Day 2!

The same beautiful sun woke me up early in the morning. Thankfully, we went to Juliet's aunt's house to take a nice cold shower, eat some home made food that doesn't cost a fortune, and have a nice loooong nap. Thanks for everything Pam!

Upon entering the festival for big day dos, I met up with Andrew and co. to see the XX. Being a hippie at heart, I was thrilled that I was able to catch this song by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes. It put me in an extremely positive state of mind and got me prepared for the plethora of awesome activities that would soon follow. I am really happy that I will be able to see them for free at this years Extravaganza!

Didn't actually get to physically watch them perform this. But imagine being really excited for the day and this song is the first thing you hear. =]

XX was next on the list. I never listened to them very much, but was willing to let Coachella introduce me to them (mostly because Hot Chip and MGMT were the next performers on the same stage, and we were going to work our way upppp to the front). Even though I was sitting down most of the time, I still thought that they were great! They play super laid back rock, so it was nice being able to take a chill pill, and have a good time relaxing with friends (hey Gigi!) while good music is playing. Would absolutely see them again if I have the opportunity.






Our POV. Well just imagine this about a foot lower, that was my POV. Well, actually, I was sitting, so about 4 feet lower. I was mostly looking at a lot of legs...a forest of legs





STILL can't get enough of this intro.

After the Exes had finished their set, we had to do one of the things I secretly love, but most people hate. WORKING OUR WAY UP TO THE FRONT! Not only are there a ton of people who want to get to the same place we want to, but people are also trying work their way out of the crowd! In a nutshell, its chaos in the desert. A free-for-all for territory and good spots. Once there is practically no more physical space for people to occupy, things settle down. The closer to the stage you are, the better the energy is (a combination of a more excited crowd, better sound, and better views of the performers).

Hot Chip was next and I was notably excited to watch middle aged, nerdy dudes make the crowd dance with some bumpin Electropop. They did not dissapoint! They sounded grrrreat live, and I was getting down like a clown.

Hot Clits. I mean Chip...=]

After they played "We Are Ready for the Floor", LET THE CHAOS ENSUE! Let me tell you that going to the front during MGMT's performance is very hard work. Such a dense sea of people all wanting the same thing. Its crazy! People were even crowd surfing just to get out of the crowd. But we did a pretty good job, i think.

MGMT sounds great live! I had the chance to watch them at Treasure Island and they blew my mind there too! Although I know some people are not fans of their new album and they will probably lose a good amount of their fan base, I still love them! I am actually glad that they are making music that they enjoy playing, instead of just appealing to the masses. It really translates into their music well.

The vibe was 'electrifying' to say the least. There was even a guy (who was obviously tripping out) that was playing some sort of bell, like a Native American at a religious ceremony. The lead singer also said a super cool "Thank you very much" after most songs. He thanked a giant crane sculpture for coming out to see them, and he also asked if anyone was on drugs....It was great

MGMT! (Our POV) This video is just grand. Not only is it my favorite song by MGMT, but the sound quality is amazing (as far as youtube goes). And the way it is filmed really brings me back. The feel of the crowd swaying side to side. And the smell of sweat and other earthly aromas filling the air...goood times =]

Directly after MGMT I separated ways with my compadres made my way to Muse. I was exceedingly tired after my journey with the XX, Hot Chip, and MGMT, so I opted to watch them from afar for most of their set. Out of all the performances, Muse probably impressed me the most. They are all really great musicians and the singer sounds even better live (hard to believe right?) They put on a great light show, play songs that give a large variety of moods. I really bring you into their world with their music (they are named Muse for a reason!) I am 100% seeing these guys in concert again when I have a full tank of energy, because they are rock stars to the fullest.

After playing an epic set, Muse played Knights of Cydonia and I watched an extremely satisfied crowd go insane.

I met up once again with Andrew and co. to catch 2manydjs.

Before 2manydjs' set, Die Antwoord had a 20 minute set. They are a joke band from Sweden or something. If the crowd didn't make the show interesting by being totally into it, I wouldn't have enjoyed it at all.

I was reluctant to post this. But it was part of my experience, so here it is!

We had a nice place right next to a barricade behind where the ultra VIPs watch the show. So we had perfect views of the stage and more importantly (for me at least) the crowd! During this set, I realized how much fun it was just to observe the crowd and watch the chaos ensue. When the crowd is part of the show just as much as the performers, it makes for a reaallly fun show. Balloons are flying everywhere, bubbles are floating all around, light-sticks and streams of water are thrown up into the air; all of this occurs as DJs are absolutely killing it and I am making a fool of myself on the dancefloor. Its a great spectacle to watch.

Another one of my 'favorite' shows and a perfect ending to the night.

What a GLORIOUS day! Even I am impressed with how much I enjoyed myself. Trying to describe how epic this day was with words and youtube videos can only end in failure. Solution? Come with me to Coachella next year and we will have a balllin time.

Day 1

Once the sun hit our tent, it turned into a furnace. I remember awaking quite suddenly, thinking "what the hell, it is hot!". I took my pillow outside and slept in the shadow of an old vehicle. Most people were up at about 9 (even though most people were partying into the weee hours of the night) because the sun proved to be too much for sleep to handle. After getting ready for the day and chilllllaxin for a few hours, I headed into the festival grounds for the first time...

In pretty much the center of the place, there is a cool tent/structure called the Do Lab. And that was the first stop I made. Its this place where there is a DJ bumping music all day long and there are people spraying you down with hoses. Its such a great place!! You are in the desert, you are dancing, there is music playing, girls in bikinis, people are spraying you with water, and there were even artists painting on either side of the Do Lab.


I had a pretty funny conversation with one of my camping neighbors about how there was a chick spraying us down with water. Neither of us decided she was smoking hot or cute or anything like that, but hey! she was a lady! We were getting down for a while, but then I guess her shift was over, and some dude in a cowboy hat takes her place. Somehow, the Do Lab lost some of its appeal once a guy with no shirt and a cowboy hat hosing you down...




So, I met up with Andrew and Mimi and traveled to the Sahara to catch some of DJ Lance Rock's set. Unfortunately, our group was tired and we only watched DJ Lance from afar while eating pizza (it was fun listening to 'There's a Party in My Tummy' while scarfing down a 6 dollar pizza). But I did have a lot of fun watching the monitors (which mostly had children dancing, much like the show Yo Gabba Gabba). Let me just say that DJ Lance does rock....he rocks the house!


I hear the crowd went absolutely nuts when the characters came out. Yooooooooo Gabba Gabba!

I then made my way to watch Sleigh Bells who I am still very excited to listen to in upcoming years. They are a really young band, so I forgave them for not meeting my expectations of their set and for not playing my favorite song from them. I still liked their set though and would probably pay to see them again! I really like their unique sound. The singer is talented, beautiful, and I really like her style. Can't wait until I get to hear their album next month!



Next set I was able to catch was She and Him. I'm not going to lie, I only moderately liked their music, regularly listen to a only few of their songs and was mostly there to see my babygirl, Zooey Deschanel! However, I was thoroughly impressed with their music and performance and they were able to change the way I feel about their music. I especially loved how I could still feel the basssss in my chest during their set. She & Him & bass = amazing. Zooey sings with an angelic voice that sucks you in. She dresses like a darling. And she looks even cuter in person. She even has a tambourine that she plays with, sort of like a gypsy, and I love me some gypsy. Therefore, it thrilled me even more when she wished me a Happy Birthday, told me I was VERY attractive, and said that she loved me. Well Zooey, I love you too...I really do. It actually turned out to be one of my favorite and most memorable concerts of the festival.

In love

I then decided to go and see The Specials instead of seeing Wolfgang Gartner. Best decision I made this festival. These guys were really big in the 70's and were the some of the musicians to pave the way for ska music. Therefore, I skanked the sun away (they were playing during a beautiful sunset) to a bunch of old dudes playing music. I was seeing The Specials all by myself, so I was thrilled when I met a group of nice people that let me skank allllll day with them! [skanking is a sort of dance move] The Specials put on a great show and really put me in a happy mood. This turned out to be some of my most fun times at Coachella.



Due to lack of sleep the previous night, I was exhausted after skanking like a madman. I decided that I had to get some rest, so I went back to my campsite. I was unable to summon the energy needed to take the long walk back to the festival and decided to take a nap. I was really disappointed that I couldn't see La Roux, and to an even greater extent Little Dragon =*[ I'm really into Little Dragon at the moment and the more I think about it, the sadder I become. Either way, I knew that you shouldn't try to do too much, especially if you have no energy... I just had to promise myself that I would see them in concert the next time they come around.

=[ =[ Still can't believe I missed seeing this live! next time...next time.

I ended the night watching Deadmau5, who put on a wicked show. I ended up making my way pretty close to the front and I was able to get a good view of his awesome light show! Even his mask/helmet had crazy lights on it that did crazy things. His mau5 head would do something crazy and I would think 'whoa! cool!', then it would something crazier and I would think 'whoa!! Even cooler!'. So I danced the night away, while Deadmau5 was straight up raping my ears and I loved every second of it.



I had a peaceful sleep shortly after.

COACHELLLLLLLLAAA!!!

My next few posts will be quite coachella heavy! I will probably do 1 day for each post just so they don't get too crazy. Because honestly, I could go for days and days about my good times at COACHELLA.

It was easily one of the greatest weekends of my life. It exceeded my expectations and I was already expecting an incomparable time. Music bumpin everywhere, allll the time. Good vibes all around. People getting down where ever you look. It was just an awesome celebration of music...doesn't really get any better than that in my book. I am probably going to be going every year for the next 25 years or so!

So, thursday:
we arrived late at night, and there was a lot of figuring to do in terms of how we were going to meet up with out camping mate, Nolan (guy with crazy ginger fro). But once things were figured we went to a tent where there are always DJs bumping music. It goes on until 4 in the morning! After dancing for a bit, I decided to go to bed. As I fell asleep, our neighbors (who were 6 gay guys and a dyke from Salt Lake City) were telling some hilarious stories and I couldn't stop laughing silently.... I had already decided the festival was a huge success and it hadn't even started yet....

Club Tent (dubbed that name myself) at the campsite!

The Duranchulla!!!!!!

Not only does Kevin Durant have one of the most interesting and awesome nicknames in professional basketball, but this guy is straight up baller! Shot caller! If you had to pay him 1 dollar for every point he made this season, you would have to pay him $2460. Thats equivalent to about 1 million doll hairs! Also, he just got the named the scoring champ of the regular season.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/recap;_ylt=Al5IM4UlNGwvPaVMTeWMtA68vLYF?gid=2010041425

More points than Lebron, Kobe, Melo, or Dwayne. And he's only 21 years old! That's how old I am! (and here I am still going to school while this guy is making millions of dollars/[googles of doll hairs]).... Any way, my point is The Duranchula = has great basketball game. Not many people get to watch him on TV very often, but playoffs are coming up and you will all see!

Also, leaving for Coachella tomorrow. I know you can't see it in my face right now, but saying I am really excited is an understatement. PEACE!

Floatopia

Had a wonderfully complete weekend.

Even though the 5-0 closed off the beach so that party-goers could not make a "FLOATOPIA" made of rafts, boats, and drunkards (including pirates) on the ocean, it was still a great time.

My day was even complete with an "almost busted by the cops" story. Not for DUI but for having 6 people in a car!!! In the night, I was playing chauffeur for my belligerent friends. Picked them up from IV. Stuffed the car. Took another route back to my house....Uhh Ohhhh... There were cones... and a checkpoint sign...We start yelling at my Asian friend Tina, "DUCK! HIDE! etc." Luckily when I pull up to the checkpoint, we hear the boss policeman say, "We're done." The other cop goes to my window and says, " You're good." AYYYOOOOOO PEACE!

In other news. Coachella starts in 4 days. These people don't have an album out yet, but I've liked what I've heard so far, what I've seen (chex her sexy moves) and I've read many good things about them. I have a pretty good feeling that they are going to be BIG in upcoming years...I'll be able to say, "I saw them way back when."

I have BIEBER FEVER!!!!!!

When I found out that Justin Bieber, who my sister is so enthusiastic about, had the number 1 album on the Billboards (yes, the freaking BILLBOARDS) I got the fever alright. My stomach started eating itself, I got a slight migraine, and I lost a large amount of hope for humanity.

I'm not the biggest advocate for mainstream music, but hey, Justin Timberlake, Beyonce, even Greenday (who I usually hate) have undeniable musical and performing talent. If they were to reach #1 I wouldn't be thrilled, but it would make sense...no complaints. But this guy ?!WHAT?!

I had to take a step back. I've only heard one of his songs, Baby baby baby baby baby baybeh ( thats how the song goes right?) and I knew that I disliked it. I decided before I write a negative review I should listen to some more of his songs, so I downloaded his album "My World 2.0" and decided to see what his world was really like...

About halfway through, I understood what his world was like. He falls or is in love with the perfect girl and he sings about how they are going to "make it"...FOR EVERY SINGLE ONE OF HIS SONGS!! This did it for me, bash bash bash bash bash. How uncreative is that? 11 songs all with the same message/plot/whatever you want to call it. I never knew that falling in love could be so unemotional. It does make sense though, considering his target age group. He gave the young girls what they wanted. Cheesy love songs that make girls infatuated, we've seen this formula many, many, many times before.

My instincts were correct. I am an album kind of guy. Rarely do I download individual songs and rarely do I keep an album that I don't like as a whole. An album with no momentum, no variety, no overall encompassing story gets a big "what the duck" from me. A ridiculous amount of "OOOO yeahs", "HEY's", and "woooaahhhs", analogies that are several steps down from Lil Wayne's (I won't put you down like a seasaw?), and obvious auto-tune are also reasons why this album should have never broken the top 10. I bet he didn't spend more than a months time in the studio making this album. I mean, he released 2 albums in 6 months. That alone shows his commitment to making top quality music <-----sarcasm to its fullest.

However, I am not saying that his album was totally horrible and absolutely without merit. He is a relatively good singer and would probably make it past the first round of American Idol. Music production was decent and there are some parts that I understand are catchy (when there are big names like Usher pulling the strings, mediocre production isn't too difficult)... But #1 is eating at my kindhearted soul. Out of alllll the music out there, this is what people are buying more than any other.

Am I just underestimating the power of the 7-15 year old girls? The power of having extremely well groomed hair? I think that people just need to get better sound-systems or earphones, that way, the differences in music quality will be more apparent. But honestly, I really don't know......

And as I'm about to conclude, I come to a horrible horrible realization. I spent my Saturday morning downloading Justin Bieber's album, listening to the whole thing, and wrote a lengthy blog about it.............. I can't believe he actually got to me. I can't believe I actually mentioned his name in my otherwise flawless blog-space. There is only one reason why I would do something so sickening.

I have it; the epidemic that is taking over the world, Bieber Fever.....OH god, help me...God help us all.

Here is what albums should be like. I realize its not the best, but I love the Gorillaz new album "Plastic Beach". I hope they do a full run-through at coachella. It would be such an epic ending to the festival.