Let’s get the complaints of the way now. 1) The Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival is smack dab in the desert and can be brutally hot; Like God put Africa in Hell and turned it up to 11 hot. This year was a good 10.5. 2) The traffic going in and out of the festival makes you completely understand road rage and will have you thinking that selling sawed off shot guns at 7-Eleven is a good idea. 3) The young bucks that come to get their sunstroke and illicit drugs need some lessons in crowd etiquette. Ok, with that out of the way, we can get down to what really matters. The folks that organize this annual hootenanny have once more proven that they really, really, really have this whole music festival thing on lock. From hip-hop (the Roots, Ghostface Killah, the Coup) to country fare (Gillian Welsh, Willie Nelson) to an indie fan’s wet dream (Silversun Pickups, Sparklehorse, the Decemberists) and more dance/electronic music than you could shake a stick at (Felix Da Housecat, Benny Benassi, MSTRKRFT) it was another year of diverse musical leanings. So if you want to relive the magic—or didn’t have the luxury of soiling up Republican country with your liberal leaning ways (we’re right outside of Palm Springs folks)—here are some highlights.
Best Reunion: Okay, it makes sense to have the Jesus and Mary Chain reunite at Coachella—these organizers are power brokers that way—but Crowded House? Huh? Listen, “Don’t Dream It’s Over” is a great jam but the kids that were camped out waiting for Rage Against the Machine—who hit the stage three hours later—were not having it. So much so that someone lobbed a water bottle at Crowded House’s Neil Finn during this ditty, who I’m sure later cursed out a scheduler or two for being put in this precarious position. As unfortunate as that incident was all was forgotten the moment Rage took the stage and turned 60,000 hyped up fans into a swirling, sweaty ball of pure energy. I’m a petite woman in her 30’s, but right then and there my inner teenage boy (circa 1992) came out in full force. In these precarious political times of ours, it’s so good to have Zack and the crew back raging against the machine.
Best Hype-Worthy U.K. Outfit: Nu-rave, dance-rock, whatever you want to call em’, the Klaxons put on a show that justified the bidding wars and glowing blog entries these (relatively) new jacks have gotten. If you think “Golden Skans” is not a perfect summer song you are dead to me. Dead I say.
Best “Who Woulda Thunk People Still Cared” Band: I like Travis. Their songs are hum-worthy and lead singer Fran is a nice guy, but I didn’t think folks were still that down after all these years. Well I was wrong. While parked on a nice patch of grass I watched as throngs of fans swayed, flitted and sang along to each and every song. It was kinda lovely. Tear.
Best Alternative to the Chili Peppers: Yes, the Red Hot Chili Peppers drew a huge crowd on Saturday night, but you wouldn’t have known that if you were at the back to back LCD Soundsystem and the Rapture sets going on at the same time. The dance tent they performed in overflowed to fire hazard standards and stayed that way even after the “hits” were played. Seriously, shaking one’s moneymaker under the desert sky to the Rapture’s “House of Jealous Lovers” should be on your to-do-before-you-die list.
Best “Too Much Metal for One Band” Duo: To keep with the sometime “Bro-Fest 2007” theme, the Rage and Chili Peppers fans in attendance really represented for Rodrigo Y Gabriela, the Mexican instrumental duo who rock heavier than hell with only two acoustic guitars. Metallica and Pink Floyd covers had the crowd enthralled, not to mention their flamenco infused shredding. Seriously, watching their lighting quick finger work was absolutely bonkers.
Best Theatrics: It shouldn’t be a shock that I’m about to evoke Bjork’s name. The world’s most famous musical sprite came out in a get-up that I can only describe as…shit, I don’t even know how to describe it. Well, it was beyond bizarre and brilliant and I would expect nothing less from Ms.Gudmundsdottir. With an all female brass outfit she started off with her new single, “Earth Invaders,” segued into a mellow vibe—at times a little too mellow—and damn near turned it into an out and out rave at the end. Seriously, she killed “Army of Me.” Man, that lady is fun.
Best “Yeah, I’m Not Shocked They Ruled…Again” Group: Arcade Fire. Picture it. Sun is setting, they begin “Wake Up,” and a thousand voices meld as one. Yeah, it was as magical as when they rocked a similar vibe two years ago at the Coachella. Once again, they brought it. End of story.
Best Place to Get Your DJ Fix: This year a transparent dome was erected for a gang of DJ’s to work the crowd. Everyone from Daniel Ash (of Bauhaus/Love and Rockets fame) to the “Groovy” Lady Miss Kier (formally of 90’s dance staple Deee-Lite) and the legendary Adam Freeland kept turning that beat around. It was one hell of a pit stop—and party—on the way to the other stages.
Best Swoon Worthy Band: From note one Blonde Redhead had their legion of fans in the palm of their collective hand. Under a starry sky all in attendance were enraptured by lead singer Kazu Makino as she cooed, purred and swayed herself into an ethereal tizzy.
Honorable Mentions:
Arctic Monkeys for playing a surprisingly tight set that showed they might be in this game for longer than most of us anticipated…
Girl Talk for proving this whole DJ mash-up thing is still a feel-good time…
Black Keys for showing that their brand of bluesy rock is not just for dirty hippies…
Amy Winehouse for really bringing that “I can’t believe such a soulful sound comes out of a white girl” voice…even though homegirl is a hot mess…
Three days, six stages, 100 plus acts, and thousands of cashed in frequent flier miles later it was another stellar year. So go ahead, put in for your vacation time now, start placing bets on who next will be reunited (my money is on Portishead) and line up your fancy pants guest house…it’s bound to be another good one in 2008.
--Erika Clarke
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