Coachella's 2010 lineup suggested a contemporary energy lacking from the last few years. I mean, sure, Jay-Z is an institutional relic at this point, but you would be hard pressed to find someone who would argue that he's less relevant to popular music today than solo Paul McCartney (blech). And sure, if I had a time machine (working on it) then there's no doubt that I would have traded this year's festival for 2006 featuring the monolithic trifecta of Prince, Daft Punk, and Madonna. But time machine be damned! LCD Soundsystem and Pavement? Sign me the fuck up.
There were a whole lot of winners at this year's festival and some really magical moments. Let's run through them briefly.
Winners:
*LCD Soundsystem jamming with Gossip at the end of their show. Second time I've seen Gossip in six months. They made great choices with their setlist and despite the lackluster reception Music for Men received, the audience was typically enthralled. Hannah has never looked better, and Beth Ditto made funny jokes about John Mayer and John Waters (who had his own act at the festival oddly enough).
*LCD Soundsystem. James Murphy strikes one as the type of musical genius who just doesn't have the time or energy to give a shit about anyone who isn't on his level. What this means is that he strikes you as the type of person it would not be very fun to hang out with. At the same time, dude is a musical genius and he puts on a great fucking show. It's really, really hard to beat rocking out (yeah, I said it) to "Yeah" and "All My Friends" in the desert. Although, James, buddy, you do not need to tell us that you planned on playing three more songs, but only have time for one, and then get pissed off when people express their disappointment in a way that maybe suggests to you a degree of undeserved entitlement but for us is merely a supportive way of showing that we really, really like your band. Just don't say anything next time and problem solved.
*Finally, my personal favorite set of the weekend was a combo. Dancing like a maniac in the Sahara tent to the amazing, dub-ish Flying Lotus (I was practically having visions by the time I left he was such a revelation, and who knew DJs could have a good stage demeanor/presence?) and then high-tailing it to catch Sia's full set from the front row of the Gobi tent. If the former was the best dance party I've been to in quite awhile, the latter represented the ultimate comedown and the best pop vocal show I've seen. Ever. Her live show completely transcends anything she's committed to record (and I like her records). I remember when she first broke out guesting on Zero 7's "Destiny" in 2000 or 2001, singing about watching porn in her hotel dressing gown. She carries that same sense of drama and melancholy while she's singing, but the second she stops bursts out into a fit of giggles and handclaps, talking about how neat it would be to make a collage of dusty boogers. I expected her show to be good, but instead it was transcendent.
Losers
*Mayer Hawthorne comes off like an American Idol cheese-ball without the hooks or vocal prowess.
*Someone ran over three people with a souped-up golf-cart. From what I saw, it looked like the driver thought it was in drive when it was actually in reverse. Very scary, and I hope everyone is okay.
And that's it for the losers! Sorry, Mayer.
Other high-points:
The volcano didn't stop Jonsi from appearing! I really liked Passion Pit even my friends didn't! MGMT didn't play "Kids" but did play "Electric Feel" and their new stuff sounds pretty good live! Sleigh Bells sounded like they had some sound problems toward the end of their set, but the rest was great! Yeasayer and Miike Snow are really popular! Little Boots has great lasers but should let them do the talking because boy is her stage presence grating! I didn't see it but apparently Club 75 is Justice! Pretty Lights was exactly that! Pavement!
0 comments:
Post a Comment