Coachella 2008: A Keyboard Oasis in the Desert

My intrepid girlfriend and I attempted to see as many bands as we could, especially those with keyboards and synths. This proved to be problematic because the sheer size of the place, which contained five separate performance areas (two stages and three tents), which made it difficult to see it all. And from reading other blogs, I realize that some people saw a completely different festival than I did, which is testament to the diversity of acts and the variety of tastes of music fans. That being said, we plotted our course and did the best we could to get to them all. So here’s the breakdown from my own long strange trip:

Coachella Keyboard MVP

That would go to Zach Gill, who deftly manned the piano, Wurlitzer, and Minimoog while accompanying Jack Johnson on Friday night. Gill is a master of discretion, playing understated parts that glued Johnson’s laid-back vibe together. Gill’s role on Johnson’s latest record, Sleep Through the Static, is the most keyboard-prominent of Johnson’s music and he has become a strong presence in the live band. Add to that his excellent jam band ALO and his forthcoming solo album (you can hear one of his songs in the closing credits of the hysterical new movie Baby Mama) and you have one exceptional dude. The fact that he’s a nice guy and enjoying himself so much is icing on the cake. High point: When Johnson brought Matt Costa out to perform “Let it Be Sung,” they each took a verse on lead vocals. When Gill came in singing lead on the third verse, it was as if all three musicians were of equal status. Props to Johnson for being egoless in giving Gill his moments to shine and for sharing the spotlight so effortlessly. Gill deserves to be heard and seen and Jack knows it!

Best Unexpected Surprise

That would be a tie between Calvin Harris and Mark Ronson, the latter of whom produced Amy Winehouse (among others) and is breaking out on his own. Though I had heard of Ronson before, Harris was a stumbled-upon discovery and we found ourselves swept up in his electro-disco synth grooves. He had a backup keyboard player jamming along, but Harris himself made extensive use of a strange looking electronic item that we couldn’t get close enough to identify. Check the pics on the livefrom.musicplayer.com site and let us know if you can sleuth it out! Ronson’s set featured some great guest stars including upstart Tawiah singing the catchy “Pretty Green” followed by Kaiser Chiefs singer Ricky Wilson, who performed his group’s outstanding “Oh My God,” which rocked the house. Ronson’s band was amazing and although we didn’t get the name of his keyboard player, the man rocked a real Clavinet on a real B-3. Kudos for the authenticity! Great set, showcasing Ronson’s abilities to go beyond producer to front man and performer. Extra kudos to Cinematic Orchestra’s dual keyboard players who brought their exotically funky music to life.

Best Non-English-Speaking Band

One of the liveliest performances of the weekend was a well-received afternoon set from Mexican rockers Cafe Tacuba, whose fierce blend of styles and unique vocals were matched with their enthusiasm onstage and their funked-out dance moves. Even if you don’t speak a word of Spanish, it’s hard not to be moved by Cafe Tacuba’s music and the sheer excitement of the adoring audience. Keyboardist/guitarist Meme del Real was in fine form and the band just plain rocked. I had been a fan since I first heard the classic Avalanche de Exitos disc and this was my first time seeing them live. It surely won’t be the last!

Best Non-Keyboard Band

That would have to go to the Verve, who played a great set on Friday night. Richard Ashcroft’s voice was in fine shape and the band was tight. Hearing the opening of “Bittersweet Symphony” accompanied by the roar of the crowd gave me chills. Great to see these guys back in action! The song “The Drugs Don’t Work” was a great thrill to hear and see live, too.

Most Packed Tent

That would go to synth darlings Hot Chip, who jammed the Mojave tent until it spilled over onto the fields beyond. We couldn’t get close to the stage, but you could feel the grooves from the back and the dance factor was high for the whole crowd. If this is the evolution of new wave, I’m in. When Alexis Taylor and crew broke into “Shake a Fist” the crowd responded with arms raised in the air. Between the Nord Lead and Voyager at the front of stage, the synth grooves were boisterous and the crowd rapturous. Though I knew they were hot, I didn’t realize the magnitude of their popularity until I saw that overflowing tent full of fans.

Best Addition of a Keyboard Player

That would go to John Butler Trio, who enlisted Butler’s brother-in-law Michael Caruana to add some tasty keys to their Australian funk and groove music. The multi-talented Butler and his whip-tight rhythm section laid down the jams on an adoring audience, playing songs from their stellar album “Grand National” which climaxed with an incendiary version of “Funky Tonight.” Caruana added just the right amount of keys to make the blend smooth, and his huge smile reflected his excitement to be there.

Biggest Keyboard Shoes to Fill

For Jon Carin to helm a career-spanning set of Pink Floyd music at the Roger Waters show was to sit in a mighty chair. Next to him sat Roger Water’s son Harry Waters on the B-3, though Carin seemed to be “first chair” on the gig, with both men bringing Richard Wright’s keyboard parts to life and faithfully reproducing some truly legendary recordings. Hearing classic songs like “Have a Cigar” and “Shine on, You Crazy Diamond” plus the entire Dark Side of the Moon album in its entirety was truly amazing. Kudos to both Carin and Waters for recreating some of the most iconic music of the festival.

Best Synth Sounds Live

Sure, we give Kraftwork credit for bringing synthesizers and electronic music into the mainstream and giving birth to techno and electronica. But hearing their set on the main stage, we were impressed with the clean fidelity of their synth sounds, from metallic percussion to huge pure wave tones. Their video show was pretty cool, seeing as how they don’t move at all onstage and provided the audience with some visual video stimulation. Songs such as “Robots,” “Trans Europe Express,” and the Coldplay-stolen “Computer Love” sounded otherworldly and gave the night a strange science fiction mood. Every other purveyor of electronic music at Coachella sounded like a direct descendent of Kraftwork’s oeuvre. The second half of their set attained legendary status, finishing with a bumping “Boing Boom Tschak” and giving the crowd plenty of synth love.

Best Singalong

There were so many singalong moments, they were hard to count. “Bittersweet Symphony”? Check. “Purple Rain”? Check. Sure, you could pick Roger Waters doing “Comfortably Numb” or “Wish You Were Here,”too. And yes, when Morris Day and Jerome came out during Prince’s set to do “Jungle Love,” the crowd gave out an “Owee-owee-oh” that put a huge smile on Day’s face. Heck, Jack Johnson may as well have played to a ten-thousand-person campfire singalong! But personally, hearing Tegan and Sara’s diehard fans singing along with their Canadian heroes put the biggest smile on our faces. We’re huge fans of T&S’s last record The Con and we were singing along ourselves to the whole show so it felt a little more personal than the headliner sets. Had to give this one to the indie queens and their legion of supporters. Side note: after the whole fest was over, it was Tegan and Sara’s songs that kept popping into our heads on the drive home.

Most Rockingest

I had to phrase it that way because My Morning Jacket was kicking out the jams on the main stage on Sunday like nobody’s business. Lead singer and guitar player Jim James was stomping his feet as he and the band gave 110 per cent, and then some. Songs from their breakout record Z got the biggest reaction, with indie songwriter M. Ward sitting in on the popular “Off the Record” and Jim James unleashing his ethereal falsetto on “Wordless Chorus.” Keyboardist Bo Koster and the rest of the band fed off each other’s energy and delivered the goods. Can’t wait to hear their new album!

Most Annoying

That would be the Do Lab, a techno dance space surrounded by trippy sculptures that pumped the bass so loud that it bled into other shows. The stages were hit hardest by this because of their open air proximity, and it became the fly in the ointment of Coachella. Why do we need to hear some techno/house thump mixing into “Wish You Were Here,” “Purple Rain,” or any of the softer songs emanating from the two stages? The organizers of Coachella should take heed and either move the Do Lab far enough away from the stages to take care of the problem or they should put up better walls and limit the volume. Or all three! Banish that tweakhole to the far reaches of the galaxy and let us see bands in peace! Thank you.

Most Rocking DJ Set

French duo Justice, dressed in leather jackets and playing the final set of the festival, surrounded themselves with triple stacks of Marshall cabinets and gave a high-energy finish to the weekend. They started right as Roger Waters ended and as we strolled towards the Mojave tent to catch some of their set, we were passed by a sweaty melange of freaks running in that direction. When we finally got there, the thumping bass and kick drums reverberated through the undulating crowd who still had one last batch of ya-yas to get out. Honorable Mention goes to Junkie XL who equalled Justice in the crowd-rocking, bass-thumping pandemonium category. Justice’s Marshall stacks put them over the rock edge.

Most Overrated

I’m going to give this one to the Raconteurs, who delivered a pretty rocking but generic set that lacked the hits and catchy songs of Jack White’s other act and Brendan Benson’s solo material. I can’t help being a huge fan of Benson’s solo output, as I’ve listened to his debut One Mississippi hundreds of times since it came out; ditto for the White Stripes, whose “Icky Thump” has more impact than anything the Raconteurs could muster either live or on record. The best thing about the Raconteurs is that Jack White is helping turn the public on to Brendan Benson, a star in his own right. White’s Jimmy Page-esque guitar solos were cool, but a little “Icky Thump” would have gone a long way.

Most Unnecessary Use of Cover Songs

That would be Prince, who despite his huge catalog of original music played Radiohead’s “Creep,” the Beatles’ “Come Together,” and — strangely — a Santana medley. Santana? I mean, Prince is one of the most badass guitar players alive, but does he need to rely on covers of Santana instrumentals to prove it? I must admit his choice of “Creep” was cool and if that had been the only cover of the set, it would have been all right. Had he replaced Santana with “I Would Die 4U,” and maybe ditched the Beatles for “When Doves Cry,” his set would have gone stratospheric. Is it too much to wish for an artist to play his own stuff?

Best Guest Stars

Sure, you could fawn over M. Ward sitting in with My Morning Jacket or Matt Costa and Mason Jennings taking turns jamming with Jack Johnson, but the hands-down winners for Best Guest Stars were Morris Day (and Jerome!) performing “Jungle Love” and “The Bird” with Prince, followed by Sheila E’s rousing “Glamourous Life” replete with some amazing timbale soloing. Those three songs, which Prince had a hand in writing, brought the crowd into an ’80s-induced dance party. In fact, the first 20 minutes of Prince’s set might have been better than the whole show overall! All the dance moves were intact and Prince graciously stood side-stage to give his friends the center spotlight.

Best Live Rap

Though rap is often hard to translate to the live stage, we made sure to catch master wordsmith Aesop Rock, whose trippy wordplay captivated his fan-filled crowd. If you’ve never heard (or heard of) Aesop Rock, check out his music and see why he is the king of underground hip-hop and rock. What a flowmaster!

Most Virtuostic Performance

Watching Prince solo on guitar was revelatory. If many casual fans think of him as just a great songwriter and singer, they were delivered proof of his guitar greatness all throughout his set. There were times when the huge screens flanking the stage showed just his hands playing and had the cameras panned up to show Hendrix’s face, we wouldn’t be surprised. Prince could qualify for one of the best and most diverse guitar players alive.

Biggest Downer

Though the buzz was high for their reunion performance, Portishead delivered one of the more depressing sets of the festival. Beth Gibbons’ voice is a wondrous instrument that conveys a harrowing sorrow and emotional depth. But after three songs, we had to move on to happier places so as not to slit our wrists in despair. I surely never have to read The Bell Jar again! But had we not wandered away from Portishead, we never would have discovered the excellent Calvin Harris in the Gobi tent. Small blessings, big rewards. The crowd of Portishead fans would tell you different, but the overall vibe was bleak and dark. Compared to that, the next set by Prince was a virtual explosion of purple positivity!

Best Show of the Show

It was a little tricky to pick a winner out of all the stellar sets performed at Coachella. Every band seemed to bring its A-game and wanted to put on that legendary festival performance that gets talked about for years (with the rare exceptions of a sloppy set by the Breeders and the lack-of-personality blandness inherent to Death Cab for Cutie). But for sheer spectacle, coupled with legendary music, no one (Prince included) could touch Roger Waters, who performed in surround sound and blew every mind in the place. Opening with The Wall’s “In the Flesh” and cycling through both well-known hits (“Shine on You Crazy Diamond,” “Wish You Were Here,” “Another Brick in the Wall”) and album cuts that gave chills to even casual fans (“The Fletcher Memorial Home,” “The Final Cut,” “Sheep”) Waters sounded in fine form and the band and vocalists nailed their parts all around. Add to that the giant accidentally-flying pig on Pink Floyd’s “Pigs” from the Animals album, tons of stunning video, lights, and Lili Haydn performing David Gilmour’s “Comfortably Numb” solo on violin, and you’ve got a classic show. Now top it off with a complete run through of the Dark Side of the Moon record and do it all in surround sound. Hearing “On the Run” in surround sound took the audience places that drugs could only hint at, and as various sounds swept across and around the crowd, many brains were instantly scrambled and reassembled. Roger Waters’ set will be hard to beat for future Coachella headliners but it will sure be fun watching them try!

One last thing

Having read other reviews of the show, I’m amazed at how differently people saw some of the same performances. If you were there and you disagree with any of my categorizations, good for you! Everyone has their own opinion and I hope that by giving you some of my own observations, you could appreciate some of the acts that you didn’t see or reconsider some of the acts you may have written off. Reading a number of glowing reviews of the Raconteurs didn’t make me enjoy their set any more, but I do realize that Jack White is a huge rock star and people seem to love anything he does (though I get the nagging feeling that had he gone on stage and farted klezmer music into a microphone, those same people would have hailed him as brilliant). Hope to see you there next year; in the meantime, go check out some of the artists you haven’t heard of and reinvestigate the ones you have. I’m going to go catch some waves in the ocean and be glad that on this stretch of sand, there’s some cool relief from the heat!

For photos, visit livefrom.musicplayer.com 

For video clips from fans, visit www.youtube.com/keyboardmag1