Coachella bliss
before you get too excited, no, i didn’t play at Coachella. i wish, maybe next year. 
i was happily just a fan and music lover on a pilgrimage to the desert to hear some of my favorite bands this past saturday, and it was a damn near perfect day. here’s my review of what i caught:
Snowpatrol- hot new brit band, despite having some cool songs a little subdued live for my tastes, not enough passion and angst…yet…i bet their second record is going to be great.
Keane- these guys stole the show. its a good thing Tom Chaplin can sing his balls off cause nothing short of that would do justice to the epic melodies he writes. and the keyboardist and drummer were right on, slamming that eight note groove that brits are known for . i already loved Keane but now i’m in love. there was only one thing off. if you’re gonna play back a pre-recorded bass line from a computer you may as well get a live bassist to come on the road with you. it’s kinda cheating to call yourself a trio at that point. i know bassists are in high demand, but come on!
Wilco- i’ve seen these guys twice and despite the fact that the only Wilco song i could sing to you is “Jesus, Etc (sad sad songs)”, i so enjoyed them live. everything they do is smart and interesting and at the same time immediately emotional which is a tough combination to pull off. the musician nerd in me totally dug the complexity of the arrangements and interplay between the musicians and the sensitive hormonal woman in me got misty eyed. it doesn’t get much better than that. i think i was most inspired by their set.
Weezer- sadly the Weezer fans turned me off to the band before i got a chance to check them out. let me explain. i know a few Weezer songs but have never been a fan and never seen them live so was looking forward to getting rocked by them. at that point i’d been standing in the sun for 3 hours and me and my mini-bladder really needed to hit the port-a-potty. on top of that i had a thirst that only the desert can bring on. happens to me on long drives on tour all the time and it sucks, being thirsty and needing to pee all at once. i was pretty close to the stage so when the overeager Weezer fans rushed up behind me to get a closer look at their antisocial hero i got squeezed in pretty tight. the temperature went up 10 degrees from bodyheat and i couldn’t see a daggone thing being the 5 foot 2 shorty i am. i started feeling not so good like i was gonna freak out if i didn’t get some air so i had to get outta there asap. i ended up taking care of creature comforts during Weezer’s set and only watched them on the big screen from afar. oh well, i can’t really take listening to distorted power chords for an hour anyways.
Bauhaus- boo-hoo, bow-house, whatever they’re called. yuck. i only listened to them so i could get close for Coldplay’s set. the frontman came out suspended upside down on a cable and sang the first song that way. i think they were trying for some artsy-goth thing but the musicianship stunk. and there were no songs, no melodies, not a thing memorable except the upside down antic. incredibly they seemed to have a lot of fans, i hear they were big in the early 80s. thank god i was small then.
Coldplay- ah, the moment i waited for. and they didn’t disappoint. they swept me off my feet just like i hoped they would. i hate it when a band/artist can’t live up to their records live. Chris Martin was moody and earnest and jumped around spastically when we wasn’t behind the piano and even when he was. nothing surprising there. what got me was in between songs he was a big dork. he could hardly spit out what he wanted to say to us about the songs and totally made fun of himself. and he ended i think it was the song “clocks” by getting us to clap along and then challenging us to a duel by speeding up faster and faster to see if we could keep up. the way he got out of it was a catclysmic roar of glissandos and atonal chords. then he laughed and looked very pleased with himself in a sheepish kind of way. i find it so endearing that he’s not mr. smooth. the best part was when Chris said “every band has a song that got them where they are, here’s ours” and they layed into “Yellow”…
“look at the stars
look how they shine for you
and everything you do
we’re all at Coachella”
see what i mean, he’s a lovable dork. and i’m in love with Johnny Buckland, Coldplay’s guitarist. he’s dark and mysterious and plays the most heartbreaking melodies. i wonder if he needs a guitar tech…