Coachella 2009 - The Review: Friday

Going into the weekend, Friday was the day I was most excited about... At least in terms of music I wanted to see.  We have a lot to recap before it's music time.  First of all, I'm pretty sure I didn't sleep Thursday night.  I remember the sun beginning to rise and in the desert, once the sun is up, you are up because your tent starts to feel like a sauna.  Plus I wanted a shower and that requires getting to the shower before 8:00 which is when the line begins to get too long.   Showering at Coachella is a relatively recent development.  I never took a shower the first 3 years... now, I couldn't imagine not taking a shower.  I took one every morning.  The five of us woke up in the same order every morning.  Flanagan and I woke up first to take showers, followed by Basford, and finally Clarke and then Walter.  This is somewhat annoying because Clarke and Walter always use the shade tent as sleeping quarters so in the morning when we want shade we have to force them to get up and transform the tent from "sleeping mode" to "hanging out" mode.  This of course could all be avoided if Walter would bring his tent.... and actually use it.  Whatever.

These weekend benders are getting harder at my old age.  I've noticed that if I don't get proper sleep and I was drunk... I get the shakes bad.... like a Romanian orphan.  And we all know the only way to cure the shakes is by drinking more.  Luckily the company I tend to keep is usually up for drinking at any hour of the day.  I reckon we cracked our first beers around 11:30 am.  Walter, Clarke, Basford, and Flanagan then played the inaugural game of Boccie Ball.  I don't understand why we never brought Boccie Ball with us before, but we had it this year and it was worth it.   While the 4 of them meander through the campground hurling their big balls at a smaller ball, I was back at the campsite kicking it with Patricia, Britney, and Ari.

I'm now going to tell one of those stories which is much funnier if you witnessed it.

First of all, the Boccie game was taking forever and the girls decided to go do some art stuff, so it was just Ari and I.  We were shooting the shit about what music we liked and who we were most excited to see, etc.  He was telling me about his backpacking experiences and we were really chatting it up for quite a while.  Then, out of nowhere, he stands up looks around at our tents, and presents this challenge to himself.  This is the part where you had to be there... Ari thinks (probably because of the beer and purple afro-berry) that he can take a running start and jump over the rope that was tying down our tent and land in side his tent which was barely open.  It was an impossible maneuver.... It would be hard to throw a basketball into this opening, let alone an Australian.  But I encouraged him to attempt this nonetheless.  He's talking it up like he definitely going to pull it off and as I start looking at it closer (probably because of the beer and purple afro-berry) I actually begin to think he can pull it off.  Well after chugging another beer, Ari stepped-off his route and mentally prepared him self for what would be the most amazing feat of campground acrobatics.  I gave him a drum roll and a count down and he was off.  Colossal failure.  He cleared the rope (thankfully) but landed square on his tiny one man tent and completely exploded it.  Luckily Ari is some sort of tent technician (he actually helped fix my tent the night before) and he was able to fix his tent in like 30 seconds.

The gang finally returned from Boccie and then it was on to another Coachella.... Cornhole. I wish I didn't have to tell the next part of the story, but I do.  The short and sweet version of the story is that Clarke and I lost $160 each to Basford and Flanagan.  If I tell the long version, it will put me in bad mood and probably ruin the rest of this post.  One thing I don't understand about Coachella is why people don't tailgate more?  We got drunk in the parking lot 4 days.  It's fun and could be a lot more fun if more people would follow our lead.  A great rule that we had implemented is that if your team ended a turn with exactly 13 points, you had to shotgun a beer.  We have music playing, beers cracking, bags tossing.... it's great.... I don't understand why we are the only ones that do it.  I guess people party in the campground too.... but it's all drugs and hard liqueur.... Beer is the key to good times.   I guess if you graduating from UD you also get a degree in partying.

And now the festival begins.  The first band we all wanted to see was the Black Keys from Akron, Ohio.  We were able to get up pretty close for the show and it was rocking.  I wish each day kicked off with a performance by the Black Keys.... It really puts me in the right frame of mind.  I wonder if King James listens to the Black Keys.  

Next up was one of my most highly anticipated acts of the weekend.... Mr. Leonard Cohen.  I had heard of Leonard Cohen but really the only think I knew about him was that he wrote the song Hallelujah.... I don't think I had ever heard his version of it until he was announced on the Coachella line up.   This is why I love Coachella.  I would've never bothered to try to get into Leonard Cohen if he hadn't played Coachella.  Turns out, I really like his music and listened to him a lot during the weeks leading up to Coachella.  I was a little skeptical to see if a 73 year old man and his backing band who are notoriously quiet could deliver at a big venue like Coachella.  That skepticism was crushed from note one.  His sunset performance was so incredible.  He had the whole audience hanging on every word he sung.  It was truly amazing and I encourage everyone to see him as he winds down his tour/career/life.




I'm pretty sure I saw Clarke crying during this song.

Next up on the bill was Morrissey. I've always wanted to see Moz so again I was really excited for this show. However, I have to say that his show was a little bit of a disappointment. His depressing "woe is me" schtick didn't really fit the mood I was in after chest-bumping Basford during a Black Key's guitar solo and witnessing a 73 year old man pour his heart out on stage. I really wish he would just cheer the fuck up and sing his songs... which are good.  

Oh yeah, somehow during the walk from Cohen's stage to Morrissey's stage, I got separated from the group. So I had to watch Morrissey and McCartney all by myself. The good thing about being by yourself is that you can weasel your way pretty close.... which I did. The bad thing about being really close, is that it's so crowded. During the 45 minute set change between Moz and Macca, I would've paid $100 to be able to just be able to bend over and touch my toes and stretch out for like 10 minutes. I was close but in a tight spot. Regardless, McCartney was great.... Obviously. I wish he had played more Beatles songs (he played 18 Beatles songs and it still didn't seem like enough). I like his some of his solo stuff, but I really just wanted to see a Beatle perform Beatle's songs. The pyro-technics during "Live and Let Die" was pretty sweet though. And the song he wrote for Lennon "Here Today" which I had never heard was very moving. But the highlight was the Beatle's songs. Pretty much all of them.... but I'll single out "Let it Be", "A Day in the Life", "Yesterday", and "Blackbird" as highlights. Like Roger Waters and Prince of last year, the legends tend to prove why they are legends at Coachella

After the festival comes another Coachella tradition. The group usually gets separated and we all come back at slightly different times, but always with a slice or two of Spicy Pie....the best festival pizza ever.  

At this point, we are usually so tired, we just crash.... this year was no exception.

To be continued.....