Saturday, April 28, 2012

Coachella Weekend 2 Day Two


Day Two.  We had a hard time getting up and getting ready because day one was so brutal.  Not only did we have to get ready for another full day, I kinda had to mentally prepare myself to be able to do it again.  Our original plan was to get there early to try to see The Vaccines up front.  It wasn't happening.  We took our time and tried to avoid the heat as much as possible.  After the same long walk from the shuttle stop and multiple bag checks, once I got in, I ran to the Gobi Tent for The Vaccines.  I managed to get a decent spot and listen to new tunes like "Bad Mood".  Freddie was wearing a Horrors shirt!



Afterwards, for some reason, maybe heat exhaustion, again, we went to the water refill line.  I totally forgot our plan was to catch The Black Lips.  We remembered and I once again ran to the Mojave Tent.  I made my way in to a pretty good spot.  I didn't want to get all in there and crazy.  You may recall my previous experiences at Black Lips shows.  During "Bad Kids", everyone went crazy and pushed in, including me.  So much fun.  They played a lot of songs from their new album.





After Black Lips, we went to the VIP area to eat and rest and stuff.  I think we had about three smoothies, and a Caesar salad and coke saved my life, just like the first day.  I checked out AWOLNATION a little bit from afar.  Did you know I used to go see Under the Influence of Giants before they were signed?  Yeah, I saw them at The Roxy, Viper Room, Key Club, and Spaceland many years ago.  So it was kinda cool to see them at Coachella after all these years.




I told my peeps, I didn't come to Coachella to not see Buzzcocks.  Yeah, so I walked all the way back to the Gobi Tent by myself and made my way in!  I got so close to the front, I was super stoked and couldn't believe I was about to see the Buzzcocks!  Okay, so the staff at the front started to spray the whole crowd with a water mist hose thing, and they even gave out free bottles of water.  I was so thankful.  It was the most ridiculous experience ever.  Being sprayed with water, mist and sweat dripping down my face, dancing to the Buzzcocks, great energy from the fans.  Another one of those surreal moments.  I was so happy.







 Steve was so excited from this amazing set, he totally threw his guitar and his mic stand at the end!


I made my way back to the VIP area to meet back up with my group and eat some Kogi tacos!  We were eating while Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds played in the background.  There was a warm breeze.  It was beautiful.  So sad I missed his set, but I had a strict schedule to follow.  ;)

So I missed Jeff Mangum to go to Squeeze.  It's not so much a preference, as I would've loved to have listened to "Aeroplanes Over the Sea" live in that beautiful desert, but I figured since I was going to watch Kasabian, it would make sense for me to watch Squeeze.  Not to mention, I really like Squeeze.  They played Revue and I can say that I heard "Up the Junction" live, loud and clear.  Not sure how it happened, but I ended up near the front side again.  I had such a good view of the stage.  But during their set, I started to feel ill.  Maybe it was the running back and forth in that 106 degree heat.  I started to worry.  I was sure that I'd collapse any minute and that medics would have to come for me.  It somehow passed... Anyways, they did NOT play Cool For Cats!  Argh!  I know they played it at Weekend One.



As soon as Squeeze ended, Kasabian fans started to push in, so I somehow ended up right in the middle, second row.  There was only this super nice older couple in front of me.  He even caught a glow stick and gave it to me!  Good karma, because he eventually ended up catching another one for himself!  So they gave out tons of this styrofoam flashing stick thing that said "Kasabian Live" on them.  Once Kasabian hit the stage, my illness magically went away.  It was a full on crazy happy dance party!  Ahhh!  I love them so much.  I get crazy excited when I hear and see them live.  It's so good.  The crowd was amazing as well.  We all went nuts, especially during Vlad the Impaler and Fire.  Oh, the sound was amazing again.






















We went back to eat again.  I think we had a Cool Haus ice cream sandwich and something else.  Another smoothie perhaps.  We sat at the benches and I could hear Bon Iver's "Skinny Love" in the background.  It was lovely and magical with the night air, palm trees, and the lights.  We went and bought some merch and called it a night.  I would've liked to have seen Radiohead, we wanted to avoid the same massive zombie shuffle exit.  And by this time, my feet were swollen and hurting so bad, I barely walked back to the shuttle stop.



Friday, April 27, 2012

Coachella Weekend 2 Day One


Coachella was always something I dreamed about.  I was always interested in the lineup, I watched the webcasts, I looked for the pictures of this event every year.  However, I never went because I'm just really not that into actually being in a huge crowded festival, in the heat, and using porta potties.  Again, if you've been following my blog, you know that I like small venues very much, and don't enjoy large venues at all.  This year, when the Coachella lineup was announced, I was at work.  Someone emailed it to me, but I couldn't take the time to see everything since I was at work after all.  When I got home, I looked at it again and immediately pretty much hyperventilated.  It was sick.  I couldn't believe the lineup.  If you actually were to have seen my reaction, you would've seriously laughed at me.  I freaked out.  To me, this was the best lineup ever.  It just meant so much to me personally.  So can you believe I actually went to my first Coachella?  If it weren't for the amazing lineup, I would not do this, nor could I have done this and endure all that heat and exhaustion.

 Day one.  We arrived at the festival during the hottest time of the day.  Walking in that long distance from the shuttle drop off to the festival entrance, going through two rigorous bag checks and body pat downs, in 100 degrees F, we were really feeling it as soon as we walked in.  We got water and found some shade in the DO Lab.  We refilled our water bottles, then headed over to the Outdoor Stage for Yuck!  If I didn't like their songs so much, Lord knows I would've just passed out at this point.  Outdoor stage, no shade, hottest time of day, the sweat was just dripping down our faces.  I enjoyed Yuck's set very much.  I had seen them before at the Troubadour.  Right around their last song, I could feel myself getting sick.  I needed food or something.  We walked over to rest in the VIP area.  I was suffering so badly from heat exhaustion, I had lost my appetite.  I didn't know how I would last all the way to 11:20pm.  So, we missed GIRLS, because I needed to recover.









After we some what recovered, and the sun started to set, and the weather cooled down, we went out to sit in the grass and watch Arctic Monkeys!  Man, I saw them back in 2006 at the Wiltern Theater in the pit with Meg White and Courtney Love.






The sun went down, it felt bearable now.  After all, Pulp was next.  Seriously, I was there.  Watching Jarvis.  Dancing to my favorite song Disco 2000.





Oh, and I said hi to this lovely person.

After Pulp, we headed back to get dinner, which was a light snack.  I checked out The Black Keys by myself since my party was still very tired.


We started our way to the Outdoor Stage, that's when John Fogerty came on stage to join The Black Keys!

 We watched the last song of Explosions in the Sky.  When they were done, everyone cleared out and everyone else moved in.  I left my party and moved in.  I stood in the center about fifth row from the front, then saw that I was surrounded by mostly male fans.  I figured I would probably die in the mosh pit, so I quickly moved over more to the side, but second row.  I couldn't believe how close I was to to the stage.  I thought Coachella was all about having to watch everyone from very far away.  When Refused took the stage, it was all so surreal.  It felt unreal and real at the same time.  I am not making sense.  No, Coachella didn't make sense to me, but it was happening and I was there.  To be honest, Refused was the top reason why I decided to come to Coachella.  Watching Refused, I was just blown away and all the reasons why I set them apart was so apparent.  It was one of those moments you know you will remember forever.  I was so happy to be able to see them and hear their songs.  I was overwhelmed.














After Refused, we ran over to the Gobi Tent to see The Horrors.  Josh went crazy at the end and stood on his amp while Faris did his mic + amp distortion thingy.  That was the end of Day One.  It was a full day, and getting out of the festival back to the shuttle stop was so tiring.  Too many people, in the dark, we did the zombie shuffle.  We got back to our hotel and totally passed out.



Yuck, Arctic Monkeys, Pulp, The Black Keys, John Fogerty, Refused, The Horrors - all in one day, I must be dreaming.  I was so overwhelmed and happy.