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Web Exclusive: Coachella Weekend Overview

(Empire Polo Fields, Indio, Calif.; 60,000 capacity; $85 per day, $249 three day pass)

By DAVID LEWIS

Jarvis Cocker performed a brief, but rousing set Friday at Coachella.

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Presented by Goldenvoice. Reviewed April 27 - April 29, 2007.

The problem with such massive festivals (Coachella offers five stages) is, of course, you can't see everything. Still, if you persevere, you can catch a LOT of music. A late arrival Friday (due to the unbearable traffic jam -- they really need to do something about the bottleneck) meant missing Noisettes, Brother Ali and Tokyo Police Club. And various scheduling conflicts caused a serious lack of Ratatat, Cornelius and Nickel Creek in my weekend. Furthermore, a desire to beat the post-Rage traffic on Sunday meant skipping Spank Rock and only catching a handful of Lemonheads songs (which included a verse of Blondie's "Dreaming").

Among the bands I actually saw, LCD Soundsystem was the best of the fest. They really got the crowd (a good mix of dancers and punkers) moving, and had thousands chanting their simple and effective choruses. Ex-Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker was hilariously deadpan, noting how refreshing Coachella's dryness was compared to the rain and sludge of the typical Brit festival. Other highlights included Tapes 'n Tapes (who had sharpened their sound considerably since their breakthrough 2006 club shows). Likewise, Silversun Pickups' busy touring schedule has definitely increased their overall musicianship and stage presence.

The only disappointments came on the outdoor stage. New Pornographers, while always a welcomed blast of power pop energy, just aren't the same without the mega-powerful voice of Neko Case. Wu-Tang pioneer Ghostface Killah wasn't able to translate the power of his two most recent albums to a live setting. Instead, he sleepwalked through short snippets of tunes, and spent a lot of time hyping the crowd and searching for suitably sexy female dancers. And, through no fault of his own, Willie Nelson's main stage set was way too quiet.

Coachella is (usually) a well-oiled machine, with the majority of bands starting on time and with relatively few sound and tech issues. France's Air and Jarvis Cocker seemed to be the only groups that really fell behind schedule all weekend. Both Manu Chao and Rage started right on time, which is quite a feat considering the size and scope of the event.

One of the best pastimes at Coachella is T-shirt watching. Rock fans still love Classic Rock That Really Rocks, as evidenced by the myriad Led Zep, Pink Floyd and AC/DC shirts. Other popular bands (excluding the ones playing the fest) seemed to be Tool, the Stooges and Bad Brains.

After nearly a decade, Coachella had finally gone green, offering some nifty hands-on environmental contraptions (charge your phone while you ride a stationary bike!) and a highly successful recycling program: Gather 10 empties, and you get a free bottle of water. After the Red Hot Chili Peppers' Saturday set, the line for this promotion had to be at least 250 people long, and the ground was noticeably cleaner. It seems odd however that a large-sized SoCal music fest with such a strong left wing bent didn't offer such Earth-friendly amenities before.

The 100-plus degree heat is tolerable as long as you are mentally prepared for it, especially with the aid of water and $3 Gatorades, but the lack of shade remains a problem. Luckily, the grounds don't really start to fill up until late afternoon. The best way to beat the heat (and get your money's worth) is to duck into a tent early on. There, you can grab some shade, take a breather and catch some music you may not have otherwise. Roky Erikson and the Explosives' afternoon set of old-fashioned, stripped down, barn-stormin' garage rock was a perfect refuge from the intense sun and some of the more cluttered-sounding bands.

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