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In response to
"On the matter of IMAX and "LieMAX", I draw your attention to the database at LFexaminer."
by
Mop
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Coachella Day 2
Posted by
JD (aka Jason Dean)
Apr 16 '13, 20:45
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Day 2
Regaining consciousness around 10 or so, I offer to run over to a nearby drugstore to get some water and then a request for Aleve. I think we end up leaving the hotel around 11? 1130 and we head over to Elmers. Elmers which is a regional Denny�s type alternative. Except that it is regional to the Pacific NW. But it is a relatively large restaurant, they serve great breakfast and they turn tables pretty quickly. Also on the way to the festival.
Try parking at a different lot this time which yields a shorter walk but unfortunately a longer wait to go through security and get into the festival as it a smaller entrance with less stations.
Oh, and for the first time ever, I decide to do a limited version of pre-gaming at the parking lot / walk in. So start this rambling side note, many years ago we learned that packing a cooler with water / soda and purchasing a bag of ice to keep them cold was a fantastic treat to have at the end of the night. It is too far to walk back to the car to try to get to them during the festival but back in the day when it take 30-60 minutes to leave the lot, it was a blessing to have a cold drink. We�ve slightly evolved it to the where we learned where the ice machine is at the hotel so no longer need to purchase ice. This year on days two and three, I took to stashing a single beer in the cooler with the intention of drinking on the walk into the festival. (No drinks and especially no glass allowed past security). So on Saturday, before I can even get to the one beer, Veronica points out that the folks from two cars over are asking if anyone has a bottle opener. Actually she says: �Aren�t you going to help out your fellow Asians�..�. Since I have had a bottle opener on my keychain forever, I of course help out. And then I crack open my bottle. My plan is going swimmingly until I learn that the walk in from this lot is much shorter than where we parked on day 1. So I�m about ¾ of the way done when I�m advised by the staff that no glass allowed in and there�s trash cans right behind us and then like 10 yards up. So in drinking style not employed since college, I finish and we run smack into the security line.
This security line takes seemingly forever and we�re just waiting in the sun. And it feels like we�re melting. And I watch the minutes go by on my phone and give into the inevitable that I�m so missing the the 255 set for Savages. But c�est la vie.
We do eventually make our way into the festival, stop by the locker and drop off evening jackets and pickup beach towels and head out to the mainstage. While we (actually, I) missed Savages, we are perfectly on time for the Dropkick Murphys on the main stage. Now that�s a fun way to start the day. After the sad events of yesterday, I wonder what they will say next weekend for their set as they couldn�t be any more Boston.
We grab some water and make our way over to the Mojave tent which is the larger of the two tent stages o wait for Bat for Lashes. I�ve been fighting something have run into my left eye and while waiting I simply can�t take it anymore and head off to the medical tent to have it rinsed out. That may seem like overkill but keep in mind that there�s pretty much zero running water that the average festival goer has access to. I meet back up with Veronica for about the second half of the Bat for Lashes set. Other than excuse me, pardon me, slithering my way through the crowd, this is much easier reunion than the night before as one there�s daylight and two Veronica�s at a corner of the sound board area.
Once the set ends, we have a quick discussion as what to next and that next ends up to head right back into the same tent as Major Lazer is up next. To be honest, I know the name as some type of producer / DJ act. This set just gets more and more full as the start time approaches. By the start, the crowd has spilled out the back and sides of the tent. As Major Lazer fans know what happens is a non-stop dance mix. I find myself feeling old as I watch the surrounding crowd seemingly effortless bounce along at varying paces, wave their hands, and generally follow along the exhortations of Diplo. To his credit he has enlisted a pair of the most fit dancers I�ve ever seen as well as does things like crowd surf both with and without a giant hamster ball. He�s got the audience primed to do pretty much anything so he asks the crowd to 1) take off their shirts 2) wave them over their heads 3) Throw them as high as they can Damned if a surprising number of people didn�t do one and two . A lesser amount carried through with the last request but there were more shirts in the air than I expected.
Oh and speaking of shirts, this is set that while we were waiting between sets, relatively early three young women? Late teen girls? take places in front of us and nearly at the same time a group of what I can only describe as Mexican bros set up shop next to us. The guys are fascinated by the girls as they are topless with only pasties on. Actually over the course of the set that trio will become popular photo partners. But what I remember is that one of the bros has his girlfriend with him and from her tone and body language I think she was chiding him that she was prettier than any of the boob trio and if that�s what she was saying, I�d have to say I agree.
However that set just wore me amount as it went on it was all I could do to stand there much less any of arm waving bouncing stuff. Oh..and he did have a sequence where he asked the crowd to crouch down as low as they could so they could bounce back up in tempo to the break. Ummm�yeah dude, if I crouch down my tired and apparently too old for this ass is never getting back up. Luckily we�re over by the sound board so I�m next to a group of guys on the other side of the barrier who remain standing. Course they�re working� All said and done, I gotta admit that was an amazing set.
We decide from there to head over to one of the beer tent areas for dinner as we had seen earlier that the Mangler Grilled Cheese Truck is parked in there. So we get grilled cheese and since we have some time before the Postal Service set, we (actually more I) head over to get a beer. The discovery of this year is that in addition to beer, they have one tap (at least in this area) with Strongbow Cider. So in perhaps one of the larger upsets of the festival, we both end up having a drink.
It is short walk from that area to walk out to be in front of the Main Stage. The Postal Service is really good. I was sort of fan ten years ago but there performance is strong enough to keep me engaged. Well what really keeps me interested is how much they have integrated Jenny Lewis into the performance. And I adore Jenny Lewis. I wonder if she holds the record for Coachella appearances under different acts: Rilo Kiley, Jenny Lewis, Jenny and Johnny, and now The Postal Service. I�ve been going to Coachella long enough that I had a chance to see all of those incarnations though sadly I was not wise to the siren like call of the chanteuse that is Jenny Lewis until I had missed Rilo Kilely. But back to the Postal Service which proved that you can have an engaging, non-bombastic set. I was surprised as how many people filled the field and The Postal Service delivered.
On the long term plans there�s the choice of Phoenix / Sigur Ros / New Order but those 1130-1150 start times. Its about 945 after The Postal Service. So we wander back to see Moby�s DJ set at the Sahara tent. While current EDM rules the roost, apparently the guys who helped start the move aren�t quite the appeal as we�re able to generally work our way into the back quarter of tent. The setup is technically impressive and generally have a good time but we only make it to about 1030 so and decide to call it an evening.
All but empty path�oh, which reminds me that the named the various routes out the venue by colors this year and depending on where you were headed campground, taxi stand, shuttle stop, parking lots you followed the appropriate color. Why do I bring this up? Cause the path for Saturday was the purple path and to mark the path there was banner that read Purple Path in the Purple Rain font. And for the hard of seeing, there was the speakers playing about a 45 second loop of Purple Rain, Purple Rain. Well done, Coachella. Well, done.
Coachella Day. Warning probably too long and definitely rambling TL;DR Of Monsters and Men, YYYs, Tegan and Sara best of the day
This year Goldenvoice selected a lineup seemingly a little short on the major festival headliners but at the same time pretty solid with lots of want to sees in place of everybody on the festival grounds crowd to the handful of must sees. I had this in mind in the months since the lineup had been announced but was struck by my initial reaction to the days being kind of disappointed. However when thinking back on it and having the discussion with Veronica as to what I thought was the best set I realized that I�d actually seen a number of good to fantastic sets.
Day 1
The hope was to get the festival site in time to see Youth Lagoon but unexpected traffic (due to construction) out on I-10, we were delayed to Palm Springs to check into our hotel and then our eventual entrance to the festival. Slightly longer to get our locker as well but net result was that the first set we caught was Polica.
Polica played a solid set and was kind of a mellow way to work into the festival. It kind of nagged at me that if they are normally a stripped down act that maybe beefing up your sound with some actual musicians? It took me awhile to take in that they had two drummers and what I�m pretty sure was a bassist. Their sound is electronic but no actual keyboardist? Then at about the three quarter point in the set this guy who was kind of barely on the stage steps forward and he just sings backup on like two songs? Kind of disappointing initially but in retrospect it was pretty solid.
We then choose poorly as we opt for Metric. They made Polica and their non-band seem fantastic. Metric has IMO great music but they were on the main stage and even with a full band, they just couldn�t engage the crowd. Couldn�t get that music to live or something. So while we kind of vaguely listen to that set, we apologize to Polica. It won�t be till the next morning that we realize that we could have been at Johnny Marr who apparently led with How Soon is Now.
We choose to get dinner over at set of food booths that is at the back of the sound field for Of Monsters and Men. Finally an act that lives up to expectations. I think it might have been the perfect time in that band�s existence to see them in that type of conditions. They have the second largest stage at what is called the Outdoor Stage starting at 545 so still pretty warm when they start but the sun is setting as their set goes on. Now I get that�s a large band to start with as far as members but they seem to have been doing this long enough or their music style is such that they appear to being having fun with the set and this carries out to the audience. The female lead reminds of Bjork but in a folk context of the band�s style. Good times. Nay, excellent times.
We then wander over toward the main stage and catch the last two songs of Passion Pit. Veronica is happy and disappointed as those two songs are her favorites but then again it was only two songs and they were leaving.
We kind of wander around which lets us check out what is now a new �stage� at the festival. Yuma is a DJ �stage� but the physical set up is that is a dome so completely enclosed with air conditioning. It is also a whole different world as inside it has been setup to resemble a dance club. So there�s a wooden floor, there�s little couches off to the edges. It is very cool and it will be the last time we get in as turns out we were ahead of the curve. We go by later that night and at that point there�s a line. All weekend long, there will always be a line and from what I�ve read about an hour wait. I had noted as one of the artists I wanted to see as Maya Jane Coles but as she played Yuma on Sunday evening that was one that I would end up passing on.
We also note that the Sahara tent is more like a hangar as it significantly larger. The crowd seemingly expanded to fill the additional area as it is just as impossible to get into as last few years. EDM continues to be all the rage. Scared off by the bros and the general insansity of that, we head back out to the main stage for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
While waiting, Veronica hears the outdoor stage startup and wanders over to see Beach House. I stay put between what I think are speaker stands A5 and A4. Actually I�m between A5 and A6 as I swear I just misread it for A4. This is much, much more important than I realize at that moment. So I patiently await the set to start and they eventually do with Karen O taking the stage in some crazy shiny flowing dress thing. They start with Sacrilege off their new album including a full on choir. They play what I think is a fantastic set with Zero at about the halfway point. By this time other groups have ended up around me in what was a pretty empty space of grass and in fact during Zero, I get all up swallowed up by a group of frat like guys who are bouncing along to the song. Tis about this time I stop to check my phone and realize that Veronica has been looking for me for nearly the entire set between A4! and A5. It is remarkably difficult to find people at night out on the main lawns due to lack of light. It is impossible if you�re looking in the wrong area and the idiot you�re looking for has unwittingly gone from bright orange T-shirt to drab blue hoodie (I was getting kind of cold�.) I text back that I�m going directly behind the speaker stand and we reunite. Veronica has been in a slight panic and is now pissed. Turns out that she can�t stand Karen O�s live voice� �Her voice is terrible�. After all of that, the YYYs was the must see set for me on Friday night on paper and then came through. Once the set ends and we can talk to each other and actually hear each other, Veronica tells me that she just wanted Karen O to stop screaming at her. Why is the scary woman screaming at us? Couldn�t defend that as I think that�s actually kind of what she does but I was expecting it.
Next up is Purity Ring on the smallest stage. That was uh, interesting. So the music person in this duo has set up his sequencer(s) to include what look like light fixtures which is kind of interesting. The lead singer is the diminutive female who seems to primarily strike up a classic shoegaze pose with the occasionally staring wide eyed out into the crowd. The music is this not quite mesmerizing flowing series of songs? I think we were there for at least three songs but what we heard was very, very similar as well as being dragged out for the concert that who knows. It might have been one song for all I know. We end up giving up on that.
So we go check out Blur one of the two co-headliners for the main stage. I�ve been a Blur fan and good and bad that they are playing a Blur fan type list. I recognize the songs but they�re not doing a whole lot dynamic. After they play Parklife and Song 2 back to back, I notice Veronica really starting squirm and feeling bad about the previous the whole YYY thing, I offer that we can go. �Go where?� �Ummm, like out, leave leave?� �But what about the twin lesbians?�
Ok, all afternoon and evening Veronica has been teasing me about Tegan and Sara. Goading me into purchasing of their shirts, especially the one that has an image of one on the front and an image of the other on the back. I�m generally of the mind that I probably deserve this. It is also setting up that to see that set we will actually be around for a closing set as they are scheduled to play the second largest stage starting at Midnight.
So while I do want to see Tegan and Sara, the day and night has started to take a toll on me as well so I�m earnest in my offer to call it Day 1. Among the nearly countless reasons I love Veronica is that she is the one who reconfirms the midnight start and realizes that it 1120 or so and we�ve been here this long that we might well stick it out but to go get something to eat. We end up back at food area in sound field of the outdoor stage where Jurassic 5 is kicking it old school.
Jurassic 5 is kicking it old school. There is no other description that comes to mind. I find it to be a fun set . They�ve got this oversized turntable prop that they use at one point as well as portable turntable at another. Then it is just mid to late 80�s rhymes being expertly done by the multiple MCs.
A bit of a turnover between Jurassic 5 and then Tegan and Sara. I feel slightly justified when there�s a few other guys around so it is not just me and a sea of lesbians. Though in earshot after the first song complete, I do hear the command of �Sara! Eat my muffin� Veronica also notes that the performing band is all guys. After having this pointed out to me, I think to myself: Makes sense. Why introduce competition for the groupies? Playing about a 50/50 split between old and new, they are just as charming and musically gifted as I have hoped. They do have a point where something goes wrong with the mics associated with the drum kit so Sara attempts to kill time and attempts stage patter that starts to rapidly deteriorate as she rambles on to the point that she is attempting to complement the crowd on what we are wearing. At this point showing either the experience of them performing since they were 15 or being a twin sister, Tegan interjects that perhaps they can try something different and offers that they play another song that doesn�t need drums. You�ve never seen an artist agree so quickly so just two of them an acoustic guitar. The set closes with the crowd pleasing duo of Now I�m All Messed Up and Closer. And even if it wasn�t standard set list construction to close with your biggest current hit, those songs have to be in that order as Now I�m All Messed Up really is a messed up song.
So having stayed to the end, we face something that we usually don�t and actually end up in pedestrian traffic. However that�s the end of it as in contrast to nightmares trying to leave the parking areas in the more distant past, Coachella has become very good about getting cars out of the lot. By the time we get back to hotel, showered and to be, it is pretty much 3 in the morning.
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