Coachella Festival 2010, day three

One Eskimo was not deterred by the volcano...they opened up Sunday on a warm note, rousing the groggy campers as the rolled out for the home stretch...

Word again about the weather...Saturday barely scratched 90, and had overcast stretches, really damping down the impact...day for day, it was the most gloriously temperate weather i've ever encountered at Coachella. Also, the third day zombie hoard was much less 'fragrant' than years past...


Kevin Devine led an energetic combo in the Gobi tent that was well received. Yet more volcano related cancellations impacted my day, affecting the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, another outfit i was looking forward to checking out, and scotching an anticipated dj set from Talvin Singh, the founder of Cornershop...









I steered back to the Mojave tent for LA's own Soft Pack; they put a nice noisy spin on the day. I missed the later Local Natives set, but tried to make up for my lack of LA repping with these guys, and their rocking set will definitely get me to grab the album...A nice surprise.
Still had the feeling of being in idle, waiting for Something To Happen. Shortly after this thought, it would be more than seven hours before i found peace again...




The day then kicked into overdrive with the one and only King Khan and the Shrines, whose festival appearances have garnered a lot of chatter, and it wasn't too long before it was evident why. He hit the stage, resplendent in a gold lame top and tight pants, and by the second song in, he was already off the stage and into the audience...Few songs later, he brought out the Yo Gabba Gabba crew, (must watch video below for those of you with youngsters), bringing to mind what could rightly be considered my very first concert, an amusing park appearance of the one and only Banana Splits!

He then proceeded to top himself by commanding the audience to bust out dollar bills and set them on fire! Yes, with 75,000 people packed into a grass field...Smokey the Bear he ain't, but he does come across as some hellish version of an Indian McGruff the Crime Dog crossed w/Mitch Ryders Detroit Wheels...Needless to say, he blew the tent apart, and really had to be seen to be believed.








Detroit area smooth soul sensation Mayer Hawthorne hit the Gobi stage shortly after 3 with a full band that added a sparkling Motown.esque burst of energy to the songs from his debut album.

I was pleasantly surprised that the tent was packed for his gig, a testimony to his twitter mobilization, and the good rep of his label Stones Throw records, no doubt.

Obviously in a new era when an artist pimps his Twitter feed (@MayerHawthorne) in a song intro.



Hella hard to tear myself away from Mr. Hawthorne's tent revival, but there was no stopping the block party that was De La Soul, tearing up the Main Stage...I got there right in time to see the whole field turn into a whirling mess as they layed down 'A Roller Skating Jam Named Saturday'. Hip Hop 101 for all who aspired that weekend, it was the crafty veterans that took care of the business, ending the set with a tribute to Run DMC...


As the De La Soul crowd cleared, i took advantage and manuevered down in front to stake out some prime real estate for Hoboken's own Yo La Tengo. In another victory for the vets, the indie crew hit the stage early and with a hail of feedback, storming into 'Big Day Coming', and twisting through a set that touched on all the bases of their varied career.

Many questioned why they were on the Main Stage, and more hyped bands were seemingly exiled to the outdoor stage, but their fearless set answered every question, veering from chamber pop to pure noise...

High point was the endgame of their set, a juxtaposition of 'You Can Have It All', a George McRae cover that featured Georgia stepping out from behind the drums to carry the song on the organ, while James & Ira abandoned their instruments to do a total Gladys Knight & the Pips routine, following a shout out to Sly Stone...(video below).

They closed the set with a stunning version of 'Pass The Hatchet, I Think I'm Goodkind', paced by Ira's manic shredding, blowing it out past the 12 minute mark, leaving the audience breathless. The yin and the yang of Yo La Tengo...


The Main Stage onslaught continued with Spoon, from Austin, TX. Led by Britt Daniel, they overcame a rocky start being dumped by a major label, managed to regroup and find a home on NC indie Merge Records, and have hit a hot streak with their last three records: 'Gimme Fiction', 'Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga', and the January release, 'Transference'.

The audience gave them a conquering hero's welcome, and they assayed a set of brutally chopped angular tunes...




With much regret, I left my wondrous perch on the barrier of the Main Stage, and traced a circuitous path along the perimeter of the fence, and towards the back of the festival grounds, walking briskly, then jogging, and finally flat out running towards the tent that was my destination, a rendezvous i thought i'd never be making...

Ladies and Gentlemen: Sly & The Family Stone...
Or Not...

In retrospect, what in the hell was i thinking...
Sly's only rival for cancellations/no shows in the '70's was George Jones. Sweated out some time until the inevitable 'delay' announcement, watched the crowd visibly sag, then had a good long laugh at myself. It ocurred to me that i recalled reading an article about a journalist trying to interview Sly that ended up being titled something like: 'And I Keep Waiting for Sly'...hmph...

Redemption came in the form of Pavement...As witnessed in a warmup show at the Fox Theater in Pomona thursday night, the reunited unit is in fine fettle. (complete coverage in an upcoming post).

Thoroughly drained in both the body/soul and camera battery/flash card departments, I skirted the edges of the mammoth turnout for the band Thom Yorke put together to support his solo record, 'The Eraser'. Teeming with great musical minds, but perhaps most notable for sporting Flea, the group added a welcome funkiness to a claustrophic laptop record, (in the very nicest sense), bringing new layers to the tunes...

It was a welcome bookend, having seen Radiohead at my very first Coachella, so many years ago...Yorke's siren song seemed a fitting soundtrack to my exit strategy from the desert.

Final thoughts: Interestingly enough, this seemed like the year Coachella finally came into it's own, eschewing the major celebrity bookings in favor of a micro.focus on the music. It's daring economic strategy, going to 3 day passes only, away from single day tickets, seemed foolhardy at first, but came up a cropper as the show sold out completely. What next? Rumors for the '11 lineup are already flying...but at this juncture, i'm shutting them out in favor of savoring what has just past...