Well, I'm home sick today... I guess that gives me the opportunity to catch up on some of my reviews:
Concert Review: Coachella 2004
What can I say? Hot, crowded, expensive, dehydrated, and bad shoes. At least Air and the Flaming Lips put on performances worth waiting for. I feel shitty for missing most of The Cure, but by the time they were about to come on, heat and dehydration and exhaustion just caught up with me and I couldn't stand anymore. That shocked me, since I'm typically the survivor of the group.
Anyway, we only went Sunday, so I'll restrict my talking to Sunday's excursions.
The drive out was insanely hot. The car was running really hot and almost overheated a couple times. We kept pounding water and gatorade, and sweating like mad. I couldn't put on the air conditioner at all for fear of overheating. Gruesome... until we found the In 'n Out Burger in Indian Wells. Air conditioning, lemonade, and animal-style double-double. Just what we needed before entering the nasty traffic.
I felt sorry for the police that day for having to stand in the sun and deal with mad crowds of concert-goers driving like maniacs in the desert.
We made it in time for Atmosphere, who put on a great performance, despite the sun warping the DJ's records. I really dig it when rappers get political and use their words to convey a message. They gave a speech on the evils of cocaine before rocking out that seemed to strike a chord with the crowd. They really got the crowd going. It's nice to hear lyric that isn't just about shooting people, getting high, or fucking women. (Well, there was a little of that, but it wasn't the focus)
After that, we wandered about and visited the rave tents briefly, but they were too crowded to get in. A smoke break in the shade, and a short walk back to the main stage brought us by the bicycle rodeo... these people are always my favorite non-concert attraction at Coachella. Frankenstein bikes running circles around the grass, jousting and throwing whipped-cream pies ... all too much fun. They used to let the bikes run free all around, but this year they kept them corralled in a small pen. I guess it was due to the crowds. This year, they let in (I think) sixty thousand people, as opposed to twenty five thousand-ish in prior years.
After a quick overpriced bite, we got to the main stage and camped out during Belle & Sebastian. I've heard of them before, but the fans were always too bitchy and annoying for me to want to go see them. Funny coincidence this year... my friend was feeling ill and needed some medicine. I walked her to the first aid tent for some Advil, and we caught the last half of B&S while we were there. Very good music.
We camped out and held our fooding for the Cure, but that meant we got to see Air and the Flaming Lips first.
I haven't heard too much of Air prior to this show, but WOW! Those French folk are amazing musicians. It was a little moody, a little loungey, a little modern, and always fun. Excellent use of a vocoder. Unfortunately, some prick next to me was spending his voice yelling "GET OFF THE STAGE!! WE WANT THE CURE!!" and shit like that. I wanted to hit him and his uppity girlfriend.
We made friends with people from Denver and Vancouver. The poor Canadians had to drive back that night. We swapped emails, but never got pictures.
The Flaming Lips have to be the coolest fucking stage act in the universe since Jim Rose Circus. Wayne, as he asked us all to describe it, "descended from space in a giant clear plastic bubble and rolled across the crowd." After seeing this performance earlier this year (they opened for the Chili Peppers back in February) I learned how to sing along with "Yoshimi" and not be frightened of the nun.
After this show is about when I started feeling ill. With heavy heart, my friend suggested I get out of the crowd.
I did get to see a couple of the Cure songs from a distance. They had the giant screens up on the sides of the stage, and wish I could've stayed longer... but I had to follow suit with my parking lot strategy and leave before the headliner finishes. Oy, why did I have to leave so soon??
Well, that's my gab for the night.
Concert Review: Coachella 2004
What can I say? Hot, crowded, expensive, dehydrated, and bad shoes. At least Air and the Flaming Lips put on performances worth waiting for. I feel shitty for missing most of The Cure, but by the time they were about to come on, heat and dehydration and exhaustion just caught up with me and I couldn't stand anymore. That shocked me, since I'm typically the survivor of the group.
Anyway, we only went Sunday, so I'll restrict my talking to Sunday's excursions.
The drive out was insanely hot. The car was running really hot and almost overheated a couple times. We kept pounding water and gatorade, and sweating like mad. I couldn't put on the air conditioner at all for fear of overheating. Gruesome... until we found the In 'n Out Burger in Indian Wells. Air conditioning, lemonade, and animal-style double-double. Just what we needed before entering the nasty traffic.
I felt sorry for the police that day for having to stand in the sun and deal with mad crowds of concert-goers driving like maniacs in the desert.
We made it in time for Atmosphere, who put on a great performance, despite the sun warping the DJ's records. I really dig it when rappers get political and use their words to convey a message. They gave a speech on the evils of cocaine before rocking out that seemed to strike a chord with the crowd. They really got the crowd going. It's nice to hear lyric that isn't just about shooting people, getting high, or fucking women. (Well, there was a little of that, but it wasn't the focus)
After that, we wandered about and visited the rave tents briefly, but they were too crowded to get in. A smoke break in the shade, and a short walk back to the main stage brought us by the bicycle rodeo... these people are always my favorite non-concert attraction at Coachella. Frankenstein bikes running circles around the grass, jousting and throwing whipped-cream pies ... all too much fun. They used to let the bikes run free all around, but this year they kept them corralled in a small pen. I guess it was due to the crowds. This year, they let in (I think) sixty thousand people, as opposed to twenty five thousand-ish in prior years.
After a quick overpriced bite, we got to the main stage and camped out during Belle & Sebastian. I've heard of them before, but the fans were always too bitchy and annoying for me to want to go see them. Funny coincidence this year... my friend was feeling ill and needed some medicine. I walked her to the first aid tent for some Advil, and we caught the last half of B&S while we were there. Very good music.
We camped out and held our fooding for the Cure, but that meant we got to see Air and the Flaming Lips first.
I haven't heard too much of Air prior to this show, but WOW! Those French folk are amazing musicians. It was a little moody, a little loungey, a little modern, and always fun. Excellent use of a vocoder. Unfortunately, some prick next to me was spending his voice yelling "GET OFF THE STAGE!! WE WANT THE CURE!!" and shit like that. I wanted to hit him and his uppity girlfriend.
We made friends with people from Denver and Vancouver. The poor Canadians had to drive back that night. We swapped emails, but never got pictures.
The Flaming Lips have to be the coolest fucking stage act in the universe since Jim Rose Circus. Wayne, as he asked us all to describe it, "descended from space in a giant clear plastic bubble and rolled across the crowd." After seeing this performance earlier this year (they opened for the Chili Peppers back in February) I learned how to sing along with "Yoshimi" and not be frightened of the nun.
After this show is about when I started feeling ill. With heavy heart, my friend suggested I get out of the crowd.
I did get to see a couple of the Cure songs from a distance. They had the giant screens up on the sides of the stage, and wish I could've stayed longer... but I had to follow suit with my parking lot strategy and leave before the headliner finishes. Oy, why did I have to leave so soon??
Well, that's my gab for the night.
VIEW 3 of 3 COMMENTS
I am enjoying the Midway CD, but won't be back in time for that show: this movie runs until June 12th and then I still have to travel back. I have my fingers crossed for Minnesota but anything could happen at this point.
Cheers!