Coachella Saturday

Posted about 1 year ago

Artist:
- PLAY
Prince
Album:
- PLAY
- QUEUE
The Hits 1
Track:
- PLAY
- QUEUE
1999

The bottom line: Saturday = good. Not excellent, not MIND-BLOWING but pretty god-damn good. (wait till Sunday's review folks).A Quickie Journal of the day?MGMT was shy. Brazilian's Bonde De Role was young- w. scream-pop electro. Singer-Songwriter Kate Nash, whilst cute, was too peachy-keen for my taste. MIA - in glow-in-the-dark plastic-garbage bag bustier overflowed her tent w. her brand of electro-erotica, complete with (un-censored) gun shots. The Islands were bad-ass Indie Rock with capitals (asides from being one of the most racially diverse bands out there). Portishead was dreamlike. Animal Collective was feisty. St. Vincent proved her wicked guitar skills.Calvin Harris was the unexpected surprise of the night (mental note: must download). Yelle defined French 1980s pop. And ah, the question of the day. What of Prince? He was mildly entertaining but he couldn't rev it up enough to keep the kids' attention. Most left (especially since he played till after 1 am) and the ones who I polled around me thought he sounded like a Prom cover band- him, an army of sax players and a fat lady who sung. The New York Times has hailed his performance but I wonder if they are just behind the times. No matter which currency, it didn't seem worth $4.8 mill. He also kept asking the crowd to revere him ("Do you Know who I am!? I am PRINCE") - which was awkward considering he spent most of last decade trying to erase his own name. Truth be told, if you were over 35, you prob really dug it. But Prince couldn't appeal to the average age of the attendees- (he should have cameoed with some artists we know- rather than just do a luke-warm rendition of Creep) Sorry Prince fans......not the performance of a lifetime.Visual Diary:

{MGMT}

{Bonde De Role}

{crowd at Bonde De Role}

{Kate Nash}

{Dancer @ sunset}

{Sunset}

{Islands}

{St. Vincent}

{MIA}

{MIA in front of crowd}

{Calvin Harris}

{Yelle}

{crowd @ Yelle}

{VIP tent during Prince}

Comments (16)

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KoriLinc says Very cool.. loved the review.

Permalink posted 04/27/2008
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Eric5776 says Fantastic job with the turnaround on updates for the day - very concise and honest birds eye view of some of the better acts of the day. Nice pics also. Crowded on stage? VIP must have been rough being so far from the stage. Elbow-to-elbow with everyone who knows somebody...?

Permalink posted 04/27/2008
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zarpex says I must say; I do sometimes feel as if a one-word summation of a show or a band - if it's the right word - can convey more than a lengthy disquisition. I feel like I saw all those shows now, even without looking at the photos...

Permalink posted 04/27/2008
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dangerdot says why is MIA so F-ing cool? I saw her at Coachella four years ago or was it 3? I dunno, but she's a badass. I want to be MIA basically...

Permalink posted 04/27/2008
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Betherz247 says solid review and great pics too! I wish I was there

Permalink posted 04/27/2008
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david hyman says for my ADD, this is the perfect review!! wish they were all like this. ha! sad, but true. my true feelings. i like to read mog on the john.

Permalink posted 04/27/2008
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I am says To much info D.

Permalink posted 04/27/2008
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david hyman says i was waiting how long it would take for that response. not even a few minutes. yuk yuk.

Permalink posted 04/27/2008
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Jonh Ingham says I'm with Zarpex - just from the pix I've got all the information I need.

Permalink posted 04/27/2008
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Hermes says Mia looks very sexy in that colorful chicken feather outfit :). And I also have to say that this was a preppy short review.

Permalink posted 04/28/2008
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Neill says Question; Is Coachella shown on any US TV stations? Most of the big UK festivals are on national TV here....

Permalink posted 04/28/2008
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Dale says Neill, I just got home from Coachella. Saturday was transcendent. Well, that's not fair, the whole thing was incredible, but more on that later.

Permalink posted 04/28/2008
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indiepixie says yup thanks for appreciating the post. will get you a grander summary in the near future. Roger Waters blew my mind.

Permalink posted 04/28/2008
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pinkertonwasbetter says I think if anything vampire weekend was shy. I was pretty disappointed. It was all about Justice. ~Roxy

Permalink posted 04/28/2008
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Robin Danar says it's great to read your stuff, girl. i was there as well and love your reviews and photos--we saw a bunch of the same shows. waiting to see what you say about Sunday. i've gotta admit though, i thought Prince kicked ass. i look at the ego/name thing as just part of his "shtick" and it just makes me laugh. a lot of kids or older people that were up past their bedtimes and had a long drive home might have left, but there were a ton of different peeps that stayed in that audience. i was backstage but had to go out in the house to have fun. i ended up hanging with a bunch of people that were going nuts and yelling stuff to me in spanish. after 12 hours in the usual blistering heat, there were still a lot of people having a blast and dancing outside of the Sahara tent. having said that, it's interesting to just look at Coachella in general. it's not really what it used to be when it comes to "new". neither is SXSW. funny how things change when the money starts coming in. most of what you see there, you know about already. i go to these "events" now with a different state of mind, knowing what to expect. i still love 'em. i hadn't seen Minus the Bear, and Portishead was WAY better than the last time i saw them......a pleasant surprise. My Morning Jacket's show was "air-guitar central". these days, new info comes to me more from places like this. Coachella's still a really fun event and i have a great time watching all of these bands. for me, the crowd is part of the show. psyched to see your thoughts on Sunday and glad that Roger Waters blew your mind. rd

Permalink posted 04/29/2008
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amber says I was there too, and I didn't see anybody who thought Prince was just ok. Maybe if you'd left the VIP tent you would have captured some of the magic that was his show. Our group of 8, while perhaps not hip enough to be bored by him, found his performance and basic animal power intoxicating. But that was just us.

Permalink posted 04/29/2008