Friday, April 27:
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Flostradamus and Brother Ali kicked it all off on the main stage (the Coachella stage) with lively hip-hop sets while most of the crowd still struggled with frustratingly slow lines for parking, will call and security check-in.
Make a mental note for yourself that if you’re planning on going to Coachella next year and bringing something in that you may not be supposed to bring, give it to the females in the group. Rather consistently over the three days, ladies gingerly breezed through the security lines with their bags barely touched, while the personnel scrutinized every last cranny of the fellas’ bags and pockets. This was one situation where the female double standard wasn’t such a bad thing.
I saw it take three people to decide whether a guy could bring in a cigar that was clearly still sealed in a plastic wrapper. Tobacco was explicitly labeled legal on the many signs hanging nearby that listed the “okay” and “not okay” items to bring inside. What were not mentioned on the contraband list from those signs were pens, but that didn’t stop the securinazi on the first day from throwing out my three pens. I said “look, I have a press pass. I need those for my job,” and he was all like “so?” This is not the level of competence one wants to be encountered with in 105-degree heat–dry heat or not.
But once inside, Brother Ali and his crew ripped energetic flows that defied the oppressive mid-day heat, and luckily the stage suppled the albino rapper with plenty of shade. He tore through some joints from his recent Rhymesayers album The Undisputed Truth, such as “Truth Is” and mused about rough times and the world between songs. Bantering with some fans near the stage, one of them yelled out that Bush sucks. “We already know that,” Ali said. “That’s like saying that sex feels good. Let’s talk about some shit you don’t know yet.”
SAHARA TENT DJS
Coachella’s Sahara tent, known snidely as the “rave” tent to some, is tucked the farthest away from the main Coachella and Outdoor Theatre stages, ostensibly to keep the constant, huge thumping bass from interfering too much with the cacophony that is constant at this festival.
On Friday afternoon just before the merciful dwindling of the sun’s power, Charles Feelgood laid down a house/tech house/techno set for a tent full of people who appreciated the music as much as they appreciated the shade. The vibe, visuals and music had an old school appeal (one of the visual software programs was copyrighted 1997), including a mashed up version of that Snap song from 1990 “The Power.” You know you love that one.
France’s David Guetta stepped up next, and he was visibly excited to be there. Opening the set with that classic “you see house is a feeling” sample, Guetta really pumped up the awakening crowd by lip synching, jumping and clapping along with the music. While rocking his own well-known anthems such as “Love is Gone” w/Chris Willis, he also flipped some mixes of more recognizable rock acts appearing at Coachella, such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Guetta also played up his filtering and EQ tweaks with big sweeping motions to physically emphasize the effect. His smile and happiness were so contagious that I even stopped resenting him for a being a rich, internationally famous DJ. But there’s one thing I can’t let go. Why is it that Europeans such as Guetta can somehow pull off the v-neck t-shirt with a gold chain look? And this wasn’t just a regular v-neck. This was a massive, full sternum-exposing v-neck. He wore it well, but I just know I’d get kicked off the bus if I tried to wear something like that.
AMY WINEHOUSE
Just before squeezing into a packed Gobi tent to catch Amy Winehouse, I caught the tail end of Of Montreal, and I was pleased to see that the heat didn’t stop them from wearing outrageous feather boas.
Every year, Coachella gives you hint as to some artists who are about to blow up big. The Gobi is the smallest tent, but there always ends up being some acts there who could easily play a bigger stage. A few years ago for example, the Killers played it just before they really blew up huge. Am I saying that Amy Winehouse will be the next Killers? Maybe, but I am saying this: Amy Winehouse is tiny. This English lass can’t weigh more than 70 lb.–excuse me, 5 stone–soaking wet. She’s about the same height and weight as Lady Sovereign, and both have adorable British accents. I’ve never seen both of those performers in the same place at the same time, have you? Makes you wonder…
Since you had to be about 8 feet tall to get a view of the miniscule Winehouse on stage, it’s a good thing she brought a supporting cast of eight musicians and background singers, who played up the retro Motown vibe of Winehouse’s music by wearing matching outfits and performing classic background dancer moves. Deservedly, Winehouse drew wild cheers from the audience. She confessed to being nervous to the crowd, but she didn’t sing like it, as she belted out favorite tunes from her 2006 Back to Black album such as “Me & Mr. Jones” and “Rehab.”
STEPHEN MARLEY FEATURING JR. GONG
Right after Winehouse, Mexican singer Julieta Venegas took the Gobi stage, where the surprise was ?uestlove of the Roots playing drums. Venegas mixes traditional Mexican flavors with contemporary hip-hop and R&B in a funky way. She is one to watch.
But this right about the time when Stephen Marley was taking the Outdoor Theater stage, and if you didn’t know better and happened to hear the rendition of Bob Marley’s “Buffalo Soldier,” you’d think you fallen through a worm hole to one of Bob’s performances 30 years ago. Marley of course played originals as well, such as the title track off his new album Mind Control. A Jamaican flag waved on the stage throughout, and Stephen dropped classic Marley nuggets of advice to the people saying things like, “Emancipate yourself from slavery. None but ourselves can free our minds.” For a finale, his brother Damian “Junior Gong” Marley helped out for his hit “Welcome to Jamrock.”
FELIX DA HOUSECAT
Back in the Sahara tent, Digitalism has ended early, so when Felix da Housecat stepped up in a mohawk and white sunglasses to his Mac laptop with Serato Scratch Live software, the tent was not even half full, a fact that he admitted to me later made him a little nervous. However, kids poured in quickly, and the space was soon throbbing to a mix of “Silver Screen Shower Scene” from Felix’s Kittenz and Thee Glitz album. Early on, Felix toasted the crowd by tipping back a white-tiger striped flask filled with Patron and mescal, and by the time he dropped remixes of a new Bloc Party song and Blur’s classic “Song 2″ (the “woo-hoo” song), the party was jumping. You can read parts of my interview with Felix in Remix’s June issue coming out soon.
FAITHLESS
Even if it seems like Faithless’s heyday is well past, they were one of the biggest surprises of the whole festival. One of the few electronic acts to play as a live band in the Sahara tent, Faithless followed Italian DJ Benny Benassi, who left the audience chanting “Benny! Benny!” after his uplifting set of progressive house.
Faithless brought a guitarist, bassist, percussionist and a wicked live drummer who had mastered the art of playing the build-ups, breaks and fills of the band’s electronic music on stage. Sister Bliss also stood surrounded by two walls of Roland and Korg keyboards, including a Korg Radias and MS2000. After a beautiful instrumental opener, singer Maxi Jazz took center stage to a roar from the dancing fans. While earlier in the night, members of the Jesus and Mary Chain definitely showed their age, fellow old-schooler Maxi Jazz looked 1996-fresh. His face hadn’t aged a day, nor his bone-thin body gained an ounce. He was spry on the mic as band ripped through its most seminal song, “God is a DJ,” and a rocking version of “Mass Destruction.”
BJORK
In my mind, Bjork is the queen of live performance. She’s one of the few artists whose live albums are worth buying even if you’re not a rabid fan, because she performs entirely different, yet compelling, versions of her songs on every tour. The key is that instrumentation and arrangements may change, but the melody and feel stay pretty much the same, so she can play some of her most beloved songs, such as “Hunter” or “Isobel,” in different ways and fans will be delighted, rather than disappointed that the tunes were not carbon copies of the album versions.
This time around, Bjork brought a full brass section of trombones, trumpets and French horns played by young ladies who sang backup when their horns weren’t carrying much of the chordal or melodic load. There were other live musicians, including a drummer and keyboardist using the Dave Smith Poly Evolver, but more remarkably, two men plied Mac laptops with Jazzmutant Lemur multi-touch control surfaces. The Jumbotron monitors fixated often on the Lemurs’ colorful and ever changing layout that was used for manipulating the sounds off the computers. See the Remix Lemur review if you’re curious.
Bjork closed out the night with her trademark wacky costumes and pixieish charm, while playing some material from the new album, Volta, as well as many old favorites, including, “Army of Me,” “Hunter,” “Hyper-Ballad,” “All is Full of Love,” “Joga,” and “Unravel.”
Meanwhile, over on the outdoor stage, DJ Shadow started more than 15 minutes late, giving him less than a half hour to perform before the midnight cut-off time. Quite a disappointment.
Saturday, April 28:
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HOT CHIP
If you’ve only heard Hot Chip’s recordings, you only know half the story. This London quintet of uber-nerds has put down some dreamy electronic recordings that have some thump, but may only be considered really hardcore dance music to Nyquil addicts. At Coachella, Hot Chip’s tunes rocked a little harder and sounded just a little more full and beefy than on their 2006 album The Warning. The guys played bongos, congas, maracas, guitars, synths and a drum machine on stage and frequently switched instruments with each other. All in all, their set was another highlight of live, electronic-based performance. They played a new song that will be out on a new album this year; it featured a driving 4/4 kick drum and a stabbed piano chord progression. But it was when the band busted out it’s biggest American radio hit “Over and Over,” that the sweaty crowd really flipped and began pogoing in unison.
MSTRKRFT
In his alter ego, Death From Above 1979’s Jesse Keeler, alongside producer Al-P dropped some bouncy, gritty, dirty, bumpy, dust-kicking house beats with a twinge of MSTRKRFT’s Daft Punk-loving influence… all while puffin’ on cigarettes and swigging Jack Daniels straight from the bottle.–Wasim Muklashy
!!!
An hour after Hot Chip tore up the Mojave tent, !!! exploded to give that band a run for it’s money as the kings of white-boy geek funk. !!! is another band that you end up appreciating in a different way live. Their first promise was that “It’s going to get crazy in here,” and they demanded to see sweat dripping off the roof of the tent. In the dry desert air, a more realistic request would have been for everyone who was not smoking pot to get a contact high off the many kids who were. A full octet, !!! featured a keyboardist on Moog, two guitarists, a bassist, a lead vocalist and three cats on percussion and drums which included some Roland electronic pads. They played some new material, and even brought out a guest female vocalist for the showstopper of their recent Myth Takes album, “Heart of Hearts.”
DJ P & DJ MEHDI
One way to hype up an already hyped Coachella 2007 crowd is to drop an extended-breaks, vocal-tweaking mash-up of Rage Against the Machine’s “Killing in the Name.” Might have been the only time of the weekend we saw people dancing and grooving to RATM rather than losing their frickin’ limbs in a pit. And anyone who can bust from that into the Delfonics “La La Means I Love You” with the flick of a switch and the tweak of a knob definitely has some balls. And that in itself warrants merit.–Wasim Muklashy
GHOSTFACE KILLAH
Mr.Wu had absolutely no problems raising the heat on an already parched crowd. 100 degrees and rising… Everyone seemed perfectly content as Ghostface held it down, “Calling your bluff,” while dropping the obligatory Wu-shouts, a card he righteously used quite liberally…”Oh baby I like it raaaawwwww…” Meanwhile, Tommy Lee, yes that Tommy Lee, made it his ‘chore’ to help the women from the crowd get up on the stage to shake a bit of that sweat off in the looming desert breeze. GFK also played some rocked some stuff off of Supreme Clientele and “Back Like That” from Fishscales. Who’s gonna sleep on the Wu-Tang reunion this summer? Not me!–Wasim Muklashy
BLONDE REDHEAD
If nothing else, Blonde Redhead’s Coachella set served as ample evidence for fans both new and old alike to run out and get the band’s new album 23 immediately. The band reproduced a formidable wall of sound on the outdoor stage as it tore through new material such as the gorgeous title track from new album and “Dr. Strangeluv,” as well as older favorites like “In Particular.”
JUSTICE
It was easy to see why they’re such an anticipated crowd favorite. An appropriate break from the scorching desert sun, Justice ushered us into the pleasant evening with comfortably tempoed electro-house and breaks. With a large-and-in-charge illuminated cross stage center in front of the decks–a fitting symbol to answer the crowds’ prayers for the mercury to drop a few notches–Justice came proper while screens flanking either side of the stage showed Tron-like effects masked images of the duo doing their dirty work.–Wasim Muklashy
LCD SOUNDSYSTEM
“The Time Has Come” was a fantastic way to kick in the “high season” at the Sahara tent for the evening. Groovtacular, deep driving bass lines provided the backbone for the full band to showcase the driving progressive dance rock rep LCD Soundsystem has successfully built for itself. Very playfully satisfying.–Wasim Muklashy
GOTAN PROJECT
By far one of the highlights of the weekend, this Latin/Italian/Argentinian/French mix of downtempo tango-grooves chock full of everything from accordians and pianos to a 5-piece string section with violins provided a style of music that resonates with any eager dance crowd no matter what continent they reside. While Gotan Project’s two Parisian techno Techs (Philippe Solal and Christoph Mueller) held down the decks, they provided ample auditory space for a 5-piece violin section, a baby grand piano, guitars and a sultry lead and background vocal section. The crisp, crystal-clear sound emanated from the Outdoor stage, having no trouble finding its way into the desert crowd’s souls… simply beautiful.–Wasim Muklashy
MIKE RELM
Right before Mike Relm’s Gobi tent performance. Girl Talk played his signature whirlwind mix of mash-ups while inviting girls to pack the stage and dance. After which, he told everyone “Now let’s all go see the Red Hot Chili Peppers!.” Later, Relm’s publicist told me “saying that made me lose a lot of respect for him.” To which I replied, “why, because he tried to steal Mike’s audience or because he likes the Red Hot Chili Peppers?” Ahem.
Anyway, Girl Talk’s shenanigans notwithstanding, Relm soon attracted a healthy crowd with his prodigious, clever and very entertaining set of audio/visual scratching wizardry. If you’re not familiar with what he does, Relm uses a Pioneer DVJ DVD turntable and Serato Scratch Live and creates custom pairings of songs with videos, and scratches them both in unison with impressive turntable skill. He told Remix that “I’m hoping people see what I do and come out of it saying, ‘That guy is totally NOT a DJ.’ To me, the DJ aspect of what I’m doing is the least exciting. I tell my stories through the visuals, although the sounds and music are also very important. I’d say 75 percent of the messages I’m conveying are visual.”
Some of most entertaining audio/visual pairings in Relm’s set included Hendrix’s “Let me Stand Next to Your Fire” with Resevoir Dogs, Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage” with Nacho Libre and an RJD2 track over a video medley including Scarface, the Usual Suspects, Fargo and Sean of the Dead.
TIESTO
Many people seemed surprised that a DJ was chosen to close out Saturday night on the main Coachella stage, but if there is any one DJ who could pull it off, it’s Tiesto. He rocked more than 30,000 people with his epic progressive trance music, bolstered by a beautiful backdrop of a light show made from a huge grid of individual bulbs that pulsated and in multi-colored madness.
Sunday, April 29:
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SOULWAX
As my beautiful accompanying lady stated, “I’m a tiny girl in a tent, and there’s too much bass exploding in my ear.” But I have a feeling that was Soulwax’s intention, and this “borderline pudgy guy in a tent” kinda dug it, ’cause I probably shed a solid 500 calories just standing in that reverberating sweatbox. Otherwise known as 2 Many DJs, the band got crazy, and the crowd had no trouble following.–Wasim Muklashy
JUNIOR BOYS
Representing live electronic bands on Sunday, Junior Boys played at a threesome, with Jeremy Greenspan on vocals, guitar and bass; Matt Didemus on a Roland Junu-60, Korg Electribe and a MIDI keyboard playing sounds off an Apple laptop; and Foster on drums. Foster had a great aptitude for slow, yet tight break beats and some light sequences such as hand claps filled in the rhythm section. This was another fine example of mixing the mechanical with organic music, and taking album material to the stage.
Didemus looked the part of a rock star almost to the point of it being a caricature, with his scruffy beard, hip clothes, cigarette and can of Bud. Greenspan balanced it out by looking more like a high school English teacher, but his mellow singing and guitar and bass playing were the perfect complement to the light desert breeze flowing through the Mojave tent.
RICHIE HAWTIN
This man knows how to rock a desert party. Perfectly tuned and programmed dusty, dirty, pound-the -ground minimal house with a constant, thick, deep and heart-pounding kick. Mmm hmmm… there’s just something about fundamental minimalism that spells genius for this cat. Richie Hawtin knows what he’s doing, and he’s been doing it for a long time. His track selection and programming couldn’t have been more fitting for the dusty kicks that filled the tent.–Wasim Muklashy
THE ROOTS
Okay, well, what really needs to be said about the Roots that hasn’t been said already? I don’t think they’ve EVER put on a disappointing show. One of the highs from this fine Sunday afternoon was a souped up sped up version of “Seed,” which for some may have been a bit too much for the temperatures the sun was throwing at us that afternoon. But that’s certainly not to say the Roots didn’t calculate what they’re doing. Quite the contrary, for they are quite comfortable and
well-versed in giving the crowd the hip-hoppin’ organic jams they want and need, including dropping “Apache” and a cover medley of hip-hop classics that included Biz Markie’s “Just a Friend,” Salt N Pepa’s “Push It,” A Tribe Called Quest’s “Award Tour,” and Lil Jon’s “Snap Yo Fingers.”–Wasim Muklashy
PAUL VAN DYK
His progressive brand of trance-house was well anticipated and well-received by the dance-freaks and happy feet scouring the field for a beat. As best described by festival-goer Scott Shapiro, Van Dyk was “nothing short of electric and mesmerizing. He had the crowd bouncing and the Sahara tent buzzing with his hypnotic beats. He makes me happy.”–Wasim Muklashy
