One of the fundamental components of the Coachella experience hinges upon the friends and companions one travels to the Festival with.
"When Prince came out on stage, shouted “I am here,” and demanded that his horn section play a funky riff, I knew that this performance was going to be a blast."
I’ve seen groups come in busses and packed Winnebagos, teams of friends that use costumes and other curious kinds of getups to identify themselves as part of a collective, a particular and individuated subculture within the microcosm of society that attends Coachella.
I’ve seen everything from people dressed in stereotypical Native-American garb to full on robot costumes (with things like capes and wigs existing along all portions of the continuum).
S.P. MacIntyre
My friends don’t do this sort of thing. Instead, you are more likely to hear one of us scream, “You must fight at the Breastuary in Nippopolis!” Or you’ll hear me and my other friend singing assorted Gogol Bordello songs. Or you’ll hear one of us scream at inconsiderate concert goers and vehicles, “Asshole, you better move before I give you more stitches than Lil Bow Wow!” We’re a rowdy and loud bunch with a penchant for pop-culture references, is what I’m trying to say.
I was going to use this introduction to lead into a series of anecdotes about one particular friend who forgot his tickets three times in a span of two days, but I won’t. It’s far too late and you’re probably not interested. Needless to say, I was late to the festival and missed Dredg.
When we arrived, we saw Minus the Bear performing on the main stage. I’ve never heard this band before, but when I approached I could see a close-up of the lead guitarist two-hand tapping riffs. As impressed as I was, I had no idea that this virtuosity was to foreshadow the rest of the day.
Crowd loving the music. Photo by Chance Knecht. ©M&C
The band overall had a number of the positive qualities of contemporary pop-rock, but without the recent trend of whiny and nasally singing. They reminded me of Stabbing Westward in a way, but “not as hard,” as a friend of mine stated when I made this observation. Because of the sun and the heat, the band faced a few technical difficulties. “Sunshine and technology don’t mix,” said one band member. “Sunshine mixes with everything,” another replied.
DeVotchKa, I must say before anything else, has just the right amount of accordion, violin, and tuba in a band: lots. With Nick Urata’s signature near-strained vocal sound, almost a croon, they mixed up their set with original songs and renditions of what I believe to be eastern European folk standards (though, admittedly, I am not quite up-and-up on my eastern European folk standards enough to know this for a fact).
Unlike most bands that play early in the day, a bunch of the people that were bouncing from stage to stage stayed, and not very many seemed to leave. At one point, a pair of acrobats came onstage and climbed large curtains, all the while moving to the rhythm of the music as they were suspended above the stage. They were introduced as “The Amazing Slavic Sisters.”
Amazing is right. In the middle of what turned out to be the band’s last song, however, the bassist appeared to collapse to her knees. Several people rushed to her and put a wet towel around her neck. Still, the rest of the band finished the song and the set ended early.
After this I cruised over to the beer garden with one of my friends. When we were given our beers, my friend took a sip and, looking up towards the sky in dramatic pose, he said, “Tastes like freedom.” I decided then and there that this moment should be written down for posterity’s sake.
Also: a lot of people were using the lids of the cardboard recycling bins as a sort of sombrero or sun hat. Reader, keep this in mind, you can always use trash lids if the sun is getting to you and you don’t care that much about your personal hygiene.
A Look at DeVotchKa. Photo by Chance Knecht. ©M&C
I believe I saw Boyz Noize next. If DJing is a combinatorial exercise placing an emphasis on repetitions of builds and releases, then Boyz Noize is exceptional in this regard. I’ve honestly never seen the Sahara tent so packed with dancing people at 4:30 in the afternoon.
He was certainly able to keep everyone’s interest with the incorporation of a bunch of Daft Punk samples and a modulating sample of the introduction to Prodigy’s “Breathe.” Did I say keep interest? That’s an understatement. He was whipping people into a dancing frenzy.
Kate Nash opened spectacularly with that one song (I don’t know the name), but the chorus goes “I just want your kiss, boy.” Well, Ms. Nash, you can have it any time, though I should probably get chapstick first. She rocked in a way that I definitely did not expect, and I was very pleasantly surprised.
I would definitely place her as a serious contender against the likes of Amy Winehouse and Lily Allen in terms of her live performing abilities.
Kate Nash started out very strong with three really great songs, but then, when she slowed it down a bit, it felt like the energy in the room bottomed out, and I didn’t stick around long enough to see it recovered.
When I saw St. Vincent, I had, like many of the bands that are playing this weekend, only heard one song of theirs before the Festival. Still, though, it was good enough that, when it came time to decide whether to watch the band for a little while longer or eat, I adamantly chose the former.
It is always nice to see the frontwoman of a band be able to rock the hell out of a guitar, and I hope this is the start of a snowball effect. At one point the band left and she played this solo, bluesy sort of thing that was just brilliant.
St. Vincent performs. Photo by Chance Knecht. ©M&C
The band incorporated great melodies that bounced from the ethereal to the just-plain-rockin’. Also, by the way, the primary lead for most of the songs was a violin player (more bands need their own permanent violin players).
There was a small but very receptive crowd to see the group, and I was very pleased I got to see them perform (even though I didn’t get to see them play the one song of theirs that I actually know).
I thought Dwight Yoakam was accidentally booked a week early, but then he said that he would be returning next week to perform at Stagecoach, the Coachella Country Music Festival (I think that’s what it’s called).
Regardless, it was one of the smallest crowds I’ve ever seen at the Outdoor theatre, and I’ve never seen flocks of aged hippies and raver-kids run from a particular performance that quickly before.
One could make the argument that there is precedent for Dwight Yoakam to play since Willie Nelson played last year. Willie Nelson, however, is a legend.
Having Willie play would be like having Johnny Cash play, people from all walks and tastes can get behind it. I don’t think Dwight Yoakam has hit this point in his career yet.
Though, certainly, there appeared to be a distinct number of fans that looked like they were having a blast. To them I said, as I left as soon when my photographer regrouped with me, “More power to you!”
A Look At Dwight Yoakam's Coachella performance (All photos by Chance Knecht. ©M&C):
I saw Death Cab for Cutie while sitting (or lying) on the large steps of the VIP area. I was done running around in the desert and needed a break, and Death Cab provided the perfect tone for this.
While I was lying down dozing and listening to the band, I wondered what the fine line is between boring/uninspiring and mellow/pleasant is.
Was there some quantifiable threshold, or is it like everything I’ve written so far: purely, wholly subjective?
It was still enjoyable, even the more upbeat stuff was relaxing, and it perfectly suited the mood I was in (though a number of my friends later told me they were disappointed).
Also, the screens on either side of the stage kept breaking, making it hard to see what was going on.
A Look At Death Cab for Cutie's Coachella performance (All photos by Chance Knecht. ©M&C):
Kraftwerk is…out of control. These Krautrockers/Cosmic Musicians are just four older gents standing behind computer terminals playing the music that literally created, shaped, launched, and influenced nearly every aspect of electronic music.
The music was sensational, and the visuals behind and alongside the band were incredible (I need to work on getting some new adjectives…).
They opened with “Man-Machine” and proceeded to touch upon every part of their oeuvre from there, from “Autobahn” to “Radio-activity” (which was amazing, by the way) to “Computer World.”
I’ve never been too familiar with their work, to be honest, but listening to them live I could hear the larval stages of nearly every genre of electronic music that has emerged in the last thirty years.
For the second to last song of their set, they placed animatronic robots behind the computer terminals while “The Robots” was playing.
A Look At Kraftwerk's Coachella performance (All photos by Chance Knecht. ©M&C):
Portishead was soulful and ambient and jazzy and every other word that can be used to describe their particular brand of trip-hop. Beth Gibbons’ voice just cuts you to the very core with its unconventional beauty and passion.
Emphasis on the passion: at times she looked as though she were about to break down and cry on stage while she sung her songs.
Adrian Utley’s guitar work kept perfectly in step with her the entire time (side note: he reminds me a lot of David Gilmour. Weird, huh?).
Every song they played was intense and emotional, but I think the most notable song they played was the slightly altered rendition of “Wandering Star.”
The set list was a mix of songs from all three of their albums, and flowed perfectly from one another. Having them follow Kraftwerk was a great decision.
A Look At Portishead's Coachella performance (All photos by Chance Knecht. ©M&C):
While I was waiting for Prince, a very attractive concert-goer I had just met that’s staying in the camping grounds for the weekend told me I should talk about “Laserchella.” Apparently, it was totally lame (even though I’m not sure what it was or is, exactly).
It was supposed to be a special treat for people that camped there on Thursday night, but apparently was viciously over-hyped and completely terrible. “Laserchella was sadchella,” she said, and I quote.
When Prince came out on stage, shouted “I am here,” and demanded that his horn section play a funky riff, I knew that this performance was going to be a blast. And do you want to know what kicked the concert off? Morris Day and the Time singing “Jungle Love.” Now I can’t get my friend from New Jersey (who also happens to be a big Kevin Smith fan) to stop singing “Jungle Love.”
After that, Prince sang a song with a woman he introduced as, I think, Sheila E. Towards the end of the song, she had a percussion solo that completely rocked face. But none of this could compare to what happened when Prince started playing guitar.
I’m pretty sure every woman within 100 feet of the stage instantly became pregnant while every man suffered from some form of prolapse. It was that incredible.
He carried on for the rest of the show with a perfect blend of musicianship and showmanship; he has had, after all, a lot of years to practice and hone both.
He played classic songs of his like “Purple Rain” and “1999” and a bunch of others that I know but don’t know the name of (his work is, after all, embedded into our cultural consciousness whether we enjoy it or not).
Prince also covered songs like Radiohead’s “Creep” and the Beatles’ “Come Together,” both of which were ridiculously good, the latter of which had the audience clapping and singing as “The Coachella Choir,” as Prince dubbed it.
He also may be the first person I’ve ever seen at Coachella actually have an encore. By the end of the show my hands hurt from clapping so much.
A Look At Prince's Coachella performance (All photos by Chance Knecht. ©M&C):
Thus ended a very glorious Saturday in the Coachella Valley. Only one day and eight-thousand bands left.
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