After months and months of waiting and anticipating, Coachella is finally here. This will be my second (hopefully annual) trip to the festival and I couldn’t be more excited. Our crew has increased from 2 to 7 this year and we will be staying for a few extra days to relax next to the pool and recover from our post-fest haze (I’m equally excited for those 2 days of sun and nothing else as I am for the festival itself).
Last year, I provided a big list of festival advice taken from my experiences at other fests and I decided it was worth reposting that advice this year, along with a few additions that are specific to Coachella since I feel like I know the ropes a bit more this year. So, without further ado, enjoy my humble guide to making the most of your Coachella experience. And of course, since there is much to read below, this post is littered with a few tunes from some of our favorite artists that we’ll be seeing at the fest this year. (Sidenote: I was totally lazy and did not even change the pictures, but the tips have been modified when needed)
PACKING
So it’s time to pack your bags. But what do you need to bring? Well, aside from the essentials, here are a few items you may not have thought about. I’m not camping for this fest, but a lot of these items are much more essential if you will be camping.
- Mini-flashlight: There is nothing more frustrating than dropping something in the grass at your campsite and trying to find it with your cell phone. You can get a powerful and compact mini-Maglite for about $10 and it’s worth it.
- WRISTBAND: I know this is pretty obvious, but don’t forget to pack your super high tech admission wristband. You don’t want to fly across the country and realize you left in your desk drawer. Not to mention that you won’t even be able to get within a mile of the festival without it. The good news is that mailing out wristbands should prevent the debacle that took place last year which prevented me from catching Yeasayer and getting the fest off to a horrible start.
- Car chargers: Unless you can wait in long lines to use recharging stations on site, make sure you have car chargers for your phones and ipods (for all that campsite rockin out). Plus I just read that even charging your Blackberry for 10 minutes will give you about a 25% charge.
- Small backpack: You will likely want to bring a few things into the fest with you so you don’t have to go back to your campsite once you’re on the festival grounds for the day. Even though you’ll likely pack up all of your weekend clothing in some sort of backpack, you dont want to have that stuff scattered all over, so bring an additional empty pack. It’s just easier that way
- Mini “first aid” kit: It would behoove you to bring a quart sized plastic bag with some essentials that you’ll want throughout the weekend. I usually have Tylenol, Tums (an absolute festival necessity), bandaids, allergy meds, nail clippers (nothing ruins a weekend like a painful hangnail. Or maybe that’s just me?) and other things of that nature.
- DUCT TAPE: Duct tape cures all camping problems. Pack it.
- Collapsible chairs: Believe me, you’ll want a few of these when you’re sitting around the campsite. It’s also convenient if they have cup holders in the armrests, on account of all the burrs you’ll probably be drinking throughout the weekend.
- Dr. Bronners: Try to pick some of this stuff up. It’s a sort of all purpose cleaner. You can use it as soap, shampoo, or even to clean those pots and pans that you made breakfast with on your portable burner. It’s better than carrying a whole bunch of products and works pretty well.
- Bathing suit: While you probably won’t be swimming at the fest, a swimsuit can still come in handy. When I went to Bonnaroo, there were trailers with a bunch of sinks scattered throughout the campsite. So we threw on the bathing suits, took the Dr Bronners (see above) and took “sink showers”. It wasn’t nearly as good as a real shower, but it did feel nice to freshen up a bit without exposing ourselves to the other hippies in attendance. Plus if you’re a chick, you can get away with shorts and a bikini top in the hot sun all day.
- EARPLUGS! It’s usually pretty difficult to get a good night’s sleep camping at a festival, but it’s damn near impossible without earplugs. There are lots of people around, and they usually are not afraid to blast their music at all hours of the day or night. An eye mask isn’t a bad idea either if you can’t sleep when it’s bright out. These things might help you sleep past 8AM, my standard camping wake up time regardless of how late I was up the night before. That is, until you get woken up by your flesh baking in the sauna that is a morning tent in the sun. Plus, sometimes when you’re up close for your favorite band, it’s just too damn loud.
- Shade tent: It’s a bit of a hassle to bring and set up, but believe me, it is WELL worth it to have some shade to sit under in the mornings. If you don’t want to bring one, you can alternately hope that you have some nice neighbors who brought one that you can befriend. But do you really want to take that chance?
- Comfortable footwear: I know this goes without saying, but if you haven’t been, you probably aren’t aware of all of the standing/dancing/walking you’ll be doing. It’s better to be comfortable than fashionable in situations such as this. Sanuks have been my festival footwear of choice the last 2 years. Those puppies have been to hell and back, and the best part is, you can just throw them in the washing machine when you get home and theyre good as new.
- Sunscreen: Sort of obvious, but don’t forget to pack it. I know I did until someone reminded me.
- A hat: Even if your hair isn’t thinning as mine is, it’s still important to bring a hat to a fest in the desert. Believe me, you do NOT want your scalp to burn. It’s a very unsavory situation. And since it’s kind of weird and gross to sunblock through your hair, a hat provides some nice protection. One with a brim will keep you a bit cooler too. I never wore hats before last year’s fest but was able to find one I liked, and it’s made its way into my regular wardrobe even after the fest.
- TOILET PAPER: If you’re going to be using only the porto-johns for 3 days and nights, it is imperative to bring your own toilet paper, just to be safe.
ON THE WAY TO THE FEST
Above is a picture of the crazy amounts of windmills you might see on your drive in through Palm Springs (assuming you’re coming in from southwestern California). I just saw it for the first time last year, and it was pretty neat. Here are a few things to remember on your drive into the fest.
Metric – Help I’m Alive (The Twelves Remix)
- Charge up those electronic devices.
- It’s best to fill up your gas tank shortly before arriving so that you can run your car when needed to charge phones, etc (sorry environment!) without worrying about getting stuck. Plus who knows what traffic will be like? I went to a Phish festival and waited in stop and go traffic for 12 hours after exiting the freeway with no gas stations in sight (which, from what I hear, is one of the shorter waits that people experienced). Having been to the fest, I don’t really think that extreme of a situation is likely to happen, but it’s still good to have a full tank of gas when that’s your only energy source for the weekend.
- For cooler purposes, I’ve found that it’s better to use those plastic blue liquid filled reusable ice things. I think that’s what they’re called at least. Bags of ice will melt all up in that cooler and get all of your food wet. And grilled cheese on soggy bread is unsavory to say the least. If you do have to use ice though, wait until you’re close to the fest (depending on where you’re coming from) to buy and throw in the cooler. A few hours can make a huge difference.
- Enjoy awesome playlists. Roll down the windows. GET EXCITED!
WE’RE HERE!
Remember that backpack I told you about? Here are a few things you can use it for, if you’re anal like I am. But also keep in mind that you’ll be carrying this with you all day. It’s best if you and your friends can all pack into one bag and then take turns carrying it.
- Mini “first aid” kit: After your third round of carnival food, you’re probably going to need those Tums we talked about earlier. Although, to be fair, the food at these fests is typically much better than you’d expect. There’s always a wide variety of options and you can usually get away wiith something pretty healthy/not too scary for the stomach like corn on the cob, baked potato, plus a variety of veggie/vegan items. While I didn’t see my favorite Lolla/Pitchfork fest food, the ever delicious potstickers, at last year’s fest, I still ate some pretty delicious stuff throughout the weekend.
- Long sleeved shirt/sweatshirt: In the desert, the days are excruciatingly hot (though we got pretty lucky last year with temps in the mid 80s) and the nights get pretty cool. In a matter of an hour, it goes from hotter than hell to refreshingly chilly, but I definitely made use of my sweatshirt every night of last year’s fest.
- Sunglasses case: I’ve destroyed many pairs of sunglasses from putting them directly into my pockets at music fests. Just bring your case in your bag and you can tuck them safely away when the sun goes down.
- Hand sanitizer: Porto-johns. ‘Nuff said. Bring hand sanitizer.
- TP: See above. You do not want to get caught in a compromising situation without some TP in your back pocket (both figuratively and literally).
- Sunscreen: Reapply liberally and often.
I’d recommend a towel or blanket, but the grass is usually perfectly manicured and bone dry, so there’s really no need. I’d also recommend a camelpak, but I don’t recall seeing a place to fill them last year, so it’s better to bring a backpack that fits some more items. [EDIT: apparently there is a place to fill up camelpaks just across from the ferris wheel. I never saw it last year, but I guess I wasn't looking since I didn't bring mine to begin with.]
GENERAL FESTIVAL ADVICE:
We’ve worried all we can (I’m a major worrier by nature) but now that we’re at the fest, there’s nothing to do but have some fun. Here’s some parting words of wisdom on how I like to do things.
- Planning your days: In my experience, I typically plan out my entire day ahead of time, then end up only seeing about half the people I planned on. This happens for a variety of reasons. The first is that I forget to take into account the time spent walking from one stage to the next. This is especially disastrous at Lollapalooza, which is arranged like a giant alleyway with the main stages at either end. Luckily, navigating from stage to stage is MUCH easier and MUCH MUCH quicker at coachella. The fest is organized in an L shape, so even the two furthest stages are just one hypotenuse away. My advice is to have a general outline of who you want to see, but to play the whole day by ear. Some of the best acts I’ve seen were the ones that I decided to go to spur of the moment (a la Gang Gang Dance at Lollapalooza 2009).
- Accept the fact that you won’t see everyone you want to see. There are going to be conflicts. You’re going to miss someone that’s on your list of “acts I am seeing for sure”. If there’s a conflict, just see how you feel beforehand and decide on the spot. Festivals are all about going with whatever you’re in the mood for at that moment, if you ask me, which you didn’t.
- When using the “restrooms”, depending on the setup, it’s best to find the most inconvenient porto-john and use that one. I’ve seen it all to many times when there’s a row of 100 porto-johns that there will be huge lines at one end and 10 at the other end with no line. Believe me, it’s worth it to walk the extra 20 feet. Alternately, if there are long lines at both ends of the area, try the ones in the middle. Besides the shorter wait, they’re also usually a bit less gross.
- There’s typically a lot to see and do at the fests aside from the music. Make sure you at least take in a little piece of the rest of the fest.
- Do NOT be afraid to branch off on your own. I know we all like to stay with our friends and enjoy things together, but if your friends all want to see one show and you want to see another, then go see the show you want to see. Don’t give yourself an opportunity to regret anything. Plus it gives you another opportunity to meet other cool people like yourself if you’re flying solo.
- USE LANDMARKS! Before you leave to branch off on your own, set up a meeting spot and time if you want to meet up with your friends again. Cell phones often don’t work in groups that number in the tens of thousands, so pick a spot ahead of time. And find big landmarks that are easy to spot from far away. Use these landmarks over and over again. At Lollapalooza, we always meet at the eyeball tower. It’s just easier that way. Coachella has plenty of giant landmarks. Just make sure to be specific. Don’t just say “meet me at the giant origami crane”. Pick a specific spot on the crane to meet up.
- Recycle what you can, and throw away what you can’t. Don’t be that guy that leaves his garbage lying around. Because I owe this to the environment after suggesting that you idle your car to charge your cell phone.
- Make sure to eat and stay hydrated, especially in the desert sun, it’s so easy to get caught up in the excitement of the day, and before you know it you realize you haven’t eaten anyhting or had a sip of water all day. As I mentioned before, campelpaks are not as useful here as a Coachella just because there aren’t places to fill them that I saw, but the bottles of water are only $2, so it’s not a total rip-off (and you can buy a bunch at once and throw them in that backpack of yours). Don’t be that person who passes out in the sun because you didn’t drink any water. I emphasize this because last year, there were FOUR PEOPLE that I remember that passed out in the direct circle of people around me. On that note, if you’re going to do drugs or whatever, try not to be stupid about it and take care of yourself and your friends. For example, if I hear someone, just after his friend has passed out and hasn’t woken up in over 30 seconds, say, “He’s done this a few times today but never this long”, I might have to punch that person for being an idiot.
- The setup of the Coachella tents are great for getting up close. If there’s an act you really want to be up close for, show up about 10 minutes before the previous act is finishing and wait at the front of the tent just outside. As soon as that act ends, the tent will clear out and you can usually swim against the fish and make your way up pretty close. This fest was by far the easiest I’ve experienced to get really close without camping out all day, and that was a good thing.
- Go to the Sahara tent often and let loose.
And finally, most importantly, HAVE FUN! We’re all there for the same purpose, to enjoy some killer music in a picturesque setting. Don’t be a dick to other concertgoers. Meet new people. See bands you’ve never heard of. Enjoy the palm trees and mountains. Take care of yourself and your friends (aka drink water) and (selfishly) don’t pass out at my feet. And enjoy the fest! If at least one of these tips made the weekend better for at least one person, then it was all worth it.
After first hearing “Excuses” and not being particularly fond of it, I waited far too long to give this album a listen. But when I knew I’d be seeing them as an opener I decided to give it a chance and I’m glad I did. The maturity in their songwriting was all the more surprising when I did see just how young they looked in person (although I’m not really sure how old they are). And while I decided that day that I did in fact really like this album, I was an even bigger fan after their stunning live performance. And I also think “Stitches” is one of my favorite tracks of the year.
After last summer’s bright and sunshiney Ayrton Senna EP, a new full-length from Spanish dance rockers Delorean, released just as the weather was beginning to turn for the better last Spring, was exactly what I needed this year. Every track is big and bold and shake-worthy and their live show is nothing but more of the same. Besides the fantastic melodies spattered throughout this album, the production is top notch and really brings this album to life. 
Ghostly International had a pretty great year as far as I’m concerned, with a few of their artists making my 2010 best of list. The first is Mux Mool aka Brian Lindgren, whose album Skulltaste made its way on to my radar completely out of nowhere. What makes this album so great? Probably the crazy diversity of its tracks. If you like electronic music in any sense of the term, there’s probably something on this album that you’ll enjoy, be it low key atmospheric jams or in your face dance club bangers.
Back in 2008, I didn’t know much about Sia but went with a friend to see her live and I’ve been a huge fan ever since hearing that powerful voice in person, but I didn’t really find myself wanting to listen to her albums for whatever reason. That all changed with We Are Born. The pop tunes on this album were so catchy that I couldn’t help but listen to them over and over, and after getting a chance to see her again this summer and hearing those tunes live gave me a whole new appreciation for them. 
Here’s another album that I slept on despite the urging of several trusted music sources, but luckily I finally dug into these fantastic tunes and am a better person for it. What’s so great about this album? It’s highly dramatic, but without having to rely on fancy effects to do any of the work. Great songwriting, impactful drums and top-notch vocals make this album notable for being something that we don’t seem to find too often anymore: a true and pure rock record.
One of the major themes of my musical year was glitchy electronic music, and thankfully Gold Panda entered my world this summer to keep that theme alive. I don’t know how else to describe his musical brand, but I know that it’s infinitely interesting and intricate and everything like that. To say this album needs to be listened to with some headphones and no distractions to be fully enjoyed and appreciated is a great understatement, so just make sure you’ve done that if you haven’t already. Plus I always love when someone can take a complicated/nonsensical melody and make it sensical by throwing down a beat, a la “Before We Talked”.
Had I not only just recently really gotten into this album, chances are it would have made it even higher up on my list (this goes back to the woes I discussed in the intro). And now I can’t wait for summer so I can listen to it then (even though I already had that chance earlier this year). I fully expected not to find anything remarkable about Wavves’ third album, but it is just full of fun and catchy beach-rock melodies that I can’t get enough of. I kind of used to think of Wavves as a novelty act of sorts, but my opinion has now completely changed. 
Another musical theme for me this year was shoegaze. And I don’t even really know how to describe shoegaze to this day other than that Wild Gemini is it, at least I think. This is another album that was recommended to me out of nowhere that I instantly fell in love with. “Live in Dreams”, with it’s fade in intro might just be one of my favorite album openings I can remember and it only stays just as good from there on out. Jack Tatum’s tunes may not strike you immediately, but upon repeated listens, you will likely find yourself begging for more.
Perhaps the biggest budget album on the list (save for one more just below), this one had me from day 1. The conceptual album with tons of cameos can go one of two ways, cheese factory or stellar, and luckily for me, this one went the latter. And it doesn’t hurt that just about every song is completely different than the one that came before it. Plus you get bonus points whenever your live show includes a legit middle eastern band (that’s the music of my people, people), not to mention touring with most of the guests on the album (which quickly explained the ticket price for that show as there were no less than 30 people on stage at one point or another), but the music was so great and diverse that it was all worth it.
As with every Kanye album, I find myself wanting so badly to hate it but never able to. Just like the other big budget album on this list, there’s no lack of guest stars (I mean, does “All of the Lights” really need 11 guests? I think not), but that’s just the way Kanye rolls I guess. While I don’t much care for the 9 minute “Runaway”, there are too many parts of this album too good to ignore. Like the “So Appalled” sample, which I’ve finally discovered is from a Manfred Mann song believe it or not. Or the motown goodness of “Devil in a New Dress”, or pretty much any other track for that matter. And Nicki Minaj’s verse in “Monster” might be the best thing she ever does. But, while I love this album much more than I thought of would, I also don’t think it’s God’s gift to music. Still, this high of a ranking is pretty surprising, more to me than anyone else.
After hearing their self-titled EP last year, I was looking forward to the full length from the Saratoga Springs duo Phantogram. Their music was a fresh sounding blend of soothing melodies with an electronic twist that was a huge barrel of happiness in my ears. It doesn’t hurt that Sarah Barthel is a total babe (featured in a great side-boob shot in SPIN magazine earlier this year) with a great voice. Josh Carter rounds things out with some great beats and guitar work, resulting in some heavy heavy play on the ole ipod this year. I originally had this album much farther down on the list, but upon realizing I couldn’t pick 3 key tracks, it moved way up.
Here’s another one of those that I’ve only just recently gotten to enjoy, and one that would probably move up a few notches if I had a little more time to spend with it. I don’t know what any previous Abe Vigoda albums sounded like, but I’ve read that they sound nothing like this one, for better or for worse. It’s characterized by super-tight multi-layered melodies spattered through almost every tune on this album, often veering more towards the dark side of things, but sometimes taking a turn for the brighter. And there’s no lack of synth, but I feel like it’s not used it the typical synth way, whatever that means. But I think what really creates the mood that surrounds this album are Michael Vidal’s vocals, occasionally somewhat wretching, but always full of passion and emotion.
Ok, so technically this is an EP I guess, but with 8 tracks I think it qualifies as an album for all intents and purposes. But what is not to love about it? It’s completely spacey, full of high-energy tunes and an extremely promising first official release. From the first moments of the opening title-track, it became pretty clear that this was going to be an album I loved, electronic to the max with a pretty heavy beat throughout. While the playtime of the album is only about a half hour, that just means that it’s even easier than ever to listen to it again and again.
There’s a little controversy over whether this album belongs in 2010 year end lists, but while it existed prior to that, the official release was in the early part of this year, so I’m going with that. In the winter and spring, I found myself listening to this album almost daily (you know, back when I listened to music all day at work) and loved it more with every listen. What characterizes this album for me are the impressive harmonies that are found throughout the whole album. And after being fortunate enough to catch them live three times this year, I can confidently say that they are able to pull the harmonies off in a live setting just as well as on the album. In fact, I often get goosebumps listening to “World News” and imagining the whole Coachella crowd singing along to the big “Whoa oh oh” parts. These guys are legit.
Twin Shadow. Oh, Twin Shadow. Not only did you put out a KILLER album full of energy, an album that is both completely interesting and somewhat atypical but also completely accessible, but you’ve also put on one of the most unexpectedly fantastic live shows I’ve seen in a long time. There is an unmistakeable twinge of the 80s throughout this album, but more in the Prince sense of the 80s, and that’s definitely not a bad thing. And George Lewis, Jr’s somewhat deep vocals give these tunes that extra dimension. It’s never over complicated, but always interesting. And like I said, this album when performed live has about 100x more energy than the already fantastic album. 
After the raucous beats and guitar riffs found in the 2008 Foals album Antidotes and hearing “Spanish Sahara” as the first single from Total Life Forever, I wasn’t really too sure what to think or expect. Was it just a one off or had Foals moved to a more restrained sound? It turns out that the latter was true, but what is also true is that Foals can do the more subdued just as well as they can do the high energy. That’s not to say that Total Life Forever is a low key album, there is still plenty of energy to be had, but it just takes a different form this time around. And if I were making a list of top tracks of the year, which I’m not, I’m pretty confident “Spanish Sahara” would be on there as well. Another one of my favorite concert moments of the year was the crowd’s enthusiasm as this song swelled, clapping in unison with the beat right before the big release. Yannis is a little man (much like myself), but don’t mistake that for a lack of energy or stage presence.
Prior to listening to this album, my only exposure was “Vibrationz” and I really had no idea what to expect. It’s probably best, though, that I had no expectations, because what I got surely would not have aligned with anything I possibly could have anticipated. This album is what I consider to be a retrospective look at every kind of music from the 70s to the 90s. It all sounds pretty old school, but never hokey to me. There’s the 8-bit sounds of “Oh! Centra”, the 70s sounds of “Intervales Theme”, the aptly named “Moscow 1980″ and even some light R&B with “Dep”. If you’re in the mood for something unlike anything recent that you’ve listened to, this is the album for you. But just remember, the beauty of this album lies in it’s homage to sounds of the past, so its not the most modern sounding album, but it’s still definitely cutting edge. 
While we’re on the topic of 2010 albums paying homage to sounds of the past, there seems to be no better time to reveal our number 3 album, Tame Impala’s Innerspeaker. This album is 100% modern day psychedelic rock, no ifs ands or buts about it. I’m not comparing the Australian youngsters to the Beatles, but I have been describing this album to my friends as if the Beatles had made another album where they got way more psychedelic than ever before. Perhaps it’s the almost creepy likeness of lead singer Kevin Parker’s vocals to those of John Lennon that draws this comparison, but there are also flavors of many other rock groups from the past. And to stay true to that vintage late-60s sound (most of the album is even slightly hazy, giving you a true retro sound), the guys create all the effects using only guitar pedals, as evidenced by their live performance which sounded surprisingly true to the album, and these guitar effects are really the cornerstone of this album. While the band members all look exactly like you would imagine the Aussie hippies who penned this album to look, with long, blonde scraggly hair and performing shoeless on stage, their modern take on a classic sound is not to be missed.
Delphic — you are everything I’ve wanted an electronic rock band to be. Slightly dark, always extremely high energy, and always extremely interesting. Unlike Tame Impala, Delphic makes great use of digital effects to create their larger than life sound but the result is almost overwhelming at times (in a good way), but make no mistake, the guitar still plays a huge role here too. Even though my excitement to see them in concert reached critical mass, I was still a bit nervous because I didn’t know how it would all play out in a live setting, but they did not disappoint, as every effect from the album was perfectly replicated and seemed to take on a new life. This music is so full of depth and forward-driving energy that it’s nearly impossible not to move just a little while listening to it. If you have any interest in electronic rock and have not listened to this album, do yourself a favor and pick up a copy. And the fact that Pitchfork gave this album a 5.0 is all the more reason to never believe anything they say about anything.
Was there ever any doubt that this would be my number one album of the year? I fell in love with Norway in late 2009, and Teen Dream was the very first album I listened to this year (true story – I heard it for the first time on New Year’s Day as we cleaned up from the night of debauchery that ensured the evening/early morning before) and quickly found myself listening to it over and over the first few months of the year, before I became completely inundated with other albums to get to know. Maybe I’m just a sucker for Victoria Legrand’s husky vocals, or the way her hair seems to blow in the wind even when there is no wind to be found, or the soothing melodies that seem to be the perfect music for just about any mood or occassion (minus a dance party I guess). Whatever it is, this became my go-to album in 2010 and I wouldn’t have it any other way. If there is one fault to this album, it’s that its title is so close to that Katy Perry song, and it confuses me in a bad way sometimes. Either way, this is my album of the year. Take it or leave it. 
