Coachella 2010 Day One 04-16-10

Coachella Day 1 04-16-10

Thanks to organizational palsy on the part of organizers, I was late getting into the fest on Friday. I was supposed to cover Deer Tick, and then Avett Brothers for Buzz Bands. Both plans aborted. I also missed P.O.S., Jets Overhead, and Wale, the later two I was much looking forward to.




At some point every revived retro genre of indie becomes as stale as it was before it was brought back. These fads rise and fall like Romero zombies and, more often than not, are just as mindless. But the throaty soul-inflected vocals of Yeasayer’s Chris Keating went to war with the above notions.

You say “world beat influence” and I say “barf me out,” but Yeasayer’s appeal was tough to ignore. A cool breeze broke the hot heat right as the band played “O.N.E.”. That, erm, O.N.E. got the crowd going. Yeasayer was strongest when the instrumentals were strong; their stripped-down songs were a bit dull. And why the electric drum pads? Aren’t trusty skins good enough?



I passed by Hockey. God, this is done to death. Friendly Fires do it better. Put these goddamned hipsters in the penalty box for high sucking. I passed by The Dillinger Escape Plan. They sounded like themselves. I passed by She and Him. Their cuteness filled me with rage. Really folks, they’re just another sub-par celebrity band. We should give them the same treatment we give Dogstar.


Ra Ra Riot were the top of the baroque pop crop for this self-proclaimed rockist. Was it the strings? The pretty vocals? Exuberant stage presence? I think they were simply more talented than most of their contemporaries. Impressive set, for sure.



The Specials took the main stage in the middle of the day, not just to present their brand of second-wave ska to a new generation, but to validate their career, to prove they were a serious band that mattered in the world both then and now.

World beat, 60’s girl groups, and Gram Parsons currently influence the contemporary indie world and it is a mystery -- nay, an unsolved crime -- to this blogger as to why 2 Tone ska has not seen more direct imitation. Certainly, bands like Vampire Weekend and Passion Pit could not exist without the barriers broken by The Specials, and every cross-culture sampling indie act owes deference.

The Specials’ main stage set was, frankly, special. All smiles and wild styles, they played with the same fervor I assume they had thirty years ago. Nothing short of an utter joy.







Coachella offers attendees a chance to see legends in the flesh, and Gil-Scott Heron was a priority for me. He was so thoughtful, so patient. He mostly sung and I wish he spoke more to the crowd.

By the time he was singing “Did You Hear What They Said?” I was in tears. Heron’s set was the most substance-laden at a festival attended largely by people full of substances, not substance. In the face of his introspective and forlorn songs, most of the bill just seemed silly.

While Gil Scott-Heron sang “The Other Side” a cold apocalyptic wind blew-in, the sky grew dark, and an airplane bearing an Applebees advertisement flew overhead; the irony, thicker than the bottom of a Coachella port-o-let.

At the end, a couple other musicians joined Heron as they brought-out the celebratin’ rhythm with “The Bottle,” healing the wounds Heron opened. Beautiful set, from start to finish.



I passed by Grizzly Bear. Whatever.


You can read my review of Echo & The Bunnymen’s set on Buzzbands.la.

Other Echo & The Bunnymen Thoughts:

• I preferred their set at The Nokia Theatre back in October, but I prefer Ocean Rain to their other stuff, so I suppose I’m biased.
  
  
• Ian McCulloch had a couple good lines. “What a pity Gary [Numan] couldn’t make it. I thought he could fly himself,” plus an anecdote about how Lou Reed once forced him to order a $1,000 black cod dinner.
  
  
• After McCulloch proclaimed “The Killing Moon” to be the greatest song ever written, he cracked his voice on the opening line. Ha!

I only caught a smidge of LCD Soundsytem. I wish I could have seen more because it looked like terrific fun.


I heard most of Vampire Weekend because Coachella scheduled almost no alternative options in that slot. I’ll parse-down my objection to the band for you: I don’t hate what they are, I hate what they aren’t. I don’t think they’re particularly bad, but I feel – strongly — that they aren’t particularly worth their cred. (Nothing rubs my rhubarb like disproportionate praise heaped on toothless bands.) I found their set to be undynamic and precious.



I saw Public Image Ltd., which means I saw a Sex Pistol play live. John Lydon came out proclaiming “If Jay-Z’s starting to give you a headache, it’s time you take your PiL!” before launching into “This Is Not A Love Song”. Lydon, by the way, makes facial expressions that rival his vocal inflections in the preternatural department.

On paper, the Public Image Ltd. reunion might have been more triumphant. The reality was that Lydon and company played for a smallish crowd, against one of the most important recording artists of the last 15 years (the object of Lydon’s intro-scorn), and the performance felt more like a novelty than anything else.

I’m no PiL expert, relatively recently exposed to the influential act. Maybe true fans loved it. But I have a strong appreciation for post-punk and the avant-garde, and I wanted something more. “Tie Me to the Length of That” was the strongest song I heard.

But hey, you can decide for yourself. Here's some official clips from the show:

PiL: Death Disco, Coachella Festival, April 16th 2010

PiL: Albatross, Coachella Festival, April 16th 2010

PiL: Public Image & Rise, Coachella Festival, April 16th 2010







I caught the opening of Jay-Z’s set before migrating over to PiL, and what I saw was so engaging as to lure me back.

Face it, folks: Jay-Z was the most pertinent and relevant artist that played Coachella in 2010. Consider this:

"He is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America having had a net worth of over $500 million in 2009. He has sold 40 million albums worldwide while receiving ten Grammy Awards for his musical work. Jay-Z co-owns The 40/40 Club, is part-owner of the NBA's New Jersey Nets and is also the creator of the clothing line Rocawear. He is the former CEO of Def Jam Recordings, one of the three founders of Roc-A-Fella Records and recently, the founder of his new venture Roc Nation. As an artist, he holds the record for most number one albums by a solo artist on the Billboard 200. Jay-Z also has had 4 number ones on the Billboard Hot 100, one as lead artist." - Wikipedia

Jay-Z's career ascension is one of the great American stories of my lifetime. Indie rocker kids don’t care and a lot of hip-hop heads don’t like him, but as far as I’m concerned, an opportunity to see Jay-Z perform is as valuable as a chance to see Paul McCartney. (Hip to this, "Live and Let Die" was Jay-Z's intro music. Heh.) That I’d seen him once before, and knew the set would be stellar, helped the decision to see him again.

Jay-Z was losing his voice and showed signs of tiredness, aging. But he was supremely optimistic in his performance, always giving 110%, effusively giving thanks to the crowd. The set was a positive celebration of hip-hop at music festivals, and anyone who wanted to enjoy it would have

Where Jay-Z’s closest contemporary, Puff Daddy, has descended into cheap product hawking and embarrassing reality television shows, Jay-Z continues to exude class. The performance was one from a lovable, consummate professional at the beginning of his decline. (Think Shaq’s championship season with the Miami Heat)

When Beyonce joined Jay-Z for “Forever Young,” the main stage crowd exploded with joy. They were cheering the celebrity sighting, but I think there was more than that. I think they were cheering the love.