The Tape at Coachella: Friday
Written by willshoob on Wednesday, 22 of April , 2009 at 5:10 pm
Most of The Tape spent this past weekend dying in the heat, eating lots of churros, and fucking shit up (in a good way) at this years Coachella Music & Arts Festival.
We sort of failed on the picture taking, so I have a few pictures for you guys, but not a lot. Mostly words and mp3’s. We arrived at the polo grounds at around 2:30, just in time for me to get a good spot for stoner hip hop duo, People Under The Stairs. They took the stage, and one of them said “this is some real hip-hop, this ain’t no Lupe Fiasco bullshit… Fuck that.” I immediately left. Not only is their latest album Fun DMC absolutely terrible, there is no reason to call out one of the only other rappers at Coachella, just because he has more commercial acclaim and success (probably because he’s a better rapper). I then headed over to Gui Boratto, where I was pleasantly surprised. I expected it to be a typical dj set, filled with loud bass and unbearable synths. I made that assumption without previously hearing Gui’s music. I ended up really enjoying his melodic electro style.
I then wandered around for a bit. I saw Cage the Elephant, who I am starting to really dislike, which is odd because I really enjoyed them a couple of days ago. I finally headed over to the Mojave tent, and got ready to see what would end up being one of my favorite sets of the festival. Craig Finn and the rest of The Hold Steady are probably the best bar band in the world. I wouldn’t know from experience, I just assume so. This is my second time seeing them, and they’ve blown me away both times. The showmanship is fantastic, and so are the musicians. All five of them play their instruments very well, and Craig Finn looks like he’s having the most fun in the world. It’s nice to see an artist perform, who really enjoys performing. They played all of their hits, opening with “Constructive Summer.” One thing I like about the band is that they rarely stop. He said “thank you” and “how you doing Coachella” a couple of times, but they mostly went from song to song without stopping. “Your Little Hoodrat Friend” was probably my favorite… That or “Sequestered In Memphis.”
I then wandered around for quite some time, catching bits and pieces of M. Ward, The Black Keys, Buraka Som Sistema, and Conor Oberst. None of them were really remarkable, but I did enjoy what I heard from each of those acts. I stopped by The Bug and Warrior Queen for a little while, and that was creepy… Awesome, but creepy. His haunting dub step/electro is only made creepy by the insane Warrior Queen. Something about her just freaks me out.
I caught a little bit of Franz Ferdinand, before heading over to Beirut. I heard “Take Me Out”, which reminded me of Madden ‘06 or ‘07. I then headed over to Beirut, who played to a packed crowd. He seemed to have the crowd in his full control as well. I didn’t stay for that long (as you may have noticed, I have festival ADD), but the songs I did see, all made the crowd go nuts. As soon as he played the first note on his trumpet, or sung his first line, the crowd erupted with cheer. I then headed to Girl Talk, which I tolerated for about five minutes, before getting pissed off and leaving the show for another churro. I feel like the magic of Gregg Gillis kind of disappears after you see him live once. There is so much one can do with shitty rap songs and 70’s rock ballads.
I then headed over to Patton & Rahzel, which started off as being really cool, but faded even quicker. The concept of Patton & Rahzel is so awesome. Mike Patton (Mr. Bungle, Faith No More) screams into a microphone with various effects, as Roots Crew member Rahzel provides the beats… Solely with his mouth. Rahzel is a tremendous beat boxer, who adds wonderful layering to the complexities of Mike Patton’s voice. That was cool for about 10 minutes, and then it got boring. I stuck around a little longer, but I couldn’t resist the temptation to head over to Paul McCartney and listen to some Wings! In all seriousness, McCartney wasn’t great, but I don’t think anyone really expected too much of him. We knew he’d play some Wings, we knew he’d play some solo stuff, but I did get chills when he started playing “Blackbird.” As old as he is, it was still awesome to see a Beatle in concert.
Alright, that’s all I have from Friday, enjoy some pictures and a few mp3’s. Happy Earth Day!
The Hold Steady- Your Little Hoodrat Friend
This comes from their live cd/dvd entitled A Positive Rage, which you can pick up here.
The Bug- Insane (Feat. Warrior Queen)
Off London Zoo, which you can pick up here.
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Comment by Mike M.
Made Wednesday, 22 of April , 2009 at 6:42 pm
Good review! What about coachella sunday and saterday??? how was it????
Comment by choirboy
Made Tuesday, 28 of April , 2009 at 5:31 pm
why u hatin’ on Cage the Elephant???? They rock! What happened?
