Coachella 2008 -- Day 1 summary

Coachella Day 1

The weather is actually quite bearable (high of 93) -- a nice breeze escorts us through the mile or so of parking lots. I had lost my tickets in my last move, but I guess those "convenience" charges do amount to something as it was no problem to get replacements at the box office. (First and only) kudos to T-master.

The line to get in is pretty short and we soon emerge onto the polo fields. We catch the last few songs of Rouge Wave, including a great version of "Bird on a Wire" that descends (like a vulture, heh) into a freak out drum jam in which all members are furiously banging on percussion. Nice. I rate them a B.

it should be noted that my rating system is entirely subjective and dependent on my whim and surroundings. Overall the first day was merely ok. It was actually my least favorite day, musically, at Coachella ever. Still, a mediocre day at Coachella beats a lot of things.

Head over to Sahara tent to catch Midnight Juggernauts. They lacked a certain energy that I would expect from a teched out electronic band -- perhaps it was the leather jacket the singer kept on in the heat, but I wasn't really digging them. C+

Caught the last song for Porter, which, to me, sounded like a Mexican Jane's Addiction with a metal drummer. Pretty cool, actually. Didn't get enough to give them a rating, so I'll give them a "pass" (as in Pass/Fail).

Next up was Redd Kross, who I'm not actually very familiar with---I just know that they have been very influential to many different bands over the years. They were really good--I especially liked "Crazy World" and "After School Special" -- wry lyrics and good rock sensibilities/melodies. B.

After that, I cruise over to see Battles, who entertaining a very full Gobi tent. They are a pretty strange set up. Three guys -- two guitarists who also manned keyboards/samples/computers and a drummer. We decided they were like a mathy Wire with extended songs. Layers of samples, angular guitars, the odd vocal loop with driving drums. Very interesting. B.

Les Savy Fav was freaking out on the Outdoor Stage. The lead singer looks like a punk rock santa monk and was squeezed in to pair of red shorts. He was all over the stage, pouring gatorade down his pants, climbing all the way up the rigging, under the stage. Though the music wasn't quite there for me (C+), I give him a B+ for his showmanship, especially in the heat. My favorite moment though was watching a little girl on stage-- she was barely walking and had these huge yellow sound protectors on. She was standing on the side of the stage and would take a few steps toward the mayhem before her and start bobbing up and down to the be beat. So cute.

Caught the last two songs of Black Kids. They sound like The Go Team with Robert Smith on vocals. C.

Dan Deacon was disappointing. I give him props for pulling his act onto the floor, but his sound was that of someone playing someone else's music through effect pedals and overdriven bass and adding some wry crowd banter and audience participation. I wasn't feeling it. C-

Listened to Busy P play a few records -- some good tracks, well mixed. B -

Architecture in Helsinki was also disappointing for me. I guess it's hard to bring so many people together and have it work live (another reason why Arcade Fire rock). Definitely more of a studio band. "Do the Whirlwind" was really disappointing. C

The Breeders met their (very low) expectations. At first I though Kim Deal was a roadie up on stage adjusting equipment. She looked kind of like Wayne from Wayne's World. They had some stops and starts, but were in good spirits with playful banter. "New Year" into "Cannonball" into "Happiness is a Warm Gun" was pretty great though. C+

I must have been standing in the audio dead zone for Vampire Weekend because they sounded really hollow to me. They were there musically, but the sound was just not very rich. C+

Cut Copy was moving the crowd with their neo-new wave synth dance party, but were a little too generic and derivative sounding for me. Good energy though. C

Mum offered pretty harmless music for the Fey that just barely rose above the stench that was emanating from the port-a-potties. Ups to them for asking the crowd "who farted?" though. :) C

My first happy surprise was Tegan and Sara -- they were on the big stage and carried it extremely well. The cute lil' mice had a rich sound and were totally on point. Great show. B+

Caught one song -- Letter from God to Man, which is a spoken word rap over a Radiohead mash-up/sample, from Dan Le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip. Not enough heard to rate though...

Goldfrapp were less dancey than I expected, but they had a nice stage set up and sounded very lush, with harps and violin accompanying  the chanteuse vocals. I quite enjoyed them. B

Was disappointed to learn that Aphex Twin was only playing a dj set, but was still good to catch. He started on a very melodic tip, but quickly bent it toward techy realms and then into breaky, drum and bassy sounds before taking it into more twisted Aphexy territory. Extra bonus was watching people attempt to dance to the well mixed schizophrenia. B

Watched a few songs from Oscar-winning Swell Season. The guy was remarking how chuffed he was to have seen Kim Deal/Wayne backstage at the food tent. He then played a pretty great cover of "Cactus" from Surfer Rosa. Then was joined for some songs by the drummer from The National. Was a good acoustic break before heading over to the Verve. B

Richard's voice was a little hoarse as compared to their show at the Warfield, but it was a still a great performance. B

Spank Rock was sick. :( Amanda Blank tried to carry the show without him. C-

Second best surprise of the was Black Lips. They were great! They sound like a punk band if punk had emerged in the 50's from the deep south. Great southern fried punky action with a 50's sensibility weaved into some tracks. Bonus for Har Mar Superstar doing some backup dancing. B+

In all, a pretty ok day. Looking forward to Kate Nash, Cinematic Orchestra, Kraftwerk and, of course, Prince tomorrow.