Coachella '09 [--yawn--]

So this will be the sixth year that my friend Brian and I have done the full Coachella experience. [Well, without the drug use and camping and desert dust and so forth.] And while I'm sure my opinion will be different in a week's time, right now it looks a little underwhelming and lean.

Well, not Friday, I suppose; it's hard to beat the big guns (McCartney, Morrissey, Cohen, FF, Black Keys, Hold Steady) although the undercard bands are drive-bys. [A "drive-by" is a band that you watch for about ten minutes, and once you've seen the best they have to offer, you move on. Unless it's really hot out, and the performance is in one of the tents...then you stay for fifteen minutes.] But when the Saturday go-to names are The Killers and Thievery Corporation, you have a profound absence of star power, despite a stronger day roster (Mastodon! Junior Boys! Glass Candy! Amanda Palmer!) with which to contend.

Sunday is pretty much a nod to the old folks with the headliners (unless you contend that the best work of The Cure and My Bloody Valentine is ahead of them) but it's the best well-rounded collection of the weekend. There's quality hip-hop (Clipse, Public Enemy, The Knux), some Pitchfork-approved indie bands (No Age, Vivian Girls), solid pop (Lykke Li, Peter Bjorn & John, Sebastian Tellier), potential fucked-up spectacles (Brian Jonestown Massacre, Fucked Up), British buzz bands (Friendly Fires, Late Of The Pier), and yes, the headliners (since I am, indeed, one of the old folks). Because of Sunday's potential and a hopefully sizable recency effect, I'm sure our Monday morning drive back to LAX will be full of joyful reminiscing and conjecture about 2010. At least, that's what I'm hoping for.

Comments

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