Felt very blessed to be back at Coachella again this. year. The hot, dry, dusty breeze surrounded me on the outskirts of the desert oasis and I was reminded me of a memorable trip two years to the very place. It would be hard to beat 8 good mates setting up shop at a Palm Springs villa for a long weekend of excessive margaritas and guacamole, discovering new bands and friendships, all on the back of a wide-eyed bushy tale around the States. See link below.
Coachella - Take 1.
This time I was to be a bit more civilized, refined if not slightly more subdued. Possibly a reflection of my festival experience, my crew and maybe my age! After a short road trip from our base in LA, 5 of us were checking in to the Hyatt Regency where we were sharing a room all of but 15 minutes by bus from the venue. All this added up to lazy afternoons at the pool, room service and a hopefully good nights sleep each night.
After an agressive entry process not unlike entering through US Customs, we found ourselves heading towards the infamous Ferris Wheel overlooking the sprawling polo field. Hipsters and frolicked around.
The Sahara dance tent this year was a not a tent but a cathedral, taking up the challenge set by Ultra's Megastructure and highlighting just how popular EDM is today. The crowds leaked from the airplane hanger-like monstrosity. We popped our heads in only to get them ripped off by new trap super group Dog Blood aka Skrillex and Boys Noise. LED cubes hung from the roof only to be outshone by the altar-like DJ booth which glowed a neon temple, the DJs high up preaching their message to the disciples below.
It was cool catch legendary acts Blur and Stones Roses who headlined Day 1. Although they fell on deaf ears to the scattered audience, the musicianship was world class. John Squire's guitaring was nothing short of exquisite while Damon Albarn of Blur danced around like he'd come off 5 pints of Kronenburg at a Notting Hill boozer. No wonder they seem to front music magazine covers when ever the trends run dry. We really enjoyed Tegan and Sara too - Canadian lesbian twin sisters who were top of my list of new found acts.
The next day after a generous sleep in and quick swim, I headed to nearby town La Quinta to catch up with some kiwi friends, who had flown in from London and abroad to get a taste of the Coachella magic. They had turned a million-dollar mansion into a maori whare, with mattress flung across floors of the TV room and Italian leather couches turned into cots to house the 20 or so guests. Was great to catch up over some time honored traditions like sculling watered-down US lager and shots of Jager before I met up with my LA friends to attend the Nylon party.
Like a scene out of Entrourage hipsters frolicked around a tudor style mansions, bordering a man-made lake. Table tennis, snow cones, DIY tacos and strong margaritas kept the rent-a-crowd happy while we waited for the afternoon sun to die and make our trek back to the polo grounds.
Day 2 was alway going to be up a notch in intensity. Major Lazer had the crowd of the day, with their blow up animals and confetti poppers. It felt everyone had stumbled straight out of a pool party and rolled into their 5pm set in the Mohave tent.
Was cool to catch up with kiwi friends Toby and Linz who proceed to join me on a good old fashion goose chase - trying to catch everyone but seeing no-one. After checking out Hot Chip and Moby we stopped by Mohave tent to say hi to Tom Worley who was overseeing production for Franz Ferdinand.
It felt like the entire festival had gathered main stage to watch Versailles jingly-jangly guitar band Phoenix in anticipation for who they may bring out as special guests. What about the new album?! After what seemed a rather shy and nervous start the anxious crowd got their surprise.
R Kelly dropped Ignition the unsuspecting, provoking a huge singalong and reminding me how seminal hip hop culture is in American. But it was the freaken weekend and baby I was going to have me some fun.
The musicianship was top notch and Thomas Maars crowd-diving antics showed a coming of age and an escape from the clasps of the Pitchfork indie underground who have been holding them back. Expect them to be headlining every Coachella wanna-be festival for years to come (including R&V hopefully!).
Lazy margaritas in the adult pool of the Hyatt was enough to get the juices flowing for third and final bite of the cherry.
I wasn't long til I was whisked away to the Lacoste party, one of the most in demand events of the weekend. Katy Perry and the Victoria Secret Angels had been there the day before so we rubbed out hand in anticipation of which stars names we would be able to name drop on facebook later that day. Thanks to name on the door list we entered to be greeted by a sprawling mansion over looking a pond.
The party was getting started as Elijah Wood was playing tunes. Who isn't a Dj these days?
Patron had generously catered the event, with blonde blue eyed waitresses looking after everyone's needs. Open bar dude!
Day three was whipped into shape by a desert storm that descended on the festival. Vampire Weekend were perhaps the unifying sound of the and crowd surged into catch the final day.
A quick lap of honour led us to tick off Loco Dice and before nestling back in for the Red Hot finale. The band strummed a riff of Beast of Burden, a nod to the fact that Rolling Stones were rumoured to be headlining until the dependable Chillies stepped up to bring the show home. It wasn't a game changing but it did remind me what a tight and solid unit they are. New guitarist Josh Klinghoffer duelled with Flea and deserved his place, while Keidis and co pumped out hit after hit reminding us what a legendary band they were/are/continue to be. I was super happy and content walking out to the sound of Chad Smith's bass drum thumping in my head.
As we headed home through the wind turbines I reflected on what could be the perfect festival. That thought didn't last long - I was soon fast asleep the weekend's antics catching up on me.
Check out the video we made here:
Coachella - Take 2
Looking forward to Take 3!
Hamish
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