Coachella 2010 Day Two: Saturday

We got home Friday night around 1am. It was a long and exhausting day, but I had a lot of fun getting the lay of the land and figuring out how the festival works and how to get to the various stages quickly and efficiently and how to jockey for prime real estate. Saturday was my light day owing to the fact that the majority of acts I wanted to see were on Friday and Sunday. There was still a lot to see though, and I was willing to try new things that my housemates were wanting to see.



First off was a spoken word/standup performance from cult director John Waters of Hairspray and Female Trouble fame. Or infamy if you were partial to that description. Honestly, he was charming and extremely funny. Not to mention filthy, vulgar, and completely non-politically correct. So he was brilliant.



After John Waters there was a long period of time between acts I wanted to see, so we hung out under the shade tents in the beer garden. It was a very hot day and the only day that really had no breeze to speak of. Luckily the majority of acts I wanted to see were in the tents so you weren't out in the blazing sun all day. The tents were fun and had tons of great people watching. Most of my housemates joined us, and some even took a nap.



Next up I took Kurt over to the small Gobi tent to see Pitchfork idolized band Girls. I happen to love the cd and think it is melodically adventurous and witty, while being a complete mess. But the sloppiness is what gives it its charm. I was expecting a show full of train wreck moments and what we got instead was a highly professional show. I enjoyed the show while Kurt found them boring. I think if we had more of the sloppiness it would have been more memorable.



Afterwards I went to see Beach House by myself because no one else wanted to see them and Kurt thinks they are boring as well. We saw them last year open for Grizzly Bear and while then I thought their songs sounded too similar, since then I had bought their new cd and fell in love with it. The lyrics are haunting and beautiful and I just fell in love with the singer's voice. the show was attended by an audience of appreciative fans and I had no trouble seeing them or struggle to hear them over annoying groups of people chatting. The setlist was pitch perfect and told an almost singular story. The finished with my favorite song from them, "10 Mile Stereo," and I was so moved I was actually brought to tears. Unfortunately I have not been able to find a video of that performance, which is a crime, but here is a clip of my second favorite song "Walk In The Park."



We had another break and walked around the festival before going to see The Gossip. We tried to all get together for that show because it was one we all wanted to see, but the Mojave tent was packed to the rafters and we couldn't find everyone, so we just ended up seeing the show from different vantage points. The Gossip, led by the fabulously zaftig Beth Ditto, were a lot of fun and put on an amazing show. Lots of incredible energy.



The best part of the show is when James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem came out to join the band in a cover of Grace Jones' "Pull Up To The Bumper." It was wild.



The Gossip unfortunately started late so we were late running over to catch the end of The xx's set. We only got to see about three songs. Kurt and I had already seen them twice in small clubs so we weren't too disappointed but we were sad our friends missed out on a great show. What we did hear was good, and actually in a very large outdoor environment they actually sounded very muscular.



Kurt and I hung out some more and then he took me to see Bassnectar so we could grab something to eat. Funny, we ended up eating the same thing for lunch and dinner every day we were there. We studiously avoided the nasty festival food such as nachos, corn dogs, and garlic cheese fries, and discovered a small booth selling the most delicious and freshly made chicken fajitas. It was just simple ingredients: chicken, tortilla, and fresh pico de gallo. Delicioso! But back to Bassnectar. He packed the Sahara tent and the overflow crowd stretched about 50 yards beyond the tent. We sat in a small grassy patch and listened and crowd watched. Bassnectar's music was completely punishing and sick. The crowd was going mad. The bass was so deep and rumbling my stomach started hurting.



After Bassnectar we caught a few songs from festival buzz band MGMT. We got so tired of seeing all their fans around the grounds dressed in Native American getups. It was frankly silly. And MGMT were not really that good live. I was expecting an upbeat and fun set and it was pedestrian and boring. I actually ended up running into two Facebook friends from LA I had never met in person before. John and Keith were really awesome and fun.



Kurt convinced me to go with him to see Major Lazer, who I hadn't really been impressed with on album. John and Keith were going and were meeting friends, so we joined them. The show was a complete blast. It was essentially a DJ set, but they had a wonderful light and laser show and had the crowd jumping, dancing, and generally having an amazing time. Honestly, it was probably my favorite of the festival. When they played "Pon Da Floor" the tent went ballistic.



It was difficult if not impossible to trump the Major Lazer set, and we didn't try to find something to top it. There were several other acts I wanted to catch sets by (Muse, Public Image Ltd.) but we decided the final act of the night would be Flying Lotus. It was a very dense and challenging electronica set, but was a good way to end the evening on a good note. The visuals were incredible and slightly disturbing.



Saturday was an odd day owing to the fact that there were only a few acts I wanted to see, however, I ended up seeing two acts I had no intention of seeing and finding them to be highlights of the festival. I think I overdid the day too much though and had many foot related issues the following day. But that is all for the next post.