Written by Robbie Gennet, Keyboard senior contributor.
As your intrepid reporter on all things Keyboard, Iheaded to
the desert to bear witness to all the coolest keyboard-related activities I
could find. Having been to previous Coachella and Phish weekends at the Polo
Fields in Indio, California, my girlfriend and I were prepared for broiling sun, teeming
masses, and a lot of hustling from stage to stage to catch all the bands, while looking for sources of water
and pizza along the way. As always, it’s impossible to see all the bands we
want to see, and some hard choices needed to be made regarding how we scheduled
ourselves. We chose as judiciously as possible and still managed to miss some
favorites. But we also caught some unexpected gems and that is part of what
makes being there a can’t miss experience. Luckily for you, we did all the hot
and sweaty work; you can search for all of these bands in the cool comfort of
your own couch. All of them can be easily heard on Myspace and YouTube and who
knows? You may even find a new favorite band.
FRIDAY
We arrived mid-afternoon Friday and got stuck in some pretty thick
traffic. This year, there were backups at every possible intersection and some
severely understaffed entrances and exits that bottlenecked cars for literally
hours. Missing some of the early acts, we vowed to arrive even earlier on
Saturday. All that being said, we caught some wicked ska from the Specials, one
of many interesting retro acts on the bill this year. From there we dashed to
the Gobi tent to catch the legendary Gil Scott-Heron, who was set up front and
center at a vintage Rhodes, accompanied by only a second keyboard player and a
sax/flute player. Heron’s deep, resonant voice practically reached out and
hugged us, enveloping the crowd as he laid down the soul from a deep, deep
place. It is awesome seeing someone who spent years out of the limelight get so
much love from the crowd. Later that night, LCD Soundsystem’s frontman James
Murphy dedicated their set to Heron, showing reverence and paying homage.
Beautiful!
We caught a little bit of Pretty Lights rocking a tent full of
grooving party animals but had to leave early because we didn’t want to miss
Them Crooked Vultures, who were playing all the way the other side of the Polo
Field. The pairing of John Paul Jones, Dave Grohl, and Josh Homme felt like one
of those rock royalty events that one didn’t want to miss. However, as with
most expectations that high, the band didn’t match the buzz. When you have such
a rich and varied discography as these three, you’re up against a stack of amazing
songs. Add that extra layer of expectation because of the cool pairing
(“Zeppelin! Foo Fighters! Queens of the Stone Age!”) and it’s near impossible
to live up to it. It’s really a compliment to the fact that they’ve struck gold
so many times before that they set a really high bar for their music.
We scooted over to the Outdoor stage to catch a newly refreshed Echo
and the Bunnymen, who looked and sounded as if they’d never stopped rocking.
Ian McCulloch’s brooding presence reminded everyone that without him, Liam
Gallagher wouldn’t have known who to mimic onstage. It was great seeing some of
these now-classic ’80s bands on the bill. Next year I’ll expect Haircut 100
rocking “Favourite Shirts” or Alphaville unleashing “Forever Young” to a neon
crowd. We left the Bunnymen early to get a good spot for one of our faves, LCD
Soundsystem. James Murphy is highly adept at making everyone within listening
range start to dance, and his band was super-tight. It was excellent to see
some electronic acts using real bands instead of beat machines and
tracks—hiring musicians is always a great way to support the arts! Though LCD
didn’t give us the “North American Scum” we were most hoping for, they grooved
out something fierce on tunes like “All My Friends,” “Us v Them” and the
powerful set closer “New York, I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down.” Murphy
claims this is a final album and tour but we hope he’s kidding.
We sadly couldn’t make it all the way to see Imogen Heap in the
Mojave tent so we opted for a nearby taste of Vampire Weekend at the Outdoor
Theater. The band was very upbeat and poppy and a lot of fun for the adoring
crowd. Yet the main event awaited: Jay-Z. As Vampire Weekend finished, the flow
of people over to the main stage got pretty heavy so we headed over to find a
spot. The Beastie Boys’ “No Sleep ’Til Brooklyn” and the James Bond theme were
part of the anticipatory opening music and a giant video countdown heightened
the excitement factor. When he finally hit the stage, the crowd went nuts. Opening
with “Run This Town,” Jay-Z laid out a slew of hits, plus snippets of a few odd
covers such as Oasis’ “Wonderwall.” He had a large band with full horns, and
the amazing Tony Royster Jr. on drums, so you know the tunes were tight. Again,
major kudos to Jay-Z for using live musicians instead of pre-recorded backing
tracks! About 27 songs into the set, the lovely Beyoncé came out and belted out
the Alphaville-laced “Young Forever” to an adoring crowd. We left to the dulcet
strains of Johnny Rotten and P.I.L., ready for some sleep before the 12-hour
day we were going to attempt on Saturday.
SATURDAY
Saturday started with good intention, as we wanted to get there
super early to catch the amazing band Porcupine Tree, whom I’d never seen live
but was eager to. They were on at 1:35 in the afternoon, an ungodly hour for
any musician to rock outdoors in the desert southeast of Los Angeles, but we
slathered on the sunscreen and hit the road. Though we got to the area early
enough, the traffic navigation was so poor that it took over an hour to get in
the parking lot before the long walk over. Needless to say, we arrived on the
Polo Field just as Porcupine Tree’s equipment was being wheeled offstage—highly
unfortunate. However, we had to soldier on and hiked to the Gobi tent to see
Portugal. the Man. (yes. their name. is spelled. with an extra. period.) This
great band dips into the same acid-spiked inkwell as MGMT and David Bowie—highly
listenable and super-fun. We ran by Jason Bentley’s set for a few minutes
before checking out Scottish pop band Camera Obscura in the Mojave tent. Their
timeless sound and upbeat energy won over the crowd and we dug their tunes a
lot. Keyboard player Carey Lander and singer Tracy-Anne Campbell looked as
stylish as the music sounded, and the band did a great job replicating their
sparkling pop songs live. Lander’s rig was a Roland V-Combo stacked with a Nord
Electro 3, a simple yet elegant solution for the band’s needs.
When Camera Obscura finished (cue rapturous applause) we headed to the
Outdoor Stage based on word of mouth (thanks Donna!) to see Aussie rock
sensation the Temper Trap. Lead guitarist Lorenzo Sillitto doubled on keys, and
the band rode a tight, danceable beat through a set we thoroughly enjoyed. We thought
they would pair well with Phoenix in upbeat singalong/dancing territory. They
were a great warm-up for Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, who stormed the
Outdoor Stage just after 5 P.M. and raised the crowd to the next level with their infectious
music. There were quite a number of people onstage, and the vibe was a kind of
hippie cult sundown celebration, with Mr. Sharpe leaping about the stage and
feeding into the band and crowd’s energy. The crowd seemed extra exuberant and
we saw some excellent expressions of pure joy amidst the grooving throngs. I
wonder how many of them are aware of Sharpe’s former career fronting west coast
glam-slammers Ima Robot? After that set, we grabbed some food and refreshments
and got over to the main stage for one of our favorite bands, Coheed and Cambria—who
did not disappoint. Keyboardist/vocalist Wes Styles rocked a Nord Electro 2 and
Korg Triton pro next to a Minimoog Voyager and the band let loose the prog
metal. The played tunes off their brand new record “Year of the Black Rainbow”
and threw in some earlier hits for the fans as well. The stomping rock epic
“Welcome Home” was the last song and midway though, a full marching band
appeared onstage from the wings and played along to the gargantuan riff.
Watching a dozen tubas headbanging is a rare treat and it sounded absolutely
huge out front. It was great to see some heavier bands at Coachella inject a
little metal into the proceedings. Accordingly, many heads were banged,
including ours. Link to Coheed finale: http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twIxvZjZq1E
Catching our breath from the Coheed closer, we watched a little Hot
Chip over on the Outdoor Stage. Their fans were out and the bands light
keyboard-driven pop appealed to a pretty sizeable crowd. We cut short on Hot
Chip and ran over to the Main Stage so I could get in the photo pit for the
newly reunited Faith No More. Mike Patton, Roddy Bottom, and company came
onstage in dapper suits, with Patton dressed all in red like Satan morphed with
Hugh Hefner. They launched into a sincere cover of the Peaches and Herb hit
“Reunited” before tearing into “From Out of Nowhere.” The band was in terrific
form and their alternative-before-alternative music really holds up well after
all these years. Patton’s voice is still wondrous, the vibe is still strange,
and they still sound ahead of their time. Keyboardist Roddy Bottom had one
M-Audio controller and a MacBook Pro, a nice tight rig for the road, upon which
he duly rocked out. The band was extremely well received by the crowd and
hopefully will expand their Second Coming tour beyond the few east coast dates
they have booked this summer.
After Faith No More, we cruised through the crowds to see MGMT over
on the outdoor stage. Though we hadn’t yet heard much from their new record, we
were pretty psyched to hear our favorite songs from the first album. The band’s
songwriting style incorporates a more adventurous path of chord changes and
psychedelic sounds, though some of the songs tend to wander a bit for the
casual listener. They strike me like a modern day T. Rex: Marc Bolan tried to
break out of basic and common chord changes and lyrical tropes, and much like in
Bolan’s case, the results can be hit-or-miss. When they launched “Electric
Feel” the fourth song in, you could feel the crowd’s elation, and the live performance
duplicated the record’s spaced-out sound quite deftly. They also played the
gargantuan hit “Time to Pretend” but oddly left off “Kids,” which surprised us.
They started losing a little crowd towards the end as their timeslot was going
to overlap main stage headliners Muse and people wanted to get a good spot for
that. And they were surely glad they did, because Muse killed!
I don’t want to gush too much, but damn—Matt Bellamy and his bandmates are talented musicians and
songwriters! Opening with “Uprising,” the first track off of last year’s album The Resistance, Muse rolled out a superb
set list of stadium rock, replete with lasers and lights galore. Sound quality
was excellent and the band performed heroically, with Bellamy’s exceptional
voice resonating across the Polo Field. Older songs like “Time is Running Out”
and “Supermassive Black Hole” balanced well with newer tracks such as “United
States of Eurasia” and “Resistance,” while the closing one-two punch of
“Stockholm Syndrome” and “Knights of Cydonia” was totally epic, leaving the crowd
riled up. What a rock show! At times, it felt like the best of U2, Radiohead,
and Queen all rolled up into a shiny metal wrapper. Muse has established
themselves as global superstars, and rightly so. If you’ve never seen Muse, you
are way overdue!
At the last note of Muse, we wound our way back to the Outdoor stage
for one of the most anticipated acts of the night, the Dead Weather, featuring
Jack White (of the White Stripes) on drums. The screens flanking the stage
played in black and white, which complemented the retro stylings of the band’s
music and wardrobe. Most importantly, they kicked major ass! The band opened
with the Pentagram cover “Forever My Queen” and set about rocking the crowd with
their thick distorted blues riffing and singer Alison Mosshart’s vibey wail.
White did come up front to sing a tune, but seemed more than happy to take a
proverbial back seat to the rest of the band. White’s kit was set up low and
his playing recalled the Mitch Mitchell/Ginger Baker school of classic rock
drumming. The Dead Weather lived up to their hype and then some. The energy and
vibe was akin to early Led Zeppelin performances, leaving us truly satisfied.
From there, our last show was the legendary DEVO in the Mojave tent
and they did not disappoint. The masked men of DEVO manned synth rigs across
the stage, and along with drummer extraordinaire Josh Freese, kicked out the
new wave jams. Their new single “Fresh” sounded right at home with their older
material and it was great hearing both the hits and deeper cuts. No matter how
many times you hear it, “Whip It” is a great live tune! Add to that “Girl U
Want” and “Satisfaction,” throw in “Mongoloid” and “Jocko Homo,” and you have
yourself a party. As the last beats of “Gates of Steel” rang through the cool
desert night, we headed towards the parking lot to attempt to drive home. We caught
a little bit of Sia along the way and heard the thump of Tiesto across the
fields. There was a fair amount of electronic music at Coachella from some
pretty big acts but after awhile, a four-on-the-floor thump with occasional
filter sweeps and stuttering snare fills simply feels like a hammer to the
skull. Hearing groups like LCD Soundsystem and Jay-Z with such stellar live
bands only made the electronic bands sound less soulful by comparison. Not that
the raving ecstasy-fueled dancers seemed to mind or even notice, and there were
certainly a lot of rave-like gatherings along the weekend. Dead center of the
field there stands an electronic dance music area that always seemed packed
with half-naked revelers deep in their own world. My only beef is that the
subwoofer-heavy bass bleeds so heavily into the two main stages—and even the
Gobi tent is ill-placed in the center of the field. Since the attendees didn’t
seem to know or care where they were, perhaps moving the four-on-the-floor
dance are to a more remote corner of the field would alleviate the sound issues
next year. Those of us that were not there to lose our minds on “E” would appreciate being able to
hear the live acts we came to see. ’Nuff said.
A note to the organizers of Coachella: your parking situation
malfunctioned so badly this year that it really detracted from an otherwise
stellar experience. Each night, we sat in the parking lot for hours as we
waited for thousands of cars to bottleneck out of an inadequately managed, one-lane
gate. The poor planning and horrendous traffic jams were unfortunate, and there
were some heated tempers out there. Please craft your battle plan carefully next
year and fix what went wrong, whether it was a lack of traffic management or
just real-time assessment of where things were backing up, so you can relieve
the pressure before it builds up. One last thing—and I hate to gripe, trust me—those
water trucks you had spraying all the dirt lots and paths in the daytime to
avoid dust? Where were they at night when everybody tramped across those same
dusty roads and lots? The air was so full of dust that it was quite difficult
to breathe. We had dust in our eyes, ears, noses. and mouths, and I hate to even
think of what our lungs took in, even though we did our best to cover our
mouths.
SUNDAY
Ah, Sunday, the final day. After two solid days on our feet, we steeled
ourselves for another go-round, excited at some of the acts ahead, including
the elusive Sly Stone and “Cars” synth wizard Gary Numan. Both of those shows
were unfortunately destined for disaster—more on that later. Again with the
traffic, we missed Meyer Hawthorne and Mutemath, who we were hoping to catch.
However, we did catch De La Soul rocking the main stage crowd with a vigorous
set of upbeat hip-hop, which jammed! There were definitely some old-school fans
in the house, but I’m sure a lot of people who weren’t familiar with De La Soul
were pleasantly surprised and happily grooved. From there we sprinted across
the field to see Matt & Kim in the Mojave tent and we were sure glad we
did! The duo played a raucous set, the crowd sang along, and keyboardist Matt
Johnson rocked out on a Roland Juno-G and a vintage Yamaha CS-5 analog synth.
After Matt & Kim, we hit the Gobi tent for an anticipated set by
Florence and the Machine, who didn’t disappoint. Lead singer Florence Welch has
a powerful voice, and she and her band laid down music from the 2010 Brit Awards
Best British Album-winning Lungs.
There was a female keyboard player onstage, whom I think might be named
Isabella Summers, but she had a scarf draped over her rig so I couldn’t tell
what keyboards she was playing. Still, the music sounded good, and Florence and
crew were well received. After a healthy dose of Florence, we ran and caught a
little of Yo La Tengo on the main stage, then ran back across to the Mojave
tent to see Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas fronting his own solo band.
Flanked by two keyboard players, Casablancas laid down an energetic set of ’80s-inspired
New Wave rock, with echoes of Human League-era synth pop mashed with NYC indie
rock. We had to soon peel off to head back to the Gobi tent for some of
Charlotte Gainesbourg’s French pop music and were pleasantly surprised to see a
ton of keyboards onstage, including a vintage Minimoog, a Korg MS-20, and a
cool old Panther transistor organ.
After Charlotte’s grooving set, we caught a little of Sigur Rós
singer Jonsi’s set drifting across the crowd at the Outdoor stage, but I soon
had to get into position for the hugely anticipated Sly Stone set back at the
Gobi tent. I took a bunch of shots of the keyboards during sound check, and the
crowd poured in, cheering wildly for Sly to come out. Onstage, there was a
stage-right rig with a Korg Triton and a Yamaha Motif with a smaller extra
controller on top (I’m assuming that’s Cori Jacobs’ rig). Center-stage for Sly,
there was just a Triton and a smaller Korg with a Vocoder by its side.
Unfortunately, one of Sly’s crew announced that Sly would now be going on after
Little Boots, and the crowd was disappointed. So we ran over to the Outdoor
stage and caught a terrific set by Phoenix, whose keyboard-laced pop-rock got
the packed crowd dancing all over the place. They sounded great and their songs
really held up live. We will definitely be investigating the keyboards of
Phoenix in the not-too distant-future.
At the last note of Phoenix, we navigated the crushing throngs back
to the Gobi tent where Little Boots was about to go on at 8 P.M., pushing Sly even later to 9. Luckily for us, Little
Boots was superb! Her backup band consisted of a drummer and two synth players
(whom I would love to give props to if I could find out their names) playing a
Korg Kontrol49, a Moog Little Phatty, and a Dave Smith Prophet ’08. Upstage on
a drum riser, electropop princess Little Boots (a.k.a. Victoria Hesketh) began
the set seated behind a red Korg SV-1 keyboard before moving front-and-center
to a rig consisting of MiniKorg and Casio synths stacked next to a Yamaha
Tenori-On. She looked cool, sounded great, and the synth-drenched set really
rocked the crowd. My only small complaint was that the front-of-house sound engineer
mixed the bass so heavily that my nostrils and bowels quivered in a
semi-painful way. Still, we had a great time. Afterwards, I asked someone by
the stage about Sly’s set and was informed that now he was postponing I to
10:30 so he could go on at the same time as the headliners Gorillaz. Turns out
he didn’t actually go on until around 11 P.M., but by that time we were gone,
having given up on Sly to see some of Radiohead’s Thom Yorke before the long
drive back to L.A. As usual, Yorke brought the rapture, and his all-star band
was tight, giving the pulsating crowd what they came for. We were sorry to have
missed Gorillaz, but with all the traffic hassles and the lateness of the hour,
we made the decision to head home. If it’s any consolation, we heard the
Gorillaz set was awesome and that the sound was superb as well. Can’t make ’em
all, unfortunately. But for a moment, back to Sly Stone.
After we watched band after band at Coachella profusely thank the
crowd for seeing their set, after countless demonsrations of humility from some
of the biggest bands of the fest, including Jay-Z, and after watching every
artist stick pretty close to their scheduled set times (barring technical
difficulties), it was embarrassing to see Sly purposefully abdicate his downbeat
time not once but twice, then finally come onstage to slouch into an office
chair and deliver a rambling monologue about some lawsuit while the band waited
uncomfortably. For the record, the band sounded awesome. When they did manage
to start a song, it was only at the mercy of Sly remembering the lyrics or just
plain deciding to continue the song. It really pains me to say this, because I
and every other Sly fan were rooting for this opportunity for him to come back
and claim his legacy. He was going into this gig as the recipient of more good will
than perhaps any time since back in the day. Hearing about the second
postponement was akin to that classic moment from Johnny Rotten—who has done
well claiming his own Pistols/P.I.L. legacy—where he asks the Pistols audience
if they at all felt cheated. The disappointment in the air was palpable. In
another. more positive reality, my review should have read like this:
“The crowd is chanting for Sly and a buzz of anticipation courses
through the room. At the stroke of 7 P.M., Sly’s band kicks into the opening
riff of “I Want to Take You Higher” and brings the audience to its feet. Sly
enters stage left to rapturous applause, and struts over to his keyboard rig,
set center stage and glowing amidst the lights shining off of his rhinestone
boots. Cori Jacobs and the band were on it, and as Sly kicked in on keys and
vocals, the music came together to form that legendary sound. For the next 45
minutes, Sly killed, putting every ounce of his soul into song after song,
singing with a deep passion and lifting the crowd ever higher. As the band
kicked into the last song “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin),” Sly
thanked the crowd for showing so much love, and the crowed roared with
approval. The king of funk was back and the music sounded better than ever.”
But that’s not how it was meant to be. Whatever it was that caused
him to decide to postpone the set, it must be pure self-hatred to take an
opportunity like this and blow it like that. Ultimately, we care so much
because we care about the MUSIC, and seeing him do it disservice hurts worse
than not seeing him do it at all. Let’s compare the Sly situation to that of
Gary Numan, who also had a big Sunday night set at Coachella. It was the same
scenario in the sense that a classic artist was jumping into this lineup to
show people why they not only mattered in the first place, but why they matter
NOW. Unfortunately, due to the whole volcanic ash situation in Iceland, he
couldn’t travel here from Europe. Both Gary Numan and Sly Stone missed their
slot, one on purpose, the other not. We can talk about gratitude all day long,
but when it’s absent, it only diminishes the greatness of the art and the
artist.
To conclude, we made it home and survived. We also got some cool
pics which are posted on our Flickr feed at keyboardmag.com/Community so check
’em out and look up some of the bands. For those who have never made the trek
to the Coachella music festival, we hope you’ll consider going next year. Just
bring comfortable shoes, lots of sunblock, and earplugs. And park early! See
you there.
Robbie Gennet
April 20, 2010