Sunday, June 26, 2011

Coachella - Day 3

Day 3 you're always running on pure adrenaline. After surviving several years of festivals, nothing quite compares to making it through day 3 of Coachella. I often liken it to the last night in Vegas after one hell of a weekend. The exhaustion has set into your body but if you don't let your brain know it you can make for a epic day full of energy you forgot you had. The motivation behind all of it, aside from pure dedication to simply make it all weekend, was that the lineup was going to make you work your ass off if you were going to even begin to skim the surface. In other words, best lineup of the festival.

What I would've seen had I had the energy to arrive pre 4pm (and acts I'm still dying to see): Phosphorescent, Twin Shadow, Plan B, Menomena, Tokimonsta, Delorean.

What I actually saw: Jack Beats, High (Fucking) Contrast, Joy Orbison, Trentmoller (albeit a hard hard decision to skip The National...again), Duck Sauce (more like weak sauce), Chase & Status, Ramadanman (for couple songs), The Strokes, & Kayne.





The hippie, the raver, the lady, & the rocker

Ravers during Jack Beats

.................




Too good to be true...except that it's real!!!

High Contrast!!!!!
As a longtime supporter and self proclaimed poster child for all things Hospital Records it was a massive treat for me to get to see High Contrast. The Seattle drum and bass scene has tapered in recent years and I've had to survive on the Hospital Records podcast in the meantime. High Contrast is definitely my favorite artist on the label.



I was dancing so hard in the midday desert heat that I had to remind myself to slow down, drink water or I was going to literally hurt myself. So amazing!!!
Joy Orbison

An unimaginable sunset


during Trentemøller
 On the heels of hearing that Trentemoller's set in Seattle just a few days prior to his Coachella debut was phenomenal I made one of those pivotal decisions that one must make at a festival. "The National vs. Trentemøller" Having skipped The National at Sasquatch 2009 due to my minimal interest level at the time, and another summer 2009 event due to a scheduling conflict after getting heavy into them, this was by far the most difficult decision of the entire weekend. I should also mention that Kode 9 were on in the dome at the same time, though I had finally, after 3 days, become a little 'raved' out. While I am still dying to see the National, I am confident that my decision to see this show was one of the best festival decisions ever made. I wandered in nearly 3 songs into the set and The Mojave tent was barely half full. As the band continued on the crowd gradually grew. 20 minutes in during the most beautiful sunset a Coachella (or anyone on the planet Earth) has ever seen the song  "Miss You" only lured more concert goers in.



The icing on the cake for one of the best sets of the weekend.

Now armed with a packed tent of full blown believers Trentemoller took flight. The sound was impeccable, the band was executing flawlessly, and the vibes were all at a level 11. With only a few more tracks to go we all knew "Moan" had to be just around the corner. The energy could've only been cut with a steak knife. With the live vocals and a completely amped band we were lead on an intense joyride to the finale. I was left speechless by the end of this and could've walked out of Coachella at that moment knowing that there was nothing I was going to see for the rest of the night that would've come CLOSE to the epicness that I just witnessed.



Wandering the outskirts during Duck Sauce
After seeing Trentemoller nail it, I attempted to go see Duck Sauce. Absolutely horrendous. The novelty has worn off for me.

Chase & Status

Chase & Status
The aftermath of the energy high from Trentemoller made it an easy transition to get down with some dirty dirty drum & bass right after. Chase & Status came out swinging and didn't let up for even one second. In a weekend spend amdist a sea of 19 year olds awaiting the now mainstream hits from the likes of Skrillex and Duck Sauce, it was a refreshing change of pace to hear such deep, true basslines as a main event at a festival like Coachella.


Kayne. The man certainly knows how to make an entrance.





Thursday, June 23, 2011

Explosions in the Sky - Last Known Surroundings

As Spin reports via Facebook today "After 12 yrs and 6 albums Explosions in the Sky have never made a music video… til now"

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Just Once EP - How to Dress Well

After their 1st full length release last year I am quite excited to see how this new EP turns out.




Monday, June 6, 2011

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Coachella 2011 - DAY 2

Day 2 always has a much different approach, especially if you're anywhere over the age of 25 and from Seattle where a temperature of more than 45 degrees is so unfamiliar in the months November through July. We arrived much later in the day in order to save our energy for the heavily stacked evening line up. The lineup as a whole was jam packed with names I'd pretty much seen within the last year...some of which I skipped, some I saw for 2 minutes, and some I was ecstatic to see on a much larger scale.

What I would've seen had I had the energy to arrive pre 4pm: The Joy Formidable, Thao & the Get Down Stay Down, Bomba Estereo, Foals (thankfully I'd already witnessed a live show otherwise I would've made it a priority).
What I actually saw: Glasser (who I've seen but thoroughly enjoyed on a bigger stage), Yelle (couldn't get away fast enough), Elbow, Mary Anne Hobbs (for 2 minutes before heading to something I haven't seen), Shpongle (from the beer garden - to psych for my sober state), The Kills (saw most of the set before heading to something new), DJ Hype, ANIMAL COLLECTIVE (couldn't tear myself away to see Empire of the Sun even though I'd seen them before), Arcade Fire (3rd time and still as perfect as ever...still left early to see something new), Scissor Sisters (for 1 song until I realized Daedelus was playing), DAEDELUS!




Me & the girls heading in for Day 2.

Glasser


Elbow

Elbow

Elbow

A deserted Sahara Tent during sunset.

Mary Anne Hobbs

The Kills

The Kills - Alison Mosshart is such a babe.

The Kills



DJ HYPE!!!!!

Getting distracted by the Laser Land Sharks.

Animal Collective

Animal Collective

Animal Collective
I have yet to read a more than lukewarm review of Animal Collective's Coachella 2011 set and am only a little surprised at this. AC is definitely an acquired taste, however, I half expected to see some kudos coming from the blogosphere in some respect as the hipsters who run these things have the technical knowledge of why we should be paying attention to them in the first place. Those who go to an Animal Collective show must prepare themselves to hear noise. Seeing this show was either a true testament of fandom or purely doing your fucking research. I had been on Coachella forums for only the previous 2 months in anticipation of the event and had seen SEVERAL posts about #1 a new album #2 a new Panda Bear album (aka Noah Lennox of AC) #3 small club shows where the posse had been playing only new material. The good people on the forums were educating those of us who only came to know and love AC through Merriweather Post Pavilion as to what back catalog albums to refer to, to ensure enough knowledge of the band to have an enjoyable time given the assumption of only new songs. Taking this advice was the best thing I could’ve done going into this show. I listened to 'Feels' at least 3 times before touching down in Palm Springs. While I, like most of the general public (or at least most of the people writing crap on the internet) have a strong connection to MPP and would’ve loved to hear it start to finish on a desert evening on the polo fields as a prelude to Arcade Fire, was absolutely impressed at AC’s set of 60% new material. I’ll admit, the first few minutes were a bit painful until they dove into “Did you see the words” from Feels. The next 4 tracks were all completely new and I was swirling in emotion knowing that I was part of the artistic process that will ultimately be the next Animal Collective album. Thanks boys, I loved it!




Arcade Fire from a distance. Off to discover new things.