Ahh, Coachella.  What a fascinating place.  My theory is that, as every organism is determined by its environment, Coachella’s main feature is being far too close to a major metropolis.  For those who regularly drop $400 for a bottle of vodka in an LA club out of what can only be a feeling of some kind of boredom or need for constant emotional entertainment, $300 for a pass can’t be too much even if they don’t give a crap about the music.

So, there’s that.  There’s a lot of fashion at Coachella which doesn’t make any sense to me when dancing in 100 degree heat.  But, to each his own, and if they’re enjoying it, all the power to them.  If they’re not and just doing it to be cool, shame on you.  To me, that’s the definition of what that enigmatic word ‘hipster’ is actually referring to.  Despite the character of the festival’s appearance being determined by many of this demographic quotient (hipsters), I found their actual numbers to be surprisingly small compared to how they’re represented in media coverage

Ahh, now that’s off my chest!

So for those who showed up for the music, it did not fail to satisfy.  In fact, it often surprised.  Two of my favorite sets, by far, came from Lauryn Hill and Erykah Badu, both of which performed on the main stage.  Hill delivered an electric and soulful reminder of what genuinely good live music can and should be; a singer who can really ‘sing’, musicians playing their hearts out, a full brass band on stage, elements of hard rock deep funk and Fugees covers (obviously).  She’s the Meryl Streep of female musicians for me — I always forget about her, then every time I encounter her I’m like, “oh that’s right you’re just the best.” She does everything well.  Weird.

Erykah Badu was also spectacular.  It was the only show I found a spot in the grass for.  Her sound can be legitimately classified as jazz, under any definition of the word.  In my experiences, it’s very, very rare to find someone who can sing with a band that’s playing real jazz.  Apart from traditional Jazz musicians, I’ve only witnessed this sort of music pulled off once, by a bossa nova singer in the basement of Zinc Bar on Houston.  Erykah Badu did it ridiculously well, opening her set with the line, “When I get off my knees I’m 20 feet tall”, and hitting many a powerful, moving lyrical moment.  This brought to mind how many rock bands at Coachella were sadly just loud guitars drowning out mumbled vox.

The two other biggest surprises came from the DJ tent — the London scene is amazing right now (I caught Flying Lotus at an afterparty, wow wow wow), and a new DJ to hit the states called SBTRKT completely blew my mind.  His use of electronic melodies would amaze any passionate music fan.  The song that best represents this isn’t anywhere to be found on the internet (but you can check his Soundcloud page here).

Another DJ that stole the show was an old Rastafarian who blew me away the instant I walked in.  I later found out he’s actually a legendary UK DJ who was so good his mixes basically invented dubstep in excited imitation.  That being said, his music is definitely something else.  Something far better.  He mixed “Is This Love” in a way that came off as an improvement of the original, adding to the perfect song and transforming it into a cover of “Whole Lotta Love” with female vocals and incredible grooves underneath the original riff. A seamless transition between my two favorite artists which I’ve been looking for my whole life.  His name, Don Letts.

And then there was Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All (better known as Odd Future), a group with arguably the most pre-Coachella buzz.  Perhaps this will warrant a whole separate post, but just imagine every demographic; from fratboy to diminuitive asian girl with earplugs and backpack, all flocking to incredibly angry rap music about doing horrible things to other people.  It’s music, a culture almost, that these people would never normally relate to, but somehow they’re desperate to see it.  In the end, what the band has is an unbelievable energy, and a genuine freedom to completely lose themselves on stage and in the music, to be fearless, that audiences are clearly desperately craving.

As far as a wrap up of the rest:

1. Gogol Bordello delivered as always
2. The crowds for Mumford & Sons were inexplicable
3. Cee Lo bombed but who cares
4. Cold Cave is pretty amazing
5. Warpaint was perfect for a sunny palm tree and scaffolded afternoon and are incredible musicians
6. The Black Keys played their hearts out but the sound guy failed them
7. Sleigh Bells was incredible
8. Glasser was almost incomprehensibly sonically creative

There’s really too much to say.  It’s a lot of music.  And, for me, live music (post-Britney) is getting better and better these days.  That said, for those of you who didn’t go, I had to leave before the end of Arcade Fire, which I will forever regret and refuse to describe here.  Yes, there were light up balloons during “Wake Up”.  I did not see them.  Unlike as Thom Yorke says, maybe you can’t have everything all of the time.