Super thrilled when I saw that the legendary James was playing an impromptu gig at Spaceland! One of those bands you always liked, but never got around to seeing (thanks to not touring the U.S. in 7 years). Their latest album Hey Ma has already been released in the UK but won't get released officially in the U.S. until September 16 (!).

Anyway, here are my videos from the show. Unfortunately low lighting yet again! Sorry for the multiple video services!

Waterfall from The Evil Rabbit on Vimeo.



Whiteboy from The Evil Rabbit on Vimeo.



Laid


Say Something from The Evil Rabbit on Vimeo.

One sentence review: Show started off strong with a slightly inebriated Billie Joe Armstrong with 24 oz PBR in hand, jumping into the crowd, stage diving, crowd surfing, getting the whole room involved clapping and arm raising, spraying beer; but lost momentum as kids adults easily jumped or crowd surfed their way on stage and 2-minute songs got stretched to 10 minutes. ( More stuff...sorta )

Set times are posted! Here's how ideally it'll go. Get there in time to see Psycho Mike do "Hey There Vagina," "Firecrotch" and "Brow-Down." Skip Ludo, hopefully free drinks and food "backstage." Get to Flobots in time to hear "Handlebars." Check out MGMT. Get the hell out before The Bravery!! Hopefully more free drinks and food during Atreyu. Check out Flogging Molly. Get hopefully free food and drink during Seether and Scars on Broadway. Pray Foo Fighters or Weezer are secret guests. See the rest of the show with possible break during Rise Against.

Saturday, 17 May
Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
Doors open at noon.

Bud Light Stage Dos
Psycho Mike 12:40-1:00pm
Ludo 1:00-1:30pm
Flobots 1:30-2:00pm
MGMT 2:00-2:30pm
The Bravery 2:30-3:00pm

Main Stage
Atreyu 3:30-4:00pm
Flogging Molly 4:00-4:30pm
Seether 4:30-5:00pm
Scars On Broadway 5:00-5:30pm
Pennywise 5:30-6:10pm
Bad Religion 6:10-6:50pm
Rise Against 6:50-7:35
The Raconteurs 7:35-8:20
The Offspring 8:20-9:20
Metallica 9:20-10:50

Jimmy Eat World Announce Tour Dates with Foo Fighters!

Jimmy Eat World will support Foo Fighters on a run of 2008 US tour dates! Details are as follows. All shows are on sale now:
January 16th – Miami, FL – Bank Atlantic Arena
January 17th – Orlando, FL – Amway Arena
January 19th – Birmingham, AL – BJCC Arena
January 20th – Pensacola, FL – Pensacola Civic Center
January 22nd – Houston, TX – Toyota Center
January 23rd – Dallas, TX – American Airlines Center
January 25th – Memphis, TN – FedEx Forum

And added bonus is Against Me! opening the Foos North American dates!!!

KROQ LA Invasion was fun. Not as mindblowing as the other two Inland Invasions I've been to but that's because this year's lineup wasn't as strong. I didn't take too many photos (click here) and what few I did take were the craptastic cell phone variety. Favorite performances: Foo Fighters, Against Me!, Perry Farrell's Satellite Party. Smashing Pumpkins were disappointing and actually bored me. But here are some shots of Billy Corgan engulfed or shot up by the lights! Also a crappy video of Dave Grohl who did a lil something in front of us during the Stacked Actors bit! Now need to find all the web cast videos (already have the Foos).




Yeah, that's Billy.


These are Billy's legs as he acknowledges us minions in his own way.


Yet again, acknowledging us, sorta.


This one for elscorchie *droool*



Dave performing a lil something for us up front!

Tokyo Police Club. Pete Yorn. Silverchair. Crap! We way overslept! We got some iced lattes at a nearby Intelligentsia but unfortunately this made us wanna pee all the time due to its diuretic effect. We also had Red Bull which seemed to make things worse.

Cold War Kids. I wonder how much sleep these guys got. Alex saw her boss whom she knew would be at Lollapalooza as he goes to a lot of out-of-state shows/festivals. He went to another after-fest show at the House of Blues last night. He said the House of Blues was just another House of Blues, meaning it SUCKS! He was cool and helped us in our evil plan to get passes to the Lollapalooza VIP Lounge. It was really hard to enjoy Cold War Kids. People kept walking in front of us--which is normal in festivals--but this was happening constantly. I don't even remember much due to this :(

CSS. Crap! They missed their flight and cancelled. Guess I'll just have to be content with the one time I've seen them. Matt and Kim took their place. I heard some of the goofy in-between song banter.

The Hold Steady. Bumped into eu_splinched (!) who had seen a lot more bands than me.  Didn't watch much of The Hold Steady since we were working on our plan to get into the VIP Lounge.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs. So we give up on the Lolla Lounge and head out for the YYYs. We come across this really nice elevated spot where we could see above the heads of people with a clear line of sight of the stage. It was sprinkling on and off but was fairly harmless. I've seen YYY before. And while it's amusing that Karen O wears the craziest outfits and makeup and acts crazy on-stage, it just doesn't work for me. It was nice, though, hearing old favorites from Fever to Tell like Date with the Night, Y Control, and Maps. Karen O loves to deep throat the mics!

Surprisingly a lot of people start leaving which I didn't mind since we simply moved to an even better spot.

Muse. It starts to rain. Hard and harder. We were already sitting on one poncho and cut up another poncho to cover ourselves. I could feel a sore throat coming on too :( Plus TOM had arrived. And there was an hour wait in between sets. So wasn't feeling good. But as soon as Muse came on after the JFK speech, I was in!! I was going quite crazy during Hysteria--which along with Our Time is Running Out, I'm sure hardcore fans could do without--but I love hearing them live!! And it gets the crowds going. All the hands in the air clapping in unison during Starlight was a sight to behold and makes you realize why you go to festivals...and I wouldn't have caught that if I were up front! It was funny to hear a couple guys in front of me say they were gonna check out Interpol in the middle of Muse. I love Interpol and all....but no way could their show compare with Muse's spectacular light show. And they brought out the big white baloons!! The only negative thing I noticed was the wait in between songs was a bit longer than I'm used to. There's hardly any talk in between songs anyway so it was weird. I heard later they were having technical issues which is common at festivals. And finally! I hear Knights of Cydonia as the closing song. For some reason they open up with that song at their last two headlining shows in LA!! And I must say even though I was at the rail front row for my last two Muse shows, I much preferred watching from a far and enjoying the whole show--performance, lights, visuals, crowd reaction.

I was planning on eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich when I got back to my lodging. Instead after we got off our train stop, we walked by the nearby Vic Theatre, the place of the not-so secret fan club Pearl Jam show two days ago. We were so upset that we were so nearby yet didn't try to get in. UGH!!! Afterward we decided to stop by this place advertising Killer Margaritas since we were always intrigued by this the previous times we passed by. We each ordered the smallest frozen margaritas they offered (16 oz); wow, was it good!! Refreshing and strong! Nothing like those cheapie ones you get at Vegas. So good!! We also ordered lotsa chips, salsa, guacamole, rice, beans. Oh man, we were in heaven. Everything was sooo good!! And we talked about how we always have an awesome time in ChiTown and how we must find a way to move here.

Unfortunately in the middle of the night, I fully understood the meaning of killer margaritas as I was praying to the porcelain gods. I tried passing out and sleeping but couldn't!!! So took a couple NyQuil gel caps and eventually was able to rightfully pass out.

Great to be back at the Metro! Last time I was there was November 2005 to see Jimmy Eat World, then the next day went bowling with the band and their wives and girlfriend! So many happy memories!! The show was sold-out but we were able to buy tickets at face value (yay no facility and service fees) from people hanging outside. I wanted to buy a Red Bull (to keep awake) from the liquor store across the street but I didn't wanna miss the start of Elvis Perkins in Dearland who were about to go on.

Back when I saw JEW, there was an old man poet who would read a self-penned poem to introduce each band. I was surprised to see him again! Reading a poem before each band. Guess he's a local radio legend?

Elvis Perkins in Dearland. Last time I saw them was back in January opening up for My Morning Jacket. I didn't care about him back then. But soon after I came across his backstory and took a closer listen to Ash Wednesday which I really like now. Everyone on the bill, it turns out, are good friends and have toured with each other at one time or another. This set the tone for a very happy, niiiice show. We found a nice elevated (!) spot near the bar so we could see above people's heads. Unfortunately the lighting was quite dark so my photos look really bad. I quite enjoyed Elvis and company and so did the audience. Not bad for the opening band! On their last song, everyone (I think) from Cold War Kids and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah were on stage playing whatever instrument was around.

Cold War Kids. Super fun. Lead singer asked the crowd if we were either anti-festivals or couldn't get enough. I guess we were somewhere in between...the anti-Daft Punk. On their last song, Elvis Perkins in Dearland came out and played. I realize I suck for not seeing Cold War Kids again after their Avalon show with Editors. Undecided if I wanna see them at The Wiltern.

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! This is where the story gets sad. I was really looking forward to seeing CYHSY! But I was way pooped and CYHSY!'s soundcheck was taking way too long. I noticed that the crowd was starting to thin out as well and people's patience was getting low. We left after five songs or so :(  And Alec Ounsworth looks so cute with his newsboy hat :( Thankfully, I will be making up for this tragedy by seeing CYHSY! and Elvis Perkins in Dearland at the Troubadour on Sept 18 & 19. Woulda tried for the 20th but I have Arcade Fire/LCD Soundsystem that day.

Not much to report on Day #4 which was a rest day since I would be taking the 6 hour Amtrak from St. Louis to Chicago. I took 4 NyQuil LiquidGels so I could pass out but ugh, I couldn't! The train was full but thankfully they put us in business class seats. Due to waiting for a freight train going 0.000000000001 mph to pass, I didn't get into Chicago until 1.5 hours later than scheduled. BLAH. Met up with billy_ and Alex. We ate at some nearby 24 hour diner that serves a banana with every meal. For some reason I was the only one who got the banana. Also got stuff from Walgreens.

( Why Lollapalooza Kicks Coachella's Ass )

( Why It Doesn't )


2007 Lollapalooza Day 1

The Fratellis. We took the bus to downtown Chicago which turned out to be a baaad idea. Due to the frequent stops to load up too many passengers and heavy traffic, we got to Grant Park way later than scheduled. Wish we took the Red Line train instead!! It took us forever to pick up our passes because they were at the Media Check-In Tent which was ALL THE WAY on the southend of Grant Park. On our way, we did hear The Fratellis do what I suspect was their last song Chelsea's Dagger. Not too heartbroken I missed them. Already seen them three times this year and I'm pretty maxed out. Next album?

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists. The Polyphonic Spree. We walked around picking up free crap along the way. Decided what the heck, we'll check out Ted Leo. Poor dude fell on his ass on the first or second song! After he finished, he said "Thanks guys!" We were getting hungry so we decided to utilize the in-and-out privileges to eat at a nearby Thai place knowing we'd miss The Polyphonic Spree. Stopped by the nearby hostel to buy a visitors CTA pass, which they were out of. Walked to the Chicago Cultural Center, enjoyed the A/C and exhibits (sadly no photos allowed) and bought a visitor's pass. Stopped by Walgreens to pick up more stuff.

Against Me! Don't even dare talk shit about this band. Or else! I was listening to New Wave on my iPod and gosh darnit I really liked it. The crowd wasn't as spirited as Coachella. Surprisingly hardly any moshing or crowd surfing. Alex conjectured being on concrete maybe had something to do with it--which is strange since this is Grant Park. Looking forward to seeing them again at LA Invasion at Home Depot Center where I saw them two years ago!

The Rapture. While waiting for the The Rapture underneath some trees on some elevated spot (woot!), we could hear M.I.A. on the Bud Stage. It didn't sound too good where we were. Unfortunately don't recall too much about The Rapture's set. It didn't seem as fun as their Coachella set to me but maybe daylight had something to do with it. There was a green crane behind us. Some stupid kids thought it'd be cool to get on it and jump up and down shaking the whole thing.

Blonde Redhead. The Black Keys. We decided to utilize our in-and-out privileges for dinner. Unfortunately so did a lot of the people at the place we ended up. The chicken ceasar salad wasn't very good and service was slow. Line at the bathroom was way long. There were two girls there who changed into their robot-inspired get-ups for Daft Punk.

LCD Soundsystem. Came back and caught, I guess, two songs. At the end, James Murphy says "go over there" pointing to the Daft Punk stage. So we did.

Daft Punk. Decided to break from routine and tried to get closer to the stage. Bad mistake, bad mistake! It got super crowded not too far from the soundboard so we backtracked and ended way in the back somewhere. Seems like everyone has raved about Daft Punk at Coachella and the LA Sports Arena; but me...meh, wasn't feeling it. Neither was Alex. I really wanted to see a real band that singed and played instruments. So we decided to catch the Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!/Cold War Kids/Elvis Perkins in Dearland after-fest show at the Metro. Off to the Red Line station...

I don't recall too much what happened in the morning. I do remember, however, I was glad to be getting the heck out of Dallas!

Southwest Airline flights are a lot like general admission concerts. People start lining up way early to get a prime plane seat. Boarding Group A are pit tickets. Thankfully my flight wasn't even full so I had lotsa room and thankfully St. Louis has a decent public transit system so I took the train from Lambert Airport to the Metro stop near my hotel. It was hot and humid but compared to Texas, the weather was innoculous. My hotel which I got cheap through Priceline was in a really nice location. Two blocks from Busch Stadium and the Gateway Arch. I checked into my room and tempted to open the big bottle of Aquafina water despite the $5 charge. Eeek. Instead of my room facing the Arch or Riverfront, it faced this--The Tums Building! I take a really short nap with CNBC going on in the background. I get up and decide to check out The Arch. On my way, I notice this cool memorial to Jack Buck outside Busch Stadium. There's an audio track that's played in the background of all his famous calls. Unfortunately, I don't think it has his awesome "Cardinals need a triple play" prediction call.

The ticket line at the Gateway Arch is too long so I check out the exhibits at the Museum of Westward Expansion. Grab a bag of Wisconsin cheese curds, an Scott oatmeal cookie and John Dough bread at the Levee Mercantile, a vintage store circa the 1870s with workers in 1870s settler costumes and head off to the Pageant--the site of the Interpol show. Unfortunately took the wrong train and had to backtrack.

I finally get to the venue and see around 20 kids waiting outside. I'd read on the Pageant's website that if you're 21 and over, you get early entrance through the Halo Bar. ..MY LIFE WOULD SO ROCK IF EVERY VENUE IN L.A. DID THIS. I get inside the bar and already see a line of 8 at the early admission entrance. I kill some time by ordering an overpriced Red Bull and eating the cheese curds I had bought. Finally the announcement that they're opening doors and to have tickets ready. I don't think they did a bag search, but I knew the venue doesn't allow cameras and I don't think Interpol likes cameras either. I get inside and notice only a few girls at the rail in front of where Paul Banks would be. So I went to the right of them. I notice hardly anyone going to the floor but instead opting to sit at the floor balcony seats which were really long benches with tables. I tell the guy standing next to me this is the greatest venue ever! I find out he and his friends came from Omaha. He was also staying at a hotel in downtown St. Louis. The girl to the left of me starts talking to me. She and her friends (from LA) have been following Interpol to Grand Rapids, Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Kentucky and wherever. She said it's been really rough especially on her because she has been doing all the driving. She seemed a bit out of it and looked like she was ready to pass out before the opening band. I also overheard her tell the security guy that it was almost like they were on tour cuz they'd drive to a new city and start lining up at the venue at 10am.

I don't remember Calla much except that they didn't suck. Wow, the girls on my left were loud. It was great seeing Interpol so close albeit behind a barrier seven feet below. Beats seeing them on a big screen! So glad they did Hands Away and Stella! The girl on my left said they don't play too much off their latest album cuz they haven't worked it out live, but they ended up going 5 OLTA songs. The girls to the left held up a California flag during Heinrich Manuever ("How are things on the West Coast?"). The negatives? Bleh, surrounded by chain smokers :( I've been to out-of-state shows where they smoke but usually it's in between bands. This time there was nonstop smoking during Interpol *sigh* So um...when's St. Louis gonna pass their indoor anti-smoking law?? It looks like I'll miss their Forum show on October 23. Way too big a venue in crappy part of town that I'll have to shell out $22 parking for and probably watch from far away cuz I don't wanna line up super early to be at the rail. I'm a bit upset that Cat Power and her band will be opening the NYC Madison Square Garden show though.

After the show I was disappointed that despite The Metro station being nearby, most people took their cars instead. Unfortunately I was on the wrong platform when my train arrived and had to wait another 20 minutes for the next one to arrive. Making it more suckier was this guy who kept talking to me despite my obvious lack of interest. Thinking back, he did have a sad sob story about leaving the military and his wife and kid in Hawaii cuz he didn't wanna die in Iraq. He kept mentioning he needed to win the lottery to get back to Hawaii. I finally got back to my hotel and ordered the way expensive room service.

I'll get around to writing more about the trip whenever...

The past weekend I tried a trifecta of shows. Way brief nonsensical summaries below:

Aug. 17, 2007 The Buzzcocks @ Spaceland. First time I've actually gone to Spaceland alone. Due to previous experiences, I've been very hesitant to shows there alone. Weird seeing a mosh pit at Spaceland!

Aug. 18, 2007 Dramarama & buncha 80s bands @ HOB Sunset. Thanks to soccer_mom56 for the free tix, drink, food and Sunset Blvd. parking tip! Thankfully Flock of Seagulls got moved after Dramarama, the only band of the night I wanted to see. Finally got to hear "Haven't Got a Clue" which I don't recall played the previous three times I saw them. Lead singer Real Life was some sort of last minute addition, but it may as well have been a bad cover band cuz even "Send Me An Angel" didn't sound too good. A JDate event was happening at the restaurant and a lot of them ended up at the concert.

Aug. 19 Tofu Festival @ Little Tokyo. Not sure if I would wanna go again, though I learned a lot this year to avoid the pitfalls I made. Food was, at best, OK. The Korean tofu salad was decent, tofu pizza was whatever, BBQ tofu could have used 6 hours more of marinating or at least come with any sauce, tofu cheescake w/ raspberry sauce was OK but it had no crust, the sweet potatoe pie with tofu topping would have been better off without the tofu topping which added no flavor nor a smooth consistency, iced soy chai latte was OK but seemed watered down. I do like tofu bread though. The consistency is so soft! Wanted to try more dishes but my stomach couldn't handle the mostly other greasy offerings. I did learn, though, that if your sumo thong (called a mawashi) falls off, you automatically lose the match! So I guess that's why this happened to Mashimaro :( Oh, also saw someone using a Keroppi umbrella!! Need to upload photos...

Aug. 19, 2007 Blonde Redhead w/ Midnight Movies @ The Glass House. It's always an adventure when you show up the night of a SOLD OUT show without a ticket. Being this was the 909, there weren't any scalpers to be seen. I saw the band walking around the venue and would have asked them if they had an extra ticket but felt sorta embarassed I didn't know their names. The lead singer had her little dog with her. Some chick had the balls to ask for $35 in front of the security people in front of the venue. Even with Ticketbastard charges, a ticket comes to only $25. She did come down to $25 but I only wanted to pay $20 (face value) and she wouldn't budge on the $25, told me "good luck" and went to other people who needed a ticket. Not too long though a guy offered me his extra ticket for what he paid $25. I was willing to pay that since he wasn't trying to make a profit but I asked for $20 and got it.

I didn't care too much for Blonde Redhead when I saw them 2.5 years opening up for Interpol. artgalgenius, are you out there?? But I really like 23 and I heard their recent shows drew heavily on it. Thankfully for me, this was true. I think the setlist consisted entirely of 23 except four songs. It was funny when during one of the few times the lead singer spoke (with Japanese accent), she said they liked playing here [The Glass House]...such a strange town--deserted yet  we all show up out of nowhere. I guess you have to attend a show there to know what she meant. Also funny when a buncha people began shouting out requests and security guard remarked no one was screaming "FREEBIRD!!!" I think I may see them with Autolux at the Wiltern but I dunno...the intimacy would be lost. I heart you Glass House!!

Dallas. The part of the trip I was least looking forward to. Turned out I had good reason.

( Austin Airport rules! )

( Meh, Dallas )

( The clusterfuck that is The Granada Will Call )

( The Concert )

Side note: "The Middle" hit it big in 2002 yet somehow Jimmy Eat World fans are still half my age!

This is way too long but whateva.

( The ExpressJet flight )

( I RODE THE DILLO )

( The clusterfuck that is Emo's )

( The concert )

( I guess everything is bigger in Texas )

Right now I'm at The Pageant in St. Louis for Interpol. Oh my gawd, this has got to be the greatest venue EVER! First off, early admission thru the Halo Bar if you're 21 and over! When I got to the venue I saw around 25 kids waiting outside. When I got inside the bar, around 7 hanging around the early entrance door. When doors opened, most of the oldies went straight to the balcony seating on the floor. Yes there is balcony seating on the floor! Imagine a rectangle with a stage on one side and long tables with chairs on all three sides in tiers. The floor is around the size of the Troubadour's. Unfortunately the stage is just as high as the Granada's but there's a rail a few feet away so I won't be looking up Paul Banks's left nostril. I'm at the rail in between where Paul and Carlos D will be. What's funny is that the girls to the left of me are from LA too and have been following Interpol driving around to Indianpolis, Grand Rapids, Milwaukee and Kentucky. They also know the roadies names. The guy on the right drove from Nebraska. Apparently they started letting in the people under 21 and they're on the floor probably pissed about the early entrance policy. Unfortunately it's getting crowded up front. One thing I don't like about these out-of-state shows is that smoking is allowed inside venues :(

I think I'm gonna try to wake up tomorrow and take the 8:20am tram to The Arch and get back to the hotel before the 12pm checkout time. I'm staying at The Millenium which is near The Arch and Busch Stadium. Got it pretty cheap thru Priceline as I did with the hotels in Austin and Dallas. Too bad I hardly spend any time inside them which is probably a good thing.

I actually went to a Ticketmaster outlet. With the convenience of Ticketmaster.com, this seemed unfamiliar until I remembered Ticketmaster outlets were the only place to buy tickets back in the pre-internet days. Ticketmaster outlets themselves seem to be a dying breed with the closure of Tower Records and Robinsons May, but luckily there's a Ritmo Latino about a mile away from me. But instead I went to what I thought was a dead animal--Wherehouse Records. It was next to the Trader Joe's I usually frequent which is near my LASIK eye center.. I usually prefer to buy at the venue's box office to save on service charges, but these particular friggin' venues don't sell advance tix. I'll get to that later.

Anyhow, it turns out I saved tons of money buying from the outlet compared to Ticketmaster.com. Being the analytical person I am, I created this spreadsheet.

Yay, Ticketmaster started using actual read-able passwords! Meh, thought I was going to the free Chris Cornell outdoor show but noticed it conflicts with Kaiser Chiefs @ The Henry Fonda which I already got tix for. Thanks eu_splinched! I got your note a few hours after I found out :( I guess I can go to the taping, then make it in time for the Chiefs assuming Hollywood Blvd traffic isn't too bad and I can find parking. I can't believe I didn't know Günther played UCSB!!! What I'd do to see the "Ding Dong Song," "Teeny Weeny String Bikini" and "Tutti Frutti Summer Love" performed live with The Sunshine Girls. Damnit UCLA, USC!! Bring Günther to your campuses!!

Anyway....

Coachella Day 1 - April 27, 2007

I actually thought Day 1 had the best lineup of any of the days, but turned out to be the least interesting day for me. Prior to Coachella, I went to 3 shows in a row in three days (Nightwatchman aka Tom Morello, Jet) including the Jesus and Mary Chain @ The Glass House the day before. Only got 4 hours of sleep the night before since I had to pack and some other crap before I left for Indio. Alex's flight arrived around 1am on Friday so she didn't get much sleep either.

The Noisettes. Surprisingly, the tent was full. Already saw them with TV on the Radio last month and according to Alex, they're opening up for Bloc Party. They sounded pretty good but I don't remember much.

Tokyo Police Club. We made our way to the front and got about 4 rows back in the center. Unfortunately we were next to some stoners, one of whom was hitting on a cute, short blonde girl who looked creeped out. Right before Tokyo Police Club got on-stage a bunch of their stoner friends forced their way next to them so by the time the band started they started a friggin' mosh pit. So I stuck my elbow out in case anyone came near. TPK sounded pretty good. Their live show reminds me of fellow Canadians The Arcade Fire when they started banging drumsticks on random stuff and shouting out backup vocals. Looking forward to seeing them in, hopefully, a cooler and smaller environment @ The Troubadour on July 25 (my birthday!).

In hindsight I think we should have stuck around in the tent for Tilly and the Wall. We probably could have made it to the rail. But we left, collected empty water bottles for free bottled water, got some stuff to eat, checked out some of the attractions including some lame tented circular walkway that kept getting smaller and smaller as you walked. To my chagrin, my hat got knocked off and no way was I in a mood to crawl on my hands and knees near the end.

Silversun Pickups. We headed to the main stage where we planned to stay for the rest of the night for Silversun Pickups, Arctic Monkeys, JAMC, Interpol and maybe Bjork. Unfortunately learned that it sucks watching stuff on the Main Stage!!! The barrier is a good 20 feet or more from the stage; it's nearly impossible to get to a part of the rail where you can get a good view of the stage due to hardcore fans staying put/not leaving; and if you're not at the rail it only takes one person guy taller than you to obstruct your view. We watched Silversun Pickups from maybe 8 rows back on the left side. The main stage is not the place to see SSPU. I've seen them a few times before and they're much better in more intimate environments. I started yawning in the middle of their set which wasn't a good sign of things to come.

Arctic Monkeys. We moved in even closer and toward the middle..maybe 6 rows but more toward the center. Unfortunately lots more folks crowding in too. I disliked the Arctic Monkeys first album and I was less than impressed with them live at the Wiltern (I only went cuz We Are Scientists was opening). But I actually liked their new single Brianstorm and I think I actually like their latest album to my chagrin. Alex and I both started yawning during their set. Guess lack of sleep really caught up to us. The Monkeys sounded pretty good, the crowd was a bit dead probably due to standing in the friggin' 100+ degree heat, and Alex Turner looked pretty cute even with the turned up collar. Sadly due to taller people I could only see him on the big screen. He seemed somewhat self-depricating noting that this section was moving and then after a song or two noticing that another section of folks moving too. Still couldn't keep me from yawning though.

LOTS more people start crowding in. After Arctic Monkeys, I really wanted to leave, get something to keep me awake and enjoy the rest of the night from a far where there'd be SPACE. Plus, I already saw JAMC front row the night previous and knew their live show wasn't gonna keep me from yawning. As for Interpol, unless you're up front close to the stage, you won't see much except for colored stage lighting and smoke. And my hunch was that the hardcore fans would not leave their spots up front (turned out to me right). So Alex and I left leaving Keith alone who wanted the experience of seeing Interpol up close (Alex and I already have several times).

We got some food. She LOVED the falafel wrap. I got some garlic fries and some blended $5 mocha drink which was so watery I wonder if they put any caffeine in it. As we were leaving the restroom trailers, my friend noticed Cameron Diaz and Kelly Osbourne passing us. I didn't notice them, but oh well.

Jesus and Mary Chain. We ended up lying down on some grass far away. I sorta moved when they did "Head On" but afterward sorta dozed off as did Alex. I did wake up in time to see Scarlett Johansson on the big screen and woke up Alex.

Interpol. Yay, haven't seen them in almost 1.5 years! They started off with a new song, then went into Obstacle 1 which got me moving. I opted to sit and lie down instead of watching the big screens. Alex and I were "wtf?!" when we saw Carlos D's new look. It was really good to see hear them back. And they sounded good. It was really loud during JAMC, but Interpol sounded just right...not too loud, not too muffled like RATM. But too short! They didn't even do PDA which they used to play all the time!!! But I don't mind using "Not Even Jail" as a closer but will miss the routine of them smoking during the interlude and when Daniel does the BGVs.

We met up with Keith at our designated meeting place. He said he got maybe 6 rows back and saw Paris Hilton on the bench between the stage and barrier. Surprisingly I bumped into a co-worker. Outta 60,000 people, it was weird to bump into someone I know, especially a co-worker.

Bjork. So we try to find a good spot to watch Bjork but it was way too crowded everywhere to see the stage so we had to rely on the big screens. Friggin' big screens kept showing neon hands and soundboard lights and once in a while showed what was on stage. WTF?! This would have been OK in a theatre setting where you could see what was going on stage; but I think only 1/4 of the people there could see the stage. So we left after 1.5 songs.

Day 3 presented a conflict between The Mojave Tent (The Kooks, CSS, Klaxons) versus The Outdoor Theatre (Mando Diao, Kaiser Chiefs, Placebo). In the end I was won out by the argument that Placebo doesn't play the U.S. that much and CSS and The Klaxons will be back in LA eventually.

The Kooks. Due to yet another one-hour wait for food at another fine Indio restaurant establishment, we weren't able to make it in time for Mando Diao at 2:15pm. So after scrounging through trash bins for our daily bottle water supply, we headed over to the Mojave Tent where we caught two songs by Tapes 'n Tapes who sounded OK but nothing too memorable. Then we moved in closer (maybe 6 rows back?) for The Kooks who were surprisingly entertaining. But wow, was it steamy hot in there.

Against Me! So we give up seeing Explosions in the Sky and Rodrigo y Gabriela to position ourselves better for Kaiser Chiefs and Placebo. Not that I hate Against Me! I saw them open up for Jimmy Eat World and Green Day back on October 8, 2005 and they weren't bad. The crowd was apathetic towards them back then. But on this day, their fans definitely showed up--starting a mosh pit and spontaneously crowd surfing, to my dismay using my shoulders to climb on top :\  My friend Alex had enough and left for safer grounds which left Keith and I to fend for ourselves. I was hoping some of the people at the rail would be leaving after Against Me! But ugh...hardly anyone left. Keith was able to get a rail spot on the left side facing the stage so I followed. I talked to the middle-aged guy next to me whom I realized I see at a lot of local LA shows as he was talking about shows I too had attended. I guess the sunglasses and hat disguised him (and me).

Kaiser Chiefs. Fun show, from certain angles Ricky Wilson sorta looked like a more energetic Josh Homme. He did ANYTHING to entertain the crowd like climbing the scaffold and stagediving. But the crowd seemed meh to me. I guess they were waiting for Placebo? I managed to get their setlist, but gave it to Keith since he gave me The Fratellis setlist and was probably the bigger KC fan. Oh, some photographer stood on the bench attached to the barrier for a few songs thereby obstructing people's views. When he left, middle fingers were thrown and certain un-nice words were said.

Placebo. I know maybe a handful of Placebo songs, but wow they were awesome live. Something about Brian Molko's voice and darkness blanketing the stage. I was enjoying the show so much I even made space for this short girl who had been trying to squeeze onto the rail. Props to having a female roadie (I think she was Brian's guitar tech). They ended with a nice cover of the Kate Bush classic "Running Up That Hill." After Placebo, everyone was crowding in trying to get closer to the stage...for Air?!?! Two French guys?? We made a speedy exit by jumping the barrier and meeting Alex on the outside. I suck at jumping over barriers, BTW.

The Teddybears. Teddy bears are normally cute, but these were creepy. They had an interesting video on the projection screen which consisted of Teddybear heads inserted into different movies such as A Clockwork Orange, Taxi, Scarface while a different rapper or singer came out for each song. I think there were a couple guys with big Teddybear heads on playing guitar and bass but we were so far in the back we couldn't see them clearly. It looked pretty fun but we were swept into RATM fever and left after 5 songs to find a place to watch Rage.

Rage Against the Machine. I knew I wanted to be far away from the "action." It's one thing to experience it with 2200 other guys at the Wiltern, but 60,000 with the real deal? No way!!! We ended maybe 20 yards from the soundboard which meant we couldn't see the stage so we relied on the big screens. People in our section were pretty cool except this drunk-off-his-ass guy who kept falling over everyone pissing everyone off. I had enough and out of character screamed at the guy. He tried apologizing to me but he was so drunk he kept apologizing to someone else. Eventually his friends escorted him out before a fight would erupt.

At the end of "Renegades of Funk," we thought it amusing Zack was doing the "rerh rerh rerh rerhh rerhh" part (I thought it was suppose to be Tom Morello's guitar!) while Tim C sang "we're the renegades of funk!, we're the renegades of funk!!" The sound during RATM sucked!!!! It sounded extremely muffled and wasn't even loud enough which seemed weird when I recalled how loud JAMC and RHCP were. People were even screaming "LOUDER!" So the experience wasn't as epic as it should have been.

I'd start writing about Day 1, but I'd get bored. So here's Day 2.

The Cribs. After scrounging through trash cans for our daily supply of bottled water, we walked to the Mojave tent where we caught a few songs from The Cribs. They were OK, but their songs weren't anything special nor memorable.

The Fratellis. As all the Cribs fan were leaving, we moved closer to the stage. Then there was a sudden big push in front of me. I went with the flow and ended up with a rail spot on the left side facing the stage. UNFORTUNATELY, the camerawoman who was filming on the front left side of the stage became a cameraman and completely obstructed my view of The Fratellis lead singer. Man, I was pissed. Well, at least it sounded good. My friend noticed a crumpled piece of paper on the stage and asked a security person to grab it for him. Turned out to be The Fratellis setlist which he later gave me since I was the bigger fan.

Hot Chip. Thankfully the cameraman left!!! Unobstructed view of the stage = luxury at Coachella!!! Wasn't sure what to expect for Hot Chip. Electronic dance music doesn't make the best live performances. But wow, they got the tent moving! It got so hot and sweaty with all the bodies moving so close to each other. Here's a crappy photo I took.

Peter Bjorn and John. Very cute with their Swedish accents and feeling quite uncomfortable in the heat. I think almost half their set was from their first two albums to which I hadn't gotten around to listening.

It sucked to leave our prime spots but sucked even more that we were hearing The Decemberists as we were walking to the restroom trailers. What was cool about staying in the tent for 4 bands in a row was that was 4 hours we weren't standing in the hot sun!

Arcade Fire. We caught a couple of songs from Kings of Leon who sounded really good. Hadn't seen them since 2003 Inland Invasion and never got around to seeing them again. I've been pretty lucky when it comes to seeing Arcade Fire live. I saw them at The Troubadour back in January 2005 and was in the pit to see them at Inland Invasion. Even caught a drumstick from Win! So it sucked to be far away from the stage and rely on the big screens. My friend Alex and I ended up lying down on the grass and chilling while Keith tried to inch closer to the middle. Arcade Fire still sounded great. Looking forward to seeing them from much closer at the Greek Theatre.

LCD Soundsystem. Ended up lying down outside the tent during LCD. We could hear the Red Hot Chili Peppers even though we were probably at the farthest end from the main stage. Damn, were RHCP loud. LCD sounded good from what I could remember when I was conscious. And I think I remember hearing "Daft Punk..." and "North American Scum."

The Rapture. We actually entered the tent for this one. Didn't matter where we were since it became one big super fun dance party which made me forget we were skipping out on The Good The Bad The Queen. The lead singer staged dive THREE times!

( Here are some crappy photos of Peter Bjorn and John behind the cut. )

First off, the 10-for-1 recycling is GENIUS. When we'd get inside the venue, we'd dig through trash cans and quickly get 50-70 bottles which we redeemed for our whole water supply for that day. Probably ended up saving $10-14 per day. And it was quite fun scrounging through trash cans. My friend Alex has a photo of me with a big bag of bottles *cringes* Speaking of going through trash cans...I bought really cheap 3-day passes off Ebay. Unfortunately the friggin' seller neglected to state they were TICKETFAST tickets and charged up the a-hole for shipping. Thankfully we found real ticket stubs in trash cans next to where tickets were being scanned. Hey, we were going through trash cans for empty bottles anyway!

The drive to/parking at the venue wasn't too bad. We thought we were fucked Saturday night when we were in our parking spot for 10 minutes with none of the cars perpendicular to us were moving. Then we saw a car--all of a sudden--leave the line of cars. We followed it and it turned out to be a WAY speedier way out. We thought we'd be fucked too on Sunday with EVERYONE leaving right after RATM. But thankfully, we were in a smaller parking lot and in no time we were out of there.

But the walk to the venue is quite brutal in over 100 degree temps. I learned to bring something to drink for the one mile walk or so.

Here's who we ended up seeing:

Friday
The Noisettes (5 songs?)
Tokyo Police Club
Silversun Pickups
Arctic Monkeys
Jesus and Mary Chain
Interpol
Bjork (1.3 songs)

Saturday
The Cribs (3 or 4 songs)
The Fratellis
Hot Chip
Peter Bjorn John
Kings of Leon (2 songs)
Arcade Fire
LCD Soundsystem
The Rapture

Sunday
Tapes 'n Tapes (2 songs)
The Kooks
Against Me!
Kaiser Chiefs
Placebo
The Teddybears (4 songs)
Rage Against the Machine