Report From the Field From Coachella - #9

It a little bit late but here what is going on at Coachella
including Last night at Coachella from all the L.A. Blog

If you whan to read the Full post see Coachella 07 at the right of the menu.

L.A. Times

Desert dealings, Vol. 4

Perry Farrell and Boots Riley of the Coup joined Tom Morello -- doing business as the Nightwatchman -- in the Gobi Tent during his set of social commentary and heated (I know, how could it be otherwise?) Bush-bashing. The Coup's set on Sunday at the Outdoor Theatre is not to be missed.

The Good, the Bad and the Queen
lurched to late start at the Outdoor Theatre in the final set of Saturday, but the British all-star band more than lived up to its members' lineage. ...

Warmest set of the day? One visitor from New Zealand voted for the Fratellis in the breezeless Mojave Tent. The Scottish trio proved that they are every bit as good as the music on their debut, "Costello Music," yet as in their recent club show in Los Angeles, they failed to engage the crowd. ...

The Rapture sizzled in its evening-ending set in the Sahara Tent, with singer Luke Jenner stage-diving and surfing around the proceedings on the outstretched arms a remarkably energetic dance-punk crowd. ...

The Black Keys parlayed their taut blues rock into a killer late set at the Mojave Tent -- there are not a lot of blues at Coachella, unless you count folks complaining about the heat.

Tapes 'N Tapes 'N trying our patience

There's little to say about Tapes 'n Tapes that Clell Tickle hasn't already, but if these guys are the Best New Music, indie rock's in a world of hurt. The self-consciously quirky guitar-pop quartet was one of last year's more random success stories -- its debut "The Loon" was a deeply unremarkable collection of warmed over Isaac Brock-isms and shoutouts to Harvard Square. Live, they replicated such exactly, dipping into their thin catalog of blog fodder to work a sleepy Mojave tent. When they chilled out a bit on "Ten Gallon Ascots" they were more convincing, but like singer Josh Grier's new fashion mullet, they shot for edgy and ended up as kind of sad

LCD Soundsystem: less cowbell

LCD Soundsystem mastermind James Murphy is the anti-frontman's frontman. He owns the stage with cool charisma instead of hyperactive stunts. So even when he stepped out 15 minutes late, the Saturday night crowd in the Sahara Tent, who'd been whipped into a frenzy by Justice's blistering set, howled in a way befitting Murphy's status as the doyen of dance-punk.

Grizzly Bear learns to roar

Grizzly Bear are not an a capella band (well, not usually), but for all the talk of their incantory harmonies, you'd be forgiven if you thought they were a hairy barbershop quartet. But the big story out of their Gobi tent set was that, lo and behold, there's a bit of a loud, nasty rock band buried in there somewhere.

The Kooks: tastes great, less filling

If the Kooks' catchiness were freon, Coachella would be air-conditioned.

The Brighton quartet unleashed their jaunty pop songs on a Mojave Tent overflowing with bodies and adulation, much of the latter conveyed by youthful females who seemed to get a bit glassy-eyed the more singer Luke Pritchard cavorted around the stage. The Brighton quartet may not be critical darlings, but they are darlings.

Coming out in favor of Against Me!

Against Me! are surely the only band to turn the name "Condoleeza" into a throat-shredding call-to-arms chorus. But the band beats all sorts of odds: They're from Florida and they're not Skynyrd ripoffs; they wore all black and didn't pass out on the Outdoor Theatre stage; and they managed to make punk rock sound fresh in 2007.

Keep your eyes on the Skies

One of the more unlikely indie success stories of the last five years, Austin's Explosions in the Sky rose from apocalypse-conjuring masters of quiet-loud-quiet-loud guitar rock dynamics to a film score pedigree and a late afternoon main stage slot. Though their aesthetic is such that the ingredients essentially remain the same from song to slow-burning song, the band is an absolute monster live, offering martial percussion and guitars that can chime like church bells or swell into frozen washes of noise. The end result can sound frightening, sad, hopeful or triumphant, depending on your mood.

The Plam Springs Desert Sun

Kaiser Chiefs

I wasn't planning on seeing Kaiser Chiefs, but somehow I got sucked into the crowd, and I didn't feel like fighting it.

It was great, though. They put on a really enthusiastic, energetic set, repeatedly encouraging the exhausted crowd to perk up.

"Come on, Coachella! This is a festival, and we're going to get you in a festival spirit!" Wilson said, shouting until he was red in the face.

At the end of their first song, "Everyday I Love You Less and Less," frontman Ricky Wilson tossed his mic stand in the air and just barely caught it again.

"I know it's cold outside, but what can you do?" he joked.

The English band kept the energy moving with "Everything is Average Nowadays" and "Ruby."

The band wrapped up with "I Predict a Riot."

Hmmm. Maybe they know something about the Rage show tonight.

Acoustic, instrumental, Mexican heavy metal

You might not think there would be much of a market for that. You'd be wrong.

Rodrigo y Gabriela burned through a fantastic set on the Gobi Stage, making their guitars do double-duty as both string and percussive instruments. Gabriela, in particlar, with her unique playing style and throwing the goat after each song, fired up the audience. The duo also used the clapping and chanting crowd as a third member, including vocals on a cover of Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here."

If you missed these guys today, catch 'em the next time they meander 'round your neighborhood.

The Roots

After a fabulous cover of "Jungle Boogie," the Roots are doing a souped-up, super-fast version of their song, "Seed."

They sound like when you put the record player on ... whatever really fast was.

Hey, remember records?

The Roots, The Roots, The Roots are on fire

The Roots are on stage right now, playing a really fun and funky hip-hop set. They even have a tuba player on stage.

They just finished a cover of Biz Markie's "Just a Friend."

But I freaked out most when they played "Apache."

My best friend and I have a choreographed dance to that song, ganked from an old episode of Fresh Prince. I texted her immediately.

More cowbell (with Feeling)

Brit popsters The Feeling closed their set with a tight "Love It When You Call," which roused the crowd out of their slumber. The five band members were joined by one guy hovering over the drumkit pounding the crap out of a cowbell.

How'd you like to have that guy's job? "Yeah, I play cowbell for part of one song for a rock band."

YAY!

The Feeling is playing a rocking version of "Video Killed the Radio Star" right now. Hooray! Gems like this are why I love Coachella.

Obligatory Chili Peppers post

I have to admit, the last album I bought from RHCP was "Blood Sugar Sex Magik" from '92 or so. Nothing they've done since then has really grabbed me. But damn, do they put on a great live show.

For all the well-deserved praise of the musicianship of guitarist John Frusciante and Flea on bass and the spotlight on Anthony Kiedis for being, well, Anthony Kiedis, Chad Smith often fades into the background. But for my money, he's probably the top rock drummer out there. I swear the man has an invisible third arm to make the sounds he does.

I can only hope I have half as much energy as the Chili Peppers do when I'm their age. Hell, I wish I half as much energy as they do today.