Coachella 2009 Recap
Posted by melfi - 04/21/09 at 02:04:35 pm
What a weekend. Coachella 2009 has come and passed. For better or for worse, I’m back in New York. My body battered from rock climbing and dancing, my mind lost in the Cali haze. I sit here at my desk wondering how the time passed so quickly. While I go try to figure that out, here is a recap of a trancy weekend.
Friday: Getting “Trancy”
We arrived to the Empire Polo Grounds extremely early; too early to be out in 98 degree weather. After exploring the set-up (happily surprised by the return of the Flower Garden), we set up shop in the Sahara Tent. The first act we caught was Steve Aoki who DJ’d an above average set. The DJing was fine until he grabbed the mic and decided to rock out (not a good look). Felix daHousecat took over the 1′s & 2′s next spinning the crowd into a tizzy.
We decided to move to the Sahara Beer Gardens to watch the Ting Tings. Good call. I don’t think I would have been able to stand the whole time for the TT’s. I just wanted to hear two songs and they didn’t play them until the end of their set. After listening to a few cuts from Crystal Castles, we moved over to Mojave for N.A.S.A. I was really amped to see N.A.S.A., which ended up not being that good. Sqeak E. Clean needed to stay behind the MacBook instead of on the mic. Fat Lip from The Pharcyde came out for “Hip-Hop” as well as performing Pharcyde’s hit “Passin’ Me By” which was awesome. N.A.S.A. tried to hook up Kanye via satellite, but that failed leaving the crowd flat.
We headed back over to Sahara to witness the extremely bizarre Ghostland Observatory. I wasn’t a fan, but everyone I was with thought it was the best show of the night. We pushed our way through the crowd to get up close for Girl Talk. That dude can rock a mash-up like none other.
We fought our way through the insane mass of people to grab a lawn spot of Sir Paul. After hanging out for a few songs, my friends were cold and wanted to see the Crystal Method. Me being the dumbass that I am, followed (I am fucking kicking myself for not staying). Crystal Method was loud, however to their credit, were one of the few DJs that actually DJ’d (aka used real equipment instead of a MacBook).
Beating the traffic home was a top priority, as I have never seen that many people at Coachella other than for Rage in 2007. Walking past McCartney, we caught one of his four encores (puts gun to head and pulls trigger for not staying).
Overall feeling of Friday was a lot of trance or house or electro or whatever you call it. WSJ got it right, Coachella was a dance party. Note to DJs who play large festivals with other DJs: check and see what your peers are spinning before you take to the stage. Was it a requirement for every single DJ to play MGMT’s “The Kids”, Rage’s “Killing in the Name Of”, and AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck”?
Saturday: Killer
After douche bag music overload on Friday, I promised myself I’d go see some real musicians perform. Thankfully everyone realized what I was saying about arriving too early, as we didn’t leave the house until 3:30pm. While everyone was trying to figure out what they wanted to see, I made my way over to Glasvegas. Seeing as the sound crew was still setting up, I walked over to check out the Bloody Beetroots, which to my surprise were actually decent. As I stood in the back, my friends came to meet up and head over to Glasvegas. It was odd walking into the tent about 30 minutes already into the set to find not only no crowd but no Glasvegas either. Checked with the sound crew and they informed us that the band was a no show.
Pissed off, we grabbed a beer and made our first appearance at the Outdoor Stage for Fleet Foxes. Finally, real musicians playing soothing tunes. We were able to relax on the grass as most of the crowd had gone to see the (IMO) overrated TV on the Radio.
After a few mellow tracks, we regrouped at the Heineken Beer Garden to witness a superb performance by Thievery Corporation. Perry Farrell was brought on stage to join TC for a tune as the crowd prepared for M.I.A.
M.I.A. started strong, but as the show went on, it was clear that she did not want to be on the Main Stage. She even acknowledged this at the end of her set telling the crowd that next time she wants to be back in the tents.
After a few more beers during M.I.A., we left to face the crowd at the Main Stage for The Killers. We had a decent spot, but was made better by the grimiest move of the weekend. After spotting a security guard pushing his way towards the center of the stage, my friend Berger grabbed me and said “let’s go.” Like following an ambulance through traffic, we cut through the audience finding ourselves about fifteen rows back from the stage in the center.
Other than Paul (reloading gun to shoot self again), The Killers were hands down the best act at Coachella. They ripped through hit after hit playing a great mix of new and old. Fireworks lit up the desert night sky as the band left the stage for a few moments. Upon return, Killers front man Brandon Flowers thanked the crowd for its support saying that “five years ago we were playing in one of those tents at noon and now we’re here.” The band quickly moved into “Jenny” followed by their closing number, a raucous crowd chanting version of “When We Were Young.”
Saturday was much calmer than the previous day. I was able to relax while my friends had an excellent day. By the end of the night it was starting to set in that we only had one day left.
Sunday: There is no Cure
After partying through the night, I woke up to enjoy a poolside breakfast. A few hours of recouping later, we made our last pilgrimage back to the festival.
Hip-Hop dominated the day starting with Lupe (I know The Knux were earlier, but who could make a 1:35 set?). After catching the end of Mr. 1st & 15th, I made my way over to K’naan to prepare for the Clipse. K’naan turned out to be a great live act, freestyling about the Somali pirates and getting the entire crowd (packed out to my surprise) signing along with him. Once K’naan was off, I pushed and shoved my way to the front snatching prime real-estate on the barricade.
This was one of the top shows I had come to see. I had seen the Clipse right after their first album was released and had high expectations for this set. And then a sound crew guy announced over the PA, “Thank you everyone for coming to Coachella. I hope you all have had a great weekend so far. Unfortunately, the Clipse had to cancel their appearance and will not be able to perform.” You have got to be shitting me. How do you not make a show that has been planned for over 3 months?!?
Really pissed at this point, I snagged a few beers at the Heineken tent and sat down for the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s. With the end drawing near, it was time to sit back and enjoy what was left. My Bloody Valentine took to the Main Stage and with 20 minutes left in their set, we exited the beer garden to claim a spot right in front of the speaker for The Cure. Thank god I decided to get up and refill my water bottle because for the next 15 minutes the only sounds coming from the stage were feedback from the guitars, screaming, and banging. Literally, fifteen minutes of straight noise. As I looked back at the crowd, all I could see were people covering their ears.
After My Bloody Crap left the stage, we finagled our way about 10 rows deep from the stage for the final act of the night. Stoked, we waited for the stage to be set as the crowd began to move forward. The Cure arrived on stage and after about 2 songs with lead singer Robert Smith looking like a 60 year old Heath Ledger in full Joker getup, I decided I had had enough. It took about five minutes to make my way out of the crowd. When I finally made it out, I could hear Public Enemy rocking out. Just in time, I caught “Fight the Power” before I grabbed another beer and sat down to hear the only Cure song I cared to hear, “Pictures of You.”
I made my final rounds in the complex when I received a text from my friends saying they couldn’t stand being upfront anymore either. Sticking around for one more song, we regrouped and made our way to the exits.
We left to the sounds of the LA Riots blasting more MGMT in the Dome by the exits, a fitting ending to a trancy weekend.
You can check out some pictures here on NY Hoosier in the picture section or click on the links below for the full album.
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