Coachella Report: Headlines From Front...

Day 15pm - heat not as brutal as expected - caught a little bit of perry farrell's new gig, satellite party, on the way in - they played Stop! which was cool - made me feel 17 again...checked out art on the way to the outdoor stage - waiting for of montreal and will run over for silversun pickups after a bit - hoping to meet up w. fellow Mog writer Blair a little later...good new art this year & funky pod-things to provide shade - will get photographs later...of montreal are good n' theatrical - guitarist in feathery pink wings, vocalist in dollface makeup - he has a teeny tiny body - i had no idea they were an elephant 6 band - they started w. their big hit and played well but the crowd energy was a little lowSILVERSUN PICKUPS CHANNEL GENE WILDER IN PALM DESERT530p - silversun pickups putting on a fabulous set, awesome sound from the main stage, loads of good energy from the band - whoever is doing the video on the main stage is really fucking good - it looks like a commercial rock video...silversun boy's voice is super cool and the drummer totally wails...out of nowhere, they start in with the "there's no earthly way of knowing just exactly where we're going..." song from willy wonka...yay! patrick likes silversun! it's always good to introduce a friend to a new band - although i'm still totally surprised he doesn't already know them...of montreal are still tearing it up across the field...silversun boy thanks the audience very graciously, then recommends we all go see blonde redhead, sparklehorse & the black keys just before busting into "lazy eye" - good feedback at the end...630p - sahara tent for digitalism - good standard progressive house and super bass-y...they mix in "pump up the jams", some gabriel & dresden - i'm really enjoying watching this boy dance - lord knows what he's on...pat's standard quote "dude, they're totally letting me have it!"tarrah "i really like their drops" - i guess this is some DJ term i don't know...dude, they even mixed in FIREINCAIRO by the cure at one point...RUFUS "MAY LOOK PRETTY BUT [HE] SMELLS LIKE SHIT"715p - mojave tent for rufus wainwright - he's dressed in a long blue and white striped kaftan with a hood...lisps jokes about homosexuals - there's a full grand piano and a standup bass - good sound on this stage - rufus has such a rich voice...his set's not too theatrical, which isn't what i expected but it's good to finally see him live - "i feel like a faggy sinatra" - the crowd was really enjoying the set, seemed like a bunch of old-school fans were in the house - coachella doesn't really have a super-huge gay element to it though - HORNS! a sax and a trumpet...oh hey, there's a gay dude...CELEBRITY INTERLUDE:Zack GallifanakisMartin from Mogwaithose 2 dudes who do all the 80's commentary shows on VH1...they're weird looking740p - on the way to Jesus & Mary Chain, i bump into my friend hanan, from seattle - turns out Rage Against the Machine have flown him out here for Iraq Veterans Against the War - he does a lot of public speaking events in seattle and may even get to go up on stage during Rage's set on sunday - soooo cooolJESUS APPEARS ON POLO FIELD - JAMS WITH HOT CHICKJ&MC tore it UP - we heard "blues from a gun", "far gone & out", "some candy talking", "head on" and others...the batteries in my camera died, so i didn't get too many good snaps - i'm smoking too much but fuck it all anyway - i am genuinely happy - i HEART the J&MC - old dude looks awesome and scarlett johansen showed up at the end of the show to sing backup for "just like honey" - that was pretty cool - a surprise anyway...JARVIS COCKER - FAITH HEALER905p - jarvis is 20 minutes late but we figure it's not his fault since the outdoor stage has a history of being shitty and late every year...when he finally gets out there he offers to heal those suffering from heat stroke with the power of his music...or whatever...he starts out w. "fat children" ...the crowd for jarvis is HUGE and we're all waiting to hear "common people" but it never comes - the set was great though, he was super chatty - also sang "heavy weather song" and "one man show" about a guy who stays in every night and orders a lot of food over the telephone...in other words, jarvis...INTERPOL PHONES IT IN930p - had to leave jarvis for interpol - wait, what did i just put my hand in??? EWfirst song ok, i don't know it so it's either from Antics or off the new album - it's ok , there's a nice, screamy guitar solo in the middle...i can hear the 2 tesla coils buzzing in the background...man, that carlos d. has really changed - he looks like he just stepped out of deadwood or tombstone...they launch into "obstacle 1" - i dunno, it all sounds a little strained, the vocals are simply BAD and the guitar is not as heavy as you'd expect - the bass is barely there at all - then another song from antics, "say hello to the angels" - DAMMIT, they are totally phoning this shit in...they played a song from their new album and didn't even pimp it...did carlos d. quit smoking? another antics song, followed by "turn on the bright lights" but i'm out - interpol sucked...they sound like they picked up a little at the end but banks just sounds bored or tired...maybe from all that smoking and gum-chewing? maybe the venue is too big? when they played coachella 2003 they played a smaller stage and were just getting started and it was a much better show than this one...1020p - sonic youth 25 minutes late, even though jarvis ended on time - outdoor stage has been late AAAALL DAAAY - "hey we're called 'the sonic youth' and my name's thurston..." - kim is not on stage yet but we're informed she'll be playing a fender twin...kim shows up to a smattering of applause and says "sorry, they wouldn't let me onstage 'cause i'm a girl" - set includes a bunch of songs fr. daydream nation, "incinerate", etc - the band's got a good solid sound goin' on, the crowd is mellow and not as large as i expected but a lot of people were over seeing faithless...1040p - i'm off to meet my peeps for bjork...11p - friends didn't show, bjork onstage barefoot - hear "the hunted" which i like a lot...tesla coils make me happy...hung out w. hanan for a bit in the IVAW tent and got some free stuff from URB - there is hardly any incidental merch this year...and we're out - it was a good first day - an easy first day...tomorrow's gonna be brutal - i just blew half the polo field out of my nose - was that TMI?