Day Two in the desert brought more heat on a number of fronts. Trying to get in from a mile away by car at around three-thirty in the afternoon took roughly an hour. This isn’t all the fault of the facility and the police handling traffic as plenty of selfish folks cut into the line from the shoulder or making U-turns rather than waiting their turn, causing an increase in blood pressure. Although only a few degrees difference, it was noticeably warmer in this afternoon. Shade was a commodity and bodies were contorted into different shapes to take advantage of the shapes garbage cans and lemonade-stand umbrellas temporarily created.
Three handcuffed young men, boys possibly, were escorted by undercover police past me as I listened to the indie guitar rock of Stephen Malkmus & Jicks at the Outdoor Theater. Had to be hard drugs of some sort, likely in the psychedelic vein for such a long day, as people were smoking pot all over the place. One guy had a rainbow-colored mohawk; no doubt when his parents hear about it they will wish they had some sort of sign of what junior was up to. Between songs Malkmus pointed out that the band was against torture and the Bush Administration. Their music was all right, but not compelling enough to keep me from discovering what was taking place elsewhere.
Over at the Coachella Stage, Mexico’s Café Tacuba was serving up delicious funky Latin rock rhythms and had the crowd eating it up. They sang in Spanish, but it didn’t matter to the thousands dancing away. I would have stayed longer but was called away by fellow Snob Caballero Oscuro who attended on Saturday, my first familiar face. We headed over to see Hot Chip at the Sahara Tent. There were a so many people that they spilled out of the tent and into the grassy area. Unfortunately, they started late, so I couldn’t stay to hear them.
Back at Outdoor, Dwight Yoakum was filling the “Willie Nelson” role from last year and offered a preview of the Stagecoach Festival to take place the following weekend. He had a good size crowd watching that skewed slightly older, but it was definitely people who were fans of quality musicianship. Aware of his potential audience, Yoakum offered covers of “Ring of Fire,” “Little Sister,” “Garden Party,” and “Peaceful Easy Feeling.”
Article comments
1 - Donald Gibson
"With a long drive ahead and a full day still to come, I left before Prince took the stage."
I'm trying to find an apt analogy (leaving an arena before Springsteen plays "Born To Run," perhaps; leaving a theatre before you realize the ending of The Sixth Sense), but nothing seems to fit. Are you not that much of a Prince fan or was the traffic that bad? (I heard Portishead was none too pleased with having their headlining status essentially bumped for the Purple One.)
You didn't leave before Roger Waters' set on Night 3, did you?
2 - Glen Boyd
Gotta echo Gibson here Bicho. Prince is amazing live, and short of my house burning down I wouldn't have missed that. The Musicology shows a few years ago were absolutely incredible. great report otherwise though.
-Glen
3 - El Bicho
I am not much more than a greatest hits fan of Prince at the present time. There were a number of factors in my leaving before he went on that went into my decision.
There was a good 20 minutes to wait before he was scheduled to come on. My legs and feet were already starting to feel sore, and I knew there was a full day ahead of me. I didn't pay for the the ticket so it's not like I lost anything in the transaction and since Oscuro was there, I knew it was going to get covered.
Considering he didn't finish until 1AM, and I still had to pack up from where I stayed in town, I wouldn't have gotten home until after 3 AM regardless of traffic, and I didn't have the youth or drugs to keep me from being wrecked the next day, which I knew we were going to close. [Or did we? Read Day Three to find out.]
4 - Josh Hathaway
Rilo Kiley is amazing, Sir Bicho. I'd suggest The Execution of All Things first, followed by Under the Blacklight.
5 - Glen Boyd
For as good a live representation of MMJ as you are likely to find, I'd point you towards the DVD Okonokos. Yer' welcome.
-Glen
6 - El Bicho
I think you meant this for Day Three, but I will make a note of it