Coachella
- Thread starter Big Chris
- Start date
) 
One of the programmers at work flew over just for the 2 days!
Leaving his heavily preagnant wife at home with her Mom.... he said Rage AGainst The Machine was better than he could have imagined, and Zach was on form. 2 Mistakes by MOrello, but a other than that, just what you would expect... pure musical genius.
The encore also consisted of KIlling in the name of, plus more!
Leaving his heavily preagnant wife at home with her Mom.... he said Rage AGainst The Machine was better than he could have imagined, and Zach was on form. 2 Mistakes by MOrello, but a other than that, just what you would expect... pure musical genius.
The encore also consisted of KIlling in the name of, plus more!
it was AWESOME!!! it was a little quiet cos they had a sound problem just before manu chao (the act previous) but i couldn't tell you because i was 3 rows from the front loving every second of sonic joy! i'll post some pictures up in GD in a few days of our visit to the US inc. rage.. so keep an eye out 
B@Th*nG
B@Th*nG
B@Th*nG said:it was AWESOME!!! it was a little quiet cos they had a sound problem just before manu chao (the act previous) but i couldn't tell you because i was 3 rows from the front loving every second of sonic joy! i'll post some pictures up in GD in a few days of our visit to the US inc. rage.. so keep an eye out
B@Th*nG
I hate you.
Bands I saw:
Friday -- 3 hour queue for my "Will Call" ticket in the 95+ heat
------
Noisettes -- 5/5 -- Had no idea who these folks were but it only added to the finest noise band I've heard in a long time. The singer (a girl bass player), who reminds me of
Skin from Skunk Anansie combined with Shirley Bassey. A 3 piece with great vocals and wicked bass that lets the guitarist walk of into a wall of noise and comes out picking a
sweet solo almost every song. Great use of timing and letting each member just get on with what they are good at. By the end of the 40 min show they had the crowd in their
pocket. If you can check these guys out.
Tokyo Police Club -- 2/5 -- I was looking foward to this but sadly there was nothing that sounded better than their okay album. I think the main problem here was that the singer
has heard one too many Bright Eyes records. Short songs that sounded like your local band after 8 pints of stella. They could have had trouble preparing I dont know but they
didnt even sound like half the band they do on the album. The crowd got into them though, must be my ears.
Tilly and the Wall -- 3/5 -- I caught them for about 2 songs, they sounded okay and got a few more of the crowd involved than TPC. I cant really review with 2 songs so I'll
leave it at that but I would go and see them again.
Silversun Pickups -- 5/5 -- The new Smashing Pumpkins for me and was really looking forward to hearing these guys. They were perfect aside from a few washy sound issues early on
in the first song (finger out main stage sound engineers!). They played all of their up tempo songs possibly to keep the crowd onside before relaxing into the quieter stuff.
Towards the end the crowd actually noticed that it was a live band and gave them some support. Great guitarist and he used delay effects with some excellent results which i
didnt expect. They gave quite a bit of themselves to this show and it paid off with a really punchy performance. Top notch.
Rufus Wainwright -- 3/5 -- Great show, great vocals and a great set of backup band members to which the drummer stole the show for me. Vocals were a bit overdone for most of the
show and overpowered the rest of the band. The start of the show was much better than the end, about 7 songs in all. He played the "I'm gay" card too many times and used it in
almost every sentence so points off for that as it got so annoying to hear. You may say harsh but to be honest I dont care if he sings using one of those Futurama head jars,
quit stating the bleeding obvious.
Peeping Tom -- 5/5 -- They started out being introduced by Danny DeVito which got the crowd behind them right away (god knows why...) He's not that good an actor or comedian,
anyway... PT's album I thought was going to be very hard to carry off live but within 30 seconds Mike Patton appeared dressed in body armour and was jumping around the stage
like some demented hip-hop god. He worked the crowd and got them involved, clapping, singing and bouncing. By the third song in, (a song with a great metal riff), the place was
on fire. Patton continued to work the crowd up for another few songs, by this time even the casual passers by were running into the tent to see what the fuss was. The backing
band to PT also were the mutts, as a band they work so well together, best band of the friday for me. I had to leave to see..
Interpol -- 4/5 -- Got there just as they started, they played Mammoth (a new song) straight into PDA. The new stuff sounds like a good step back to the first album. They played
three new songs all in along with the classic tunes from their first two albums.. No Stella or NYC but highlight of the show for me was Say Hello To The Angels. They were not
bad, not in any way, but there were no spontaneous bits that i think you need in a live show. Cant blame them really the crowd was tough to work and didnt help them out much
except for Slow Hands... yey go crowd! All in all great musicians facing a bunch of clowns who only know one song.
Gogol Bordello -- 4/5 -- Insane punk/folk with system of a down style vocals. There people are 100MPH and bring quite a bit of talent with it. Great use of timing and
instruments from flutes to african drums. All kept in check by the vocals of possibly the most nuttiest person in the field on Friday. A really intense show where you dont
notice the time go by. The vocals can get a bit repetitive but hey so did that Brian Adams song, the other intruments do enough of a shift to keep you entertained. I just dont
know if i'd go see them again, one of those types of bands....
Sat
------
The Cribs -- 3/5 -- Got to work pretty fast playing songs from both albums plus 4 or 5 new songs. Only stopping to complain about the heat in between songs, sweat was pouring
off me too and I didnt have 20+ stage lights on me. Got the crowd involved and a lot of the crowd knew their stuff which helped. First time I had seen them live and they carry
themselves pretty well, cheeky little guitarist too. Stand out track was Hey Scenesters for me.
The Fratellis -- 4/5 -- The locals for me, Scottish people in 100+ heat was never going to be pretty. The guys came on and immediatley homed into the scottish people in the
crowd who just took off taking the rest of the tent with them. Sound was good, quite loud compared to the previous days acts. Played most of the album only stopping to say
things like "Oh great just waht we need another light" and "If one of us throws up dont be offended, it's just the heat". Looked like they enjoyed it. They got the singalong
songs out of the way early which was good to get the crowd involved, great show carried off well.
Hot Chip -- 5/5 -- I had no idea what to expect from this crowd... They blew us all away. A sort of dance/indie fusion.. dance music with an indie vocal, check them out if you
can. Probably just what was needed to break the indie branding that the tent had. Got the crowd moving and cheering within the first two songs. The sound was excellent, not too
bassy either. Not much in terms of stage presence but more than made up for it with their music. By the end of their set the tent was full and ringed by about 10 rows outside.
Great stuff!
Kings of Leon -- 5/5 -- Southern US rock played with balls, these guys have been making records for years and got to work right away. The big songs including Mollys Chambers, On
Call and California Waiting, were all there but not until about half way through the set. Possibly the first time all weekend that I saw more than a handful of people dancing
along. Sound was okay but not as loud as it should have been. The drummer looked ******, have no idea why... They finished with Trani which was one of the best songs I heard all
weekend, utterly fantastic.
The Arcade Fire -- 5/5 -- After watching the roadies set up a the weirdest set of stage props ever I knew something special was going to happen. The light was fading fast, the
sky had just gone that purple dusk colour when the PA sprang to life... Both large video monitors were playing a video of a woman ranting to what looked like a congregation.
This carried on for about 3 minutes before the band took stage. They walked on and took positions and remained there until the end of the video. At this point they launched into
Black Mirror and from that point it was bliss for the next hour and ten. Around that time about 50 beach balls got thrown into the crowd and these got batted around for the rest
of the set. Everything was perfect, sound, lights, and lyrics. I thought he may fluff some lyrics due to being the most nervous front man alive but no, everything was on time.
Most of the set came from Funeral with select tracks from Neon, probably the biggest surprise there right after (Neighbourgood #2) Laika was the standout song for me (Antichrist
Televison Blues), the acoustic kicked in and when he started to sing it was like being kicked in the balls. Two of the guys (no idea of the names) got involved in additonal
percussion and then decided that they were no longer needed and trashed them after chasing each other across the stage. Wake Up and Rebellion were mostly sung by the crowd, Will
was still singing but the crowd was too strong. During Rebellion Will jumped down into the walkway between the crowd and sang. My Body is a Cage was played too and Will's wife
was kneeling beating a drum like some demented swiss clock timepiece. The whole set was utterly surreal, it was like nothing else I have exerienced, they may be in all the mags
and websites right now, but after that show I can see why.
LCD Soundsystem -- 5/5 -- Still hyper from seeing AF, walking towards the Sahara tent was hardly any effort at all. I stopped for a few beers on the way still trying to take in
the genius AF set. I made off for LCD and got to the tent about 5 minutes before they started, it was almost packed and I made it quite close to the front. I'd heard that these
guys were special and it turns out they were! Sound was okay but could have done with a bit more bass, I suppose it was a tent after all. Daft Punk, Tribulations, Movement, and
North American Scum were amongst some of the tunes played. The place danced along lapping up what they had to offer. They had a live guitarist who really blended well with the
stuff being played on the decks. Most songs had an extension of some sort with various build up's and what not, good stuff. A great crowd who danced and got involved made the
time pass very quickly and after about 6 songs it was time to say goodbye..... Damn.
Black Keys -- 4/5 -- Now I had seen these two before and there were a lot of others on at the time RHCP for one but I could not pass this up. Black Keys are out of this world
and tonight was no exception. Rattling through lots of songs from Rubber Factory and Magic Potion mainly. Your Touch was electric, the sound was fantastic lots of reverb and
that dirty noise that he carries so well. Most songs were extended out to showcase his style I think, but that seemed to take its toll on the drummer. The downtime between songs
got longer and longer and at times you could see the drummer wilting. Stack Shot Billy was absolutley mega, probably the best I've ever heard it. After just over an hour it was
all done and with ears ringing I took myself to find some eats.
The Good the Bad and the Queen -- 4/5 -- Apparently these guys were 40 mins late on stage which was an excellent distraction from eating. I wandered over, I had listened to the
album a few times but didnt think much of it. Arriving at the stage I was treated to some good flowing songs that came from the album. There were about 12 people on stage and it
was a really big band noise they were making. The bass player did a great job of leading most of the songs leaving Albarn to just get on with piano and vocals. The whole set
oozed class and a really good tight set of songs. It's been a long time since a live set made me dig out an album again but this one just made me put it back onto my player.
Sun
------
TO FOLLOW
Friday -- 3 hour queue for my "Will Call" ticket in the 95+ heat
------
Noisettes -- 5/5 -- Had no idea who these folks were but it only added to the finest noise band I've heard in a long time. The singer (a girl bass player), who reminds me of
Skin from Skunk Anansie combined with Shirley Bassey. A 3 piece with great vocals and wicked bass that lets the guitarist walk of into a wall of noise and comes out picking a
sweet solo almost every song. Great use of timing and letting each member just get on with what they are good at. By the end of the 40 min show they had the crowd in their
pocket. If you can check these guys out.
Tokyo Police Club -- 2/5 -- I was looking foward to this but sadly there was nothing that sounded better than their okay album. I think the main problem here was that the singer
has heard one too many Bright Eyes records. Short songs that sounded like your local band after 8 pints of stella. They could have had trouble preparing I dont know but they
didnt even sound like half the band they do on the album. The crowd got into them though, must be my ears.
Tilly and the Wall -- 3/5 -- I caught them for about 2 songs, they sounded okay and got a few more of the crowd involved than TPC. I cant really review with 2 songs so I'll
leave it at that but I would go and see them again.
Silversun Pickups -- 5/5 -- The new Smashing Pumpkins for me and was really looking forward to hearing these guys. They were perfect aside from a few washy sound issues early on
in the first song (finger out main stage sound engineers!). They played all of their up tempo songs possibly to keep the crowd onside before relaxing into the quieter stuff.
Towards the end the crowd actually noticed that it was a live band and gave them some support. Great guitarist and he used delay effects with some excellent results which i
didnt expect. They gave quite a bit of themselves to this show and it paid off with a really punchy performance. Top notch.
Rufus Wainwright -- 3/5 -- Great show, great vocals and a great set of backup band members to which the drummer stole the show for me. Vocals were a bit overdone for most of the
show and overpowered the rest of the band. The start of the show was much better than the end, about 7 songs in all. He played the "I'm gay" card too many times and used it in
almost every sentence so points off for that as it got so annoying to hear. You may say harsh but to be honest I dont care if he sings using one of those Futurama head jars,
quit stating the bleeding obvious.
Peeping Tom -- 5/5 -- They started out being introduced by Danny DeVito which got the crowd behind them right away (god knows why...) He's not that good an actor or comedian,
anyway... PT's album I thought was going to be very hard to carry off live but within 30 seconds Mike Patton appeared dressed in body armour and was jumping around the stage
like some demented hip-hop god. He worked the crowd and got them involved, clapping, singing and bouncing. By the third song in, (a song with a great metal riff), the place was
on fire. Patton continued to work the crowd up for another few songs, by this time even the casual passers by were running into the tent to see what the fuss was. The backing
band to PT also were the mutts, as a band they work so well together, best band of the friday for me. I had to leave to see..
Interpol -- 4/5 -- Got there just as they started, they played Mammoth (a new song) straight into PDA. The new stuff sounds like a good step back to the first album. They played
three new songs all in along with the classic tunes from their first two albums.. No Stella or NYC but highlight of the show for me was Say Hello To The Angels. They were not
bad, not in any way, but there were no spontaneous bits that i think you need in a live show. Cant blame them really the crowd was tough to work and didnt help them out much
except for Slow Hands... yey go crowd! All in all great musicians facing a bunch of clowns who only know one song.
Gogol Bordello -- 4/5 -- Insane punk/folk with system of a down style vocals. There people are 100MPH and bring quite a bit of talent with it. Great use of timing and
instruments from flutes to african drums. All kept in check by the vocals of possibly the most nuttiest person in the field on Friday. A really intense show where you dont
notice the time go by. The vocals can get a bit repetitive but hey so did that Brian Adams song, the other intruments do enough of a shift to keep you entertained. I just dont
know if i'd go see them again, one of those types of bands....
Sat
------
The Cribs -- 3/5 -- Got to work pretty fast playing songs from both albums plus 4 or 5 new songs. Only stopping to complain about the heat in between songs, sweat was pouring
off me too and I didnt have 20+ stage lights on me. Got the crowd involved and a lot of the crowd knew their stuff which helped. First time I had seen them live and they carry
themselves pretty well, cheeky little guitarist too. Stand out track was Hey Scenesters for me.
The Fratellis -- 4/5 -- The locals for me, Scottish people in 100+ heat was never going to be pretty. The guys came on and immediatley homed into the scottish people in the
crowd who just took off taking the rest of the tent with them. Sound was good, quite loud compared to the previous days acts. Played most of the album only stopping to say
things like "Oh great just waht we need another light" and "If one of us throws up dont be offended, it's just the heat". Looked like they enjoyed it. They got the singalong
songs out of the way early which was good to get the crowd involved, great show carried off well.
Hot Chip -- 5/5 -- I had no idea what to expect from this crowd... They blew us all away. A sort of dance/indie fusion.. dance music with an indie vocal, check them out if you
can. Probably just what was needed to break the indie branding that the tent had. Got the crowd moving and cheering within the first two songs. The sound was excellent, not too
bassy either. Not much in terms of stage presence but more than made up for it with their music. By the end of their set the tent was full and ringed by about 10 rows outside.
Great stuff!
Kings of Leon -- 5/5 -- Southern US rock played with balls, these guys have been making records for years and got to work right away. The big songs including Mollys Chambers, On
Call and California Waiting, were all there but not until about half way through the set. Possibly the first time all weekend that I saw more than a handful of people dancing
along. Sound was okay but not as loud as it should have been. The drummer looked ******, have no idea why... They finished with Trani which was one of the best songs I heard all
weekend, utterly fantastic.
The Arcade Fire -- 5/5 -- After watching the roadies set up a the weirdest set of stage props ever I knew something special was going to happen. The light was fading fast, the
sky had just gone that purple dusk colour when the PA sprang to life... Both large video monitors were playing a video of a woman ranting to what looked like a congregation.
This carried on for about 3 minutes before the band took stage. They walked on and took positions and remained there until the end of the video. At this point they launched into
Black Mirror and from that point it was bliss for the next hour and ten. Around that time about 50 beach balls got thrown into the crowd and these got batted around for the rest
of the set. Everything was perfect, sound, lights, and lyrics. I thought he may fluff some lyrics due to being the most nervous front man alive but no, everything was on time.
Most of the set came from Funeral with select tracks from Neon, probably the biggest surprise there right after (Neighbourgood #2) Laika was the standout song for me (Antichrist
Televison Blues), the acoustic kicked in and when he started to sing it was like being kicked in the balls. Two of the guys (no idea of the names) got involved in additonal
percussion and then decided that they were no longer needed and trashed them after chasing each other across the stage. Wake Up and Rebellion were mostly sung by the crowd, Will
was still singing but the crowd was too strong. During Rebellion Will jumped down into the walkway between the crowd and sang. My Body is a Cage was played too and Will's wife
was kneeling beating a drum like some demented swiss clock timepiece. The whole set was utterly surreal, it was like nothing else I have exerienced, they may be in all the mags
and websites right now, but after that show I can see why.
LCD Soundsystem -- 5/5 -- Still hyper from seeing AF, walking towards the Sahara tent was hardly any effort at all. I stopped for a few beers on the way still trying to take in
the genius AF set. I made off for LCD and got to the tent about 5 minutes before they started, it was almost packed and I made it quite close to the front. I'd heard that these
guys were special and it turns out they were! Sound was okay but could have done with a bit more bass, I suppose it was a tent after all. Daft Punk, Tribulations, Movement, and
North American Scum were amongst some of the tunes played. The place danced along lapping up what they had to offer. They had a live guitarist who really blended well with the
stuff being played on the decks. Most songs had an extension of some sort with various build up's and what not, good stuff. A great crowd who danced and got involved made the
time pass very quickly and after about 6 songs it was time to say goodbye..... Damn.
Black Keys -- 4/5 -- Now I had seen these two before and there were a lot of others on at the time RHCP for one but I could not pass this up. Black Keys are out of this world
and tonight was no exception. Rattling through lots of songs from Rubber Factory and Magic Potion mainly. Your Touch was electric, the sound was fantastic lots of reverb and
that dirty noise that he carries so well. Most songs were extended out to showcase his style I think, but that seemed to take its toll on the drummer. The downtime between songs
got longer and longer and at times you could see the drummer wilting. Stack Shot Billy was absolutley mega, probably the best I've ever heard it. After just over an hour it was
all done and with ears ringing I took myself to find some eats.
The Good the Bad and the Queen -- 4/5 -- Apparently these guys were 40 mins late on stage which was an excellent distraction from eating. I wandered over, I had listened to the
album a few times but didnt think much of it. Arriving at the stage I was treated to some good flowing songs that came from the album. There were about 12 people on stage and it
was a really big band noise they were making. The bass player did a great job of leading most of the songs leaving Albarn to just get on with piano and vocals. The whole set
oozed class and a really good tight set of songs. It's been a long time since a live set made me dig out an album again but this one just made me put it back onto my player.
Sun
------
TO FOLLOW
Last edited: