Coachella 2011 Day One

Coachella 2011 is now over and the post-Coachella depression is now kicking in. This was my second year in a row going and the experience was, if not necessarily better, different than last year, with a lot of highs and just a few lows. The better things about the festival this year were the bigger tents and the wider lanes between venues. It didn't feel like a Tokyo subway when you had to move quickly between stages. Also, the layout of the festival was much more conducive to quick travel. The lows, which honestly were few, were the difficulty with getting in to the festival. The security checkpoints were confusing and the staff didn't really seem to know what they were doing. The merchandise tent, which was really well stocked last year but crowded, was moved to the front entrance in a round kiosk that in theory seemed to be the way to work it; however, the quantity and quality of shirts was pretty low, and many bands didn't have shirts at all. Also, the crowds for the most part were nicer and well-behaved, but still, the amount of rude people who barrel through the crowds in the tent to get up front is annoying. These people don't care about the bands and really make things bad for the rest of it.

My bf Kurt, Mikey and Don waiting at the first checkpoint. It was warm all weekend, but only really hot one day.

My favorite time of the festival; right when it opens and the fields are sparsely crowded.

First band of the festival was New Pants from Beijing, China. They had a fun Devo/Cars kind of vibe to them, and for the most part their set was good, but they debuted a new song called "I'm Not Gay," which I assume was meant to be ironic since the singer said "I love the men, but I am not gay." But the song just seemed weird, so we left.

One of the other disappointments of the festival was the Sahara Tent this year. In 2010, there always seemed to be an amazing DJ or electronic act playing, but this year seemed to be a dearth of talent. We did check out 12th Planet for his dubstep set. Kurt is way more the dance music aficionado than I am, so I usually go with what he says to see.

Finally, my first real show of the festival. !!! was playing at the Outdoor Stage during the hottest part of the afternoon, and they turned up the intensity. The singer is in constant motion, and has some of the silliest, gayest dance moves I have ever seen. The groove was tight and driving and got the crowd worked up into a frenzy. I wish I had my camera out when the singer jumped into the crowd and came out to a point very close to us and got on a guy's shoulders. It was a lot of fun.

Unfortunately, we had to skip out of !!! towards the end of their set to go catch Cold Cave at the Mojave Tent. We were able to get a nice spot right on the side rail. They put together a nice set of their cold, icy synth pop. Loved the synth player on the left. He was rocking some cool hair.

We were basically planted in the Mojave Tent for most of day one. Following Cold Cave was Brooklyn via Manchester, England 1982 band The Drums. I love their album a lot and was very excited to see them play. The band is really tight, but it took awhile to get used to the singer, who performs in a very mannered and effected way. Once I got over the fact he wasn't going to sing like he did on the album, I was able to enjoy the performance.

I wanted to race over and see part of Warpaint's set at the Outdoor Stage, but sometimes you just have to say no and stay put. It was hot, and there was a nice breeze in the Mojave, so I stuck with my friends for The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. I loved their first album but was put off on the second by too much high polish production from Alan Moulder and Flood. Live, the songs seemed more organic and natural, and I must admit I enjoyed the set.

YACHT was a nice surprise of the festival. Coming off like Talking Heads circa Stop Making Sense, it was a quirky, high energy set that was exhilarating. The female singer was bonkers crazy and had the crowd in the palm of her hand.

The first minor disappointment of the festival was Interpol on the main stage. They were hyped beforehand regarding their collaboration with The Creator's Project, and it was supposed to be a "surveillance" theme, with individual cameras placed on the band and members of the audience. It was fairly lackluster. The only time the images became interesting was during the song "Lights" when a film made by David Lynch played. It was disturbing and Lynchian, so it was perfect to go with the song. The rest of the set was filled with the classics you would expect. But for some reason, as with most of the acts on such a huge stage, there was a disconnect between the performers and audience. It was a safe, good set, but nothing spectacular.

For me, the biggest disappointment of the festival was Cut Copy. Nothing to do with the band or performance, the tent was just overcrowded and full of pushy, rude douchetards, and I wasn't able to get close enough, so the sound was muddied and I couldn't see anything. They really have gotten big enough to where they should have been on the Outdoor or Main stage. I only lasted about 3 songs and had to get out of there before I ran amok. I was so mad, because they became my de facto must see band after Klaxons had to cancel.

Suffering the Cut Copy crowd no longer, I joined Kurt over in the Sahara Tent for Magnetic Man (Benga, Skream, and Artwork). I generally hate the crowd at Sahara. Usually a younger group of kids, all of whom are whacked out on some sort of illegal substance. I adore the Magnetic Man album though, and was willing to suffer the crackheads for some good music. Unfortunately, MM put on a fairly lackluster show. The visuals were really great and kept my attention, but the pacing of their set was schizophrenic and I never got a connection with them.

Final act of the night was Robyn. Again, the Mojave Tent was jam packed and we couldn't get a good spot to see her, as evidenced by the horrible pics I attempted to take. With Robyn, however, I would sit on hot coals to see her perform. She has boundless energy and would give the performance of her life even if there were only 10 people in the audience. And she did not disappoint. Running through her hits and deep tracks from her albums Robyn and Body Talk, she kept the pace up and the audience dancing and singing along. It was a brilliant way to close out my Friday.