Coachella.(Friday).2011
Indio, Palm.Springs, CA
April.15.2011
Right when I got to Barstow, you started to see some cars already saying "Coachella or bust", "Coachella bound" and "Carpoolchella". This is only Thursday afternoon on the 10frwy, imagine Friday morning. When I got back from NYCity, I received this really cool package from Goldenvoice. They went all out this year. I thought they where gonna just send a special pass, but instead, they sent this package with collector cards, this year's calendar with passed Coachella line-ups and a Coachella sticker. Nice. The funny thing, they had the wristband inside this envelop size box with styrofoam. Are we not living in the GREEN? This package was not green, but it was nice.
Today is friday and it's 83 degree's.
I just made it for Hurts. I left the hotel around 11:20am just in case and it worked out well. The lines to get in went quick, this new wristband WORKS!!! Once inside, I glanced at the shirt stand for awhile because I wanted to make my way to the Mojave Tent. I noticed they added more space and the layout is the same. cool. Is it me or did they make the Gobi and the Mojave Tents a little bigger because they look a bit bigger.
I caught the last 15 minutes of Hurts and they where good. They had a opera singer with them on stage and when he would not sing, he would just stand there very stiff. Hurts reminded me of ABC (80's band) because they where sharply dressed. It was HOT and they are wearing suits, but they sound nothing like then (which is cool). What I mean about that is they don't have that cool pop new wave sound that ABC had. Hurts sounded at bit corny pop to me, but they where interesting to watch.
I walked around for a bit and I decided to go on the ferris wheel. Thank god I got on it because the view was Amazing. I was inside with these kids who where from San Fernando Valley and I asked who they where here to see and they said "everyone". cool.
I went back to the shirt stand and I was hoping for a Caifanes shirt, but no luck. They did not have any cool shirt that I wanted from some bands. After my 360 stroll around the shirt stand, I went to checkout !!! (Chk Chk Chk). They where at the Outside Stage and I only stayed ther for a couple of songs because it was HOT under the sun. I left to the Mojave Tent to catch Cold Cave.
It's 89 degrees now and one of the members of Cold Cave is wearing a leather jacket. WOW! I know you gotta look cool, but you can do that on your photo shoot. Wesley Eisold (lead singer) wore this black crocheted sweater that he might have borrowed from his grandmother, but they sounded great. The new stuff sounded good and the crowd was into it. What a gothic like band to play in the middle of the day instead at night. Not so Goth.
I stuck around after Cold Cave for the Drums. The Drums lead singer (Jonathan Pierce) was not as energetic like he use to, but I loved his 1990 shirt. I noticed they moved the other guitarist (Jacob Graham) to the keyboards. Why did they do that? He makes the band stand out because of his crazy dance and the use of the tambourines. WOW, they played "I Wanna Go Surfing", I thought they stopped playing that song. I read they got sick of it and they did not play it at the European tours. I wonder why they decided to play it today?
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti was a trip. I have a song "Round and Round" from them that's pretty cool, but I have not done the research on them. They look older and they sounded old. Kind of like a band that formed in the 80's and never grew out of it. It was a mix of early DEVO and the Cars. I was digging it. I stayed for a couple of songs to catch YACHT.
YACHT is a band I keep missing and what a surprise, I finally get to see them. They where good. They are this artsy kind of band, jamming to some cool disco beats. Nice. After YACHT, I went to get a bit of Kele.
Kele was doing his thing and played a Bloc Party song, but he would not say the name of his band. Are they not recording a new album or he is just doing this for press? After a couple songs I went to catch Brandon Flowers.
Brandon Flowers was okay and he did not play "Swallow It". What the FCVK! I was about to leave to catch Cut Copy and then he did his magic. Brandon brought out the guitarist from his band the Killers and people went, CRAZY!!! The only played two songs, "Mr. Brightside" and "Read My Mind". AWESUM.
It went to the Mojave Tent to catch Cut Copy and that place was PACK!!! It was a struggle to get in. I only got to see 20 minutes of the show and it was...AWESUM!!!!! I hope they come back and play Los Angeles sometime soon.
I went to checkout Monarchy because I read they put on a good show. NOT!!! Did Hurts come back on stage and put Miike Snow masks? That's what it felt like and the music was just okay. I stayed for 3 songs hoping for it to get better but it was not. I headed to the Outside Stage.
Crystal Castles where wrapping it up and they where ROCKing it OUT! Alice still has the cast (ROCK STAR!) and she is Punk rockin it OUT. She is the female Johnny Rotten. Johnny, give her the crown.
Cafaines was next. They opened up with "Amanece" (HELL YEA!). Saul (lead singer) sounded great. BUT...(yea there is a but), he couldn't reach those beautiful high notes on some songs. It was the original line up and they looked good. They did not play "Vento" (WTF), but they sure played my two favorite songs, "Los Dioses Ocultos" and "La Celula Que Explota" . Now I know how older people feel when they see a old band. It brought me back to my youth. It felt like they never left because there was chemisty within the band. I was trying to look for some bad blood, but no. Caifanes was the perfect band to end my night.
