Coachella 2006 Pt. 2

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.