Sunday, April 30th
(still no real order)
The Octopus Project - I have no idea what they'd sound like on CD, but they were interesting and different live. Really should remember to look them up.
Giant Drag - Still not in love with the band, well written songs, hilarious titles, just don't grab me. Do recommend them live, besides being solid live the vocalist is hilariously off-color.
Infadels - Fun stuff, but having heard some album tracks I'm done with them.
Mates of State - Great catchy pop music. Simple but good.
Murs - Awesome hip-hop, there was an interesting blend of hip-hop style lyrics and the generally more aggressive straight ahead rapping.
The Magic Numbers - I felt like I was watching something like the Mamas and the Papas. Not a bad thing, they do it well and it was differet.
Jamie Lidell - Fucking awesome live. I was wondering how he'd translate, a lone white British dude singing soul and overacting like a James Brown impersonator, but he amazed. I was meaning to go check out another set towards the end of his, but I couldn't force myself to leave before he ended.
Dungen - We walked to the tent with the intention of stopping...couldn't do it.
Metric - Awesome, didn't know much of them but I'm beginning to dig their album, damn good live for a band I basically didn't know.
Ted Leo & the Phamacists - Awesome shit, I've been hearing about them forever and have always been too lazy to check them out past a song or two, but I was really impressed live. Just straight, loud (at times) rock'n'roll. Picked up an outstanding CD of theirs aftwerwards. Also awesome because the Ted covered the beginning of Daft Punk's 'One More Time.'
Seu Jorge - One of the most stand-out performances of the fest because I didn't know what to expect. I have his album Cru and I know the Bowie covers, but didn't know how well it was going to work for me live. I loved it, the music had a very deffinite vibe to it that just screamed that this was something personal and authentic.
Digable Planets - Classic hip-hop, these guys were great live, totally fun and on the spot. I would've liked to check all their set, but I don't know if I missed much, I got exactly what I wanted from them.
Gnarls Barkley - Hype can be a dangerous thing, sometimes it backfires and you end up disappointed even though an act is good, it's not good enough to live up to the hype. Sometimes. Othertimes you get to watch something like Gnarls Barkley. With a 12 piece backing band (including a string quartet and Chris Vrenna of Tweaker/NIN on drums) full costumes, great music and just an overall positive vibe it was one of the most fun sets, probably second to Daft Punk. CD is outstanding, and has a very different feel from the live show (this was their first ever concert).
Wolf Parade - Heard plenty about these guys, liked what I saw live but I honestly can't tell you anything else. Means I probably won't pick up their album.
Mogwai - Coachella is damn near the perfect setting for this band in my opinion. Their sound fits great in the outdoors in the middle of nowhere when you can grab a spot of grass, stand, sit, whatever, and just drop into the sound. Only negative about them; conflicting with Massive Attack, if it was any other band I would've stayed all the way.
Massive Attack - But I wouldn't have missed Massive Attack for anything, even Tool. They performed to perfection. They are the sort of band that gets the crowd going, because it doesn't fit the music, but musically they were on so incredibly. They had five vocalists for this show, which isn't even a part of a tour, plus the full band. Of course, now after not playing the US for about 9 years, they're coming back to LA AGAIN. Not complaining, I'll go again.
Tool - This was a very different Tool than I had seen live in the past. Performance-wise they were very on and the song selection was great, heard three of the new tracks (The Pot, Jambi, Vicarious) and a great selection from the back catalog, minus anything from Opiate (unless I'm mistaken). What makes this set different from the other Tool shows I've seen was Maynard, talking and even moving a bit. To those who haven't seen them that sounds like an odd sticking point, but the whole last tour Maynard stood in one spot and probably never once spoke to the crowd. The music and visuals were good enough that no one seemed to care so it was great. The Maynard who showed up to Coachella was more like the Maynard I've read interviews with, he was teasing the crowd, making sardonic remarks and rambling at points about ridiculous things (such as buying a gold ring shaped like popcorn so when he punches people in the head it looks like they were fucked up by popcorn). It was really entertaining, and made for a very 'different' Tool show, but was also confusing as hell.
Overall: all kinds of awesome, as is every year.
Friday, May 12, 2006
Coachella 2006 pt. 1
Thursday:
Jim and Pat land around 10pm. We booze and bable until about 1am. Awesome.
Friday:
We rule, less than three hours to get to Coachella as opposed to the previous 5-6 hours trips. Set up our tent, set up some girl's tent, play cards, have a beer, eat diiner, go to pre-party with loads of free booze and a cool t-shirt (see us having fun below). Awesome people-watching. Say hey to J. Devil Hughes.
Saturday:
(not in real order)
Head Automatica - Sounded interesting at first until the suck settled in.
The Section Quartet - They cover alternative songs as a string quartet, it sounds exactly like it reads, awesome.
Nine Black Alps - Was really looking forward to these guys and arrived at the perfect time. Lots of fun, nothing groundbreaking, but entertaining.
Wolfmother - Holy mother of awesome. Can't wait to hear these guys in another album or two.
New Amsterdams - Not bad, not my thing.
Matt Costa - I think I saw him, I think I was entertained.
Eagles of Death Metal - It's J.Devil, what more do you need?
Walkmen - Sounded good, but really didn't grab me. I wan't inspired by the one album I knew, and I wasn't inspired by their performance.
Devendra Banhart - Interesting enough, possibly better on CD.
Animal Collective - A truly bizarre performance, different from the album, in a good interesting way.
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - I don't get the hype either on CD or in person.
Ladytron - Sounds like the album, very cold live.
TV on the Radio - I don't know if it was just what I caught, but this seemed very much like a 'fuck around and do different shit' sort of set, I'm sure a number of the tunes are also new which helped the confusion, but I enjoyed it anyway because.
My Morning Jacket - Pretty fun, not mind blowing, but could check them out at some point.
Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley - Only listened from a distance, but I was pretty impressed, not huge into reggae, but it was good.
Siqur Ros - Wish I caught more of this set, but it was really impressive and convinced me that I need to see them again.
Franz Ferdinand - Watched a bit, and listened to a bit more as I wandered away. They sound exactly like you expect them to live; I'm not huge on them but I get why people are.
Depeche Mode - After seeing the Cure two years ago (and them sucking horribly) I'm never sure what to expect out of 80's groups that are still around. These guys were awesome, I caught just over and hour of their set, and if it was anyone but Daft Punk I would've stayed the whole time.
Daft Punk - This is the second year in a row that Coachella has had an electronic artist that I figured would be 'pretty damn fun' blow me the fuck away (last year was Prodigy). The fact that Daft Punk did this with two robots hanging out in a pyramid, and no one else on stage speaks volumes about their sound. Truly holy-fuck worthy.
Sunday comes eventually
Jim and Pat land around 10pm. We booze and bable until about 1am. Awesome.
Friday:
We rule, less than three hours to get to Coachella as opposed to the previous 5-6 hours trips. Set up our tent, set up some girl's tent, play cards, have a beer, eat diiner, go to pre-party with loads of free booze and a cool t-shirt (see us having fun below). Awesome people-watching. Say hey to J. Devil Hughes.
Saturday:
(not in real order)
Head Automatica - Sounded interesting at first until the suck settled in.
The Section Quartet - They cover alternative songs as a string quartet, it sounds exactly like it reads, awesome.
Nine Black Alps - Was really looking forward to these guys and arrived at the perfect time. Lots of fun, nothing groundbreaking, but entertaining.
Wolfmother - Holy mother of awesome. Can't wait to hear these guys in another album or two.
New Amsterdams - Not bad, not my thing.
Matt Costa - I think I saw him, I think I was entertained.
Eagles of Death Metal - It's J.Devil, what more do you need?
Walkmen - Sounded good, but really didn't grab me. I wan't inspired by the one album I knew, and I wasn't inspired by their performance.
Devendra Banhart - Interesting enough, possibly better on CD.
Animal Collective - A truly bizarre performance, different from the album, in a good interesting way.
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - I don't get the hype either on CD or in person.
Ladytron - Sounds like the album, very cold live.
TV on the Radio - I don't know if it was just what I caught, but this seemed very much like a 'fuck around and do different shit' sort of set, I'm sure a number of the tunes are also new which helped the confusion, but I enjoyed it anyway because.
My Morning Jacket - Pretty fun, not mind blowing, but could check them out at some point.
Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley - Only listened from a distance, but I was pretty impressed, not huge into reggae, but it was good.
Siqur Ros - Wish I caught more of this set, but it was really impressive and convinced me that I need to see them again.
Franz Ferdinand - Watched a bit, and listened to a bit more as I wandered away. They sound exactly like you expect them to live; I'm not huge on them but I get why people are.
Depeche Mode - After seeing the Cure two years ago (and them sucking horribly) I'm never sure what to expect out of 80's groups that are still around. These guys were awesome, I caught just over and hour of their set, and if it was anyone but Daft Punk I would've stayed the whole time.
Daft Punk - This is the second year in a row that Coachella has had an electronic artist that I figured would be 'pretty damn fun' blow me the fuck away (last year was Prodigy). The fact that Daft Punk did this with two robots hanging out in a pyramid, and no one else on stage speaks volumes about their sound. Truly holy-fuck worthy.
Sunday comes eventually
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