Manu Chau

[instinct]

Damn, you guys must have been smoking crack.. because Manu rocked it..

[RATMATL420]

interest in seeing Manu. He and his band were lame and overall booty.

[unknown]

It is very interesting to read people's opinions. I am curious to know what bands people did enjoy when they can call Manu Chao & Radio Bemba Sound System "booty" and "terrible". The fusion of ska, reggae, punk and other genres is something I thought everyone would be able to enjoy regardless of what language he sang in. To each his own.

[wolfclan]

This native american indian/aboriginal/indigenous/first nation (or whatever the heck terms are used) person truly appreciated seeing manu chao live. This was my first coachella and first 3 day concert. i liked that you could put down your towel and lay down anywhere you really wanted to, that's what we indians like to do! hahaha : )

[krisskross]

manu chao brought the energy. i danced through the whole set. i guess "the americans" wont understand this. y volver volver vooollverrr. he fuckin rocked

[deadguy]

Ya dudes. Manu Chao was f'in awesome. Made Sunday worth it for me.

Guess all the people I saw dancing like mad would have to disagree with the few posters here

[Mars1919]

I thought that the show was really good. Not the type of music I would typically listen to, but I agree that I didn't need to understand spanish to get the vibe. Unfortunately I had one couple next to me that was basically making love the entire show,,,(kind of awkward).

[tucsoncharlie]

his version of "Volver" was one of the coolest songs of the festival!

and all the "mexican" remarks are not really necessary. come on...give it a rest o'riley. serious.

[grrropo]

Im mexican and im not offended if im refered to as "the mexican". Anyway, THE MEXICANS love Manu Chao to a point that annoys me. I saw him in Tijuana like, i don't know, 5 or 6 years ago and the show was amazing. I lost interest in him as he got more and more political and started releasing pretty boring and repetitive albums. Last night, his set was very energetic and different from his usual live set, and i appreciated it.

Maybe you would get Manu Chao if you understand who the man is, he fronted Mano Negra, a french band that was like The Clash fro latin people. So, he's like the french/spanish Joe Strummer. Now you get it?

It was a damn good set. He is very talented.

[Sexecutioner]

It is very interesting to read people's opinions. I am curious to know what bands people did enjoy when they can call Manu Chao & Radio Bemba Sound System "booty" and "terrible". The fusion of ska, reggae, punk and other genres is something I thought everyone would be able to enjoy regardless of what language he sang in. To each his own.

i completely agree. sometimes i see a show and i think, theres no way that people who come to coachella could not be into that, but never fails that somebody thinks it sucks...i dont get it, but to each his own i guess.

and if you are offended by somebody saying "the mexicans", you need to lighten the fuck up.

[Red Ninja]

Manu Chao before RATM = Perfection.
Similar ideals transcend different languages.
Pick up Clandistino or Esperanza.
People who hated his set must be lost in translation.

[wisconsinboozer]

i enjoyed them for never even hearing of them before, i was surrounded by spanish people who sang their little hearts out made the whole Manu experience more enjoyable

[SojuGorae]

I'm Korean, didn't understand shit, and yet they were one of the highlights of the festival for me.

I'll say it again, they were fan-fucking-tastic.

[orbit]

I LOVED their set





and I'm not mexican.

[orbit]

I was waiting for Welcome to Tijuana in the upbeat version tho.. Finish with that song would have been awesome!

[thrillho1010]

1. Manu Chao rocked the place and did their job in helping the time go by for those of us who were there to see Rage. Yes, they were a little cheezy, but they got people to move. Even I got into it and I'm not exactly what someone would call a willing dancer.
2. You pretty much could have thrown any high energy band out there and they would have looked amazing compared to Crowded House.
3. What does language have to do with music? When you hear a band for the first time, you rarely can pick out any of the lyrics anyway. My favorite band is The Mars Volta, and I can rarely understand what he's saying without looking up the lyrics, and they coincidentally have a couple songs in spanish, which are usually just as good as the others.

PS. I'm Greek.

[billtino]

i had not heard any of this band's music before their set, but many of the foreigners i met (Aussies, Kiwis, Brits, etc spoke very highly of Manu Chau) and at the end of their set, i was drenched in sweat from dancing the whole time. hot latin babes all around me shakin their hips behind the sound stage....i really enjoyed their performance.

[JoeClark5]

FYI: manu chao = born in france... to spanish parents. nothing to do with MEEEHHICOOO.

[no1cares]

Oh yes. The Mexi-Cans.

Could you be any more obnoxious, or overtly racist?

Are you serious? Racist? What should he/she have said, people of latin descent? Or would that be offensive too? Manu did end almost all their songs the same way; punk rock drums with a bouncing bass line. It got annoying. They were the perfect opener for Rage though. Good energy, just a little too systematic with their songs.

[bigc1]

i hate to say it, but they were a lot better than Rage. RATM will definitely be better at Rock the Bells.

[frijolesdelaolla]

FYI: manu chao = born in france... to spanish parents. nothing to do with MEEEHHICOOO.

Yeah, but dude, the man is an honorary mexican. Fucking song about Tj, the free show at El Zocalo, Hermelinda Linda skits in both records, the man deserves it.

"Quieres un cafe mi viiiida?... Pues sirvetelo!" OWNS.

[superfiction]

i hated it. im throwing thigns at him when he plays before bjork at the gorge

[psycobetabuckdown]

I waited for Air for half an hour, then my ex-gf convinced me it wasn't worth it. She ended up being right, as I heard Air played about 25 minutes. And I saw Manu Chau kick some fucking ass. I readily passed him over for Air and didn't bother to research him as much as I did other bands beforehand, but ended up loving him. He'll be on my list...

Yeah, but dude, the man is an honorary mexican. Fucking song about Tj, the free show at El Zocalo, Hermelinda Linda skits in both records, the man deserves it.

"Quieres un cafe mi viiiida?... Pues sirvetelo!" OWNS.

Deserves what? Being Mexican? Why would he want to be?

[cbrl23]

Deserves what? Being Mexican? Why would he want to be?

He loves TJ, he pretty much lived there for a while. He does surprise shows every now and then.

[cbrl23]

Oh yes. The Mexi-Cans.

Could you be any more obnoxious, or overtly racist?

Are You Mexican??? If not, don't get offended for us, we are not offended if poeple call us Mexicans. we are Mexicans!!! why is that Racist?

[rebel86]

Almost being apart of the Latin community, I was aware of Manu Chao prior to the festival, but only knew one of his songs. He really won me over at this show. And as an African-American, I still enjoyed singing along in Spanish.

[guatemalo]

i saw him YEARS ago and i just wished they had brought the same band they did as before. meaning, where were the rest of the percussionists? horn section? the rasta hype man? the accordion player?

i know the show at the LA Sports Arena (June 2nd) is going to kick ass too but i hope the WHOLE band is here and not just the stripped down punk version.

RADIO BEMBA! RADIO BEMBA!

[TheElderCycle]

Had never heard them before, and I'm now a new fan. I had a great time during their set. Not to mention the beautiful Mexican women haha!

[Omar1]

who else is going to the sports arena show? they still have tickets available.

[eimie]

i saw him YEARS ago and i just wished they had brought the same band they did as before. meaning, where were the rest of the percussionists? horn section? the rasta hype man? the accordion player?

i know the show at the LA Sports Arena (June 2nd) is going to kick ass too but i hope the WHOLE band is here and not just the stripped down punk version.

RADIO BEMBA! RADIO BEMBA!

Sadly, I didn't see the larger version of Radio Bemba at all on his tour last year, whether in San Diego or Lollapalooza. But anyhow, if you liked Manu's set at Coachella, you'll *have* to catch his show at the closest city near you, where the entire crowd goes crazy, as opposed just the pockets of Latinos in the Rage crowd. My friend who came with me to the San Diego show last year and didn't know a drop of Spanish or French, ranked the Manu show among her top concerts. Amazing energy.