Tag Archives: Coachella 2007

While I love the Decemberists’ literary lyrics and sea shanties on the album, I did not know what to expect in a live show, especially at a festival. However, the Portland-based band did not disappoint with the fun and theatrics.

Instead of the T-shirt and jeans fare I had seen most bands wearing at the festival, the group came out sporting suits and dresses in light colors, looking as if they would be attending a polo match instead of rocking out.

“Seersucker is the perfect material for this weekend,” singer and fashion maven Colin Meloy recommended to the crowd.

As the band played “The Perfect Crime #2” Meloy announced it was time for a dance contest and had the crowd make large open circles.

“You never thought you’d have a dance contest at a Decemberists show, did you?” Meloy asked the crowd.

After some dancing in the circles, Meloy instructed everyone to pogo, which they did, including Nate Query, who was playing his upright bass at the time.

The band closed its set with “The Mariner’s Revenge.” Meloy told the crowd that help was needed for the most important effect in the song, “screaming like [you’re] being swallowed by a whale,” when guitarist Chris Funk made a whale motion.

During a practice run, Meloy instructed the crowd to lament more.

When the time in the lengthy song finally appeared, a blue whale made of fabric came onstage and started eating members of the band before the gypsy-like jamming at the end of the song.

“Thank you very much everybody for making our first Coachella so amazing,” Meloy told the crowd.

Fear not, if you msised them at Coachella, the Decemberists will be back at the Hollywood Bowl with the L.A. Philharmonic in July. You can read about that upcoming performance here .

We’re heading down the stretch of day two at Coachella and I think we have a winner for the “best stage banter” category.

Drumroll, please.

The New Pornographers!

This Canadian supergroup with artists from other indie bands played the Outdoor Theatre at 5 p.m. and a video image of the cover of the band’s forthcoming album, “Challengers,” graced the screen behind the drum set.

“That’s our new album cover behind us,” singer Carl Newman noted. “We’re not going to play anything from it.”

Nearby, in the Mojave Tent, Scandinavian group Peter, Bjorn and John played. Newman asked if they could hear the band from the Outdoor Theatre.

“No? I was hoping to catch part of their set and make you wait,” he joked.

The band couldn’t hear Peter, Bjorn and John, but Travis, which was playing on the Coachella Stage, could be heard loud and clear as the band played the hit “Why Does It Always Rain On Me.”

“Hey Travis, keep it down,” Newman called into the microphone before cajoling the crowd into singing the chorus of the Travis song.

However, the New Pornographers played a number of songs from their most recent album, “Twin Cinema,” layering pretty harmonies over their indie power pop, crafting a solid set that kept the sun-drenched crowd laughing.

As the sun began to set on day two of Coachella Kings of Leon played its brand of dirty Southern rock to usher in the evening. Dusk is great at Coachella because it serves to transition the sweaty hot Southern California desert into a nocturnal wonderland of lights, sounds and people. People especially — it’s hard too navigate as the masses grow and the sunlight fades, but it turns this place into a dreamscape. More coming soon …

Mike Relm is wearing a black suit backstage at Coachella.

“It’s advantageous,” the San Francisco-based DJ said. “I won’t get burned on my arms and chest and legs like everyone else.”

The DJ who uses video in his sets is playing at 10 p.m. in the Gobi tent. He arrived Friday and got the chance to see former touring partners Peeping Tom and a little bit of Interpol.

However, he’s planning to catch Air and Rage Against the Machine on Sunday.

“I definitely want to see what Rage Against the Machine’s energy is like,” Relm said. “It’s going to be historic.”

He said of all of the festivals he’s played, Coachella has been one of the best.

“It’s overwhelmingly amazing,” he said. “And the setting is beautiful.”

He said the organizers have been great and they definitely care about the artists. He arrived to find a drawing marking his dressing room of a lamb wearing glasses and a tie that resemble his own.

Find out more about Mike Relm here

If anyone asks you what the best song of the last five years is the answer is the Fratellis’ “Flathead.” You’ve heard the tune on the Apple iPod commercial and seeing it live and in person at Coachella under the burning sun makes it even more infectious. The energy in the Mojave tent during that tune was like Shaq when the Lakers were still winning titles. The rest of the set wasn’t bad either, but didn’t compare. Lets hope they don’t fall in one-hit-wonder land.

Personally, I’m a fan of Fountains of Wayne’s brand of quirky power pop but since their mainstream success with “Stacy’s Mom” I thought they were an odd choice at Coachella.

However, the band seems to be trying to up their indie cred with hipster vintage T-shirts. Lead singer Chris Collingswood sported a green Miller High Life shirt and the bassist opted for a Huey Lewis one in black. Maybe they mugged some concertgoers before their Coachella mainstage set at 2:35 p.m. Saturday. There are a lot of shirtless people running around.

The band entered to a cheesy repeated recording of “Traffic and weather every 10 minutes on the 8s.” “Traffic and Weather also happens to be the name of the bands just-released disc.

Older Fountains of Wayne songs went over well with the crowd, the newer stuff not so much. Maybe it was the disco beat on new track “Someone to Love” or the country flavor of “Fire in the Canyon.”

However, the band played some crowd pleasers such as “Hey Julie,” “Radiation Vibe,” and “Mexican Wine.”

The band also thanked the crowd for braving the sun during the hottest part of the day. According to weather.com, it is currently 105 degrees, but don’t worry, it only feels like 99.

The band did not play their biggest hit, Stacy’s Mom.

Your faithful Press-Enterprise reporters are back at the Empire Polo Field in Indio for the second day of Coachella.

On the way in, there seemed to be a lot of people chugging bottles of water and a few caring for sunburns.

The lines were not as crazy as Friday to get in the gate, but traffic was starting to get sticky around Jefferson Street.

However, braving the traffic may have a benefit. There’s a White Stripes ice cream truck in parking lot six giving away ice cream sandwiches.

Pharoahe Monch is the first act on the Coachella Stage right now with quirky pop-rockers Fountains of Wayne to follow.

I wonder if the guys in Interpol go home, change out of their suits and lip synch to ’80s hair metal while dancing around the house. That would be the carefree alter-ego to the suit-wearing quartet that took the Coachella stage around 9:30 p.m.

I have never seen a band have less fun on stage than this group of uber-hipsters. They sound good, but you have to question if they’re really having a good time up there, playing for the thousands of people who flocked to the main stage to see them.

The only other interesting note about them is that as I was driving in, I saw a ton of Interpol posters stapled around palm trees on Jefferson Street in Indio, promoting the band’s yet-to-be-released album. That makes me think the city of Indio probably won’t pick an Interpol ditty for its official song.

Pulp lead singer Jarvis Cocker recently issued a solo album, and his solo set at Coachella has been filled with energetic pop songs and plenty of live panache. Cocker knows hw to interract with a crowd, which is something the weary audience at 9:15 p.m. needs. It’s been a long day and it’s still not over.