Day Three: Coachella (finally!)

dragged ourselves to the fest for the last day. missed so much stuff but who could care by that point.

gogol bordello: people were way into this band. sounded fine. per uj, i was just getting settled in and wasn't really ready/able to focus on the tunes. was getting ready for the jacket.

MY MORNING JACKET: god. do i love this band. YES!!! i really do. can't say enough how much i love them. here's a fun vid (audio is a bit funky but was such a sick time of day, sick set of music). i just really do love them by the buckets-full.

roger waters: there was no sense in trying to bounce around pre-roger waters, so went back to vip, got a ridic spot with some really hot new friends, by this rad lion statue, at the i.d. check point, just cuz it was the easiest place to tell people to meet us. god, did we rock that lion. ridic. it was high times at the empire polo fields in indio, during roger waters. great job, everyone who was surrounding the lion.

one of my highlights of the festival was during the beginning of roger waters second set. i had been pretty hell bent on catching adam freeland's set at the DO LAB during roger waters. figuring r.w. was so long, i would be ready for a break, plus i was just really into adam's groove. by the time i remembered that i wanted to hit adam's set, i was like, "fuck it. i'm not leaving roger waters." it seemed like universes away to make it to the DO LAB. that's when i spotted adam on the steps, getting ready to watch r.w. i laughed. i ended up giggling and watching the first part of the dark side of the moon with the most adorable blond little british guy (adam freeland) and it was FUN! he is a total doll, and adorably sweet and was giggly, too. it was a giggly time of day, i guess. anyways, adam was more charming and sweet than imaginable, and i laugh at the irony of "skipping his set" to watch roger waters, then watching roger waters WITH him. hilar. love that shit. funny funny funny. couldn't bare to ask him for a pic with me. was too in the mo'. here's one last vid and then this coachella review is OVA.

Day Two: Coachella (part two)

have to wrap this up. things are starting to pile up on top of each other, esp since i went to the Great American Music Hall last night at the last minute to see Dark Star Orchestra (DSO). going tonight, too, so must move fast on this wrap up of coachella.

so, picking up where i left off, after kraftwerk...

akron/family: was looking forward to this. IT WAS LOUD. holy shit. lasted for a song and a half, then had to bail. couldn't really enjoy it (at first) cuz it was so frickin loud.

animal collective: caught this as we were heading to M.I.A. sounded great and knew we would walk past it again, after M.I.A. so was okay to keep wandering.

M.I.A.: was more entertained by the people climbing the walls of the tent than the music but whatevs.

animal collective: back thru, became more impressed and know i need to check them out for realz. "next time, next time"

akron/family: sounded much better cruising back towards mark ronson. even stopped for a sec. it was hilar...me and my friends were def on a rampage at that point, not knowing where we wanted to be, not caring that we didn't know where we wanted to be until i remembered that i REALLY wanted to stop in the DO LAB and catch some of the GLITCH MOB. i love this pic. dunno if it is akron/family or animal collective but can't believe how this turned out

mark ronson: heard the last bit of this and was suuuuuper impressed. WOW. TONS of people on stage and they started going into a smiths cover song, "stop me uhoh stop me, stop me if you think that you've heard this song before..." nice one!

glitch mob: SIIIIIIICK. have to show this pic here:

portishead: maybe it was my state of mind, but i could not wait til this set of music was over. i liked them back in the day, but my fragile psyche could not handle the dark, haunting morbid flow even with the pretty voice that wandered thru the darkness. thank god it ended eventually. made it better by mingling with some suuuuuper cool peeps. JAMES AND LANDON AND CHRISTINA~ WHAT'S UP!!! you made my portishead set bearable.

prince: suffice it to say that i don't think i've ever seen a show like the one prince put on at coachella. he brought it. to the maxx. here's a vid i shot from vip. the vid part suxxx but the audio isn't bad. it was about as blurry as i was feeling by that point. no high expectations on this vid, please, but thought i'd include it here:



so, kids, that about wraps up Day Two (part two) of my coachella review. feel free to comment. i see you people from all over the world checking in and would love to hear from you. pretty wild! rock on brotha's and sista's...more greatness on Day Three without a doubt

Day Two: Coachella (part one)

well, i had high hopes for saturday. due to the heat, ended up missing two acts that were highest on my list (MGMT and Malkmus), but i had to let it go. total bummer, but one of my many motto's, "easy come easy go" was my mantra. it was around 100 degrees.

i think i'm going to do this review similar to day one's review. short and sweet. cuz frankly, there is/was so much going on that your attn span might be as small as mine was at times, so i'll do my best to be concise. i'm sure i'll forget stuff, as i can already remember one obvious act from friday that i forgot, so i am making a "clean-up" post as to not muddy my Day Two review here. here we go:

hot chip: first stop of the day. sounded sick, but was not grounded or ready to get my major mingle on, so stayed at the outskirts and was magnetizing friends who i wanted to rumble with. spent most of the hot chip set texting to find peeps, which worked great. would def see them again in a flash

death cab for cutie: caught 2 or so songs. frankly, i was underwhelmed by them. i mean, it was fine enough, but their sound did not really fill the main stage air like the other main stage acts. don't get me wrong, i actually like them a lot. i think they would be best in a small setting. whatevs. caught them at bridge school and loved it. maybe i was just still getting my groove on.

rilo kiley: probably my sneaker set of tunes that surprised me the most (after krftwrk). i loved every song i heard. they sounded great. my friend (who was not there) was like, "did they sound good because of jenny lewis?" and i said, "oh! i forgot she was in that band...so i guess not!" funny. good stuff.

krftwrk: favorite band i'd never heard or heard of at the fest. WTTW (wow to the wow)!!! very very psychedelic and very professional and the most...WOW. for example:

sushi calls! more later!

Day One: Coachella (clean-up)

hahahaha. forgot about a couple things from day one.

racounteurs: my anticipation for the verve clearly overshadowed my attn span for the racs. it wasn't that they weren't good, because i mean, hello, it was the racs. it was great! i just needed to be sure i didn't have to tinkle during the verve, and on my way to that, i got a cocktail, mingled, and just listened from the ledge of the vip zone. of course, great set, but i was way way way preoccupied with the verve. fuck it. we like what we like.

spank rock: walking over to serj from sharon jones, i got vortexed at the spank rock tent. wow! they were raging. couldn't get over the name either. hilar. needed to note them cuz i was like, wow~ great sound.

cut copy: heard 'em walking by heading to the breeders and would have stopped for more, but me and my friend who brought me to the event needed to see the breeders. no prob really. easy breezy but cut copy sounded cool for sure.

Day One: Coachella

wandered the desert, hitting stage after stage of very exceptionally high quality music, i thought i'd write about my first ever day of coachella.

was sorta in a daze and a little withdrawn even, during the day.

until the verve hit the stage. oh my god. i finally let my defenses down and danced super hard, letting the most ethereal, most beautiful music i have heard live in a very long time wash over my heart and soul. one of my friends at the warfield Verve show asked me how seeing the verve (at the warfield) would compare to seeing my favorite artist, ryan adams, say at...the fillmore. i said, "close. it comes very close."

that's how good and how much i love the verve. and now after seeing them 2 times in one week, i know neither show was accidentally good. they deliver their notes by not overdoing any of it and simply finding the perfect place to hang their harmonies and melodies, strung together by the most outstanding front man leadership of richard aschcroft. wow.

okay. besides the verve, here is my itin(erary) from yester:

slightly stoopid: fine enough. def sunshine party music. very sublime (same label even). take it or leave it for me, but in the right mood, sure.
architecture in helsinki: gypsy alt lite punk/rock troup. it was really cute. the few minutes we saw them, the singer/guy with the mic said he was at coachella in 04, but in the crowd, and how it was a dream to be on the stage there, and that if you have dreams, you can make them real. it was cute. this guy was so stoked and not afraid to say it. i love that.
jens lekman: had just heard about this artist from my most awesome hairstylist (whom i always hear of great new artists from), and was pleasantly surprised to stumble onto a tent with his tunes, on my way to adam freeland. light rock. but kinda cute. he'll prob get some more attn soon
adam freeland: party in the mo'fo' desert. he had his tent raging. he is so frickin hot, too. that doesn't hurt.
the breeders: impressive set. they were so excited to be playing, it was adorable.

took a break and skipped vampire weekend. needed a rest after that first part.

tegan and sarah: walking to see the national, heard some of their sound. pretty. good for them. i recall when they were opening and playing with ryan (adams), so landing a headlining spot at coachella. good for them.
the national: really fucking good. they are tight and i would gladly see a whole show from them sometime.
goldfrapp: like my friend said, mermaid music from outer space. she is yummy.
the verve: see above
sharon jones and the dapkings: truly the female james brown, and thats a compliment to him.
serj tankian: could not pay attn to anything else really at this point. might have sounded good, might not have. i was ready to go.
jack johnson: ya know. fine. we left.

oh my. needed to get all this down before today. excited for so many shows today.

be good to each other out there, both in the cyber world and real world.

THE VERVE THE WARFIELD FOUR TWENTY THREE OH EIGHT

well well well

my first time seeing THE VERVE.

i thought that the second song of the sonnet would be the highlight because it was so fucking pretty and so fucking good. and we even got to hear the intro twice because richard ashcroft somehow thought that it should be started over.

he was so charming, not scared, or maybe just scared enough. i dunno. but it was a magical night of music. for me.

what seemed to be a very psychedelic show, more than i was expecting, the verve played for a solid 1 hour, 45 minutes, before leaving a satiated warfield sold out crowd.

whatever, that sounds like a commentator.

i felt like a rookie tonight. i felt like i was in high school, hearing boston for the first time. i guess this was the equivalent to something like me being able to see boston. but being my age. boston the band. whom i also love. but have never seen (don't look back ;-)

oh god. i have to go. i'll be trying to get my highlights of coachella posted here. if not for anyone else, to remind my own damn self what i love and what turns me on.

everyone else will do what they do. like what they like. as they/we should!!! its such a weird thing, to write stuff that maybe people will read.

this photo is compliments of kent

2 GREAT thursdays & a goodlooking wednesday

#1 of aforementioned GREAT thursdays: its already been almost 2 weeks since i saw jackie greene and friends at the fillmore. that was a fun show! per usual, i was reluctant to leave my house (just cuz sometimes its hard to motivate) but was sooo glad i did.

joined by barry sless for most of the show, jackie would also later be joined by nicki bluhm, phil lesh, and steve molitz, thus the "jackie and friends" reference. really solid performance. the show was capped by, what was for me the highlight of the show: a solo acoustic performance of sweet somewhere bound. super nice touch. also a nice touch is this fine jackie pic from our very own "sf notable", jay blakesberg.

second GREAT thursday: MUDCRUTCH at the fillmore. it was the second night of a sold-out double header of mudcrutch at the fillmore. again, reluctant to leave my house, i ended up there, and was completely filled with gratitude for having been coerced to get a ticket.

i was impressed with every single person in the band, but particularly MIKE CAMPBELL...woah~ that guy plays the guitar eXACTly the way i like to hear it, with the "less is more" type of playing. i was seriously so pleasantly surprised by this show. anyone who can catch this gig, DO IT!

goodlooking wednesday: april 23, the verve play their first show in the U.S. in nearly 10 years at the warfield and i am coMPLETELY freaked out about seeing it...CANNOT wait for this. and it really better be great because i am skipping death cab for cutie at the fillmore AND the racounteurs at one of my favorite venues in SF, bimbo's.

all of this is really just my way of catching up before i bust out of norcal to head down to coachella. WHAT A FREAKY MONTH OF MUSIC!!!!!!! so glad i got that frickin' cleanse out of the way ;)

gosh, if i can squeeze in seeing MGMT on thursday night before blasting off to coachella, i'll be soooo stoked. fingers crossed but i am not holding my breath.

I Like What You Say

"they say you have to have somebody
they say you have to be someones'
they say if you're not lonely alone
boy there is something wrong" ~Nada Surf, I Like What You Say

in the last few weeks, i saw a SUPER nada surf show at the fillmore here in SF. seriously. second time seeing them, and second time OVERLY impressed by their energetic simple melodies.

i can't remember how to post an MP3, so this is much easier...not the best video, but i do like the lyric in this song that i posted at the top here.

its so weird. sometimes, i think, "Gosh, this is so cheesy," and then in the very next moment i think, "but I really like this!" strange...do you feel that way sometimes?

...the wind blows high...

a favorite version of a song (Divided Sky by Phish) from one of my most favorite shows (10.31.94) EVER! i credit the camera person, because i will tell you for certain, there was absolutely no possible way i could have handled any kind of responsibility that night, like videoing the show. THANK YOU, kind person who captured this incredible memory for me!

simple minds

i may have watched this movie more times than any other movie to date. haven't seen it in probably over ten years (i don't have a TV so i miss the reruns), did a google search on "simple minds" (cuz a friend recently reminded me of that song "don't you forget about me") and i got vortexed in this trailer. like a trip down memory lane. thought i'd share it here. just cuz.

Shine A Light, #2

"underwhelmed" was the word i used to describe seeing the martin scorcese rolling stones concert movie, shine a light. bummer! i was looking forward to this, then couldn't wait til it was over. honest, though, i can't imagine doing what those guys are doing for as long as they have. i really respect that they can still rock. i think the trailer is all you need to see, unfortunately. oh well!!! here for first post about this from january

check out this related, hilarious improv song from ryan adams and the cardinals 10.25.07 columbus ohio show (listen to the whole epic show here)