We came, we saw, we rocked.

Thursday

Arrived at site 9PMish. Parked. Saw huge line at registration, and security checking bags as they were going in, so we made a fairly minimal trip the first time through with just the tent and sleeping bags, and then brought in the rest of our stuff via a side entrance, where the guy was only arbitrarily checking coolers (the person ahead of us in line said that his contained only “cheese and shit”, and was waved through, albeit with vocalized skepticism). Camp site was buzzing; was awake most of the night as there was a drummers circle going full tilt until 4:30AM 50 yards from our tent.

Friday

Woke up at 7:30AM. The tent was 85F inside. Dripping with sweat. Headache. Met tent neighbors, combined camps, and hung out with them all morning drinking coffee, playing cards and smoking (one of the guys was or had been on the NZ Olympic ski team). Heat was approx 105F by midday. Shortly after lunch, went to festival entrance, and waited on line for security check. (Security was annoying and arbitrary; they did a full bag search and pat down; they turfed out a couple bags of trail mix Adrian had on him; threw out pens; let already opened water bottles in; did not check shoes.) Took 1/2 an hour to get through the line (the other two days were a little quicker.)

Went to the dance tent first and caught the start of Terry Mullan’s set; good tunes, but too hot to dance. Walked to the main stage, and listened to some Flosstradamus, who were shit (wigger Black Eyed Peas wannabes, even worse than it sounds.) Then Silversun Pickups, who were great, and Arctic Monkeys, who lacked a little in stage presence but were exceptionally tight and kept the crowd moving.

Got something to eat, and then saw Felix Da Housecat back to back with Benny Benassi in Sahara. Felix was awesome, Benny was mediocre. Quick run for water, and then back for Faithless, who were my personal festival highlight.

Tripped out a little on the Tesla coil sculpture on the way over to the main stage to see Bjork, and then fell asleep listening to her, while sitting on the lawn.

Walked back to tent, and passed out.

Saturday

More of the same in terms of heat, and hanging out with campmates all morning. Line for the showers was ridiculous so I made do with a sink rinse and a baby wipe bath. Saw Steve Aoki (wacky but interesting) and DJ Heather (pretty bad) in the dance tent. Bailed the tent, and saw Jack’s Mannequin on the second stage (solid California rock), and then the first half of Regina Spektor’s set (not my genre, but captivating). Back to the dance tent for MSTRKRFT (lame music, but they know how to throw a party).

To the main stage for Kings of Leon who were great (tight, good tunes, musically interesting, rocked the crowd), back to the dance tent for Justice, who were a little strange but entertaining.

Back to the main stage (tons of walking on Sat) for the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, who I thought were disappointing (phoned home most of their numbers, and only let loose and genuinely rocked for about 5 minutes total). Finally, down to the front for Tiesto, who took forever to come on stage due to technical difficulties with the giant screen/curtain at the back of the stage, kicked off with an impressive video intro, and then produced a competent, energetic, but overall uninteresting DJ mix.

Sunday

First band of the day we caught was Anathallo at the Outdoor Theater, who had an interesting combination of musicians, and played a good set.

Next was DJ Daytona, who was energetic, entertained the crowd, and spun some good tunes, and Trent Cantrelle, who was playing some good records - but we were hungry and bailed. Then to the main stage for Explosions in the Sky, who remind me a lot of Mogwai, and were my second favorite show at the festival.

Back to the dance tent for the rest of the evening for Soulwax (not bad), Richie Hawtin (aka Plastikman, who played an amazing minimal techno live set to an initially skeptical but in the end enthusiastic crowd), Paul van Dyk (the best DJ set at Coachella, blew the roof off), Happy Mondays (Shaun was fucked up and apologetic), and finally Infected Mushroom (who were a lot rockier than their studio records, and hyper-energetic.)

Monday

Woke up to discover that Adrian’s backback, which had my car keys in it, had been stolen from outside the tent where he’d left it overnight. (Doh.) Waited in the parking lot under a makeshift canopy until 1PM for the locksmith that the insurance company sent out to arrive, and then drove home by the scenic route.

Coachella == awesome

This was my first of many Coachellas to come. A new personal annual tradition is born. (The full set of - mostly Adrian’s - photos are here; also, the vids above are not ours, but just representative ones snagged from youtube. If anybody comes across Richie Hawtin vids, please post the link in the comments below).

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