that rosebud girl

Coachella 2010 rocked out!

Another awesome year at Coachella with Ed and Edgar. We really lucked out with good weather this year … it wasn’t brutally hot. And we saw a ton if bands, even more than last year.

The complete list of whom we saw:

Friday:
* Calle 13
* Hockey (partial)
* She & Him
* The Specials (partial)
* Them Crooked Vultures
* the last three Echo and the Bunnymen songs (including Lips Like Sugar)
* Jay-Z

Saturday:
* Old Crow Medicine Show (partial)
* White Rabbits
* Tokyo Police Club
* Coheed and Cambria
* Faith No More
* Muse
* Devo

Sunday:
* De La Soul
* Sunny Day Real Estate
* Spoon
* Pavement
* Thom Yorke
* Gorillaz (most of it)

It was a pretty solid three days. Saturday might have been my favorite, what with the awesomeness that was Muse (I was going insane in the pit). But my favorite next to Muse might have been Faith No More.

We were at FNM mostly because we wanted a good spot for Muse. (well, we camped out four bands before to ensure good spots.) We didn’t know what to expect, since Faith No More hit its heyday when we were in middle and high school. But they rocked, got the pit warmed up, and really had fun. Great stage presence, great showmanship. They kicked things off by covering Peaches & Herb’s “Reunited,” which was a nice touch. But overall, they really were a lot of fun. Especially when the lead singer decided to crowd surf and wound up above me. And when they played “Epic” and the moshing was, well, epic.

Thom Yorke on Sunday was also another favorite of ours. He went from rave party to solo acoustic set back to rave party seamlessly. He did one song that he sampled right on stage, which was awesome. The two Radiohead songs he did solo and acoustic were solid choices: “Airbag” and “Everything in its Right Place.” Oh, and Flea was his bassist. Uh, yeah. That kicked ass.

Other highlights:

* Muse puts on a hell of a show. Whether you love or hate their latest album, if you like them at all, they are a must-see live, if only to marvel at the fact that they have just one traveling musician and can produce such a full sound with only four dudes. The crowd at Coachella was also pretty lively, which just added to the experience.

* We got really close for Them Crooked Vultures. Dave Grohl is crazy to watch in person, and Josh Homme is terrific, but the real treat was watching John Paul Jones play a million instruments. He was amazing. I want to be that talented. Maybe I’ll get there when I’m 80.

* I don’t go to a lot of hip hop shows usually. I end up seeing those kinds of acts at Coachella (like Lupe Fiasco last year). I am continually amazed by the backup bands that perform with the hip hop acts. Jay-Z’s band was terrific. Of course, he was pretty awesome too.

* On Friday, we went from Hockey (fun stuff) to She & Him, and Edgar commented to me, “We just went from the 1970s to 1950.” It was funny. Seriously, both acts were solid and I’ll be checking them out.

* In the quest to get as close to Muse as possible, we camped out at the main stage on Saturday. The first act we were treated to was White Rabbits, whom we knew nothing about. We were fans by the end. Lovely, textured sound, great percussion, and their lead singer plays a mean piano. As Ed put it, they might have been the best band we saw that we had never heard of before this weekend.

* I was a little disappointed that I didn’t get to see Phoenix. I could hear their set in the distance in between Spoon and Pavement. It sounded pretty sweet.

* One of the coolest things we saw this weekend: During the Old Crow Medicine Show set – pretty cool bluegrass – one guy busted a string on his guitar, ran to the side, took it off, replaced it, tuned the guitar, and returned to singing and playing with the rest of the band in about 20 seconds. Now that’s a pro.

This is what makes Coachella the event I look forward to every year. Already waiting for next year.

And of course I’ll be buying a ton of music in the next day or two.

April 18, 2010 on 2:26 pm | Comments Off