Coachella 2010

by Gabriel Barrio in Concert Reviews, Musician Reviews, Reviews, bands to watch

Such was our discourse, a lengthy journey that would tear at our seams and restore our souls. It took 636 miles to reach this destination, this divine spot. Each mile counted was one in waiting, an eagerness accompanied each mile closer. The trek was arduous and most tiring, leaving with such little sleep and arriving at 3:40 in the morning to meet a line of cars entering the campgrounds. Bumper to bumper traffic more reminiscent of daytime gridlock in major metropolises than anything else. After many hours sitting in a line of cars as people of many ages imbibed spirits, beer, wine, and smoke we had arrived at our humble campground inebriated, the sun rising as we put up our tent. We had finally reached our destination, and this would be an indicator of the days to come. We had laid our weary heads down, we had arrived at Coachella.Coachella was where we had only imagined we could be just weeks before, but now we were finally at our destination. A festival of arts, music, and the gathering of over 75,000 people with the purpose to enjoy the sunbathed music and the raucous nights of drinking and dancing in the lights and palm trees. For those who were not aware of the festivities this year, it included Jay-Z, LCD Soundsystem, Vampire Weekend,Them Crooked Vultures, Deadmau5, Public Image Limited, The Specials, Grizzly Bear, Passion Pit, Benny Benassi, Fever Ray, She and Him, Imogen Heap, Erol Alkan, Muse, Faith No More, Tiesto, MGMT, Devo, Z-trip, Beach House, Gorillaz, Pavement, Thom Yorke, Phoenix, Spoon, De La Soul, Rusko, and Glitch Mob to name a few. It also featured strange art installations such as an oversized organ that festivalgoers could showcase their talent on.

As for the festival it was the same maddening, heat-filled, large convergence of musical fanatics I have experienced in the past. With people ranging from the hipster crowd, to neo-hippies, to young people simply coming to listen to music and mingle with music lovers the world over. There were license plates on cars of campers as far away as New York and Canada. The festival was its usual mini metropolis of people making friends and being neighbors and sharing whatever they could. It made me think of what Woodstock or possibly Monterrey Pop Music Festival would have been like, crowds of youth spending their spring days in the warm sun and in the presence of giant stages filled with some of the most memorable artists of our time.

The music of course was absolutely stunning and breathtaking. From the first night with the absolutely ethereal and otherworldly experience that set the tone for the rest of the festival. As music was playing into the summer night things suddenly became a little easier to handle once the sun was down. The stage was set for one of the shows that I had made the whole trip for. As the lights came on an overturned rubix cube tilted on its side lit up into strange patterns as Deadmau5 came on stage and immediately started into You Need A ladder as the beat built you could see the crowd go from spectators at an event to active participants in something transcendental, the crowd had emerged as a singular organism of living, breathing, raw energy that was a mirror to the music. With hands skyward, hips and arms moving rhythmically to the music the trance had been induced and everyone was all in the same place, heaven. As Deadmau5 played Ghosts and Stuff the crowd went from a moving mass of dancers to an exploding ball of sound and life.  Deadmau5 played for maybe an hour non-stop but seemed like an eternity. As each song came on energy kinetic spread from the speakers to the tent, the lights and sounds, every square inch transformed into a dance floor and platform for people to share this moment with each other. As bass traps pounded and reverberated in the chests of the people crowded under the Sahara tent the ambient sounds kept rhythmically moving everyones body in a sea of almost sexual energy.  This coupled with the power of the music, the hypnotic lights and the thousands of people dancing and all experiencing the same event was the first night and the precedent for the entire festival.

The second night was much more subdued but worthy of praise as well. As Beach House and Camera Obscura were both equally soothing and beautiful to listen to during the overbearing heat filled day hours.

Beach House played A Walk in The Park slowly and with the most charm anyone could have offered. With light keyboards and a compelling voice that had everyone swaying, couples holding other tightly and others looking upwards in complete adoration. The tambourine and guitar keeping the rhythm light and warm while her voice took listeners out of their worlds and into hers for just a few moments. Beach House was the ethereal and beautiful sound that cannot be captured from digital technology, watching them on the internet or hearing them over the radio doesn’t quite do them justice. Hearing them play live with the voice and the guitar and the cramped space of the tent is much like the first time someone puts on a vinyl record of a band that you always knew you loved but never knew you loved so much once you heard it in analog, its the raw sensation of being there while the artist spills their soul into the crowd and hand their hearts to those who would break it down and critique their every movement, word, and sound. This is what being in Beach House presence was like, it was real, and completely unable to be replicated on recording. With such angelic vociferation even the stars were in attendance to hear her utterances, apparently Jay-Z and Beyonce were in the crowd enjoying the set as well as the rest of us.

As the sun neared its descent the festival goers appeared in larger numbers crawling, moving, and dancing through crowds drinking, drunk and simply festive. Dancing to Tiesto there was the sudden realization that Sia was about to play. Running towards the Gobi tent through massive crowds of candy kids caught up the music, and people sitting resting their weary bones. Arriving just in time to hear Sia’s powerful voice start singing Oh Father, Madonna’s song covered beautifully. Sia played a short set but filled with expected songs such as You Have Been Loved and Buttons as well as songs from her latest album. Buttons was its usual buzz that had bouncy riffs and Sia’s playful voice, and a personal favorite Academia was sweet and had a childlike presence in the song and lyrics, her singing was beautiful and apt for the calm and humble crowd. Listening to her vocal stylings power its way through the crowd and land on ears desirous of musing and prose sung sweetly.

The last day was a bittersweet day, reluctant to be saying goodbye so soon. This day was filled with random musical acts from hip hop, to dubstep, seeing the likes of Glitch Mob, Rusko, and B.O.B.

Although not a fan of commercial music in the least there was one act that I would normally be quite ashamed of, but after being in the crowd and witnessing the set for myself I became a convert. The set and artist was B.O.B. or Bobby Ray as he is known. He is a radio hit artist with the song called Nothin On You, sitting in the crowd his set was filled with songs that were complete dissimilar to his radio achievement. He was effectual in getting the crowd excited.  Although not a headliner he performed like one, moving in and out through the crowd and dancing as he performed some songs that were much like the underground hip hop I am more accustomed to. The live drums lent a promising hand to the set and kept the feeling fresh and natural, he also put the microphone down at times to get on a guitar and played with his band with much more prowess than I was expecting. His voice engaged the crowd and hit notes that a radio artist and hip-hop lyricist do not usually have the range for.

An interesting day led to a much more interesting night. As the night quickly approached there were the sounds of Spoon, and De La Soul in the air, when finally I set up camp in front of the outdoor stage to get ready for Thom Yorke. Standing in the crowds of thousands listening to the entire Phoenix set waiting for the chance to get closer to the stage. Finally as Phoenix played their last song I made my way relatively close to the front of the stage as the infamous wait set in for Thom Yorke to approach the stage. After an hour of waiting the curtains came up and on stage came Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nigel Godrich, Joey Waronker and Mauro Refosco, as well of course as Thom Yorke. The crowd erupted many thanking Thom Yorke for coming. The band Atoms For Peace was their name and they played the entirety of Thom Yorke’s solo album with much more intensity. There were even a few Radiohead songs thrown in. Most notable was when Thom Yorke played Harrowdown Hill and the crowd sung along in a strange experience that was peaceful and calm yet bursting with energy at the same time.  Thom Yorke danced about the stage gyrating in ways I had never seen or imagined that he could or would do during a live set. The power and feeling in the air was so intense as Flea plucked chords on the bass that seemed to fuel the energy in the audience, as each bass line grew the people around us grew more excited bursting each Thom Yorke song through to new heights of passion and vigor. As Thom Yorke approached the upright piano he sat much like a composer would softly and straight back as he gently started into some of his more mellow musings that kept the aura buzzing yet calm. Throughout all of this you could see the deathly tired eyes of the people around us light up once more as the night was winding down and the festival was nearing its end.

As the set ended I made my way through the crowd making that last trek away from the polo fields back to the tent where I would stay one last night. That last walk was calm and somber, yet there were still the usual shouts and screams of “coachella” as the parade of people exited the fields for the night. The night was short and windy, as tents blew around in the wind and people made their way onto the highways for an early start back to work or school the next day. As the wind barreled through the rows of tents and the campgrounds emptied it was time to go home. Packing everything all at once into the trunk of my car, my girlfriend and I made our way out of the festival grounds back onto the lonely and quiet streets of Indio with tired eyes, tired feet, sunburnt skin, ringing ears, sore legs and overall exhaustion, and as the palm trees faded away in the rearview mirror the only thing we could both think of was I wonder who will play next year?