morning, or c) even leaves St. Lucia to get to the US in the first place.
On the final day of Coachella, here's what I'd be pencilling in on my dancecard, and advise all you Coachella-goers to do the same. Go see the Brian Jonestown Massacre, the Horrors, Fucked Up, Okkervil River, the Kills, Lykke Li, Public Enemy, X, Peter, Bjorn & John, Paul Weller, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, My Bloody Valentine, and the Cure. I'll gloat for just a second about seeing My Bloody Valentine at the much, much smaller All Tomorrow's Parties last September, but I'm sure the desert clime will be just as fantastic a place to see them as was New York State.
All in all, not a bad festival weekend, but apart from Leonard Cohen I'm not particularly wowed. I think last year was a stronger lineup overall, but there are definitely some worthy bands on the bill this year. If you're headed to the desert, have a great time, remember to bring sunscreen and drink more water than you think possible. Trust me. And don't use the portapotties. The trailer restrooms are worth the wait.
Holy Fuck: not only a band with a delightful name to say, but a band with a fiery electrotrainwreck of a sound that’ll get your body rockin’ and blood flowing in no time flat. I can say that with authority, you know, having had the pleasure of seeing them live a few times. Seriously, just try to listen to their LP and not dance. Impossible. As luck would have it, the devilishly smooth Canadian noise-art-rock collective happened to be at Coachella, taking the stage after some actor dude named Sean Penn. I’m sure they were entirely more danceable. Read on to see what Mister Graham Walsh had to say about his expectations for Coachella 2008.
Les Enfants Terribles: How are you getting to Coachella: plane, train, or automobile?
Graham Walsh: We're flying there. Our European tour ends a couple days before Coachella, so we have to fly. Otherwise, we might have driven.
LET: Inevitably, you will forget to pack:
GW: My bathing suit...actually, I might remember it now because you asked me that question. Usually, I'm always forgetting my bathing suit.
LET: Band you're most looking forward to seeing at the festival?
GW: Dwight Yoakam or Kraftwerk. Seriously, I'm not being sarcastic. I hear Dwight is amazing live!
LET: To camp or not to camp?
GW: It's always fun to camp at a music festival... unless it rains. I think this time we'll get a hotel room, though!
LET: What was the first festival you ever attended, either as a musician or member of the general public?
GW: The first music festival I attended was Lollapalooza 1993 in Barrie, Ontario. We missed all the headlining acts because I was there with my friend who's mom made us come home for supper!
LET: The California desert in late April: friend or foe?
GW: We live in Toronto, Canada. I think that most types of weather associated with the state of California would have to be my friend.
LET: Favorite thing about festivals?
GW: Seeing bands you normally wouldn't see.
Ah, the bittersweet feelings of arriving at the Empire Polo Field, knowing it was the final day of the beauteous Coachella. The day itself was much more tolerable, thanks to some clouds taking some of the sting away from that fiery sun. Coachella 2008 was very good to me, and I’m happy to have taken the California plunge.
We walked in and immediately noticed that the place seemed much less crowded than it had Friday and Saturday. I’m pretty sure Sunday was considered the least exciting day of the festival by a lot of people, but even so. Stars was playing on the Coachella Stage when we arrived, and they sounded lovely.
First band of the day was Autolux, and I’ve gotta say I was disappointed. They sounded good, it wasn’t anything technical. But they just didn’t seem that into it. We’ve all seen shows where the band just goes through the motions, and that felt like what was going on with Autolux. Maybe the heat was getting to them, but then again, I hadn’t seen such lack of enthusiasm all weekend. And it was hotter the previous two days. Whatever it was, I was a little let down. They're so good on record...
Next was the set I had probably been looking forward to more than any band save for the Verve: Spiritualized. Main man Jason Pierce had been deathly ill in recent years (I do believe it was double pneumonia), and I was thrilled to learn that he had recovered and was gigging again. For those of you less familiar with Spiritualized, it’s pretty much the brainchild of Pierce, with a rotating cast of musicians helping him as he decides he needs them. For Coachella, he brought his own Robert Palmer girls; a black-clad string section and black-clad backup singers, along with another token male on keyboard duties. The set was initially plagued by the sound guy from hell, who messed up the sound on the first three songs, prompting one member of the crowd to yell “fire the sound guy,” a plea that was emphatically cheered by the rest of us. But things got sorted out, and the show went on, and it was beautiful. It was a very pretty, gentle set, the first time I’ve seen a stripped-down Spiritualized show. I did miss the full fury of a typical show, but the closing cover of Edwin Hawkins’ “Oh Happy Day” was magnificent, and the whole set, sound issues and all, was the best of the day for me.
After the transcendent Spiritualized set, we took in a little My Morning Jacket, over at the Coachella Stage. They sounded glorious, which I guess is par for the course for them. They had a rather large crowd hanging on their every note.
We sat ourselves down on the grass for some of the Love and Rockets set. I’ve never been a big fan, but they were really, really good. Very much rock, and very enjoyable indeed. I felt inspired to perhaps give them some room in my iPod.
Next up was nearly two hours dancing up a storm in the Sahara tent, first for the raucous and humorous Modeselektor, and then for dastardly duo Simian Mobile Disco. The crowd was insane for both groups, and it was all sorts of over the top and crazy in the tent. The lighting was intense, best light effects of the weekend by far. Modeselektor and Simian Mobile Disco were in top form, and people were dancing up a storm. I soon left the fray and headed to the calmer back end of the tent to sit down, but the tent was absolutely throbbing.
The night finished up with a trip to the Mojave tent, for that Canadian psych-rock juggernaut Black Mountain. Hot damn they were good. So heavy, so swirly, so intensely rock’n’roll. If you haven’t seen Black Mountain live yet, make sure you do, because they are pretty much one of the best bands out there. Everything was coated with the 60s and 70s, and several of the band members even looked like they took a wrong turn at 1969. It was sheer retro-rific bliss. Vive le Black Mountain!
And so ended the final day of Coachella. We scurried out to avoid all the Roger Waters fans, and made it out of the parking lot before the masses.
In conclusion, it was the craziest weekend I’ve had in quite some time, and I loved every sweat-soaked, sun-drenched minute of it. If you’ve ever thought about going to a huge festival, I highly recommend Coachella. It has the great bands, the amazing scenery, and the mystique. What more could you possibly ask for?
There are multitudinous reasons why I love my roommate Max, one of them being that he’s the one who introduced me to the impossibly appealing, delightfully cheeky music of Scotland’s tongue-in-cheek dance enfant terrible Calvin Harris. Without Max, I wouldn’t have been so giggly and giddy in the front row of the Gobi Tent, waiting for Harris to hurry up and get on stage. So Max, thank you, I love you, and you’re a doll.
Happily, Max’s recommendation just so happened to be on the bill for Coachella. Color me pleased as punch that I was there to see Calvin Harris launch his American takeover bid in the somewhat cool desert evening. What initially looked like a thin crowd (Harris was on at the same time as bigger draws Portishead and Flogging Molly) filled out just in time to see Calvin and his four merry men assume their respective positions. But wait, you say, I had no idea Calvin Harris had a traveling band. Nor did I. But there they were, mighty cute boys on guitar, bass, keyboards, and drums. And yes, everything was plugged in. Let the merrymaking begin!
Harris made an absolutely charming head honcho, thanking the crowd profusely and throwing in little witticisms here and there. The boy also knows how to cut a rug. And the guitar player knows how to bounce around like a cracked-out kangaroo, which isn’t nearly as frightening as it might sound. You’ll have to pardon me, because I didn’t get a chance to make note of the setlist as I was too busy dancing, following the lead of the parties on stage and in the VIP section just off the stage. It must be said that Calvin elicited one of the largest VIP followings I noticed over the course of the weekend. Could it be that some of the famous folks actually have good taste in music?
Digressions aside, this very well could have been the most fun set of the entire festival, in my humble opinion. Harris and his boys beamed throughout the entire set, bouncing and posing and rock star posturing with endless enthusiasm and energy. The Gobi tent was transformed into a giant party, Calvin being the host with the most. The band didn’t let up for a moment; whether launching into the ridiculous lothario anthem “The Girls,” grooving out to “Merrymaking at My Place,” or jumping all over the stage to “Vegas,” Harris and co. gave the impression that they couldn’t have been happier to be there. And we the adoring public lapped it up. As good as these songs are coming through my headphones right now, it doesn’t begin to compare with the fantasticality of the songs as performed at Coachella.
Now, I love bands with more “depth” as much as the next girl, but it sure does feel good to drop the pretension and dance like an idiot to absolute ridiculous fluff sometimes. My only question is this: Calvin, do you still have love for me, though I was born in the 70s? ‘Cause I got love for you, babe.
Despite all the par excellence on display on the first day of Coachella, there was still much more to come. After a visit to the unbelievable Joshua Tree National Park, my partner in crime and I went back to the oasis of the Empire Polo Field for what ended up being another splendid day of music.
First up was MGMT, orchestrators of one of my favorite albums of the past few months (that being the already-gushed about Oracular Spectacular). The middle child Mojave tent was once again brimming with lusty, sweaty festival folk, so I didn’t “see” much of the lads. However, they sounded fantastic. The standouts were “Pieces of What,” “Electric Feel” (which featured a lovely little audience sing-along), “Time to Pretend” (which garnered the loudest hoots and hollers), and the closing track “Kids.” They sounded punchy and full of sunshine, the perfect band to hear while dripping sweat all over the place.
It was right before MGMT went on that I saw four dudes wandering around, dressed in campy, Native American style. They were utterly resplendent in their gigantic headdresses and face paint, not to mention the fringed pants and vests. And they were only a few of the festivalgoers who made, shall we say, interesting fashion choices over the course of the weekend.
The next band, Boyz Noize, was kind of a happy accident. We got our tents confused, and instead of seeing Bonde Do Role we heard some pretty wicked beats. I knew, and still know, nothing about them, but I can tell you they can kick it. Yes they can.
Kate Nash, bless her heart, was one of the few disappointments of the weekend. I had been totally excited to see how her Lily Allen-but-cooler songs would translate live, and instead of the brilliant set I had envisioned, she sounded rushed, nervous, and just a tad off, be it key or pitch I’m not sure. Whatever it was, it wasn’t working. She opened with my favorite songs of hers, “Pumpkin Soup,” but it was done way too fast. Instead of sass, we got nerves. Which is understandable, but it was still kind of a bummer. Moved on after just a couple songs. Oh Kate, I wanted to love you...but she's still awesome, and her record is great, so I'm sure this was just a one-off. A fluke, if you will.
After the Kate debacle, we switched tents and snagged some front row space for St. Vincent. She and her white-clad band were really, really, really, really good. The girl can wail, and shred on a guitar to boot. I liked her album, but after having seen St. Vincent live I would highly recommend both the record and her live show. You won’t be sorry.
Next up was one of the most highly anticipated bands of the weekend for me, Hot Chip. It had been a very long year since I saw them at the 9:30 Club, and I was like a kid on Christmas morning waiting to hear the new songs live. We got pretty close to the stage after hanging out for a couple Erol Alkan songs, and then some balloons were released and it was party time. Angelic singer Alexis Taylor even donned some seersucker for the occasion, and all I can say is nice blazer, sir. Trés dapper. Oh, and in case you’re wondering, they killed it live. As expected. Happily, there was a lot more instrumentation and movement (i.e. bouncing around) in this set than the last time I saw them. They were more of a band and less pure knob-twiddlers. The irrepressible “Over and Over” whipped the crowd into an absolute frenzy, and I was delighted with how divine “One Pure Thought” sounded live, and “Hold On” was a joy. Though, really, with lines like, “I’m only going to Heaven/ if it feels like Hell,” how can you go wrong? Hot Chip was one of the best bands of the weekend, bar none.
During a break for some (expensive) dinner, we could hear the sounds of Death Cab for Cutie wafting over from the Coachella stage. I have to admit, I’ve never been much of a Death Cab fan, but they sounded pretty good.
It was then time to bask in the presence of bona fide legends (for the first time that day), when we pulled up some polo field and sat immersing ourselves in some Krautrock courtesy of the monumentally important Kraftwerk. There’s really nothing else to say, really, apart from sweet Jesus they’re good. Insert Wayne & Garth’s “we’re not worthy” homage to Alice Cooper here, because Kraftwerk was unreal.
I went from legends to a new kid on the block, as I got myself up front for Mister Calvin Harris’ set. You already know I’m a pretty big fan, and not just because he’s absolutely adorable. He and his band (yeah, I didn’t know he had one, either) were so delightful to be around, as excited as they were to be playing. I was there for the entire set, which was nearly an hour but absolutely flew by. It was even better than I had hoped, as the band brought added levels of cheekiness to songs that were already pretty sassy on record. Another of my favorite sets of the festival.
So then this older guy played. He was kind of a big deal in the 80s. Loves the color purple, evidently. Sadly, I only stuck around for a few songs (unless you’ve been there, you have no idea of how that desert sun can suck the life out of you), but this did include “Glamorous Life,” and we were serenaded by the delightfully nostalgic strains of “1999” walking the interminable distance to the parking lot. He’s still got it, that guy. He’s still very purple and very fabulous.
Second day same as the first: fucking fantastic.
Pardon me for just a second while I remove my jaw from the ground and wipe these tears of joy from my eyes. For you see, I have witnessed what I can only describe as a miracle, friends. Hallelujah, I have seen the reformation of the once and always glorious Verve, and it was Great. It's the closest thing to a religious experience I quite possibly have ever had. Holy, holy, holy, they have risen from the dead to save us all.
As soon as I knew the Verve were going to be at Coachella, it was pretty much a foregone conclusion that I had to be there. After all, it had been over ten achingly long years since I saw them in Atlanta for the first and only time, months before their heartbreaking disbanding. So ardently do we fans love our band that I saw a girl at that show with a large, blue tattoo of our fearless Captain Rock, Richard Ashcroft. And while inking permanent devotion isn't my scene, I find it perfectly within the realms of reality to hop on a plane to see them perform thousands of miles from home.
And so it was that I found myself, after a splendid first day of Coachella, in the second row of a crowd that hummed with anticipation, waiting for the great and powerful Verve to appear. And then, finally, after a gospel-tastic intro, the moment over ten years in the making finally arrived. Richard Ashcroft, Simon Jones, Nick McCabe, and Pete Salisbury swaggered back into view, and picked up exactly where they left off. In my notes from the Coachella weekend, right above the setlist, I have the words "The Verve = perfect." And apart from a couple things that could have happened to make them even more spectacular (more on that later), that's the truth.
The kicker is this: I can tell you what they played, I can tell you how I felt, but the most important thing about that whole set was that they looked so happy to be on that stage. They looked like they felt the music running through their veins and it made them blissfully happy. And they sounded like they'd never stopped being the Verve.
They opened their 11-song set with one of my favorite Verve songs, "This is Music." It was as heady and weighty as ever, the line "if love is a drug than it ain't for me" as powerful today as it was when I first heard it some eleven years ago. One of the things I would have loved to see was less of a reliance on the material from Urban Hymns. Seven of the songs in the set came from their final album, and I think the inclusion of Storm in Heaven's "Slide Away" or "Blue" would have been dynamite, instead of, say, "Space and Time."
The band steamrolled through, playing each track with love and care. Ashcroft politely introduced every single song, and repeatedly thanked the crowd for being there with them. As he had done when I saw them many years ago, he removed his shoes about halfway through the set. Richard also played a lot more guitar than I remember him doing before, and it added depth to their already full sound. And then there was Nick McCabe, and really what else can you say about McCabe other than the man's a genius? Guitars are putty in his hands. The crowd erupted when "Bittersweet Symphony" was introduced, and they played it to perfection. I know many people see that nicked loop of Andrew Loog Oldham's as the best part of that song, but it's a fine song in its own right. The band played two new tracks, "Sit and Wonder" and the closing song "There is Love." Both sounded like a natural progression from the Urban Hymns sessions, but with just a hint of A Northern Soul lurking underneath. The only other thing I would have changed about their set would be to have closed with "Bittersweet Symphony," instead of "There is Love." But the idea of them making new music together makes me immensely happy.
Unfortunately, there was one more act to go on, and so after what seemed like an unfairly short set (though in reality it had been over an hour), the foursome bid us farewell, and I left to revel in the memories of what had just transpired. I felt like I had dreamed it all, it was so good. Here's the setlist, and an urgent plea to go and see the Verve live whenever you get the chance. You might just fall in love all over again.
This is Music
Space and Time
Sonnet
Life's an Ocean
Weeping Willow
Sit and Wonder
Rolling People
The Drugs Don't Work
Lucky Man
Bittersweet Symphony
There is Love
To play Coachella is kind of a Big Deal. To be the first band to play and open up the three-day festival of musical mayhem is quite possibly huge. Nashville’s American Bang brought their home-fried raucous, rebellious, southern rock to the middle of the Southern California desert, and having seen them once before I have no doubt they made quite an impression. I would have been there, but I was somewhere in Palm Springs, guzzling gallons of pre-festival bottled water. Naturally, I wanted to know what mouthpiece Jaren Johnston had to say about all things Coachella. In addition to possessing some pretty fierce vocal chords, he’s a man of discerning taste. Included below is American Bang’s feisty cover of T. Rex’s classic “Jeepster.” Enjoy, my lovelies.
Les Enfants Terribles: How are you getting to Coachella: plane, train, or automobile?
Jaren Johnston: Well, I think we will be flying in to L.A., mixing the record, then I guess the label will rent us a van or something. Hahaha, I'm usually the last one to know these things.
LET: Inevitably, you will forget to pack:
JJ: My freakin’ tooth brush! And tooth paste, always!!! I have to use the other guy's paste, and they hate me for it!
LET: Band you're most looking forward to seeing at the festival?
JJ: Well, we’re friends with the Raconteurs guys, so it will be fun to see them. Also I really wanna see the Verve! Oh yeah, and Jack Johnson, NOT!!!!!! Puke, hahaha.
LET: To camp or not to camp?
JJ: I think Warner is renting a house out there for us and Tegan and Sara to stay at, but i'm not sure! I'm not really into the camping thing if we have to play. Too hard!
LET: What was the first festival you ever attended, either as a musician or member of the general public?
JJ: I think it was Bonnaroo. We played it last year as well as Lollapalooza and I can't remember which was first!
LET: The California desert in late April: friend or foe?
JJ: I hope friend, I would hate to be attacked by the damn desert, in any month! ; )
LET: Favorite thing about festivals?
JJ: All the different food and swag venders, as well as the crazy parties that usually go down! Also we get to see all the hyped bands that everyone is talkin’ ‘bout! Really interested to see this Vampire Weekend band. They got more buzz than a freakin’ neon light! They better be good or else! Haha.
For those of you who might not know, yours truly went to her first Coachella this year. I say first because, frankly, after the fun I had this year I can't imagine not going back repeatedly. It was one of the most insanely wonderful things I've ever done. It was three days of blinding sunshine, searing heat, and rubbing elbows with over 100,000 people on a polo field in the middle of the Southern California desert. Oh, and there were some pretty good bands there, too, as you can see from the poster on the left. I'd like to go through and give you some general impressions from each day of the festival, as well as post some more in depth reviews from the sets I spent the most time checking out. I hope to see you out there for Coachella 2009...
My first band of Day 1 was Architecture in Helsinki, who played the Outdoor Theatre (yes, all of the other stages were technically outdoors as well, not sure why this one was nominally recognized as such). They were really good, a lot bubblier and bouncier and poppier than I remembered them being. At one point in the set, we were told that it had been their dream for ages to play Coachella, and if they got here it means dreams really do come true. Aww. It warmed the cockles of my heart to see them do their thing. After seeing them in the sweltering desert I can heartily recommend their live show. They covered the song "Guy" by Matthew Williams, you'd know it if you heard it. It was big in the 80s.
It was after the AIH set that I began to notice many people walking around with incredibly painful looking sunburns. I thank my lucky stars that I liberally applied my SPF 55 lotion all weekend.
Next up was another band from Down Under, Cut Copy. They played in the smallest of the three tents, the Gobi tent, and it was absolutely packed. We couldn't actually see them, but the sound was excellent and what I heard was fantastic. They remind me a little of New Order, very electric but with some pop sensibilities. Another highly recommended live act (hey D.C.-ers, catch CC live on May 15th @ the Black Cat!).
After Cut Copy, it was back to the Outdoor Theatre to check out buzz band du jour Vampire Weekend. They were...ok. Not bad, not good. Definitely not exciting enough to stick around for more than a couple songs. They promised a new album, since as of now they have but one. Since it's a slippery slope for bands that rise so meteorically, I am unsure as to whether I think they'll make it to album no. 2. For now, they were my least favorite band of Day 1.
Next up was a duo I had been really excited to see, Dan le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip. I'm a big fan, and you might remember the video for "Thou Shalt Always Kill" was one of our Video Vixen selections a while back. Live, the two are simply fabulous. Dan le Sac brought his big beats with him from Blighty, and Scroobius Pip's rhyming was deliriously delightful. They had the crowd in the Gobi tent eating out of their hands with their combination of speaker-shaking noise and whip-smart lyrics. A highlight of the festival for me, for sure.
Continuing on a steady march, it was over to the mid-sized Mojave tent for some Goldfrapp action. This was an idea had by many, as the tent was overflowing out onto the surrounding green grass for their set. One of the only bands I saw to start late, after ten minutes of intro music Goldfrapp finally took the stage. In sharp contrast to the last time I saw them live, when she was decked out in dominatrix black leather, Alison Goldfrapp donned a loose, flowy pink tunic dress, more in keeping with the spirit of their latest album. The best moment of their set for me was "Utopia," when Alison showed she can still hit those falsetto notes with no problem. She really does have one of the most beautiful voices in the world today, and I got chills during that song. Consider them a can't-miss when it comes to live shows.
Took in a couple Aphex Twin songs in the huge Sahara tent, but I didn't even try to squeeze into the pulsating insanity of the crowd. The strobes were intense, the beats were massive. I'm not a big Aphex Twin fan, but it sounded good enough to me.
And then it was time for the main event, one of my main impetuses for going to Coachella in the first place: The Verve. I'd been waiting for this moment for what seemed like ages, and after some strategic maneuvers, we managed to get to the second row of the crowd. I was giddy with excitement, and the band didn't disappoint. I thought I was going to pass out from sheer bliss during their set. It was the perfect way to cap off the first day of Coachella, and indeed they were my band of the entire weekend. It felt so good hearing their songs live again (though I do wish they had dipped into the older stuff more than they did, most of the set came from Urban Hymns), and they looked so happy to be together again, performing. It was a glorious set indeed.
All in all, my first day at Coachella was great. Despite my favorite band playing on the first day, it somehow managed to get even better.
My, what a strange few weeks it's been...but I'm back from sunny Southern California with boatloads of Coachella stuff to report, as well as the promise to get things back to normal around here. Expect Les Enfants to be back in business this week, resuming our regularly scheduled awesomeness. Kisses!
After much thought and debate, I have decided to throw my hat into the ring and attend Coachella, along with probably another hundred thousand or so people. Already I have learned a lot, such as the hotels in the immediate area enjoy ripping off the concert-goers, and had certain things re-enforced (hi, Ticketbastard, you're still evil). But all in all, the good outweighs the bad, and I am very much looking forward to Coachella 2008. I'll be bringing my computer out to the Left Coast with me, so expect lots of updates. Unless I drink too much and am otherwise engaged.
That, my friends, is the question. Seeing as the lineup is fresh out of the oven, I thought I’d take a few moments to go over some of the bands with you, and discuss some talking points as to why you (and I) ought to seriously consider going to the desert this year.
I’ve never been to a proper festival before (HFStivals from the 90s don’t count, as they were a) one day, b) at RFK Stadium, and c) not usually all that good). The idea of spending time in a dusty, desert-ish polo field in some small town really hadn’t appealed to me before, at least not enough to make me consider going with any amount of certainty. Throw in a few dozen good bands and some booze, however, and I’m bound to be on various internet travel sites researching flights faster than you can say “Verve Reunion.” But let’s talk about who’s going to be there, day by day, and why you should care.
FRIDAY, APRIL 25
Not being a fan of his, I’m going to ignore the fact that Day 1 is being headlined by Jack Johnson. The rest of the day is choc-full of hot to trot music, of which the Verve is of the most import. It’s been an unfathomable ten years since they broke up, and I swoon at the idea of seeing Richard Ashcroft and Nick McCabe playing nice (onstage, at least) again. If you’ve never seen them live, you needn’t even finish reading this post, but should instead be buying your ticket to LA. Day 1 also features bigger names in the Raconteurs, Madness, and the National. Hipster favorites Animal Collective, Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, Stars, Minus the Bear, Rogue Wave, and Jens Lekman are also scheduled. And buzzed bands Vampire Weekend and the Black Lips will also be in attendance. All told, Day 1 has the potential to be pretty exciting.
SATURDAY, APRIL 26
Not to be outdone by Day 1, Day 2 has some tricks up its sleeve. Headlining duties fall with Portishead, whose miserable beauty I have wanted to see live for years. Also pulling rank on Day 2 are Kraftwerk and Death Cab for Cutie, who are both sure to get the great scenester hordes worked up to a lather. Other causes for enthusiasm include Rilo Kiley, Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks, M.I.A., Hot Chip, DeVotchKa, Mark Ronson, Islands, VHS or Beta, Bonde do Role, St. Vincent, Akron/Family, the Bird & the Bee, and New Young Pony Club. Some bands I’ve seen before and would love to see again (M.I.A., Hot Chip, Islands), and the others I definitely wouldn’t mind seeing for the first time. Plus, Mark Ronson is not only talented but also nice to look at, so bonus points for Day 2 for his appearance on the schedule.
SUNDAY, APRIL 27
The festival wraps up with another day full of good bands. Headlined by Roger Waters Dark Side of the Moon, the day features some pretty impressive talent. Love and Rockets and My Morning Jacket are a couple of the biggies, but for me the Biggest Deal of the day is Spiritualized. Perennial spacecake Jason Pierce was really ill a few years ago, and it’s nice to see him well enough to perform again (though there have been Spiritualized shows before this one). I’ve seen Jason and his revolving door of other band members several times now, and for the most part I haven’t been disappointed. Come for Spiritualized, but stick around for Justice, the Streets, Metric, Simian Mobile Disco, Dimitri from Paris, Autolux, Les Savy Fav, Sons & Daughters, Holy Fuck, Sia, Black Mountain, Man Man, and my favorite Swedes, the Shout Out Louds.
While it’s not quite a dynamite lineup across the board, the folks at Coachella have done a good job putting together a pretty diverse group of artists that should make the 2008 festival pretty enjoyable. Some bands are kind of predictable, but getting some Big Brits like the Verve, Portishead, and Spiritualized might get a bunch of folks (including me) thinking about getting out the suncreen and flying to the warm climes of Southern California. Head over to the Coachella site for the full lineup, and helpful hints about all things Coachella.
