Coachella Report: Day 2

Coachella Report: Saturday, April 17

I arrived to the festival grounds in the heat of the late afternoon, amped for another fabulous evening of music and spectacle. After entering I made a speedy beeline to the mainstage, where I would camp out for the rest of the night.

Eager to begin the crucial mission of elbowing my way to the front for Muse’s set (which was still three acts and over five hours away), I embedded myself deeply within the pit for Tokyo Police Club. The band drew a decent crowd, inlcuding that same five year old from Friday, who was still perched atop his dad’s shoulders and mouthing each and every lyric. The performance was nothing extraordinary, but the guys’ excitement to be appearing on the Coachella main stage (the group’s largest crowd to date) was endearing.

As the teeny-bop rock fans filtered out to catch other acts, an edgier crowd made its way to the pit, forcing me to stand firmly in my prized spot near the railing. Coheed and Cabria performed next, inciting a miniature riot within the pit with its heavy metal riffs. The band’s appearance was particularly exciting for the hard core fans around me, who were rejoicing over the release of its brand new album (Year of the Black Rainbow dropped just days before the start of the festival). In celebration, heads banged and bodies moshed, and those of us less familiar with the group enjoyed the unique experience. I was especially delighted as Coheed wrapped up its set with the song “Welcome Home,” which awesomely featured my alma mater’s marching band, the USC Spirit of Troy. It was pretty epic. Read more

Coachella Report: Day 1

Coachella Report: Friday, April 16

After getting a very late start on my day (the traffic and the admission line were both brutal) I was able to catch a very diverse mix of acts.

Playing on the main stage when I entered was Street Sweeper Social Club. I didn’t spend a lot of time listening to the band, but the crowd seemed to really enjoy its performance. I liked what I heard, and was hugely disappointed that I had left so soon after later learning that SSSC is comprised of Rage Against the Machine rocker Tom Morello and hip-hop artist Boots Riley. Morello is a fiend on the guitar and I wish I could have caught more of his act–I highly suggest folks check SSSC out.

As I oriented myself with the grounds (the vastness of Coachella is impressive in itself) I found the stage featuring Zooey Deschanel’s group She & Him. Although the bouncy music was sweet and reminded me of driving to the beach, it wasn’t enough to keep my interest for very long, and I was eager to get back to the main stage for The Specials (a band I had heard lots about during my two and a half hour wait to get in) and Them Crooked Vultures. Read more

Alberta Cross On The Rise

Alberta Cross has quickly become one of the summer’s must-see bands after their performances at Coachella and Bonnaroo.

The band consists of “a quintet of stoner rock revivalists from Brooklyn-ia-London-via-Sweden,” according to Rollingstone.com. Alberta Cross is signed to Dave Matthew’s ATO label.

Their album Broken Side of Time is due out September 22nd.

Check out their performace of ‘ATX’ –

NEW MUSIC – LYKKE LI

 

She hails from Sweden and her voice is distinctly unique. 

 

You can catch her here in the states at the upcoming Coachella Festival if you’re going on April 19th. 

 

Check out this acoustic performance of ‘I’m Good, I’m Gone’ -

 

MCCARTNEY, KILLERS, CURE ANCHOR COACHELLA LINEUP

Paul McCartney, the Killers and the Cure lead the bill for the tenth Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, to be held April 17-19 at Empire Polo Field in Indio, Calif. Also confirmed are My Bloody Valentine, Amy Winehouse, Morrissey, Leonard Cohen and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

McCartney will be making his maiden American festival appearance at the event. “I have heard that Coachella is one of the greatest festivals in the world,” he said in a statement. “I’m really excited to get out there and rock!”

Coachella has been after My Bloody Valentine for years, and nearly had the band booked for its 2008 festival. But frontman Kevin Shields ultimately decided the freshly reunited MBV would not have been ready to perform by last year’s show date and instead waited until the fall before playing North American shows.

As for Winehouse, this will be her first major American appearance since performing at the 2008 Grammy Awards. The U.K. artist’s 2007 Coachella set came at a time when she was breaking through in the States with her single “Rehab” and album “Back to Black,” but in the past 18 months she’s been beset with drug problems and erratic behavior.

Meanwhile, Cohen’s Coachella appearance will be part of his first North American tour in 15 years, which begins Feb. 19 in New York.

Other highlights of the festival lineup include Fleet Foxes, Conor Oberst, the Black Keys, the Hold Steady, Superchunk, Dr. Dog, TV On The Radio, Okkervil River and Band Of Horses from the world of indie rock; and MSTRKRFT, Girl Talk, Thievery Corporation, the Crystal Method, Throbbing Gristle, Groove Armada and Roni Size from the dance and electronic community.

The Drive-By Truckers will perform their own set on April 18 as well as back soul legend Booker T & the MGs, while rock veterans such as X, Paul Weller, Henry Rollins and Bob Mould add a dose of experience to the lineup.

Among the buzz bands and notable newcomers playing this year are White Lies, who currently have the No. 1 album in the United Kingdom, N.A.S.A., the Airborne Toxic Event, Cage the Elephant, Gang Gang Dance, Hercules and Love Affair, Vivian Girls, Lykke Li, Late Of The Pier, the Knux and the Gaslight Anthem.

Coachella tickets go on sale this morning via Ticketmaster. For the first time, festival promoter Goldenvoice is offering a layaway plan for three-day passes, which is available only online and through Feb. 28.

Here is the lineup for the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival:

FRIDAY APRIL 17: Paul McCartney, Morrissey, Franz Ferdinand, Leonard Cohen, Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band, Beirut, The Black Keys, Girl Talk, Silversun Pickups, The Ting Tings, The Crystal Method, Ghostland Observatory, Crystal Castles, The Airborne Toxic Event, We Are Scientists, N.A.S.A., Patton & Rahzel, M. Ward, The Presets, The Hold Steady, A Place to Bury Strangers, Felix da Housecat, Buraka Som Sistema, Ryan Bingham, Bajofondo, Peanut Butter Wolf, Noah & the Whale, White Lies, The Bug, Alberta Cross, Los Campesinos!, Craze & Klever, Molotov, Switch, Gui Boratto, Steve Aoki, The Aggrolites, People Under the Stairs, The Courteeners, Cage the Elephant, Dear and the Headlights.

SATURDAY, APRIL 18: The Killers, Amy Winehouse, Thievery Corporation, TV on the Radio, Band of Horses, Fleet Foxes, MSTRKRFT, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Atmosphere, Mastodon, TRAV$DJ-AM, Henry Rollins, Crookers, Turbonegro, Hercules and Love Affair, Superchunk, Glasvegas, Dr. Dog, Drive-By Truckers, Booker T & the DBT’s, Amanda Palmer, The Bloody Beetroots, Surkin, Para One (Live), Calexico, Liars, Bob Mould Band, Zane Lowe, Electric Touch, Blitzen Trapper, James Morrison, Drop the Lime, Glass Candy, Thenewno2, Gang Gang Dance, Billy Talent, Ida Maria, Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, Zizek, Cloud Cult, Tinariwen.

SUNDAY, APRIL 19: The Cure, My Bloody Valentine, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Throbbing Gristle, Lupe Fiasco, Paul Weller, Peter Bjorn and John, X, Antony & the Johnsons, Roni Size, Public Enemy, Jenny Lewis, Groove Armada, Paolo Nutini, Christopher Lawrence, Lykke Li, The Kills, Okkervil River, M.A.N.D.Y., Clipse, Sebastien Tellier, Fucked Up, Perry Farrell, The Horrors, Late of the Pier, K’naan, Junior Boys, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Supermayer, No Age, Vivian Girls, Shepard Fairey, Themselves, Gaslight Anthem, The Knux, Mexican Institute of Sound, The Night Marchers, Marshall Barnes.