Coachella Recap

Ruben and Neeka agreed to take me to Coachella. DHL lost their tickets 2 days before the show and luckily the found more for sale in Irvine and drove down there to get more. They picked me up Friday morning and we started on our way. We made it as far as Pasadena and then all the dashboard lights came on in his car (pretty Saab convertible) and then the spedometer went down to 0 but it seemed to be running normal still. But I advised we pull over and try turning it off and on again (the computer geek in me - restart when all else fails hah). We did just that and the lights all went off and the engine light stayed on.. checked the manual and it said you can drive with check enine light but it’s unsafe and basically could have deadly consequences.. in other words don’t drive it with check engine light on. Called Josh who found the nearest Saab dealer way down on Colorado blvd about 10 miles from where we were. We get over there and the Saab guy tells us it’s probably the anti-lock brakes, another woman there has the same thing happening and that’s what it is on her car.. but it might not be that.. they have to do diagnostics on it and they had like 40 cars there so they wouldn’t get to it until Monday. So rental it was.. we got a gangsta looking black Buick Lucerne. Moved all our stuff into it and started back on our way. Traffic was disgustingly congested on the 210 as well as the 15 and then the 10 until we got to like Redlands area.

Amritz didn’t leave until 4ish so even though we left at 11am and had a pitstop to get a rental car we were still making better time than Amritz and Sarah. We finally got to Palm Springs around 6:30 ish and then sat in traffic to get to the parking lot until 7:30. The only bands I wanted to see that I missed were Of Montreal and Tokyo Police Club, but it’s fine we got there as the sun was setting and it was getting cooler. I saw Peaches, Jarvis Cocker, Interpol, and Bjork. During Interpol I met up with Amritz and Sarah as they got in around 9 or 9:30. Bjork was phenomenal just like the last time I saw her. She started with her new single Earth Intruders. I also caught Joga and Unravel, 2 of my favorites. We left before Bjork finished fearing bad traffic like last year but turns out Amritz got an amazing parking spot very close to the exit and we just drove out no problem, no wait. Got a call from Ruben around 2am that he was STILL stuck in traffic and he left Bjork around 11:30. Ugh. No thanks.. poor Ruben and Neeka We stayed at Jerry’s vacation home in Palm Desert and it felt so fantastic to shower every night and every morning. In the morning I picked oranges off Jerry’s orange trees and made fresh squeezed OJ with his juicer. Yum!

Saturday we arrived around 11:30 and were shooting for the same awesome parking and found a spot open by the gate so we moved to it and again were only 20 feet from the road. Saturday was a good day (though 105 degrees), saw Regina Spektor who I’d only heard OF.. never heard. Heard a good bit of Travis, including Sing Saw Peter Bjorn and John who were much better than I expected live. The crowd was very into it. Though after Young Folks, quite a few people left.. sad I guess they should have done that song last? Sat and watched the Decemberists- Amritz and Sarah think they’re depressing haha.. I guess they’re kind of right, but it’s still good music! Arcade Fire was easily best of the day.. felt like I was gonna suffocate we were so close in the crowd.. only 20 feet or so back from the stage. Went to LCD Soundsystem when Amritz and Sarah met up with friends to go watch Red Hot Chili Peppers. LCD Soundsystem was the second best of the day. They really got the crowd going. North American Scum made the crowd go nuts. I can’t wait to go to another LCD show.. he was fun to watch too. Then watched a bunch of the Rapture who I love more and more as days go by and they were great too.. not very exciting to watch, but the music is still excellent. They did this crazy 60s music video thing on the huge plasma screens.. I can’t explain it any better than that. We left before The Rapture finished for same traffic concerns and again we got out with no delays!

Sunday we arrived around noonish. Sunday only hit 99 degrees, though I couldn’t tell the difference from Saturday. We paced ourselves well with the AC tent lots of water and rest in the shade between all music. Watched Lupe Fiasco in the Heineken Oasis AC tent. He was full of energy for it being so hot and sunny midday. Missed Tapes ‘n Tapes. Heard Junior Boys were supposed to be good. We stayed for 2 songs.. and no thanks. Saw Against Me! in passing- not a favorite of Amritz and Sarah and it was outdoor stage while it was super hot so we didn’t hang around there. Watched the Roots from a shaded tent in the beer garden fairly close to the stage and they were great. Then we met up with Paul and Kim and their friends briefly because the highlight of my day was starting - CSS! CSS was so full of energy and so fun, I wish Tracey was with me to dance to it. She would have loved it too. They did my favorite songs - Art Bitch, Off the Hook, Alcohol, Music is My Hot Hot Sex, Let’s Make Love and Listen to Death From Above as well as some other good ones- Fuckoff Is Not the Only Thing You Have to Show, Meeting Paris Hilton. Sat and listened to Placebo after CSS, they were really good live too. Stopped by Lily Allen with Amritz and Sarah for a while before separating to go and catch Air (the band not the atmospheric air). Sarah felt dehydrated after Lily Allen so we sat near Damien Rice performing (missed Ratatat - but meh so tired at this point). Then we went to watch Rage. The crowd was huge.. bigger than any Coachella crowd I’d ever seen at a stage. We stayed near the back didn’t wanna get in the way of the cliche Rage fans. They sounded great and were full of energy. Everything was spot on like they had been playing together the past 10 years. We left a bit early again for parking/traffic concerns and got out with no wait again!

Monday I woke up with a raging head ache and sore throat. I figured it was from all the cigarette smoke. Sunday by far had been the most congested with people and the smoke and dust just sat in the crowds of people. Traffic was bad on the 10 and Josh advised us it’d be that way until we got to the 210. At some point on the 10 I felt very ill - as in car sick/motion sick ill. I told Amritz and Sarah I’d need a bag when we stop to get gas. We exited the 10 pretty quickly and I got some plastic bags and another water and it felt wonderful to be on still ground, but I had to get back in the car because I just wanted to get home at this point. I took some dramamine and after 45 mins or so started feeling sleepy from it so I knew it was kicking in. When we got to my house I was so happy to be home and relax. It was a fun trip and worth all the “adventures” but I was ready for a nap! I took just that and when I woke up the pain in my throat hurt more and my muscles and whole body ached. So this is more than motion sickness, a head ache and a sore throat from cigarette smoke.. it’s a cold or flu or strep throat.

Went to the doctor Tuesday morning after calling into work and she says it’s viral. Wish I had that numbing stuff my doctor in Buffalo would give me so I could eat and swallow, but all I got is nasty tasting Chloraseptic spray. Yuck! I went to work today and felt worse and worse and my boss sent me home. Hopefully I’ll feel better tomorrow.

I’ll be posting more pics in the Photo Gallery very soon. Still collecting them all!

now playing: Matt & Kim - No More Long Years