Are you ready for this novel of a post? Get comfy…
Muse. Was. Awesome. Really, I don’t know what to say other than that. They totally rocked. The stage was all lights! Pictures! Lazers! And this intense NOISE, but you know, good noise. Musical noise. And then I put my earplugs in and, ironically, could finally hear the music and lyrics. It was wonderful. I have no words. The talent, pure talent, of these three men… holy crap, man. It was so good! If you get a chance to see Muse live, you should definitely take advantage of it. Mostly because they’re just epic (and I don’t use that word lightly—it’s become overused and meaningless).
(Side note: I have my iTunes on random, and “Sara” by Jefferson Starship just started playing. I cringed a little before I let it finish. This is NOT my song. I feel very passionate about this. “Sara, storms are brewing in your eyes… no time is a good time for goodbyes.” Now, maybe if her name was spelled right… No, not even then; I’d have no one to sing it to me!)
OK. Coachella. Wow.
I went with Marie and Jana, of course, and a handful of friends (Lindsay, Amilia, Durfey, Paul, and Teddy). Two cars, obviously, and we camped onsite. We didn’t get to camp next to each other, though; we got separated on the way there, so the other car had to come find us every morning for their breakfast. Suckas!!
There were something like 130 bands there. Of course we couldn’t (and didn’t want to) see every single one of them. We (meaning Marie, Jana, Lindsay, and I) ended up seeing 9 on Friday (Deer Tick, Sleigh Bells, Yeasayer, She & Him, Passion Pit, Echo and the Bunnymen, Vampire Weekend, Jay Z, and the Whitest Boy Alive), 9 on Saturday (Rx Bandits, Zoe, Old Crow Medicine Show, Band of Skulls, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, the XX, Hot Chip, MGMT, and Muse), and 9 on Sunday (Local Natives, Deerhunter, De La Soul, Yo La Tengo, Jonsi, Spoon, Phoenix, Thom Yorke, and Gorillaz). So, yeah, we saw 27 bands for the low low price of $315. Oh, plus gas, the campsite, and food we spent about $450 each. Which means we saw each band for $16.67 each. We paid $17 to see Jay-Z!
And Jay-Z was freakin’ awesome. We left his show early to see the Whitest Boy Alive, but what we saw was incredible. I’m really kinda sad we left, though, cuz Beyonce performed the last song with him and we missed it!
Vampire Weekend was AWESOME. I was already crushing on Ezra (the lead singer) but during their show I fell in love. They were SO good! Highly recommend catching their show if you have the opportunity. They were fun and energetic and engaging. High quality.
Also, if you don’t know Old Crow Medicine Show, you should. They’re a blue grassy, rockabilly band, REALLY REALLY good, and super fun concert. I wish I had seen them in Salt Lake when they were there. I’m for sure planning on going to see them the next time their in the area.
She & Him--Happy, peppy, fun, clean show. I know some guys out there just don’t get the Zooey Deschanel thing. To be honest, I don’t get the obsession, either. Sure, she’s cute and somewhat talented, but I don’t have a girl-crush on her. I can see how she is attractive to both sexes, though. Anyway… all that aside, I really like She & Him. Fun music.
MGMT was good, but not very enthusiastic, which was sad, cuz I really wanted to rock out, you know? I mean, I still did, but not as hard core as I feel like I would have if they were more into it. It was a little disappointing, even though I still got excited when they started playing “Electric Feel.” Oh, my, how I love that song.
The XX was awesome. I have no other words for this band. So… cool, you know? Just cool. Chill. Awesome.
Passion Pit lacked some passion. And the crowd was really stupid for this one. But the music was good. I’m totally impressed with the lead vocals. Dude sounds like a child; it’s insane.
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros were totally trippy. Like, for real, I kept thinking, “This is so Woodstock!”
How awesome is it that we saw De La Soul? I mean, come on! That was a fun one. “Me Myself and I.”
The Whitest Boy Alive was like being at a dance club. We had been going going going going for about two days straight (with a nice little three hour-or-so nap somewhere in there), so I kinda fell asleep standing/dancing. I’m not even kidding. I was SO tired that night, I was swaying, bouncing, singing with my eyes closed and I think I really did kinda blackout for a few minutes. But their show was really, really good.
Muse was freakin’ awesome, of course. They were A-MAZ-ING!
Thom York was crazy! His show was really awesome. Loved it, really. But he was kinda spastic. I kept laughing at him. And dancing. Then laughing, then dancing…
Zoe, who I had never heard before, was really really great. They’re on my list of bands to check out, now.
Jonsi was great. I spent part of that show just sitting, soaking in the music. I wish it had been a “seating ONLY” show, forcing everyone to just chill. But, no. Oh well.
Phoenix was really great. Just a big ol’ dance party! Everyone seemed to be at that show, and everyone was dancing. It was so much fun.
Spoon was a little lack-luster, but there were these dudes in front of us… man, they were funny. The dancing these guys were capable of was, in a word, interesting. In two words, intimidating and insane. I still giggle just remembering their moves. I mean, right now, as I type, I’m giggling almost uncontrollably. I tried to get some video of it, but they kinda stopped as I started recording. It’ll have to just live in my memory, I guess.
Umm… what else can I tell you? The music was awesome. I keep listening to the bands we saw and thinking about the shows and getting excited all over again remembering how great the shows were. Sad it’s over.
And sad that I missed out on some of the other bands. I wish we could have seen all of the Jay-Z show and all of the Gorillaz show. And I wish I had gone to Them Crooked Vultures and Mutemath. And in retrospect, I think we would have had a lot more fun at As Tall As Lions than we did at Sleigh Bells. That was just noise. Yuck. Also sad that I missed Grizzly Bear, Imogen Heap, LDC Soundsystem, Devo. Matt & Kim, Portugal the Man, and Camera Obscura…
There was so much smoking going on, my throat still hurt a week after we got home. And people kept walking in and through and around us during the shows and that’s just rude and annoying. There were SO many people there that some of the shows weren’t as enjoyable as they could have been. People talking during the music instead of listening or dancing or singing along. Annoying. The vendors were expensive, of course. A 16-oz water bottle cost $2. But, on the bright side, if you picked up 10 empty plastic bottles and brought them to the recycling tent, you got a free bottle of water. So, really, I think we each paid for two or three water bottles the whole time we were there, and got about 10 for free just for picking up recyclables. The campsite we were in was about a mile away from the venue, so getting to and from the music everyday was a long walk. And it was SO blasted hot during the day!
All in all, it was miserable and wonderful! It was a great experience, one that I’ve wanted to have for a long time. I’m glad I went, but I don’t ever have to go again!!
And that’s my novel on Coachella. I could go on and on for a long time about it. I have lots and lots of interesting stories to tell (missionary moments, sunburned lips, public make-outs, boobs, people passing out, being offered weed, being asked if we had weed….), but I’ll stop here. If you want more on this, just ask. I’m not tired of talking about it… yet.
