Saturday had some really good music and other cool shit but may be my deciding factor as to whether I attend Coachella in the future. Too many people is one thing; too many fucking douchebags makes it a whole lot worse.
Anyway-- first, the music -- it was a very good day, music-wise.
got in early to see Reignwolf and he did not disappoint. Cool distorted bluesy rough guitar and vocals while he stomps on a foot pedal for a bass drum. he can play and he can sing. Loved the Fleetwood Mac cover.
then Guards who were pretty good but I am having a hard time remembering why.
Shovels & Rope were disappointing, or I just wasn't feeling it.
Board member group photo meetup which was fun, always good to see people.
The Evens were pretty dull too, but I got a nice relaxing nap in the Gobi shade.
But then it got real. Dropkick Murphys surprised me, their set was really great. Not a huge fan of theirs but the set made me think I should give them a second chance. and then HOLY FUCKING SHIT they brought out James Fearnly from the Pogues (THE FUCKING POGUES MOTHER FUCKERS) for a couple songs and that was really very awesome really.
The Selecter were really fun.. I had actually forgotten how many good songs they have! Pauline looked and sounded amazing. So glad they were here.
One of the highlights of the day was Violent Femmes. They played the entire first album, in order, front to back, then added "I Held Her In My Arms" and "American Music" and were done. The roar that went up with "Blister In the Sun" was really energizing. Also Gordon was wearing my hat, which just shows how cool he is. The crowd (bigger than I thought it would be) was loving it and singing along and shit. So great. Except the part where jen captncrazy punched me in the arm.
I was gonna go see the Make-Up but I had dinner instead. Fortunately it went down better than Friday's.
Went to Grizzly Bear in the Mojave, which was packed but not quite as bad as 2010.. they had these cool floating lights that sort of looked like glowing jellyfish. that may sound stupid but it really looked fucking cool. They (GB, not the jellyfish lights) sounded really good.
I left to check out Yeasayer but I dunno they seem to be turning into a different band than the one I knew.
Spiritualized were really really really great. god damn that was a fucking great set. I don't know how else to explain it. sorry. Soundbleed really sucked during the quiet parts though.. soundbleed from the god damned do lab as far as i can tell. that's just wrong.
Went to the beer garden and listened to Decendents who were in good form. But more soundbleed issues.. a punk band too quiet while the fucking Postal Service is 'blasting' (if that's what you can call tepid wimpy pop tunes played loud)? no. not right.
I had in a hole in my schedule after that, was gonna wait 2 hours for Sigur Ros, got worried about all this work I had to do this morning (spent 3 hours Sunday morning reviewing client deadline shit, ugh) so I left about 10:30. Sorry to miss Sigur Ros but ..
.. the atmosphere Saturday night was not good. Not at all. Here comes the GET OFF MY LAWN part of my post:
Damn there are a lot of fucking douchebag motherfuckers at Coachella this year. Do you think the concept of "waiting in line" doesn't apply to you? Do you think it's ok for your crew to go barelling through people, pushing people aside, shoving your way into the beer garden through the exit? I swear I must have told 3 or 4 people to go fuck themselves last night, and not in a funny ha ha board posting way either. One guy starts pushing past me in line to get into a beer garden and i moved over so he couldn't get past me and he's like "hey cool it mister" and started swearing at me. Because I wouldn't let him cut in front of me. What the fuck is wrong with these people? Is Coachella at the point where it is attracting crowds of young people (and it was all young people who were being assholes) who do not understand civilized behavior? Who do not understand that everything will work out fine if you just wait your fucking turn?
If I get arrested tonight, it's not my fault.
I was gonna meet Mr and Mrs Algunz in the beer garden for Descendents -- she texted me that they blew it off because "it was too hard to get in". Remember when Coachella wasn't like that?