Concert Review: Coachella - Day One - 4/25/08 - Page 2

There I caught the last few songs by Tegan and Sara. They were all right, but even with sitting closer to the stage, the mix was horrible. The low end was muddy. I found their softer sound made their placement between The Breeders and The Raconteurs curious. Still, it was good that they made the roster as their fans obviously enjoyed them and women in general don’t have a great presence throughout the weekend, only 24 of the 128 are led by female singers.

I worked my way up close at the break. One head security guy was earning his pay. He caught a guy rolling a joint and threw his weed and papers away. I don’t know where he went as the sun set, but that didn’t stop others later, including the resourceful group of young men who made a pipe out of a water bottle.

The Raconteurs delivered a great set. They focused on their latest release, Consoler Of The Lonely, 10 of the 13 songs they played coming from it. What was most interesting is that while Jack White usually gets credit for being a guitar phenom, Brendan Benson played the slide and sounded good. “Blue Vein” is their ode to Zeppelin. It is similar to “Since I’ve Been Loving You” and White channeled Jimmy Page on the solo this evening. The harmonies on “You Don’t Understand Me” didn’t sound as good live and White’s guitar wasn’t working during the first part of “Steady As She Goes,” but no one expects perfection when it comes to rock and roll, and I have trouble believing anyone walked away unsatisfied. The band was joined by a musician who played organ, fiddle, tambourine, basically whatever was needed, yet he was never introduced nor did he take a bow with the rest of the band.

Back at Sahara, I caught the last 15 minutes of Aphex Twin, which was unbelievably intense. He didn’t want you to dance. He wanted to knock you into submission. Even those who were cold sober had to feel in an altered state. Aside from the hard-driving music, the visuals were hypnotizing. The videoscreens were filled with pulsating colored fractals, green lasers shot over head, and lights strobed from above. As if that weren’t enough, people dressed as a cow, a Dalmatian, a panda, and a gorilla pranced on stage.

Article Author: El Bicho

This writer is a member of The Masked Movie Snobs, a collective that fights a never-ending battle against bad entertainment. Follow at twitter.com/ElBicho_MMS

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