Coachella 2010

Day 1

Helping promote for Goldenvoice really has its perks and pay offs, Coachella being at the top of that list. Coachella is one event that will be marked on my calendar every year for years to come. The first time I went to Coachella was last year (2009), and I truly thought I was in a dream. The atmosphere and vibes there are almost indescribable. For those of you who don’t know much about Coachella I’ll summarize it for you. Palm Desert, 3 days, 50+ bands and DJ sets, amazing and massive art pieces, and 80,000 music nerds. Mix all of those components together and you get one hell of a good time. 

I was pretty excited on the line up this year. I feel like the previous year there were TOO many bands I wanted to see which made it stressful, crammed, and less enjoyable. Instead of burning myself out this time around I watched the bands I really wanted to see, and took it easy in between those sets. On top of the music festival I had to leave Sunday morning to fly to Salt Lake City for a good friend’s wedding. Exhausting!

To start the weekend, I began my trek to the desert on Thursday night. I recommend it to anyone trying to get down there, you save a lot of time on traffic. Kassi’s family friends let us stay in their house again, which was nice because it’s only 15 minutes away from the venue. Unrelated and off topic, but they have two French Bulldogs named Loreal and Barney… I want to steal them. Camping and hotels book up really quickly, but I’d like to try camping one of these future years. 

Friday morning started off with a delicious lunch at one of my favorite vegetarian restaurants, Native Foods. After lunch, with sunscreen and sunglasses in hand, Kassi, Maggie, Gia, and I headed towards Indio to let the real fun begin. Goldenvoice did things a little different this year and only sold 3-day wristbands rather than weekend packages AND/OR single day tickets. This meant 80,000 people showing up on the same day to get credentials and wristbands instead of being spread throughout the weekend. We waited in line for over an hour to get through security, therefore missing As Tall As Lions and Baroness. Bummer. Hopefully both of those bands will be back through this fall. 

The first Friday band we watched was She & Him, fronted by Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward . Is there anyone out there who doesn’t absolutely adore Zooey Deschanel? She’s definitely in my Top 5 girl crushes. Their entire set was full of fun and catchy songs, ending with their cover of ‘I Put a Spell On You.’ Zooey danced around in a very chipper manner during every song. She appeared to be having just as much fun on stage as anyone in the crowd was. In my personal opinion, it’s much more enjoyable for the audience when the band doesn’t look like their feet are glued to the stage with the facial expression that they may die as soon as their set is done. She & Him did quite had quite the opposite attitude. I’d definitely like to see She & Him again in a non-festival setting. Unfortunately, so would everyone else in the greater Los Angeles area and their shows usually sell out right away.

Kassi and I split with the other girls to walk around a bit. We caught a couple songs from The Specials and Lucero, wandered around looking at all of the art pieces, and of course, took our infamous jumping photos, which turned out absolutely fantastic. We caught a bit of Passion Pit from a distance while eating dinner, then headed towards the Mojave tent for the start of Grizzly Bear’s set.

I was really torn between watching Grizzly Bear or La Roux, whose set times started within 15 minutes of each other. After a few songs of Grizzly Bear’s set, it was clear to me that they weren’t a band I’d like to see in a festival setting, especially in the company of the extremely LOUD group of people surrounding us. I hope to one day see them in an intimate venue with more respectful fans. Heading over to the next tent where La Roux was scheduled to play was nearly impossible. I never knew she had such a following. There was no way Kassi and I were going to be able to get into the tent, or within 20 feet of it, but I was determined to at least hear her. Although we couldn’t see much of the stage, she sounded awesome. Looking at it now, it was definitely one of my favorite sets from the weekend. There wasn’t one person in the crowd standing still. Love love love love love La Roux. 

Anyone who has been to Coachella knows how impossible it is to try to meet up with someone. Put 80,000 people in that small radius and the cell phone networks freak out. Kass and I caught a glimpse of LCD Sound System while we were trying to find the other girls. After searching for a bit we gave up looking to watch partial sets from Imogen Heap and Erol Alkan. I saw Erol Alkan in January whilst in England in a room that could comfortably hold less than 50 people. Although that entire experience was amazing, seeing him with thousands of other people had a much more exciting energy. Imogen Heap was exactly what I needed to cure a bad case of a migraine. Kassi and I laid in the grass for quite some time during her set. I can’t think of any other festival that would be clean enough to lay on the ground. 

After Imogen Heap we had planned to meet the other girls at our shared locker. You have to book a locker pre-festival, and they usually sell out quickly, but I HIGHLY recommend it. Thankfully Gia had the brilliant idea to rent one. We were able to catch a couple of Vampire Weekend’s songs while we headed to the general direction of the lockers. Vampire Weekend has always screamed summer band to me. Their songs are beyond catchy, send positive vibes, and have a super beachy feel to them. They sounded great, and I wasn’t too disappointed to miss most of their set because Kassi and I were fortunate enough to work as side stage security (aka sit on the side of the stage) for a somewhat secret show earlier this year. I highly doubt their Coachella performance could top that experience. 

I had absolutely no expectations from Jay-Z, the final performance for Day 1. I’ve never really cared much for Rap or R&B, and although I thought it was uber cheesy that he had a rather large countdown as his entrance, it got the crowd pretty excited. He really impressed me. Rare, but I guess there are still some people out there who are actually good performers and have rightfully earned their turn in the spotlight. A guest appearance from Beyonce and fireworks only added to how awesome the entire day was. 

Day 2

Frank Turner was the number one person I had wanted to see all weekend. He was scheduled to play first on Day 2, which meant I had to get up much earlier than my body was ready for. The other girls weren’t too fond of the idea to go to the venue that early in the afternoon, so I headed down solo. Spending one day in the blistering heat is exhausting. By days two and three the trick to staying energized is to go once the heat starts simmering down a bit. Unfortunately, that wasn’t on my agenda since Frank was my number one priority. Thankfully there are always misters and plenty of shade in VIP… another plus of promoting for Goldenvoice.

I have never seen Frank play with his band. I was a bit apprehensive when I heard that the whole band would be flying out because I love the energy and intensity he has when he’s on stage by himself. I was worried that the band may change that vibe to an average Joe kind of set. Boy, was my idea wrong. Not only did the band make the entire set sound awesome, they brought Frank to a whole new level of confidence. His intensity multiplied, and he delivered a flawless performance. 

I was only able to catch a few songs of RX Bandits before running into a friend of mine, Chris. Excited that I wouldn’t have to spend the entire day alone, I joined Chris, Frank Turner, and his band, to the main stage to watch Old Crow Medicine Show. Old Crow Medicine Show is definitely one of the best Bluegrass bands out there right now. Their set was so much fun and energetic. 

Another band I was really looking forward to seeing were The Temper Trap. These Aussies drew quite the crowd for Coachella. Their set was just as good as the previous time I saw them. I probably enjoyed the Coachella set more due to the fact that I was more familiar with their songs this time around. Rumor has it they have a fall tour stopping in LA. I can only hope that the rumor is true. 

After The Temper Trap I decided to cool down for a bit in VIP and watch Tokyo Police Club from a distance. To my surprise, Old Crow Medicine Show were playing a small additional set for the press staff. It was quite the treat to see them again. I couldn’t help but smile at the fact that they put a hat on the ground to collect any donations people may throw out for them. 

I was finally able to meet up with Sarah and her friend Anna just in time to watch The XX together. This trio from Britain has had quite a buzz recently, and I was relieved they were playing Day 2 so that I didn’t have to add them to the roster of bands I’d been dying to check out and would be missing on Day 3. The XX are definitely buzz worthy and live up to any hype you may have heard. Even Jay Z and Beyonce were spotted side stage watching them. 

The rest of the day seems like it went by with such a blur. I stuck around with Sarah and Anna for a majority of the evening, while bumping into Chris, Frank, and the boys again. Caught a few songs from Coheed & Cambria, Hot Chip (danced my little heart out during their set), and Faith No More. Wish I could have controlled my festival ADD and watched full sets from all three of those bands. Sigh. 

For anyone who has seen Muse, you’ll understand why I don’t have to say much about their set. Muse were amazing, both musically and visually. They played all of their hits, and I was surprised by how many of their songs I actually knew. I was in awe over their glass piano and their light show. The entire time they played seemed so surreal, leaving me speechless. 

I separated with Sarah and Anna to start promoting with Eddie for my last time at Coachella 2010. I have never heard of or seen Tiesto prior to the festival. Eddie described him as the biggest DJ in the world… blah blah blah. The only thing I cared to know about Tiesto was how true the rumor that Tegan & Sara were to come out and perform a song that they had done with him was. I had bumped into Tegan in VIP earlier in the day who confirmed that they wouldn’t be teaming up during his performance due to lack of sound check and practice. I still had high hopes that they would though. Unfortunately, Tegan was telling the truth, and they didn’t come out. Tiesto’s set was awesome regardless. The crowd went insane, and he was perfect background music to keep me awake while passing out flyers. 

The night ended with the red vines and 7 layer dip at Joslyn’s, less than 3 hours of sleep, and an early flight to Salt Lake City with an even earlier 2 hour drive to LAX.

All in all, the only complaint I had about Coachella this year was the fact that I missed a lot of amazing bands on Day 3 for scheduling conflicts, and the Icelandic volcano for not allowing Frightened Rabbits to make it overseas. I was really looking forward to seeing them play.

Thank you Coachella 2010 for being incredible.