The first-day lineup was kind of weak on paper, but it turned out nicely in actuality. We first hit up the Walkmen. Then came Wolfmother, who didn't really impress me much, despite the ferocious hype behind the band.


Coachella hosted some of the worst tattoos I’ve ever seen in my life. Sadly, at this resolution, you can't quite see it, but just take my word for it: Giant, homemade Bic-pen/needle tattoo of a question mark.


We then watched Animal Collective shower the crowd in their chaotic happiness. A few minutes of My Morning Jacket, whose vocals were pretty foul, which made me sad, then on the Deerhoof, which made me smile.


Imogen Heap with the lady, who was beyond awful -- she is *terrible* live. Her vocal gadgets were malfunctioning and it was uncomfortable to watch her try to be cute about it.


Sigur Ros put on a pretty wonderful sounding show. Then came Ladytron followed by the amazingly cute Cat Power. Sitting Depeche Mode out, the lady and I laid in the grass for an hour or so. By this time, there was trash everywhere. The entire field was coated in a thin layer of smashed water bottles. It looked like a warzone near the ‘food courts.’


Eventually we all reconnected. We were thrashed. The ~100 degree weather raped our energy and moisture. My feet hurt. We walked across the fields to the dance tent. I sure as shit wasn't ready for what happened next: Daft Punk. Actually, Mr. Daft Punk sir, to all of us undeserving non-robots.

Getting started a little late, the curtain was drawn for Daft Punk on their first US appearance in 8 years. They were in their usual garb perched in the middle of a giant lcd-screen pyramid. They had an amazing array of crazy stage lights as well as a multi-layered backdrop of lcd-ish screens.

After a lengthy intro, they finally busted out into "Human After All" and proceeded to rock the crowd for a solid 60+ minutes. The most amazing stage-performance I've ever seen. Ever. And I've been to a bunch of shows.

I seriously can't express how fucking it rad was to watch what must have been 35,000 people all have a mind-blowing experience. I'm pretty sure everyone there is now a lifetime fan of Daft Punk and will remember ROBOT ROCK until they die.


After the show ends, 80,000 people shove through a 10-foot gate and go their own ways. We head back to the camp, intending to drink, but only ending up falling asleep, exhausted.

Coachella 2006 part ii

eric

Monday 08 May 2006 at 02:52 am

One comment

as others have said before, i will say again. i'm jealous... utterly jealous.
hac
Monday 08 May 2006 at 02:52 am

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