Tag Archives: Coachella 2008

I think Vampire Weekend might have one of my favorite band names ever, although they can’t be vampires because I saw them in the sunlight today and nobody turned into a pile of ashes, because that’s what happened in “Interview Wth the Vampire.”

OK, but anyway, they were fun, as I expected them to be.

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Vanessa Franko/The Press-Enterprise

Ezra Koenig sings with his band, Vampire Weekend.

When they played “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa,” singer Ezra Koenig admitted they hadn’t ever played it in Cape Cod, but they’ve played it plenty of times in SoCal.

“This might be its spiritual home,” he said.

They were fun and they played hit “A-Punk” midway through the set.

Koenig tried to get people to dance, but told the crowd it was okay to refrain if it was too hot. That didn’t stop people from chanting “Hey! Hey! Hey!” along with the chorus, though.

An event with the pure heft of Coachella with some 50,000 to 60,000 people hanging out in the desert is bound to have a few medical or unlawful incidents. So far, year nine of Coachella is about as lawless as Disneyland’s Main Street. And most people haven’t succumbed to the hot, hot, heat.

Only five arrests were made as of Friday evening for drug- and alcohol-related incidents, said Indio Public Information Officer Ben Guitron.

By sunset, Riverside County Fire had to send just three people to the hospital for minor to moderate injuries. Only one person was considered in moderate to serious condition, said incident commander Raymond Paiz.

The only accident occured when a worker fell from a stage Friday while it was being set up, he said. The other injuries were heat-related.

Paiz said the department mobilized more of its crew in the venue itself, positioned in front of and in back of the stages, with ambulances parked inside.

“You learn as you go,” Paiz said. “We learned that we had more staff than we needed last year.”

While equipment and crews were lined in full force behind the VIP area last year, just Riverside County Fire’s communication’s headquarters remained this year. Paiz was pleased with the new strategy and said they expect to be more effecient with less people (25 total in the venue consisting of fire marshalls, one fire engine company and three medics)

I love bands that use different instruments and dress out of a 1989 Afterschool Special starring Tori Spelling, so Architecture in Helsinki (whose members are actually Australian) was the perfect fit.

And then, when I thought it couldn’t get any better, they dedicated a song to Prince, and apparently Les Savy Fav had as well.

Plus, there was a positive message from founder/singer Cameron Bird, talking about how he came to Coachella a couple of years ago as a spectator and his dream.

“I don’t want to be spiritual, but it can happen,” he said.

This is only my second time at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, but even I knew the traffic was a big deal.

Big, as in bad.

Indio handles the traffic flow the best it can (TONS of street signs, for which I thank you forever!), but as you get closer to the Empire Polo Fields, Monroe basically becomes one lane and you’re in for a wait.

Drivers dedicated to getting to the festival use the lag time to stick luggage in the trunk, adjust their clothing, and apply sun lotion.

Local drivers, however, such as delivery drivers, older couples and families, either forgot about the festival or forgot about its impact on the traffic: While I waited in traffic for, say, 45 minutes, no fewer than 10 cars turned back.

Dan Deacon might be my new favorite person.

The DJ is Baltimore-based (B-more is my hometown), he plays Salt-N-Pepa’s classic, “Shoop,” before shows, and he led the audience in a calisthenics class before his set in the Gobi tent.

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Vanessa Franko/The Press-Enterprise

Dan Deacon’s fan reach for the sky in the Gobi tent.

He had people stretch, do a slight knee bend, get to know their neighbor and then, he had a countdown more amazing than Dick Clark on New Year’s Eve.

He had the audience count down from 10, and when they got to 0, they were encouraged to shout ” ‘Matrix 3’ is actually a good movie!”

That was awesome. Then he played some crazy beats. Good times, good times.

Once you get to Coachella, you can’t exit and re-enter.

So if you’re only there for, say, 50 of the more than 100 bands, or if the music is secondary to the experience, you’re facing a lot of downtime over the three-day weekend.

The question is how to fill the time.

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Kate Wood/The Press-Enterprise

Someone planned ahead and brought a deck of cards for something to do between bands. Unfortunately, the cards didn’t even make it to the venue. These had bitten the dust on the path between the parking lots and the Coachella festival by 2 p.m. Friday.

Some people had books (maybe the students missing mid-terms to be here today were getting in some study time?), some had handheld games.

I even saw iPods and their always-present white earbuds. (Question for readers: Would you bring an iPod to a music concert? It seems like a bit like taking a DVD player to a movie theater.)

Is it just me, or does Serj Tankian (aka lead singer of System of a Down and currently stumping for a solo CD, “Elect the Dead”) look like a cross between Abraham Lincoln and Col. Sanders here?

Massive art pieces have always been a defining part of the Coachella experience, even if it’s just to use the shade produced by the hulking structures.

One of my favorites below:

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Kimberly Pierceall/The Press-Enterprise

I, for one, would like to see this on the road.

For folks attending the festival in the days to come, know it’s a long, arduous journey — and that’s just the walk from the parking lot!

If you turn out to be as lucky as I was and park in Lot 5, count on passing by a mobile home park off Monroe (with two wary-looking security guards standing outside), turn left and walk down a looong backstage area (far from the real backstage antics), then traverse a vast parking lot (see below):

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Kimberly Pierceall/The Press-Enterprise

Where you’re going …

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Kimberly Pierceall/The Press-Enterprise

Where you’re coming from …

After traversing the parking lot, a temptation in the form of massages offered for $1 for every one minute may attempt to distract you from your course.

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Kimberly Pierceall/ The Press-Enterprise

Yes that is a massage table in the middle of the grass while walking to the entrance of the Empire Polo Field

You’re almost there … well, not really. Continue along a corridor of chain-link fences. Take a break to smell the horses. Stables line the walkway.

Also, watch out for the fountain of muddy road water that may splash you as cars drive by.

Once you see the open clearing of grass, you’re there. Enjoy the show … and hopefully you remember how to get home at the end of the night.

Dan Deacon does a surprise workout with the crowd.
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