Coachella, New Music and Inspiration

There's nothing quite like the giddy excitement I get when I discover a "new" band. In the last 12 years I've managed to hit quite a few festivals- Mountain Aire, High Sierra, Jazz Fest, numerous Phish festivals, Bonnaroo, Vegoose and I just returned from my 4th Coachella experience. I tend to be a creature of habit when it comes to music and usually am inclined to stick with just seeing the bands I know and love at festivals but Coachella has been the one festival I've attended that each year I've been exposed and turned on to something new. In 2003 it was Tortoise and Thievery Corp, in 2004 DJ Danny Howells did it for me, last year surprisingly enough my "new" discoveries were actually as main stream as you can get- Kanye West and Franz Ferdinand- I hadn't given either a chance before hearing them live but what can I say- they threw down last year and I was sold.

It's a rarity (for me anyway) to have a day at a fest where you actually see 5 band's entire sets and love them all- including 3 you've never heard before. Saturday this year at Coachella was one of those days. We started out catching !!! (Chk, Chk, Chk)'s set and what a perfect band to kick the day off with. The LA Times described them as "Big-thump dance-rock, with echoes of the Talking Heads and B-52's in its electronic frippery" and we were not disappointed. From there we bounced back over to the VIP section (where one can enjoy shade, an elevated view of the main stage, nicer bathrooms and shorter beer and food lines) and found a spot for Arcade Fire's set. I've been a fan of Arcade Fire since seeing them play Vegoose in 2005 and once again they put on a stellar show. I'm looking forward to finally seeing them in a "smaller" venue at the Greek here at the end of the month.

After Arcade Fire, we went to check out Girl Talk – It was hard to tell exactly what was going on when we first walked into the tent because there was almost as big of a party happening on stage as there was on the dance floor. The tent was going off with about 30 people dancing on stage, including none other than Paris Hilton. I assumed it was a band but soon after joining the dance party I realized it was all the work of one man- Pittsburgh's Gregg Gillis who samples anyone and everyone remixing dozens of elements from different pop songs creating brilliant mash-ups with extremely sexy results.

LCD Soundsystem was next on our list. Hailed as "the leading edge of the dance-rock juggernaut", by the LA Times we were ecstatic about these guys as soon as we heard what they were throwing down. These guys absolutely blew me away. High energy, incredible dance beats with elements of glam rock, punk rock and disco all mixed in- the entire tent was going off and there was no other place I would have wanted to be. Probably my favorite set of the festival and I'm pumped they'll be back in LA in June so we can see them again in a much smaller venue.

After LCD we spent the last part of the evening at The Good, The Bad and The Queen- Damon Albarn's (Blur, the Gorillaz) new side project featuring The Verve's Simon Tong, Paul Simonon from The Clash and Nigerian drummer Tony Allen. They were accompanied by a string section and played their debut album from start-to-finish. Although there were a few sound issues and it was a much more mellow vibe than the prior bands of the day, it was a great way to cap of the night- very serene and mesmerizing- a perfect fit for the palm trees flowing in the desert breeze.

We also caught Bjork on Friday and on Sunday- The Roots, Air (incredible) and Rage Against the Machine (awesome). My friend Jessie summed up Rage with one sentence: "I feel like we're witnessing a part of music history right now". While I'm not too familiar with Rage, I enjoyed every second of their set and danced until the music stopped. I don't know if anything can ever quite top the epic day in 2004 when the Pixies played before Radiohead, but Saturday this year came pretty damn close and was a rare perfect festival day shared with old friends, new friends and 50,000 others.

Before this past weekend, the last time I've been inspired by a new band was last summer after being turned on to The Raconteurs. I heard their debut album for the first time playing in the background as I got ready for their show at the Henry Fonda, and once seeing them live later that night, I was immediately hooked. Of course the 9 Radiohead shows I saw last summer are also on the top of my recent inspiration list but until they go back on tour, I'll just have to settle with the CD's I just ordered (!!!, Girl Talk, LCD Soundsystem and Air, naturally) and the Arcade Fire and LCD Soundsystem's LA shows. After such a great weekend in the desert and being turned on by so many new bands, I have a feeling I might find it a bit easier to cruise around looking for some new inspiration at Bonnaroo this year… or at least I'm going to try.