Two weeks ago Young Tweezy aka Tweir and I ventured out to the desert of California for Coachella. I went to Bonnaroo in 2005 and it completely ruined me in the best way possible -(I mean I still have no idea what the fuck my parents were thinking when they let their 17 year old son go to the ultimate wookie-thon, but god bless them for it)- however, I had no idea how much fun was in store for me out in Indio. Tweir and I decided we would camp as it was the cheaper option- huge mistake. The campgrounds are very close to the venue and filled with all sorts of nice people and illicit substances but being woken up at 6:30 a.m. every morning by the blistering heat and a pounding headache really blows, so if you ever go- rent an rv, house, or get a hotel room.
Luckily, I didnt have to spend the whole weekend with JUST tweir (kidding, sort of) and we we're joined by a bevy of fiesty babes from the graduating class of 07'. The first real set we saw at Coachella was untz-favorite Sleigh Bells. Tweir and I put a show together with them at the Mill in the beginning of the month and got to hang out with them for a little bit- they really are awesome people, so awesome that they saw us in the crowd and gave us a shout out. Here is the clip, fast forward to the last 10 seconds to see the shout out. This is their new song, "Tell 'Em," from their debut LP TREATS which is out May 11- it's loud as fuck so be prepared.
After Sleigh Bells we moved over to the next tent and met up with regular untz head - michwa aka mitch aka michelle wade and her friends for Yeasayer. I loved their first LP but I don't think Odd Blood is that great, I mean half of it is amazing but the other half leaves me cold. Regardless of my thoughts on their album, Yeasayer totally blew me away live, the crowd singalong that ensued during "Ambling Alp" will forever be etched in my memory. After Yeasayer, we went and checked out She & Him, where I rapturously fawned over Zooey Deschanel and boogied to their great cover of "Roll Over Beethoven." After that we drank a few beers and listened to ska godfathers The Specials while the sun set over the mountains.
Following that we went to Passion Pit who were by far the biggest dissapointment of the festival. I've seen them thrice now and as much as it pains me to say this, they really need to work on their live show. I don't know if it was the size of the venue, the outdoor setting, or the sound mix, but lead singer Michael Angelakos sounded like shit. We bounced out of thier quickly and headed down to Pretty Lights, where we did some of the hardest dancing of the weekend. They're playing Terminal 5 on June 4th and if you are in the New York area you should be there, otherwise you are just fucking stupid.
Pretty Lights "Paper Planes" remix @ Coachella
After that we went and caught part of Grizzly Bear and La Roux's sets, before making it over to the main stage for LCD Soundsystem. I could probably write three paragraphs alone about their set but in the interest of time I will keep it short. I saw them open up for Arcade Fire in 2007 and once again LCD completely blew me away. Just like their sound, they manage to strike the perfect note in between rock show and dance party. New tracks "Drunk Girls," "Pow Pow," and "I Can Change" absolutely slayed, while old jam "Yeah" absolutely killed at the end of the set. "All My Friends" was of course the best song of the set, and ignited a twenty thousand people strong catharsis. I wish I could go back. Their new album is killer, these are the two best songs on the album in my opinion - Dance Yrself Clean and Home- although the Eno-esque "All I Want" comes in a close third.
After that we wandered around catching a few songs at Vampire Weekend, Jay-Z, Public Image LTD., Fever Ray, and Whitest Boy Alive. I have to say Fever Ray live was one of the most strange and beautiful things I have ever seen, I wish I could describe it but I'm still not even sure what happened except that there was a dude who looked like Jafar and a bunch of lamps. Fever Ray is the side project of Karen Dreijer Andersson, the lead singer of The Knife, and the band has the same icy electro sound- but if I were to describe Fever Ray I'd say its like a Genesis album walked into a gothic swedish horror film. Also, Whitest Boy Alive were one of the biggest suprises of the festival- even though we only saw three songs I consider myself a member of the converted.
Fever Ray- Triangle Walks live @ Coachella
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