Coachella 2016
I told myself I wasn't going to Coachella this year. "Last year was the last time", I said. "It's getting too trendy", I said. "There's so many other better festivals out there," I said...
Then LCD Soundsystem was announced as a headliner and I changed my mind instantly. They had broken up before I ever had the chance to catch a show. This was redemption.
Jackson, Emily and I lucked out and all got Weekend 1 tickets off of friends and magically found a condo to stay in.
Here's how the weekend went down:
FRIDAY
We rolled up just in time to catch a bit of Lapsley in the Mojave tent, then stayed there for HEALTH. Who you'll probably either love or hate. I have moments with them... sometimes they get a bit too screamy (like that time I saw them at the Echoplex and had a headache for like 4 days straight).
Then we headed over to the Coachella stage where we obviously stayed until LCD came on so we could stake out our front row spots.
Years & Years sort of kept forgetting his lyrics? Which felt weird... I'm guessing it had something to do with stage fright / shock that he was actually performing at Coachella. Other than that though he put on a good show.
Foals was awesome. The lead guy, Yannis Philippakis, ALWAYS crowdsurfs at his shows. So if you're into that I'd suggest getting front and center. (We chilled to the side a bit on this set before working our way in - the rail strategy is proven to work!)
Of Monsters and Men felt like one big sing-a-long and I loved it. M83's set was a total dream. I'm not super into her music, but Ellie Goulding REALLY knows how to work a stage.
Now for the good part.
LCD-MOTHERFUCKING-SOUNDSYSTEM
All in all, we waited 8 hours to be front row.
Some girl in a group next to us legitimately peed into a bottle since there was no physical way she could make it out of the crowd and back to her same spot. That's commitment. But then she left to go see Jack U instead! On second thought, maybe it wasn't commitment... it was probably just drugs.
I'm sort of sad I missed The Last Shadow Puppets and Sufjan Stevens, but sacrifices had to be made for James Murphy.
The sacrifices were worth it because we got to front row for this glorious show. Look for me in this LCD Soundsystem Fans video that Coachella made: I'm the girl with the glitter smeared all over my face, obv.
He played "Losing my Edge" and it felt way too real hearing muffled sounds from Jack U's show as James sang the lyrics "The kids are coming up from behind." The festival was sort of split with people who were either there for LCD Soundsystem, or Jack U which was pretty surprising to me.
I aspire to have this giant disco ball in my life. I also really missed out on the opportunity to rock my disco ball make-up for this show.
Other song highlights were Dance Yrself Clean, Tribulations, Daft Punk is Playing at my House and New York I Love You.
I expected Daft Punk to actually show up for that song, but it was still great without that happening.
It was a legendary show; I can't wait to dance myself clean again at FYF!
SATURDAY
On Saturday, we didn't get to the festival until 3ish. We had a nice, relaxing morning with a good amount of mimosa time.
We started off with Gary Clark Jr. who absolutely shredded it. There's SO much soul in that guy; it made it worth the fact we were standing in around 90 degree weather with no shade to see him!
Here's a video I took of a massive jam sesh moment.
.@GaryClarkJr bringing that 🔥 #Coachella2016 pic.twitter.com/NZ57VMZ3hj
— Ticketmaster (@Ticketmaster) April 17, 2016
The Arcs and Unknown Mortal Orchestra were definitely my favorite performances of the day.
Dan Auerbach, (of Black Keys / lead guy in The Arcs), always delivers. He also had a couple of guest appearances: Joe Walsh of The Eagles, and 78 year old Glenn Schwartz formerly from Pacific Gas and Electric.
Unknown Mortal Orchestra is a more mellow band, but they seriously step it up for a live show! Talk about a dance party.
In the midst of all the music, we also had to find time to grab some food and drinks. Below are two very opposite things: coconut water and a gin craft cocktail. Both are necessities to surviving Coachella.
If you're going weekend 2, you can find these cocktails in the Craft Beer Garden. They're $15 (yikes!) but might be a better deal than some of the beers. Pick your poison.
Here's me pre-festival (post-mimosas) with my pineapple sunnies on.
SUNDAY
The final day!
De Lux was the first show of the day; this is a band from LA with guys who look like they're fresh outta high school. I discovered them through KCRW last summer and even got to catch a free show at the Hammer Museum. They've got a Talking Heads disco-y vibe to their music and they're great!
Tei Shi was the only time we made it to the Gobi tent (the one with the ceiling covered in chandeliers). When the lead singer first came out, she looked teary eyed when saying "The band was just backstage laughing nervously that there would only be like 3 people in the audience. Thank you SO much for coming out". There was definitely A LOT more than 3 people out there.
Watching Matt and Kim from inside the beer garden was really fun. Their giant beach balls even made their way over at one point! Did you know they're together? And VERY open about their relationship?
Cold War Kids! I'd never seen them before and have always wanted to, so this was a good moment. Here's me jumping around with our totem, Cornelius the Cactus to "Hang me up to Dry".
Sia's performance was absolutely stunning. It felt as if a music video was happening right before our eyes. She had special guest appearances from Tig Notaro, Kristen Wiig and Paul Dano (ft. in this neverending gif below).
And of course, Maddie Ziegler, the little girl from all of her music videos was there too.
Miike Snow closed out our Coachella for us with a bang. I got to hear Animal, which is all I really need in life.
It felt like the weekend went by incredibly fast, and I definitely didn't want it to end.
Depending on the lineup... I'd go to Coachella again.
Something I'm really looking forward to is end of August / beginning of September. Reason being is I'm going to have 6 days filled with music! FYF is on Aug. 27 and 28 and then I'm going to Wales for a 4 day festival called Festival No. 6. The best part is Hot Chip is headlining both of them! AND it's during my birthday weekend.
'Til then I'll be going to shows here and there to tie me over; like Blackbird Blackbird tonight!
