Yes friends you guessed it! I have returned from Indio, California. What a weekend! I have a LOT to share. So for those who may be unaware, I was at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival held annually down in southern California. God where do I begin?! In any case, prepare your eyes for much reading!
*BEFORE THE FIRST DAY*
On the road, we had a lot of fun. On the way, we made a stop where they had a fucking zebra in a petting zoo and a dairy queen! It was awesome.
We got in late to the beach house where we were staying. The other group got in at 10am, they had been driving all night. We decorated our van, it was bitchin.
At noon, we left and got in really fast! We were able to walk around thursday and explore. The energy in the air was electric. There were waves of "WHOOOOOOOO!" all over from one side of the festival grounds to the other. Everybody was just so happy to be there, and why wouldn't they be?! Look at the lineup!
I went with a great group consisting of my friends Kramer, Nels, Vaughn, Amy, Beau and my newly made friends; Elan, Steph, Ronnie, Kristin, Hunter, Chris, and Rhiannon. It made the experience even better, the people you go with are important! :) Then again, everybody we met was really cool. All of us hit the hay early that night; considering we all hadn't slept in the past two days :)
*THE FIRST DAY*
Woke up bright and early! Then again with all the sun and how hot it gets, we couldn't sleep past eight. The festival people kept us waiting a half hour after the gates were suppose to be open, ahhhhhh! When we got in, WOW. It looked incredible! There were six stages; main stage(coachella stage), the outdoor theater, the gobi tent, the mojave tent, the sahara tent, and the oasis dome. We headed to the Sahara first, we watched a DJ called Alf Alpha---really good. From there on, I saw Tokimonsta, Skrillex, Hurts (GREAT BAND from England), Sleigh Bells, New Pants, Brandt Brauer Frick, The Morning Benders (Also great!), Cee Lo Green (Didn't get to play his whole set because of his flight), Ms. Lauryn Hill (incredible!), THE BLACK KEYS (WOW), Crystal Castles, Boys Noize, and Scala who did the cover of "Creep". In summary, a lot of electronic music the first day but I had a lot of fun!
*THE SECOND DAY* (MY DAY) :)
I call it my day because the lineup was full of rock and folk rock. Oh my god, it was mind blowing. It was also HOTTER than hell every day. But totally worth it! The first show I saw was a folk group called Trampled by Turtles (GREAT), then I went with my friend Vaughn to check out this group called Thao which was also great and very fun! Then after that I saw The Tallest Man on Earth :D, Radio Dept, Cage the Elephant---the lead singer kept crowd surfing, it was fantastic! Then all in a row at the Coachella stage; Broken Social Scene, then it became pretty much religious for me, it was beautiful, BRIGHT EYES, MUMFORD AND SONS, then after that Animal Collective which isn't for me :P But then ARCADE FIRE. OH MY GOD. Seriously, best concert of my life. The trifecta of Bright Eyes, Mumford, and Arcade Fire made my Coachella.
Here are some pictures from the wonderful night!
BRIGHT EYE'S CONOR OBERST!
MUMFORD & SONS!!!
ARCADE FIRE!!!!!!!!
_Dropped_During_Arcade_Fire_Finale.jpg)
Their final song, "Wake Up" and they dropped the balls :D haha AHHH so incredible.
THEN they played three encore songs. WOOOOOOOW.
After the concert, I had a bit of an adventure...
I thought I had lost my bag, which had EVERYTHING in it. My money, keys, phone, iPod, everything. Before I freaked, My friend Nels came with me and I swear, I ran the fastest I had ever run. We were able to get back into the fairgrounds, then I got to where I thought I lost it. It WASN'T there. I started crying, couldn't help it. Nels had gone to ask one of the cleaning people if they had picked it up, no such luck. My sadness got us free sandwiches which Nels was psyched on haha. He kept my spirits high and was optimistic that I'd get my bag back, he's a good friend. We decided to go to lost and found and it ended up being closed. Well I was discouraged so we headed back to camp. I sat down and looked over at one of the camp chairs. Low and behold, MY FUCKING BAG. Cue HUGE sigh of relief. To celebrate, we went and partied with some neighbors! I was so happy after that, but geez, what a way to end my night.
*THE THIRD DAY*
By the third day, I was terribly sore and my feet were swollen. I was still excited, even though it was the last day. I got a later start, we went and saw Menomena first. Then I watched Fun., which was fantastic. City and Colour was next, phenomenal. Then I ran back into my buddy Kramer and we caught some of Jimmy Eat World which was great! We then went over to the Coachella stage to get a spot for Death from Above 1979. Before that, Nas and Damian Marley (Bob Marley's Son) were playing and they covered one of Bob's songs, loved it. D.F.A 1979 got intense, the men were a'moshin. But all and all, they put on a great show! After that I caught a little of Chromeo. More electronic after that, DUCK SAUCE! It was a blast and a half!!!
After I saw The Strokes!!!!! SO AWESOME!!!!!!!!! To finish the night, we saw Kanye West. Not a big Kanye fan, but it was a good show. His entrance was from the center of the audience.
Well we got back to camp exhausted but happy. Coachella ended. (SIGH)
We all decided however to make it a tradition! SO I will be attending Coachella '12!
I will be counting the months down :) This experience made me look at life differently in the best way. Truly, the best weekend.
SO I leave you with my monthly recommendation, which I may or may not have done already but oh well.
*SONG OF THE MONTH*
"The Suburbs"-Arcade Fire
Until next time friends :)
-Beth
