Descendents perform at Coachella weekend one.
I have a lot of special “Coachella Moments” stored away in my memory bank, like the energy In the field when Rage Against the Machine reunited at the 2007 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, or watching Paul McCartney’s epic set in 2009 next to my mother, or seeing Arcade Fire headline in 2011 and drop a ton of LED lit beach balls into the crowd.
Watching the Descendents in the Outdoor Theatre Saturday, April 20 might have topped all of them.
In the front row I finally saw a full set from one of the bands that I have been trying to see for a decade.
I am a big punk rock fan and the band’s “Everything Sucks” album still ranks as one that goes to the desert island with me.
I happened to be up front with a bunch of folks from Riverside, many who loved Descendents in their teens. You could feel the giddy energy from seeing a band whose touring is sporadic at best.
Hearing them play the songs that scored many nights in my room; walking around the streets of Boston when I was in college and even my cross-country drive from Maryland to California six-and-a-half years ago just reminded me how lucky I am to still be doing the job I love and seeing the bands that made me want to do this in the first place.
It doesn’t matter that the band didn’t draw a Phoenix-size crowd, those of us who were there sang along with Milo to “Suburban Home,” “Silly Girl,” “Rotting Out,” “When I Get Old” and “I’m the One,” to name a few.
For me, my Coachella moment of 2013 was hearing the band play “Thank You,” another song off “Everything Sucks” and one that speaks to the love of music.
So thank you, Descendents, for playing the way you play–with the intensity of singer Milo Aukerman, the ferocity of drummer Bill Stevenson, the mind bending bass of Karl Alvarez and the iconic tone of guitarist Stephen Egerton.
And thank you, Coachella, for bringing them to us.