ok, here's my review... basically, I copied and pasted the text of an email I sent to friends earlier... I only went on Sunday, so feel free to skip over the intro text:
Rachel and I are back from our weekend in Indio, CA for the Coachella music festival. The festival itself was two days long, but Rachel and I only got tickets for Sunday's lineup. Another part of the reason for the trip is that Rachel's friend Peter was going to Coachella on Sunday with his friend Jeff to see Madonna, and we were planning on surprising him. And surprise him, we did!
Basic facts first. The flight down to Palm Springs was fine, and once we got off the plane, we felt the fresh rush of desert air. tthorn texted me to let me know his flight was late, so we stuck around to wait for him to arrive at 8:30. Rachel picked up her rental car and we were off into the night. We got lost along to way, and ended up taking the REALLY LONG way to our hotel, which was located close to the venue. We were supposed to go to the Filter magazine party that night. We got in line for the shuttle bus around 11 pm, met up with Tania almost immediately, and around 11:30-11:45, someone came out and told us that unless we were VIP's, the party was full and they couldn't take any more folks there. We ended up going back to the hotel, hanging in our room with Tania and her friends and later Dri, drinking until 2:30 am.
Saturday was sunbathing day. Holy cow, we didn't realize how hot it would be. Rachel and I managed to get a couple of hours in the sun. I was a granny and didn't get in the pool all the way, but Rachel did... It was pretty doggone hot. While laying by the pool, Rachel gets a phone call from her husband that their house has already sold, for $3k over the asking price (fyi, the house was put on the market on Friday, and this was Saturday morning). So that started our day off REALLY WELL.
We ended up going into Cabazon to the "premium outlet mall." We were both sorely disappointed in the selection, but it was a nice diversion to the day, and I took some pictures of the massive numbers of air turbines that were along the highway. Around 4 pm, we met up with Jeff and Peter to surprise Peter. We walked into Hamburger Mary's, and Peter's back was to us. When he finally turned around, his jaw just dropped. I have pictures, I can prove this. We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening having drinks with Peter and Jeff, went to an art gallery, and then later to a club called Hunter's. Rachel and I were in the minority there, as you probably suspect. What a letdown to be around gorgeous guys, knowing full well they're not at all interested in women! I can elaborate more later, but let's just say Rachel made it out of Hamburger Mary's with a very fine red pump, given to her by one of the adorable gay waiters.
Sunday we went to Coachella. It was very hot again, around 97. We got in around 2:45, had some water and went our separate ways. I was fully intending on meeting up with Rachel, Peter and Jeff after I saw Metric, but let's just say, I didn't see Rachel again until around 10:15.
I saw Ted Leo and the Pharmacists at 3:30. Ted Leo was on one of the main stages, and boy, was it hot. He complained about it a lot too, but I'm thinking, "We're in the desert. What did you expect?" However, he put on a good show, and it was cool to finally see him play live. After that, I went to go see Metric, and then received a phone call from Jeff asking where I was. I left Metric to go meet up with them in the beer tent. Never found them, and Coachella attendees seemed to be clogging up the wireless networks as I couldn't call anyone, nor could I access my own voice mail. After a while, I gave up on trying to find them, spent too much money on a beer and a slice of pizza, and went back to the Metric tent to see the rest of their set. They were pretty energetic, and what I saw, was good. I have to admit, I wonder if the artists put on a lesser show, just due to the heat and schedule. So, I'd like to try and see them live again, in a more convenient "normal" setting.
Knowing full well that Madonna would be in the Sahara tent at 8 pm, I knew it'd be in my best interests to get into that tent early enough to secure a space. I already knew it would be packed and hot, like everything else at Coachella, but I was okay with that, considering I'll probably never have an opportunity to see her again. So I headed over to the Sahara tent, hoping I'd see Rachel, Jeff and Peter, but no dice. I ended up getting fairly close (I'd say within 200-300 feet), planting my feet, and enjoying the sounds of Kaskade. I'd never heard his stuff before, but I liked it. It's club music, so what else can you say about it, except the crowd was into it, and I discovered a new artist that I'll have to check out more from. After Kaskade came Paul Oakenfold. I've heard Paul Oakenfold before, so I knew what to expect with him. It was weird hearing a song with Brittany Murphy singing on it, but hey, it works (fyi, it's called "Faster Kill Pussycat" and is coming out on his new album). At this point, I'd fully entrenched myself in my surroundings, dying from dancing and sweating. There were several very handsome gay Latino boys behind me, and they adopted me as one of their own. The one right behind me asked me if I was here with friends, and I said, "Yeah, but I have no idea where they are." He just smiled and said, "Okay, you're with us then." They were from all over (Mexico, California, Costa Rica, and Brazil). Let's just say the Brazilian guy looked like a younger, tanner, fitter, even better looking version of Antonio Banderas. Oh, and there was a straight guy next to me with his girlfriend who looked a like a younger, hotter Val Kilmer (think "Real Genius"-era Kilmer). One of their crew was this really tall guy standing behind me, who was unusually catty to anyone who tried to push in front of us (i.e. girls trying to push through us to get closer to the front, saying "sorry" as they passed with s**t-eating grins on their faces, and Tall Guy saying in response, "You don't look very sorry" in a very bitchy tone). There was also an Indian guy in front of me who was a Madonna super-fan, and was telling me all about her stage setup and where he was seeing her next (in LA, btw). At some point before Madonna came on, this Amazonian woman and her shorty husband/go-fer/lackey ended up pushing in front of me. She was in tears, so naturally we all assumed something was wrong, and moved to let her pass us. No such luck. She parked her big ol' butt in front of me and stayed there. She was crying because when she was trying to push by us, one of the cute boys behind me must have punched her or pushed her. At first, I felt bad for her, but then she stood there crying solidly for 20 minutes, and I start to think, "ok, what is up with this? Get over it, you're at a festival!" Oh, she got over it alright.... after that crying jag, she miraculously perked up when Paul Oakenfold came on stage, and managed to bump everyone around her while throwing her girth in a dancing frenzy. Seriously, I don't have a problem with people who like to dance, but in this particular situation, everyone was dancing in their own "personal space" and trying very hard not to bump people or irritate other people around them-- EVERYONE was hot and cramped, so why exacerbate the situation? Anyhow, everyone around her was getting pissed off, and her little troll of a husband was trying to get her to calm down, with no luck. She then got irritated that everyone was getting pissed off at her space-clearing dance maneuvers, and started giving people the finger and dropping the f bomb on anyone who looked at her funny. At that point, I suspected drug use or altered state, as I couldn't explain her remarkable change in behavior otherwise. Catty Tall Guy behind me finally leaned forward, shoved his face in hers, starting rubbing his eyes and going "Booooo!" mimicking her earlier crying. That apparently got the ire up in her two gay friends behind them, and this little wirey m-f gets in Tall Guy's face and threatens a fistfight. I'm cringing, thinking, Oh great, I'm gonna get punched by accident! Luckily everyone calmed down, but Miss Thang kept up with her antics. Finally, I don't know WHAT happened, but one of my latino friends leaned forward, told her husband that the gay couple behind them wanted them to come back and stand with them. Whatever he said, it was convincing, because the cute boy then leaned over to me and said, "When they move, you move up front-- we'll keep them blocked off in the back." And that's what happened. She got blocked behind them, and several times tried to move back up front, only to be showered with eptithets and "Uh uh, no way you're getting back in front, b****!" We were all very happy. Madonna finally comes on at 8:30, 30 minutes later than expected. I knew she was only going to do about 6 songs, and that's all she did. Truth be told, it was fun to finally see her (yes, she does look that fit, small and young in person), but it was tough standing in a hot, crowded tent, trading sweat with strangers for 3.5 hours to get to that point. She performed Hung Up, Get Together, I Love New York, Ray of Light, Let it Will Be and Everybody. You can see a lot of pictures and find out more info here:
http://www.madonnalicious.com/
Of course, my celebrity moment of the evening is when I was leaving the Sahara tent only to see Mr. Santino Rice of "Project Runway" fame in the crowd. I was so overwhelmed, I forgot to beg him to do his Tim Gunn impression. He's very tall (around 6'5"), and had on his bandanna with hat on top.
Ah, finally... outside in some fresh air. I then hoofed it over to the main stage, while trying to get reception on my phone. Still no luck. As I was running by, I think I heard the strains of Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy." Massive Attack had already begun to play, so I plopped down on the grass, pretty far away, and let the music wash over me. It was a bonus because Liz Fraser (of Cocteau Twins fame) was there performing some of the songs with them. The crowd was pleased, as was I. I think I almost cried when I heard "Inertia Creeps."
Finally I got in touch with my friend Rachel, and we met up for a much needed beer. She wanted to see Scissor Sisters, but I'd opted to see Tool instead. We were both pretty tired at this point, so we agreed that we'd meet up at 11:30 to head back to the hotel. She went her way, and I meandered my way into the Tool crowd. Tool was supposed to come on at 10:45, but didn't come out until 11. Maynard walked out on stage and says, "Good evening, hippies!" in his patented, acerbic tone. They launched into "Stinkfist," and the crowd went nuts. Next they did one of the newer song "The Pot," which was in full-on burn mode around me. They played another familiar tune from one of their older albums... my husband recognized it when I left a message on his voice mail, but I couldn't tell you what it was. At that point, it was around 11:30, so I met up with Rachel, and we made our way out of the festival.
It was a long, hot day, but worth it. Would I do it again? I'm not sure. Never say never, but we'll see. btw, as we were leaving the venue, we heard Ana Matronic telling the crowd that Coachella wasn't going to be held at the polo field next year??? That they'd lost their lease??? Don't know what was up with that, but I did overhear Jake Shears tell the crowd that he ended up spending the night in the parking lot of Hunter's, which is where I was at the night before. Of course, Peter would have died if he'd known there was a possibility of Jake showing up to the club, but apparently we didn't stay long enough!
So Rachel and I left yesterday, drank more beers for free on the way home (Horizon Air serves free beer and wine on their flights), and slept in our own comfy beds last night. I'm still pretty tired and sore, but I've got great color from the sun!
I am glad to be home though, and I've got some fun memories.
edit: I put photos up on flickr-- not the group, just in my photos.
Still pissed that I never caught up with Dri and Tania. Dri and I exchanged calls, but never could stay in the same place for very long it seemed, seeing that we both had quite a few friends to deal with. Next time though, as I will without a doubt be going to every Coachella possible.
