c o a c h e l l a 2 0 0 7

I don't have clue where to begin. There's so much I want to, need to and hope to express, but I know that a lot of it has been said before -- by me and my Coachie friends over the last three years.

Of course, I am talking about the religious experience that is the Coachella Music and Art Festival. It's so much more than just this year's hottest indie bands, art installations and celeb sightings. It's one time each year that people come together to enjoy life in a way you may not have thought possible. I mean, who thinks standing in 103-degree heat in the middle of the desert, waiting in line for dirty portable toilets, and trekking 2 miles back to your dusty car at the end of very long day is an ideal vacation?

Um. I know eight people who do.


Of course, if you're not pictured above, you may not give a pile of poop. So, let's start where everyone does.

Day 1
After spending two miserable hours in traffic --- except for about five minutes of silly insanity involving the dispensing of breast mik -- I caught the end of Tokyo Police Club. It wasn't really enough to make a good judgment call. Betamike sent me a message via Blackberry (those work way better than cell phones on the Empire Polo Fields) that Satellite Party, Perry Farrell's new band with Nuno Bettancourt, was playing a set full of Jane's Addiction tunes. So, Mike, Kristen and I headed over to the main stage. I love Perry's voice, so I enjoyed the two songs we heard, but they were not Jane's Addiction songs. I heard they played "Stop!" Damn.

If we hurried, we could catch the first few songs from Of Montreal's set at the Outdoor Stage and then run back to the main stage to see Silversun Pickups. Of Montreal sounded good, but I couldn't get the new version of their Outback Steakhouse song about Mother's Day out of my head. Something about that just bothers me. Although, I am glad it turned more people on to their unique sound. But still, I always see weird Egyptian cavemen-looking drawings dancing around my head when I hear that song.

On the other hand, Silversun Pickups rocked. I really liked their set, and they seemed to get a great response from the crowd. The band members were humble and visibly excited by the magnitude of the show. The lead singer thanked fellow main stage acts The Jesus and Mary Chain, Interpol and Bjork for closing out the show and encouraged us to catch their sets -- as well as Blonde Redhead -- because they were going to be big someday. Hee hee. Very genuine and talented.

Time for food! Everyone complains that the food is overpriced. Perhaps I am getting too used to paying high prices in a tourist town, but I think it's actually a pretty good bargain. I spent $7.57 at a Wendy's in Lake Buena Vista today. And honestly, everything I've purchased at a Coachella food tent has been delicious. Seriously, even the veggie corndog. There are tons of organic and vegetarian options, as well as blocks of vendors separated by food type -- Mexican, Pan Asian, American and Europe. Although I am not sure why the cookie pie (I LOVE COOKIE CAKE!) was sold in the "European" area.

Mike, Kristen and I grabbed our food and sat on the pillow-soft grass outside the Gobi tent, where Amy Winehouse was drawing a HUGE crowd. She sounded impressive, but someone get that girl a sandwich -- she's a waif, and I think that beehive on top of her head may weigh more than the lower half of her body.

Somehow, all of us girls met up in time for Rufus Wainwright in the Mojave tent. He sounded like an angel, until he started the between-song banter. He's a stereotypically fabulous queen! And I love him. Each time I see him in concert, he makes the audience laugh out loud. We left in the middle of "The Art Teacher" so we could catch some real debauchery -- Peaches at the outdoor stage. She has an overwhelming stage presence, but it got a bit lost among the tens of thousands of people gathered around. Why don't they have video screens at the outdoor stage? The only time I could see her was when she scaled the scaffolding in an Arcade Fire-esque display of crazy. I love her.

I caught the tail end of The Jesus and Mary Chain and kicked myself for not getting there earlier for the whole set. Mike said they played a lot of old stuff, including "Head On" and "Just Like Honey," the latter of which I did get to hear. Yeah, yeah, I heard that Scarlett Johanssen sang back-up vocals, but that was happening way too far away for me to notice.

For some reason, I cannot specifically recall (Ha! I sound like a politician!) what I did next. I think I picked up some dinner, hit the merch tent again and took pictures of some of the art installations.


Then, it was time for Sonic Youth. I love, love, love the latest release from these ultracool kids, so this was one I definitely did not want to miss. The only other time I've seen them was as an opening act for Pearl Jam. I wish I coud catch an entire, full-length set, but I am thankful for anything. I didn't stay for the entire set because I wanted to meet up with my friends for Bjork. So, I missed "100%," which is one of my favorite songs. Alas, those are the consequences of trying to experience everything at Coachella.



Bjork. She closed the show and stole the hearts of everyone in attendance. I'm serious. Each time she said, "Thank you," at the end of a song, the audience let out a sweet coo. She opened with "Earth Intruders," and closed her encore with "Declare Independence" -- and kept everyone enthralled the entire time. The woman is simply amazing, and I feel like I must see her in a proper venue. Although, sometimes the acoustics at Coachella are better than some Orlando venues!

My only disappointment with Bjork's set was that I couldn't see her. All day, the screens surrounding the main stage were like works of art. The camera work was amazing -- and it almost looked like it was already shot, edited and on DVD store shelves. But when it was time for Bjork, the person directing the camerawork was far more interested in the Star Wars-style musical instruments. They were cool. But come on!!! We want to see our favorite Icelandic nymph! It was incredibly frustrating.

The heavenly highlight of the evening was a shooting star, falling into view right over the stage Bjork was commanding. The audience collectively gasped and pointed up toward the dark sky just a couple seconds too late to point it out to anyone who was looking away. It was the perfect way to end the first day of Coachella 2007.

exhale

Day 2 ... coming soon!