Coachella 2007 Review
Posted by Morgan Marx on 05.04.2007
Bjork, Interpol, Arcade Fire, Rage Against The Machine, and blurry pictures
In past years, descriptions of the Coachella Music Festival have sounded more like harrowing accounts of survival as opposed to simple concert wrap-ups. Coachella is without a doubt one of the best-organized events around. Yet 13-hour days, temperatures that hover around 110º, and more ironically dressed hipsters than one could shake a stick at can kill anyone’s concert buzz. When Goldenvoice, the promoters behind the event, added a 3rd day of bands to the 2007 bill, it not only gave Ticketmaster an additional chance to soak money out of kids, but it alleviated some of the more negative aspect of the weekend. Instead of getting no sleep and skipping meals to be at the Polo grounds by 11am, the spaced out days provided the chance to come at your own pace. Seeing 5-7 bands a day is much more comfortable than 10-11. So the 2007 edition of Coachella was less of an ordeal, and more of a good time. And isn’t that the point?
Friday, April 27
After checking into a charming little hotel (i.e. death trap that looked like something out of No Vacancy) some 45-minutes away from the concert venue, the girlfriend and I set out for the show. 2.5 hours and approximately 500 curses directed at traffic later, we made it through security and into the concert ground proper. After 4 straight Coachella’s, the luster of the Polo field has waned just a little; it’s still one of the most beautiful places to see a show. We made it in just as the Silversun Pickups were finishing their Coachella Stage (main stage) set. I’ve heard good things about the band, but the 2 songs we heard confirmed one of my fears. Lead singer Brian Aubert can’t quite sustain the screams that make “Lazy Eye” such an engaging song. Live, he comes off a little screechy. Still, the same could be said of many bands, and the Pickups seem set for a nice little career.
The first full act we caught was English diva Amy Winehouse. I was a little sick of all the hype and faux-controversy surrounding her, but live she blew me away. Her voice (that bluesy, jazzy, sneer of a voice) is just captivating. She’s a little thing, all big hair and big heels in person, but once she sings she just commands attention. Since all music is derivative, it really pays to rip off great artists. Her mix of old school jazz and 60’s era girl-groups is absolute gold. She brought a full brass section with her. Is it possible not to enjoy a concert with a brass section? I don’t think so. I couldn’t care less about whether she’s an alcoholic, or whether she can’t sustain a relationship, but songs like “Rehab” and “You Know I’m No Good” sounded great. She even mixed in a little Lauren Hill doo-wop at one point. All in all, it was a great set, even if it didn’t sell me on her album.
We trekked back to the main stage and caught the end of the Arctic Monkeys. Between totally unintelligible banter from lead singer Alex Turner, we caught a few songs of up-tempo, jangley guitar rock. The Monkeys aren’t bad, and since Turner is only 21 (Christ, I’m getting old) he deserves a lot of credit, but I‘m not quite ready to bestow the genius tag to them yet.
I think that’s Scatett in the middle…
I was pretty excited to see a reunited The Jesus and Marcy Chain. I prefer their chainsaw guitar attack to the likes of My Bloody Valentine, and I had doubted I’d get a chance to see them live. The brothers Reid both looked and sounded great once they took the stage. Granted, since most footage I had seen of the band was that of lead singer Jim Reid sitting almost catatonic, pretty much mumbling lyrics, it would have been hard to look “bad.” The JAMC played classics like “Some Candy Talking,” “Head On,” and an absolutely burning rendition of “Reverence.” Since I check in with Scarlett Fan several (alright, many) times a day, I had heard the rumor that Ms. Scarlett Johansson herself would appear onstage to sing backing vocals on “Just Like Honey.” She came out with little fan fare, wearing a multicolored dress and a straw hat, and sounded great. Since the girlfriend and I were a good ways back from the stage, I didn’t even violate the terms of the restraining order against me!
We ran over to grab some food and check out Mike Patton’s Peeping Tom between main stage sets. This was the third incarnation of Patton’s I’d seen live, and the first I really enjoyed. Patton was all energy, bounding around the stage, giving the audience various commands, and introducing his costars. Peeping Tom is an interesting amalgamation of styles, and didn’t disappoint.
Paul Banks is super serious and super sexy
Interpol was up next, and put together yet another perfect set. My only complaint about seeing Interpol live is that there is no room for error in their production. They don’t take any chances, they don’t play any covers, and they barely interact with the crowd. They are professional in every sense of the word. Having said that, they sounded fucking great. They played several new songs including “Mammoth” and “The Heinrich Maneuver.” The new material sounds pretty much like Interpol, although a little darker and more brooding. I’m being serious. No, really, it’s even more brooding! The rest of their set was made up of the biggies – “NARC,” “Obstacle 1,” “Leif Erikson,” etc. Paul Banks glared out from behind his now-longish hair, stopping only to introduce “Mammoth” and to tell us to enjoy Bjork. Carlos D has grown a mustache, which makes him look something like Joaquin Phoenix, if Joaquin Phoenix had been in Tombstone. I expect the new album to be wonderful, tho not too surprising.
Bjork closed out the night, and she was everything that Interpol wasn’t. A lot of people think she’s just “weird,” but I give her a pass. I honestly think she just sees (and hears) the world differently than everyone else. She took the stage wearing something that made her look slightly like a salt shaker, but discarded it after the first new song, “Earth Intruders.” She played songs from all over the map, including “Oceania,” “Pagan Poetry,” and “All is Full of Love.” The biggest cheers were reserved for the classics – a super-aggressive version of “Army of Me” and “Hyperbalad” – but the audience seemed to eat up the new material. I’m saving myself for Volta but it sounds like there’s going to be a lot of tribal drumming and a heavy world influence. She played with a backing choir, a brass section, and a lot of electronic instrumentation I couldn’t begin to describe. She ran back and forth across the stage,punctuated her songs with cute little “Thank yous,” and “Gracias’” and just stole the show. Even my non-Bjork fan girlfriend categorized herself as “amused.” Not too shabby.
Saturday, April 28
Saturday was the strongest day of the event on paper. There were a lot of scheduling conflicts (no Andrew Bird for me), which means that there are a lot of concert goers who had an entirely different day than myself. I played it safe, seeing most of the big indie bands. Regina Spektor started things off, sounding a little small on the main stage. I absolutely adore Spektor as an artist, and her set was a flawless mix of old and new material alike. I think she would have sounded much much better in one of the smaller tents than on the massive main stage. But it was a great set, albeit short, none the less.
Carl Newman heckles Travis
We meandered over to the smaller Outdoor Theatre for the first time to catch back to back bands. The New Pornographers were up first. Once the girlfriend got past the name, she was won over by Carl Newman’s mix of sunshine pop and indie rock. The band was one of the most personable of the weekend, theorizing about the yogurt-induced death of a Yardbird, lamenting missing the set of Peter, Bjorn, and John, and even heckling Travis a little bit (we harmonized on “Why Does it Always Rain on Me?’). It was a great set, especially in the late afternoon sun.
The Decemberists followed, all decked out in mostly white suits. Colin Meloy remarked about the quality of seersucker in the heat, surely a GQ approved quote. The band played some eclectic material, including the whole of “The Island,” the single “Valencia,” and “July, July!” which was perfect for the weather. Meloy somehow managed to hold a dance contest in the pit in between songs. They closed (a little surprisingly) with “The Mariner’s Revenge Song,” complete with giant paper mache whale. Fans of the group were delighted, while others might have been slightly puzzled. But if you can’t have fun lamenting your death at the teeth of a whale, you probably don’t have a soul.
Each time I’ve seen the Arcade Fire, they have been better and better. Having graduated to the main stage this year, the sprawling band absolutely tore things up over a lengthy set. I think everything about the Arcade Fire live has been written, from the crowd interaction to the disregard for physical pain. They really are one of those bands that everyone should see live. “My Body is a Cage,” “Intervention,” and “Power Out/Rebellion (Lies)” were all breath taking. “Wake Up” is made to be sung in front of a huge crowd, just so everyone can join in on the “oohs.” Just a great band.
We killed an hour by getting food, wandering about the grounds, and heading all the way down to the rave tent to see LCD Soundsystem. I’m not a big fan of the Red Hot Chili Peppers so skipping their main stage set was a no brainer. I am a fan of the few songs I’ve heard by James Murphy, including the amazing “Someone Great” off his new Sound of Silver. Murphy and his gang (including members of Hot Chip) turned the tent into a huge party for the better part of an hour. What Murphy lacks as a vocalist (namely a voice), he makes up with energy and charisma. “Daft Punk is Playing at My House” and “North American Scum” worked well, while songs like “Tribulations” and “Movement” brought the tent down. It was a great, fun set to close the night, and what this concert is all about; falling in love with bands you might not necessarily know.
Sunday, April 29
Sunday was the exact opposite of Saturday. Goldenvoice stuck the most anticipated headliner (Rage Against The Machine) on the weakest day of support bands. We got there a little late, and the only band I missed was Grizzly Bear. So our day began with CSS who played a lively set and then survived an alleged incident with the completely insane Courtney Love. CSS is a difficult band to explain; they’re from Brazil, the lead singer is German/Japanese/Brazilian and goes by the name Lovefoxxx, and one of their EPs was named CSS SUXXX. Obviously, this was a band that was a lot of fun live. Ms. Foxxx striped off her shirt soon into the set and played in a bluish leotard. They played metal songs, R&B songs, and at least one song that can be described as “unclassifiable.” “Let’s Make Love and Listen to Death From Above” is as fun as it is clever. We took a chance on their set mainly due to the shade of the tent, but I was glad to have found them.
The Klaxons rock out
British import Klaxons didn’t impress me nearly as much. They were loud, and they weren’t terrible, but yet again, I’m not quite ready to believe the NME hype. The band’s softer stuff was better, particularly anything that featured predominant “ooh oohs.”
We were planning on catching Lilly Allen, but after we returned to the tent from a water break, it was too packed to bother. So chalk up Amy Winehouse as the winner of the battle of the British babes, on account of author indifference. Missing Lilly Allen did lead to the weekend’s most random encounter. After finding a spot to hunker down, the girlfriend and I watched 4 arty girls hula hooping for a bemused crowd. One of the girls happened to be America’s Next Top Model contestant Jael Strauss, as noticed by the girlfriend. Apparently, her whole “I’m liberal and arty and wacky” persona wasn’t just an act. Not that I religious watch ANTM and cheer for Natasha, the Russian chick, or anything. In fact, I think we better move on.
Air either was very, very late or never took the stage, Manu Chao was absolutely terrible, Happy Mondays were blah, and Teddybears were utterly enjoyable. That left it up to RATM to save the day. The band didn’t disappoint, but the performance was slightly bittersweet. I’m a huge Rage fan (as are most males between the ages of 19 and 28) and I was eagerly anticipating their set. Playing in front of a simple backdrop of a huge red star on a black background, the band casually took the stage and played a set featuring nothing but classics. The first three songs were “Testify, “Bulls on Parade,” and “People of the Sun.” I can remember talking about “Bulls on Parade” in a 7th grade English class, and the song still kills. Zack de la Rocha looked good, and obviously the other guys haven’t lost a step. Tom Morello did all the things he usually does. It did not look like a band coming off a lengthy hiatus.
I think that is what struck me most. Why did these guys break up in the first place, and why did it take so long to get them back together? RATM were without a doubt the most political band in a time when railing against the man wasn’t particularly chic. What could these guys have done over the tenure of GW? I’m not going to say Rage was disappointing, although a shitty sound set-up didn’t help them. But something was a little off. Maybe it’s that de la Rocha can’t sound as good live as he does on record. Maybe it was how similar the band sounded to their live album. In the past four years I’ve seen Radiohead, Pixies, Nine Inch Nails, and Tool absolutely kill Coachella. RATM didn’t quite hit that height.
I should have gone to NYU…
The 411: Coachella 2007 ended up being a great weekend. It was more relaxing than years past. There wasn’t quite the same pressure to catch a million bands, to run from stage to stage, to endure hours and hours of sun. For me, Sunday was light on must-see bands. For someone else (maybe Willie Nelson fans) it might have been the best day. I don’t know if Goldenvoice will make it a three day affair next year (scalpers could be heard complaining that no one was buying tix for Sunday), but I won’t mind if they do. Now that I live in LA, Coachella wasn’t quite as momentous an event as year’s prior. However, it was still the best festival of the year, in my opinion.
