Coachella Day 1
Thursday April 26
We arrived in L.A. in the afternoon, picked up our rental car, then headed towards Santa Monica. There was a bit of time before meeting up with a friend so we hit up the Santa Monica Pier for a nice stroll.
The Pier had some cool structures and workout gear. It was fun doing pull-ups on the beach.
We then met up with our friend and had some dinner. Before heading towards our destination of Indio, we grabbed some groceries for the weekend and made an impromptu stop to have the best ice cream sandwich ever.
Their recipe is so simple but the result is like a taste explosion. You get your choice of two freshly baked cookies along with your desired flavour of ice cream. I had rocky road sandwiched between two chocolate chip cookies that were literally taken straight from the oven the second it was made.....it tasted like heaven. Best $1.25 I've ever spent!
Afterwards, we began our trek towards the Empire Polo Field in Indio, CA. Nearing arrival, it was hard to miss the long beams of light that were shooting straight towards the sky.....a sign that we had made it.
We arrived at the Coachella parking/campground area around 1am in the morning thinking it would be a bit quiet as people rested and prepared for the next three days ahead.....nope, that didn't happen. As we entered the parking area, it was littered with thousands of cars and what seemed like endless rows of vehicles.
After stepping out of the car and walking towards the campsite, you could clearly see thousands of people milling about and carrying their gear for the weekend. We had a brief check-in and registration and were assigned to the Camp J area for our tent. The campgrounds were organized alphabetically in rows and alignments to somewhat help the campers locate their area of residence for the festival. They also had on-site camp counselors to answer questions and make sure you were setting up the tent in your proper area and within fire and safety regulations.
After that was done, we wandered around the camping grounds to get familiar with our surroundings and take in some late night entertainment. We quickly stumbled upon a large drum circle that was happening.
Unfortunately, the cops came and busted it up shortly afterwards. I passed out that night around 4am.
----------------------
Friday April 27
So I wake up from the glaring sun shining down on our tent along with a bunch of noise going on outside, thinking I must have slept in.....I look at my watch and it's only just after 7am. What? I've only been asleep for 3 hours.....son of a bee sting! I then fall back asleep and wake up again two hours later.....there's no way I could have slept any longer after that as the tent was boiling inside from the sun. The average temperature that weekend in Indio was over 100 degrees Fahrenheit.....about 40 degrees Celsius.
After a bit of work, we made a small shading area for our tent and met up with two other friends and helped them get setup. We also spent some time chilling out, eating a bit, and playing some cards before heading into the festival grounds.
Entering Coachella...
What's neat about Coachella is that it's a whole music and arts festival experience that showcases many different genres of music along with one of a kind artistic sculptures and creations. With 5 stages spread across the festival grounds, they always have different genres of music playing simultaneously so that it offers something for everyone.
The first act we caught at the festival was Tokyo Police Club at the Mojave Tent. The guys from Newmarket, Ontario put on an impressive set filled with their catchy two minute songs. It's pretty amazing to think that they're playing such high profile gigs and festivals in support of only a 7 song 16min EP. They had a really good turnout for their set too.
After TPC, we chilled for a bit in the shade and grabbed a bite to eat. Nickel Creek was play adjacent at the Outdoor theatre so I listened to some of their set as we relaxed. They have more of a bluegrass feel.
Up next at the Outdoor Theatre was Of Montreal. Kevin Barnes and company entertained the crowd with some costume changes and their alternative psychedelic pop sound. They had some sound problems with their monitors but worked through it and the audience was having fun.
The 40 ft. tall three legged creature titled I.T.
After the set, we were off to the Gobi Tent to catch some Amy Winehouse. There was a huge crowd for her set that overflowed to outside of the tent. We stayed for the first half of her set, not wanting to leave the soulful jazz and blues singer.....but it was off to meet up with others and catch the Arctic Monkeys rock the Coachella Main Stage.
On our way there, we were distracted by this colorful dome with an inviting entrance.....so we entered. It starts off with a tall walkway, which slowly gets shorter and shorter until you pretty much have to crawl til you reach the centre area.
Walking back out to the opening chords of I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor.....we headed to the main stage to catch the British quartet. Their songs are quite upbeat and catchy, though frontman Alex Turner could work on his stage presence a bit more. There's a noticeable sound bleed between the Coachella Stage and the Outdoor Theatre at times so we could hear some of Stephen Marley's set in-between songs.
The Megamite Army walking through the crowd.
We then went and grabbed some dinner from the concessions and watched a bit of The Jesus and Mary Chain while we ate. After that, it was over to the Outdoor Theatre to catch Peaches and her mix of rap, hip-hop and rock sounds. She's quite an eccentric performer and also managed to climb the scaffold on the side of the stage.
After Peaches, I spent the next hour wandering the venue and doing some exploring. I finally took my first washroom break of the day. Despite drinking loads of fluids to stay hydrated, it was so hot throughout the day that I basically sweated everything out.
Interpol was up next at the Coachella Stage. I stayed for part of their set, then headed off to the Outdoor Theatre to catch Sonic Youth. Unfortunately, Sonic Youth's set was delayed by around 25mins as it apparently took a long time for Jarvis Cocker to get set up shortly beforehand. It was nice for me to finally see Sonic Youth live.
I then headed over to see Bjork at the Coachella Stage. The Icelandic artist performed with a large supporting band and was sporting an interesting costume. After exiting the stage with a long wait, she came back and did a one song encore.
DJ Shadow was spinning some tunes still after Bjork so I made my way over to the Outdoor Theatre to finish off the night. His set ended around 12:30am.
Walking by the empty Gobi Tent at the end of the night...
The Big Round Cubatron consists of 6720 lights arranged in a cylinder 40 ft in diameter by 10 ft tall. It's solar powered and runs at night only.
We hung out for a bit back at camp and I went to sleep around 2:30am that night.
Favourite sets of the day: Tokyo Police Club, Amy Winehouse.
These are the performances I caught on Day 1 of Coachella.
We arrived in L.A. in the afternoon, picked up our rental car, then headed towards Santa Monica. There was a bit of time before meeting up with a friend so we hit up the Santa Monica Pier for a nice stroll.
The Pier had some cool structures and workout gear. It was fun doing pull-ups on the beach.
We then met up with our friend and had some dinner. Before heading towards our destination of Indio, we grabbed some groceries for the weekend and made an impromptu stop to have the best ice cream sandwich ever.
Their recipe is so simple but the result is like a taste explosion. You get your choice of two freshly baked cookies along with your desired flavour of ice cream. I had rocky road sandwiched between two chocolate chip cookies that were literally taken straight from the oven the second it was made.....it tasted like heaven. Best $1.25 I've ever spent!
Afterwards, we began our trek towards the Empire Polo Field in Indio, CA. Nearing arrival, it was hard to miss the long beams of light that were shooting straight towards the sky.....a sign that we had made it.
We arrived at the Coachella parking/campground area around 1am in the morning thinking it would be a bit quiet as people rested and prepared for the next three days ahead.....nope, that didn't happen. As we entered the parking area, it was littered with thousands of cars and what seemed like endless rows of vehicles.
After stepping out of the car and walking towards the campsite, you could clearly see thousands of people milling about and carrying their gear for the weekend. We had a brief check-in and registration and were assigned to the Camp J area for our tent. The campgrounds were organized alphabetically in rows and alignments to somewhat help the campers locate their area of residence for the festival. They also had on-site camp counselors to answer questions and make sure you were setting up the tent in your proper area and within fire and safety regulations.
After that was done, we wandered around the camping grounds to get familiar with our surroundings and take in some late night entertainment. We quickly stumbled upon a large drum circle that was happening.
Unfortunately, the cops came and busted it up shortly afterwards. I passed out that night around 4am.
----------------------
Friday April 27
So I wake up from the glaring sun shining down on our tent along with a bunch of noise going on outside, thinking I must have slept in.....I look at my watch and it's only just after 7am. What? I've only been asleep for 3 hours.....son of a bee sting! I then fall back asleep and wake up again two hours later.....there's no way I could have slept any longer after that as the tent was boiling inside from the sun. The average temperature that weekend in Indio was over 100 degrees Fahrenheit.....about 40 degrees Celsius.
After a bit of work, we made a small shading area for our tent and met up with two other friends and helped them get setup. We also spent some time chilling out, eating a bit, and playing some cards before heading into the festival grounds.
Entering Coachella...
What's neat about Coachella is that it's a whole music and arts festival experience that showcases many different genres of music along with one of a kind artistic sculptures and creations. With 5 stages spread across the festival grounds, they always have different genres of music playing simultaneously so that it offers something for everyone.
The first act we caught at the festival was Tokyo Police Club at the Mojave Tent. The guys from Newmarket, Ontario put on an impressive set filled with their catchy two minute songs. It's pretty amazing to think that they're playing such high profile gigs and festivals in support of only a 7 song 16min EP. They had a really good turnout for their set too.
After TPC, we chilled for a bit in the shade and grabbed a bite to eat. Nickel Creek was play adjacent at the Outdoor theatre so I listened to some of their set as we relaxed. They have more of a bluegrass feel.
Up next at the Outdoor Theatre was Of Montreal. Kevin Barnes and company entertained the crowd with some costume changes and their alternative psychedelic pop sound. They had some sound problems with their monitors but worked through it and the audience was having fun.
The 40 ft. tall three legged creature titled I.T.
After the set, we were off to the Gobi Tent to catch some Amy Winehouse. There was a huge crowd for her set that overflowed to outside of the tent. We stayed for the first half of her set, not wanting to leave the soulful jazz and blues singer.....but it was off to meet up with others and catch the Arctic Monkeys rock the Coachella Main Stage.
On our way there, we were distracted by this colorful dome with an inviting entrance.....so we entered. It starts off with a tall walkway, which slowly gets shorter and shorter until you pretty much have to crawl til you reach the centre area.
Walking back out to the opening chords of I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor.....we headed to the main stage to catch the British quartet. Their songs are quite upbeat and catchy, though frontman Alex Turner could work on his stage presence a bit more. There's a noticeable sound bleed between the Coachella Stage and the Outdoor Theatre at times so we could hear some of Stephen Marley's set in-between songs.
The Megamite Army walking through the crowd.
We then went and grabbed some dinner from the concessions and watched a bit of The Jesus and Mary Chain while we ate. After that, it was over to the Outdoor Theatre to catch Peaches and her mix of rap, hip-hop and rock sounds. She's quite an eccentric performer and also managed to climb the scaffold on the side of the stage.
After Peaches, I spent the next hour wandering the venue and doing some exploring. I finally took my first washroom break of the day. Despite drinking loads of fluids to stay hydrated, it was so hot throughout the day that I basically sweated everything out.
Interpol was up next at the Coachella Stage. I stayed for part of their set, then headed off to the Outdoor Theatre to catch Sonic Youth. Unfortunately, Sonic Youth's set was delayed by around 25mins as it apparently took a long time for Jarvis Cocker to get set up shortly beforehand. It was nice for me to finally see Sonic Youth live.
I then headed over to see Bjork at the Coachella Stage. The Icelandic artist performed with a large supporting band and was sporting an interesting costume. After exiting the stage with a long wait, she came back and did a one song encore.
DJ Shadow was spinning some tunes still after Bjork so I made my way over to the Outdoor Theatre to finish off the night. His set ended around 12:30am.
Walking by the empty Gobi Tent at the end of the night...
The Big Round Cubatron consists of 6720 lights arranged in a cylinder 40 ft in diameter by 10 ft tall. It's solar powered and runs at night only.
We hung out for a bit back at camp and I went to sleep around 2:30am that night.
Favourite sets of the day: Tokyo Police Club, Amy Winehouse.
These are the performances I caught on Day 1 of Coachella.
posted by acoustic at
5:27 PM
2 Comments:
Was a fantastic weekend, spent with some great friends, and loads of good music!
By
Anonymous, at Tue Jun 19, 10:30:00 AM
You've done an excellent job of reviewing the event and photo journalling things for those of us less fortunates. :)
I have a few friends that I'm going to be directing to your blog as I know they'll really enjoy it over here.
Looks like you had a wonderful time...I'll bet you've brought back some great memories.
By
Deb, at Wed Jul 18, 11:57:00 PM
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