Coachella 2014. There and Back Again.

Im often asked which is the best festival experience. Glastonbury was always hands down. The history. The vibe. The diverse acts. The size. The journey.

But after two weeks in the Palm Springs desert recently, I think Coachella is not far behind. Like all of them - the experience comes at a cost. Not just to your wallet but your legs, throat, liver. Friendships. Reality.

If Weekend One was partying and festivities, the second one felt a bit like work. If you can call it that! I was lucky enough to receive an artist pass from my friend Bjorn who was tour manager for Netsky. After tossing up whether I was ready for another weekend in the desert, it seemed like too good an opportunity to pass up. After grabbing a strong coffee in Silverlake I soon hustled a ride with some kiwi musicians living in LA.  Getting dropped off at the Indian Wells Tennis Center to pick up my ticket, I found a ride to the venue and came in the VIP entrance.

The artist pass gave access to backstage festivities as musicians, agents, managers and friends gathered around riders from buckets of ice, enjoying the limited hospitality and industry chat. Large TV's broadcast the festival while people chomped on the free ice creams on offer. Everyone seemed friendly and professional, all with a purpose and confidence warranted of being backstage at such an iconic festival. I bumped into Amanda Dunbar who worked for R&V and was a working for a charity on site. She offered me a place in her tent in the staff campsite which was an ideal accommodation option, just a stone's throw from the main entrance.

I took the long way around the outside of the festival and was able to get access to watch Capital Cities from the side of stage.  Dillon Francis was warming things up in the Sahara Tent, bringing out Martin Garrix – the DJ of the moment. The Rose Garden was a divine enclosure with mixologists and cocktails. A large dinner party was taking place in the unique setting amongst the thorns. I had not even known it existed from previous attendances.

From there it was back to the main stage to watch Queens of the Stone Age. They had remained elusive from me for sometime. Heavy, tight, grunty with Josh Homme in full control of some of the best session musicians around. The drummer especially prominant. I now understand the respect and appreciate the hype! Backstage I ran into Boris and his girlfriend along with Bridget one of the singers from Rudimental. We shared a golf cart around to Outdoor stage to watch Pharrell. The guest pit was full but we scrambled around back behind the catering until we found a tent to jump through and found a possie. He had an eventful week in LA with Disclosure, Rudimental. Ed Sheeran, and Ellie Goulding all getting up to mischief. Along with meetings with top line producers.  Exciting times ahead.  Meanwhile as we conversed Pharrell dropped his smash hits Get Lucky, Blurred Lines and Happy bringing our Usher and Jay Z in the process! He seemed a lot more confident and on point than playing in the sand storm the week before.

Pharell / Jay Z - Coachella 2014

  

The Artists pass gave access to the pit so I was super excited to catch Muse again.  I was able to see the guitar god that is Matt Bellamy from about 10 meters away. I studied Matt intricately on the guitar to find a fault but to no avail. Guitars and bass were changed each song to remain in key. The balls of the band is really bassist Chris Holm who brings the rock with his thundering distorted bass. Bellamy’s guitar work is ridiculous. His singing is the only thing that perhaps niggles me, but his pompous rock opera-like vocals covers 4 octaves not unlike his idol Freddy Mercury. It is unlikely to see a more complete musician and I left suitably inspired as Saturday night came to a close.

Muse - Madness

Staying on site meant I was up at 8am as the sun beat down our tent. If that didn’t get me out of bed the sound of Arcade Fire sound-checking soon did. I was over to the campground to check out the set up and have some breakfast from the long line of food vendors.  Fresh Fruit, avocado on toast and iced coffee was a great way to start the day. Meanwhile the young campers were fueling up on breakfast burritos ready for the long day ahead.

I arrived just after gates opened and caught up with kiwi friend Tom Worley who was managing the PA on the main stage. It has become an annual visit to the front of house to catch up with him and hear the industry and festival goss. The music programming of the main stage is a bit like R&V with more reggae and funk acts in the afternoon so saw fantastic trombonist band from New Orleans along with reggae / ska Fishbone.

I was into the vortex of the Yuma Tent at 2pm to see Martinez Bros whose mixes have been the soundtrack to my trip so far courtesy of my friend Trent Bowler. Their deep progressive house is all the rage at cutting edge festivals like BPM in Mexico.  Poolside and STRFKRS provided a chilled warm-up to the evenings festivities. Frank Turner is one artist I have admired for some time and his band of punk troubadours did not disappoint. Although I probably would rather see them in a muddy UK field or at a rowdy pub after a few pints. On to The 1975 whose dreamy mumbly indie rock seems unchallenged by the current crop of bands coming through.

 Frank Turner - Photosynthesis

1975 - Chocolate

Poolside - Harvest Moon

STRFCKRS - Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

I was able to sync up with some kiwi friends to watch The Naked and Famous. Definitely had a shiver down the spine as they dropped their hit Young Blood. Amazing to think a little band from NZ playing to a huge crowd on the main stage. With the success of them and Lorde anything is possible!

After checking out Little Dragon from side of stage, I found Netsky crew over at the catering. A well stocked and healthy buffet kept everyone fed and prepped for the night ahead. The band were chilled, probably excited to end their run and have a break. We had a couple of drinks back stage with Rudimental who had just come off a memorable performance in the Mojave tent.

As Boris and crew began their pre match rituals I popped out to see Arcade Fire with the kiwis. They began with the well publicized Paft Dunk spoof. At first it was an OMG moment but the joke soon fell flat. Perhaps a weekend or even a year too late in my eyes. Loved seeing the band again though. Ready to Start and We Exist were two songs that stood out. And my new favourite Afterlife.

Arcade Fire - Afterlife

I awoke again to the sun beating down. Poking head out of the tent the carpark. Amanda was not due to finish work until the mid afternoon. I started the long walk to town to grab some lunch and wait for her before making the trip back into LA.

Thanks Coachella. What weekend to do again? I seriously think the double header is the way to go. The first weekend is all the hype. The celebs. The special guests. The intensity that the festival lacks as a whole compared to their European counterparts.

Then the second week is perfect to attend in an industry / music lover capacity.  The crowd feels more real and intimate. Less sceney. Easy to pop between stages. The artists are more relaxed too. You can catch up on seeing acts you hadn’t seen the week before.

The only thing I would try and do different is stay as close to the venue as possible. The transport each night is a ball ache and can really drag at the end of the night. Also far away from distractions of getting caught at a pool party for too long!

Coachella 2014. Round 1.

After an upgrade on Air NZ I had a decent sleep and arrived at LAX midday-ish.  A one way ticket. An O1 visa giving me three years entry to the US. The ability to set up an entertainment business.  A Coachella ticket to Weekend One in my pocket.  A guitar in hand and pocket full of dreams. Lets do this!

I stayed Thursday night at the Four Seasons where my friend Dom Bowden was being put up for his work, interviewing stars for a media junket.  It was a taste of classic Hollywood, the lavish vintage hotel having hosted decades of debauchery. We went out to Sunset Boulevard hot-spot Everleigh and another english pub to meet up with his TV producer friend Rob who heads up Dancing with the Stars. It was great to hear some industry war stories from the two of them as I prepare for my next adventure in this thriving megalopolis.

After having breakfast around the pool we made our way out way to Palm Springs checking into the Garden Vista Hotel which was a perfect oasis to plot our accent (decent?) into the festival. We were dangerously close to some other kiwi friends, staying the next block over at the Riviera Resort. 6 guys who were on a smash-and-grab weekend mission. Having been to the festival before we were happy to try and sidestep the partying and focus on seeing some music.

After some first day admin with tickets from the Indian Wells Tennis Center we made our way to the main gate. The sound of Ellie Goulding echoed around the finely manicured Empire Polo Club as we were greeted by the majestic ferris wheel - an iconic feature of the Coachella skyline. 

We nestled in to a spot at the main bar, running into our kiwi friends we could see through the fence in the VIP enclosure. 'Auchwitz' was the nick name for the location and became our meeting spot for the weekend. It was here some serious missions were launched, first up balls-deep into Martin Garrix at the Saraha Tent. He dropped a Bruno Mars remix at the end to an euphoric applause. We caught the end of Outkast but the screeching southern hip hop was not something I was fond of. Day 1 ended with a night cap back at Toby's with some characters such as the 'White Pharrell', Jared Leto and some hipsters with long hair wearing a skirt. 

Day 2 Began with a margarita over at a the Dolce Vita party close to the venue where we caught up with Alley Long and her Little Local caravan. It is not uncommon for hipster and even mainstream brands to book out mega-mansions and invite their clients and fans to celebrate in the desert. Something Rhythm Group could look at doing at our festivals in NZ.

Once we were in the venue we caught the end of Kid Cudi’s set and his famous Pursuit of Happiness remix by Steve Aoki.  It seemed the perfect song for the weekend. On to the main bar to try and meet up with kiwi’s but as the crowd surged it just wasn’t going to happen. I enjoyed the Capital Cities track 'Safe and Sound' before catching some of MGMT. We got right up the front for Lorde who came out to a thunderous applause. To see a kiwi up on the big stage bought a tear to the eye. We found a flag from some kiwi's and waved it passionately, trying to catch the starlets attention with little success.

Back to see some of Foster the People had come along way since I saw them in the Mojave tent in 2011, and to the craft beer hall, a new addition to the festival in line with this popular hipster subculture. Then to Muse who opened with Hysteria. The thundering bass is arguably one of the great riffs. Was lucky to catch their version of Nirvana’s ‘Lithium’ which was arguable the highlight of the festival for me. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjf6yIwna8M

While we probably should have could have stuck around to hear the full set of one of my favourite bands it was time to keep moving. We managed to get a taste of Pet Shop Boys, Nas and Skrillex before returning to catch the epic finale Knight of Cyndonia. As the sand storm descended we hustled an Uber and after an hour in the saddle getting home it was straight to sleep.

Third and final day began over a lunch at classic Palm Springs diner, frequented by the likes of Clark Gable and Bob Hope back in the golden days of Hollywood. Then on to the Adidas Pool Party - the 'Do Over' - to meet the kiwi friends and catch up on their creative endeavours over the past few days. Questlove spun tunes from Pharrell, Nas and Lauren Hill to a more 'urban' crowd while other LA DJ's like Gaslamp Killer looked on. 

Another long dusty drive in to the festival and we arrived as Calvin Harris began.  It was surely the biggest crowd of the day as glow sticks and the like were tossed high into the air. The whole venue had become a club and just showed that EDM was the music of choice for majority of festival goers. All chips were on the table as the last sun set on the weekend.

On to Sahara Club for a bit of a look around - Adventure Club, John Newman performing his hit 'Not Giving In'. Back to meet up with the kiwi crew to watch Disclosure.  Trying to keep 15 people in sync was like herding cats as last night fever set in. Arcade Fire smashed out hit after hit proving they are one of the most exciting live bands around. Then it was back over to Netsky with the kiwi crowd in full stretch. The final act of the festival. An honour for an act we first booked for R&V at 19 years old. Was stoked for Boris to see him up there loving the moment!

We found our way back to the Riveria Resort for a few celebration drinks after what was a successful, memorable festival. Banter revolved around Liam Neeson, Creed and the old kiwi tradition of paying each other out.  Two strangers we had picked up along the way looked on in bewilderment. A long slow drive back to Los Angeles after little sleep. We dropped the rental car and Dom at the airport before I grabbed a Lyft to Santa Monica to begin my new chapter in the City of Angels.

Sabbatical: Recap

Finally some time to reflect on my year off or 'sabbatical' as I like to call it.

I sit here in Auckland this late summers afternoon with a severe bout of Gastritis. Defined in the dictionary as ‘excessive use of alcohol, rich or spicy foods, stress or use of certain medications’.  Yes, there has been fair share of all of the above. But being knocked down has been a chance to put my feet up and reflect on what has been a pretty memorable year off.

In recent weeks it has been great to enjoy the festivities of the kiwi summer, meeting new friends and make plans for my next chapter. House sitting in Parnell I have enjoyed another side of Auckland from my previous experiences in Ponsonby and Herne Bay. Access to the stunning eastern beaches and lifestyle that comes with it has been a refreshing take on the city I have come and gone from for over 6 years.

I did however leave a year ago this week on a plane bound for the USA. First stop the interactive conference that is SXSW in Austin Texas. The next 12 months were to go like a blur. There was no stopping the train I had set in motion. I had planned for my year off two years earlier. Having trusted staff in place and thus managing myself out of my business, I set about checking through a list of festivals, friends, family, cities, events I had always wanted to see. From networking in the US to seeing family in Canada. A European summer friends and connecting with friends in London. Attending leading festival Glastonbury and Tomorrowland. Spending time travelling with my sister Sarah and meeting people along the way. Here was my chance to tick a few boxes and enjoy a year away after thinking about my business for 10 years!

A year on, I now find myself thinking back of some of the places and faces I visited and fell in love with.  Istanbul was a definitely a highlight. Rather than rush around trying to do all the sites and beach we ended up having a 5-day city break with my sister and my friend Brook. Our lazy days consisted of waking up late, a strong Turkish coffee before shopping in the Gran Bazar.  A long lunch of roasted lamb, crisp salad and fresh Turkish bread.  More shopping before dragging our bags back to our apartment at Taskin Square, stopping for an afternoon beer overlooking the Bosphorus. Then a little nap and out to enjoy the nightlife of this buzzing trans-continental city. And it couldn't be a week with out a festival thrown in, attending Coke hosted by Netsky LIVE on the last date of the tour.

Amsterdam as well.  I’d heard the stories and knew I would be charmed by this liberal and original Dutch village-like hub.  It has been a center of business and pleasure for centuries.  Sarah and I arrived mid-July smack bang in the middle of summer. The canals brimming with those celebrating the Gay Pride Parade.  Bikes, boobs and beers all took precedent. Afternoons spent lazing in the hazy park. Laughing about the previous nights festivities. Eating, drinking, being merry having a gay old time. Not literally but you get the drift.

And of course reconnecting and returning to some of my favourites cities.  Two months in living LA was a special time.  The creativity and positivity that drips in the air is infectious.  The people I met and the dedication to their dream was inspiring.  The traffic. The smog. The sparse beaches. The greasy food.  The potential of success in a thriving entertainment hub. Part charming and addictive in its own special way. Not for everyone but definitely for me.

Montreal is another charming city I was able to return to. My cousin Bruce Hills runs the Just For Laughs festival there. Was great to connect up with family and friends I had spent time with in the summer of 2006.

And London in mid-summer is a site to behold. The streets, pubs, parks brimming with locals and tourists alike. Lords, Wimbeldon, Hyde Park. Victoria Park. Hopping between friends flats in Clapham and Angel, experiencing two distinctly different parts of the city. Pints at lunch time. Pints at dinner time. A royal baby was born. A right royal time was had. 

Festival wise there were so many highlights chose from. Finally getting to Glastonbury was a dream come true.  I did catch myself staring teary eyed across Worthy Farm on numerous occasions, overcome with being present in the moment.  The size, the scale and the history. The Stones on Saturday night Pyramid Stage. It doesn’t get much bigger. What a weekend. Closely followed by Coachella in Los Angeles.  Ultra in Miami. The EDM explosion. Swedish House Mafia bowing out at the top of their game. The global event that is Tomorrowland in Belgium.  Exit Festival in Serbia. FOR Festival in Hvar.  Lovebox in London.  Hearing my favourite DJ Diplo play about 8 times. Get Free on repeat. Deep house at Hula Hula in Hvah. Disclosure next to a lake in France. Everyone dropping Get Lucky. The sounds of summer 2013.

Get Free - Major Lazer

Disclosure - White Noise

Avicii - Wake Me Up

Get Lucky - Daft Punk

It wasn’t all play. If you can call our working in an industry you are passionate about work.  I kept in touch with our committed and passionate team via email and skype where I could passing on contacts, thoughts, information and advice.  A memorable Directors meeting took place in a courtyard of a Serbian resteraunt in Novi Sad, while the Exit festival organisers waited patiently for us to join them for drinks.  Being on the road meant I could attending leading conferences such as SXSW in Austin, Winter Music Conference in Miami, IMS Engage. And keep my business side in check with entreprenuerial conferences such as TED Global and Power of Youth in Delhi. Winning a Tourism Award meant I had meeting with top tourism brass in Wellington earlier this month to discuss the state of the industry. The hustle never really stops!

The food will always be memorable.  'Bitter balls' on the beach in The Hauge washed down with a large pint of Dutch lager.  The burger at Dime Bar in Clapham, London. Spicy cuban pork and steamed cabbage in Miami.  Sticky Stubbs BBQ in Austin.  The sweet taste of a freshly poured Chai on the streets of Delhi. A spicy Pinot Noir on Xmas Day in Wanaka. An apple pie at a cafe in Amsterdam. Fresh crab in San Fransisco. Take me back!

Although my own sports really consisted of a few jogs I was fortunate enough to see some great endeavours. Watching the Oakland A's beat the World Series champs the San Fransisco Giants with my Uncle Richard.  Seeing Andy Murry reach the Wimbledon final on a jam-packed Henman Hill.  A slow yet glorious days play at Lords holding out the Aussie attack. And finally two weeks in San Fransisco watching Team NZ capitulate in the America's Cup. The first week was pure bliss. The second week was a slow heart ache, as the trophy slowly removed from what had been a firm grasp. Was fair to say I limped out of town with our tail between our legs.

As I think back a perfect day for me on my sabbatical would have to be in LA in May.  A run down to Huntington Beach in the morning followed by a milky trim vanilla latte, an egg white spinach wrap before attending to some emails.  Prawn tacos for lunch in the salty sea air of Sunset Beach.  A massage at the local strip mall and a nap.  An afternoon spent creative writing, playing guitar and reading in the hammock. Cracking a Blue Moon and getting the BBQ firing.  Laughing profusely with my hosts Kim and Katie like some sort of US sit-com. These are the memories I will cherish forever.

 

My travels and work commitments bought me back to Nz in October as spring had sprung. After an unsettling time returning to some sense of normality it was down to Wanaka to get to work in the Southern Alps on our new festival Rhythm and Alps.  Running around Lake Wanaka before working our event with was like a dream. Building and leading a new team was a challenge.  Delivering a new sellout festival was the reward.

And on to enjoy the beauty of the kiwi summer. Time at our farm in Levin and the 90^th Birthday of my Grandmother. Time relaxing around the pool in Hawkes Bay.  Attending some new events like the Polo and all the shenanigans that went with it. Boating on the Waitemata Harbour. Frequenting the new resteraunts nightlife that has finally made Auckland a global city.  Attending weddings and catching up with old friends. A new look Big Day Out even if you did have to wait for a beer. The new look Nines league tournament at Eden Park. Eminem at Western Springs. What a summer it has been. New Zealand - you have outdone yourself.

Eminem - Rap God 

I now I reflect with a bittersweet reminice, as my lost love of 2013 drifts away beyond reach.  The year off far exceeded my expectations.  It has left me inspired and recharged, if not a little flat at times, far from the highs I reached.  I smile at the moments, the mischief, the memories that I will have forever.  I only scratched the surfaces on a number of new friendships and relationships. Explored new cities I hope to return to, some to one day make my new home. I have been out of my comfort zone on a number of occasions.  Surrounded by familiar friends and close family on others.  It was fun getting blown by the wind at times.  In and out of reality. In and out of soberness. In and out of customs. In and out of motivation. In and out of love. But yet content. And happy.

And so as March descends and autumn calls, it ends.

Or does it?