Coachella 2009 Recap: Saturday
Here are my thoughts on the bands we saw Saturday at Coachella:
Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti
We got there in time to see the last couple songs of Ida Maria, but she must have ended her set early because when we got to her stage they were getting ready for the next band, so we headed next door to catch a couple songs from these guys, who we knew nothing about. The music was good enough, but the singer kind of rubbed me the wrong way and never quite seemed comfortable on stage, and his vocals seemed pretty off. Maybe there was a sound issue, but things did get better as the set went on. Not bad…but left not really caring if i saw them again.
Bob Mould
I’ve never been into Bob Mould or Husker Du, so i took this opportunity to see what all the fuss was about. I wasn’t disappointing. He had a backing band, but they were just that…backing…this set was all about Mould and he didn’t hold back. His songs really reminded me of the 90’s grunge sound and it was refreshing (although my ears weren’t quite the same for hours after this set) and invigorating. He generally seemed to be having a good time, smiling as the crowd got more and more into it and at times reminded me of a mix between Ted Leo and Michael Stipe. I left this set extremely impressed and will surely be delving into Mould’s stuff.
Blitzen Trapper/Drive By Truckers
As i mentioned before, at this point my left ear was ringing so bad from Mould, that i found it tough to concentrate on these two bands. I stopped by Blitzen Trapper for a couple songs and generally enjoyed what I heard, but needed to sit down for a bit so we headed over to drive by truckers. They seemed pretty good, as my friends have said they were, but I guess i’m not a huge fan of their music…but laying in the grass taking in the desert sun, and hoping my ears would return to normal, i must say their music worked really well. So i might have to check em out on their own when they come to town next.
Dr. Dog
Stopped by for the end of Dr. Dogs set, who also seemed to be having some sound issues. They kept repeating “thanks for your patience”, which is never good, but they did have a pretty cool 1960’s hippie looking setup on stage with a fake tree, etc. that worked well with their beatles-esque sound. But compared to Sir McCartney the night before it wasn’t even close. I have seen these guys a couple times before and left with the same semi-bored mood as then.
Superchunk
Went to the outdoor theater food court to grab some food, and listened to superchunk while we ate. Sounded good enough, but overall they didn’t do much for me. To each their own i guess.
Henry Rollins
Stopped by the last party of Henry Rollins’ speech/call to arms where i was surprised how non-confrontational he was, actually he was more on the “kumbaya”/everyone here is each other’s brother/we need to stick together/hope train. Must be the new mantra in the obama-era. Warm and cuddly was the vibe, which wasn’t what I was expecting, but was nice to hear for once.
Michael Franti/Spearhead
Saturday must have been the day for political ranters gone happy-go-lucky because after leaving Rollins’ surprise love fest, I walked over to Franti’s set and got more of the same. I am by no means a franti “expert”, but i know he was less than happy about the past 8 years and made sure everyone knew about it. Seems 2008 brings a new dawn…and he was spreading the love to the HUGE crowd that had gathered at the main stage. I really wish i would have been here for this entire set as it seemed like a lot of fun.
sidenote: Marisa was at Amanda Palmer during this and said her set was nothing short of amazing. At one point, she crowd surfed all the way back to the soundboard (on her front) and then led the audience in an acapella cover of “Creep”.
Calexico
Listened to the first 3 or 4 songs from these guys before heading over to catch TV on the Radio and they were pretty good for daytime in the desert. They have a lot of songs with Spanish lyrics, which turned me off on the album, but worked perfectly in the festival/cali vibe. Will definitely be catching them when they come back to town.
TV on the Radio
I was wondering how they would be able to pull off the heavily produced songs from Dear Science live, and I have to say, based on this set it wasn’t good. Given, their sound absolutely SUCKED, with the bass enveloping everything and making everything else get lost in the mix. As a matter of fact, I’m not sure I heard a worst mix all weekend (or ever) for that matter. It pretty much ruined this entire set for me, until they salvaged some of it as they ended it with a great rendition of Staring at the Sun. I’ve seen them a lot of times and have always felt their earlier stuff is the best live.
Fleet Foxes
After TV on the Radio ended, pretty much the entire crowd headed next door for fleet foxes set. Thankfully I anticipated this and spent a little more time going to the right of the soundboard (around the huge crowd jammed up on the left side) and was able to walk right up to within 25 yards of the stage. Talk about opposite side of the coin? These guys sound, despite them mentioning it being hard for them to hear, was absolutely amazing. Probably the crispest I heard the entire weekend.
I had heard these guys were great live, and they didn’t disappoint. They had the crowd in the palm of their hand and everything went great until Thievery Corporation took the main stage and there was some sound creep, which the band didn’t seem to enjoy too much. Thankfully I was on the side farthest from the main stage and didn’t notice it as much. Set of the day for me.
fleet foxes – coachella from Ryan97ou on Vimeo.
Thievery Corporation
I used to be pretty into these guys back in the early 2000’s but haven’t listened to them in ages. We went over to sit down at the main stage and catch a couple of their songs while waiting for Junior Boys and they reminded me while i was into them to begin with: what a mix of talented people. They had huge band (horns, drums, etc), which, unlike TV on the Radio who played right before them on the same stage, sounded perfect and had various singers coming on and off the stage. It looked like they were having a great time, and i instantly started cursing myself for not going to at least one of their many sold out shows in DC. next time for sure.
Junior Boys
Apparently i saw them back in 2007…but as me and Marisa determined at last night’s Jr.Boys show (more on that to come) i don’t remember much of it. So it was nice to see these guys again and actually remember what happened. They were surprisingly good for how minimal/electronic their music is. Some of the bleeps got lost in the open expanse of the festival environment, but I was amazed at how good Jeremy Greenspan’s vocals were and the fact they had a live drummer and the occasional guitar.
Too bad this was also a set where I collided with some annoying audience members. You know the type…it’s why some people have written about “rules of going to shows”. Anyways, 4 songs into the set some girls pushed their way into the audience up front where we were, which normally wouldn’t bother me…that is unless it’s 10 girls. Seriously, i could see 1 or 2 people trying to push up…more power to you, but 10? That’s ridiculous. The best part? I think they were about 17, and acted like they had never been to a show and proceeded to talk (loudly) through the entire set: “oh my god, this is so fun…like…this band is so awesome…like…i can’t beleive we are at coachella”. I know…i’m an old fuddy duddy. sue me.
Chemical Brothers
Headed over to the dance tent, where the Chemical Brothers were just starting their set. The place was absolutely going nuts with people dancing. They started off strong with a Hot Chip remix and then it was 10+ minutes of bass droning without much variance, which eventually wore on me. Had there been adult substances involved it probably would have been great. Case in point: the amount of people around me losing their minds over glow sticks and LED’s being flashed in front of their eyes.
Coachella ROBOTS! from Ryan97ou on Vimeo.
Bonus points to the dudes dressed in full-on astronaut gear with LED’s and various battery powered lights around their entire suits. Well done.
glass candy – coachella from Ryan97ou on Vimeo.
Glass Candy
I was on the fence about seeing these guys. I am a big fan of their stuff they have been putting out the past couple years, but I was pretty tired and wasn’t sure i was in the mood for what i thought would be a pretty down-tempo set. Glad I went though because although it was still pretty low-key, it had a great groove and before I knew it we were dancing around like we were on some 1970’s space disco voyage. Very minimal set-up with Johnny Jewel playing the beats while Ida No sang into a mic that echo’d her vocals all over the tent. They also had some big blown up colored balls that were being bounced around the audience, while similarly, Ida danced around in her “Let’s Get Physical” era leotard outfit. Acquired taste probably, but i thought it was really good.
MSTRKRFT
Wasn’t sure what to expect from these guys, but any excuse to go to the dance tent i’ll take. When we got there the massive Sahara Tent was absolutely packed to the brim with people dancing like crazy. MSRKRFT actually played a great set mixed with awesome swells of drum and bass mixed in with their original songs. The crowd was 100% into it and although by this time my feet were about to fail, we waited out for the finale, which we assumed was sure to bring the house down…that is until it didn’t.
In a move that had many yawning, and others probably pissed at the anti-climax, the dj’s announced they would play a couple more songs, at which point John Legend came out and sang a couple of his R&B songs with MSTRKFT’s beats playing in the background. Normally this would seem like a good idea to bring out a surprise star to end your set, but by this point the tent was packed to the gills with dance fanatics who instead of getting their crescendo’d bass ending they were jonesing for, were subjected to a brick-wall-esque crash into the smooth sounds of Mr. Legend. To make matters worst, he kept saying “i’m john legend”, possibly because he expected more of a MTV Music Awards welcome, when really this crowd could have cared less if Paul McCartney came on stage…they needed their bass. *grumble*
At that point we called it a night (12 hours after arriving) and limped back to our car…
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Tags: Uncategorized , 2009 , coachella
I enjoy reading about your festival experience. Thanks!
on May 7th, 2009 at 3:50 pm