Coachella
Empire Polo Fields, Indio, California (April 26, 2003)
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Various Artists
Empire Polo Fields, Indio, California
April 26, 2003 |
But even with all of these distractions and more, music is clearly the main stimulant. There are five different stages running simultaneously -- two outdoor, three tents -- and the audience has a choice of 70+ acts during the festival's 2-day, 24-hour run. It's something like a music lover's wet dream and nightmare all wrapped into one, as it is often difficult to pick which stage to watch. For instance, on Sunday, at 9:30, a Chella concertgoer had the choice of the following:
a) watching a Def Jux showcase featuring indie hip-hop all-stars El-P, Aesop Rock, RJD2, Mr. Lif and Murs
b) hearing G. Love and Special Sauce get sloppy and bluesy in the next tent over
c) watching Underworld put its audience under a spell with its laser-guided hypnosis
d) seeing the Blue Man Group go insane on a stage set that took 20 men a half-hour to disassemble
e) or witnessing Iggy Pop reunite with the remaining members of the Stooges for the first time since the '70s
It's a remarkable and dizzying sensation, especially for someone whose only contact with rock festivals has come from one-day travelling circuses like Lollapalooza and H.O.R.D.E. I managed to take in 30 bands in two days, only two of which I had ever seen before last weekend -- and, frankly, that's more new music than I saw in all of 2002. The concert's organizers truly did a laudable job in band selection, combining a few marquee names (Beastie Boys, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and The White Stripes) with mostly under appreciated acts.
The Donnas brought forth the first inspired moments of the festival, just shortly after it started on Saturday afternoon. If not already wed, I would be prepared to offer either guitarist Allison Robertson (a.k.a. Donna R.) or drummer Torry Castellano (a.k.a. Donna C.) a marriage proposal. I am enchanted particularly by the thought of coming home and finding Castellano in our apartment studio, drilling out riffs on her Gibson at full volume, a guitar Goddess all of my own. Sigh. Oh well, I will happily settle for the mind-blowing leads she offered on songs like "Who Invited You," "5 O'Clock In The Morning," and "Midnite Snack."
Just a mere 24 hours later, main stage audience members were treated to similarly hard-hitting sets by Sonic Youth, the White Stripes and the Stooges. SY were particularly devastating, pulling out old classics like "Kill Yr Idols," and "Sugar Kane" (not played since 1999), and mixing them with newer material, including three songs from Murray Street and the insanely titled unreleased number, "Mariah Carey & The Arthur Doyle Hand Cream."
Playing the hometown favorites, Queens of the Stone Age put on possibly the best show of the entire festival on Saturday night, playing a string of songs from Songs For The Deaf, including "First It Giveth," "Hanging Tree," and a tight-as-can-be version of "A Song For The Dead." The Queens ended their set triumphantly by weaving "No One Knows" and "Feel Good Hit Of The Summer" to transcendent effect. One must wonder if it occurred to the stage's next performer, Ben Harper, to just to leave the venue rather than even attempt to follow. On the other side of the polo field lay the Sahara Tent. The biggest of three tents, it was essentially a never-ending rave that served as a perfect antidote for the post-traumatic stress disorders brought on by the aforementioned main stage beasts. To get a sense of the Sahara, picture a big top filled with a few thousand sweaty, ecstasy-rolling, concert attendees being hypnotized by a handful of electronica's most impressive stars, including festival highlights Felix Da Housecat and Underworld.
Next door, the smaller tents hosted everything from a somewhat combative Q&A session with Fugazi's Ian MacKaye to a woefully under-attended performance by electronica genius Amon Tobin. Sadly, these stages were often plagued by technical issues and subsequent schedule lapses. For instance, Canadian up and comers Hot Hot Heat dealt with horrific feedback problems. Two acts later, Ladytron walked on stage a full 90 minutes late.
Still, these complaints are minor in light of the overall quality of the festival. The organizers did a superb job, especially in giving some new, not-so-mainstream acts an opportunity to play a big crowd. It's reassuring to know a band like the Polyphonic Spree -- a 20+ member act with Brian Wilson's sense of symphony and a choir boy's sense of style -- can be given a chance to play a crowd of this size and strike a note with at least one audience member (Here I am, two days later, still singing, "You gotta be good, you gotta be strong, you gotta be two thousand places at once." Just genius!).
Coachella is clearly a festival where artistic expression is honored and protected, seemingly more so than any place in the media world right now. The Oscars are banning anti-war speeches, baseball is banning Susan Sarandon, and the entire music world is banning the Dixie Chicks. It's nice then to hear Ian MacKaye offer his pro-peace sentiments without getting booed off the stage; or to hear the Beastie Boys call George Bush a fool and not be slammed in the press. If nothing else, the festival was a brief walk in a utopian society dedicated to good music and free expression -- a rare treat I hope to enjoy next year and years to come.
BEN FRENCH | Ben founded NATN in the winter of 1998-1999 with fellow IU alums Troy Carpenter and Jonathan Cohen. During the day time, he's working for Nielsen Business Media, publisher of Billboard. Ben's favorite acts include Bruce Springsteen, The Clash, Sonic Youth, Elvis Costello, Talking Heads, Rolling Stones, and the Beach Boys.