ROCK! Or… Roll. Whichever.

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1. Band of Horses - The Funeral
2. Arctic Monkeys - Fluorescent Adolescent
3. Vampire Weekend - Run
4. TeddyBears - PunkRocker
5. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Otherside
6. Everclear - Santa Monica
7. Metric - Gold Guns Girls
8. Julian Casablancas - 11th Dimension
9. Rage Against the Machine - Year Of Tha Boomerang
10. Queens of the Stone Age - Little Sister
11. The Strokes - Reptilia
12. Gorillaz - Cloud of Unknowing
13. Alien Ant Farm - Smooth Criminal
14. Incubus - Pardon Me
15. Mutemath - Spotlight
16. Bayside - Duality
17. The White Stripes - Why Can't You be Nice to Me
18. Portugal. The Man - People Say
19. The Bravery - Believe
20. The Kooks - Do You Wanna
21. Radiohead - Reckoner
22. Interpol - C'mere
23. Rogue Wave - Lake Michigan
24. Death Cab for Cutie - No Sunlight
25. Spoon - Don't You Evah
26. Weezer - El Scorcho
27. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Zero
28. People in Planes - Barracuda
29. Smashing Pumpkins - Siva
30. Silversun Pickups - The Royal We

Coachella-inspired. All good, technical difficulties and all!

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1. Tokyo Police Club - Your English Is Good
2. Gorillaz - Stylo
3. Vampire Weekend - Horchata
4. Julian Casablancas - Out of the Blue
5. Them Crooked Vultures - New Fang
6. Clutch - Electric Worry
7. Clutch - One Eye Dollar
8. Faith No More - We Care a Lot
9. The Black Keys - Things Ain't Like They Used To Be
10. Street Sweeper Social Club - Nobody Moves (Til We Say Go)
11. Phoenix - 1901
12. Muse - Uprising
13. Radiohead - Airbag
14. The Dead Weather - Are Friends Electric?
15. Pixies - Monkey Gone to Heaven
16. Modest Mouse - The World at Large
17. Hot Hot Heat - Talk to Me, Dance With Me
18. Flobots - Handlebars
19. stellastarr* - Grafitti Eyes
20. Franz Ferdinand - No You Girls
21. The Von Bondies - Pale Bride
22. Rogue Wave - Good Morning
23. Billy Talent - Devil On My Shoulder
24. As Tall as Lions - In Case Of Rapture
25. The Offspring - Come Out and Play
26. Against Me! - Thrash Unreal
27. Cold War Kids - Robidoux
28. Eels - Novocaine For The Soul

Here I sit all broken hearted
In 1 hour, Palm Springs I will have departed
Coachella music fest, you rocked my world
I will be back for another whirl

Day 3 at Coachella was a good way to ease out of day 2′s complete awesomeness and provided a smooth transition back to normal, non- festival life.

The highlights were Mutemath, Yo La Tengo, Julian Casablancas, Spoon, Phoenix, Thom Yorke, and of course, Gorillaz.

I also enjoyed a few other bands I happened to catch – Babasonicos, B.o.B, and The Glitch Mob.

Thom Yorke’s set was incredible. Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers held down the bass lines extremely well, especially given that the original lines were laid down electronically for the most part. Thom went through his Eraser album track for track, then came back with a great encore featuring some older Radiohead songs performed solo – “Airbag” from OK Computer and “Everything in its Right Place” off Kid A. Great!

After Thom Yorke’s set ended, the massive crowd shifted to the main stage for the last headliner, Gorillaz. I’d heard that they always perform their show as their animated counterparts, but apparently that isn’t true. While they had a large screen above the stage showing various animations nd video clips corresponding to whatever song they were playing, the band itself was in full view along with a near full orchestral section and various guest artists coming and going.

It was great hearing electronic music reproduced using acoustic instruments. They pull it off very well and the songs hold up in the transition. All the favorites were played – “Clint Eastwood”, “Feel Good, Inc”, “Kids With Guns”, “Dirty Harry”, and so on. A fun way to end the night and the festival.

All in all, Coachella was very fun and very worth it. The traffic and line hiccups on the first day were easily overcome on the second and third days, the people were great, the lineup was great, and the weather was perfect. (I’m coming home a little more red than when I left. Thanks Sun!)

CTRL-ALT-Juneau is back on the air this Friday! Tune in at 9pm and see what gets played – the first show back after a festival/concert is always interesting!

Okay, since I’m in my car on the way to day 3, a full on review isn’t going to happen right now. However:

• Best Indie – Portugal. the Man
• Most Friendly – Tokyo Police Club
• Hugest Crowd – MGMT
• Best Hair – Coheed & Cambria
• Brought the Rock – Faith No More
• Unexpectedly Great Live – The Dead Weather
• Nicest Moustache – Les Claypool
• Best Dressed – Devo
• Best Band I Skipped – Porcupine Tree
• Funniest – John Waters
• BEST SHOW – Muse*

* Muse had, by far, the most engaging, visually captivating, and highest energy show I’ve ever seen. If you’re ever in a city where they’re performing, go even if you only borderline like them. It will be worth it.

Although the process of getting to and into the venue was frustrating to say the least (I mean, how many times have the organizers put this festival together? You’d think they’d have it down to a science), the actual performances were awesome.

I missed several of the first acts I wanted to see, named As Tall As Lions and Ra Ra Riot. However, I was able to hear Hockey and Street Sweeper Social Club from the various lines I was herded into.

The first band I saw when I entered was The Specials (awesome old school), followed by Passion Pit (awesome new school), then the fun really started.

Them Crooked Vultures rocked my world. Dave Grohl is my new hero. I’ve seen him perform live with Foo Fighters, but seeing him on drums – he’s got a musical intensity like no other. Of course, John Paul Jones rocked it on any of the myriad instruments he picked up throughout the set. The whole band kicked off the evening set very, very well.

Next up was LCD Soundsystem. Fun, but not worth missing Vampire Weekend for, so I skipped out about four songs into their set. They also had an interesting stage setup that obscured a clear view of the band if you were too far to the side and close to the front, which I was.

Vampire Weekend was great, as expected. They played most of their radio hits along with some other material. Missing was “The Kids Don’t Stand A Chance.” Maybe it’s one of those songs they just don’t play live, but I was looking for it. Otherwise, “A-Punk”, “Cousins”, “Horchata”, etc. all made appearances.

Finally, Jay Z hit the stage. I wasn’t the biggest Jay Z fan before I saw him live. I am now. He has an amazing stage presence, tons of energy, and his songs performed by a live band sound amazing. I stuck around for nearly the entire set after telling myself I was going to leave early to beat the parking nightmare I was sure was going to ensue. Which it did.

All in all, a great day of music. Getting out of the K-Mart-sized parking lot I was in took two and a half hours and I didn’t get to my hotel until 3:00am, but the day’s worth of performances kept me going.

Now… Time for DAY 2! Today we’ve got Portugal. the Man, White Rabbits, Tokyo Police Club (very excited to see them!), Coheed & Cambria, Faith No More, MGMT, Les Claypool, Devo, and the Dead Weather, Jack White’s newest side project. Today promises to continue yesterday’s great music streak.

So I arrived in Palm Springs at 10am after flying all night, had a leisurely lunch, and did a little driving and shopping. The first Coachella bands I wanted to see weren’t till 3pm,  so why rush, right?

Wrong. I should’ve rushed.

The attached photo was taken from the middle of a giant mass of people waiting to trade a paper ticket for a wristband and be let in to the venue. This was where I found myself after  a 2+ hour wait in a tangle of cars just to park, then a 1+ mile walk from the parking lot to this entrance. I am actually typing this on my phone surrounded by hundreds of fellow concertgoers.

I’ll be in soon enough to catch the bigger headliners and while I wait, I’m enjoying the sunshine and 92 degree heat, so it’s not all bad!

I’m catching an 8pm flight out of Juneau tonight, overnighting in the grand SeaTac airport, and hopefully waking up in time to board the 7am flight to Palm Springs. I should arrive shortly before the doors open for Coachella, so I’ll have time to settle in a bit and perhaps grab the camera I’ve been wanting, assuming I can find one in stock somewhere.

Then… It’s TIME.

Headlining on Friday is Jay-Z, but I must admit that I’m more excited for LCD Soundsystem, Them Crooked Vultures, and Vampire Weekend. If you’ve paid attention to my shows, you’d know this only makes sense!

Other artists I’m stoked to catch on the opening day are Hockey, As Tall As Lions, Passion Pit, Ra Ra Riot, and… Grace Jones. Yes, that Grace Jones!

Throughout the festival, I will be posting notes and photos realtime to this site, so be sure to check back often. (Especially on Sunday night – I’m excited to see what the Gorillaz live act looks like!)

Just 2 weeks until Coachella! Getting stoked!

Download the show!

1. Spoon - Written in Reverse
2. Portugal. The Man - People Say
3. Gorillaz - Stylo
4. Mute Math - Electrify
5. Phoenix - 1901
6. Tokyo Police Club - Your English Is Good
7. Thom Yorke - Harrowdown Hill
8. Vampire Weekend - Cousins
9. Them Crooked Vultures - New Fang
10. Pavement - Cut Your Hair
11. Faith No More - Epic
12. The Dead Weather - I Cut Like a Buffalo
13. MGMT - Time to Pretend
14. LCD Soundsystem - North American Scum
15. Jay-Z and Linkin Park - Numb/Encore
16. White Rabbits - Percussion Gun
17. Julian Casablancas - Out of the Blue
18. Coheed & Cambria - (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
19. Devo - (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
20. Coheed and Cambria - A Favor House Atlantic
21. Echo & The Bunnymen - The Killing Moon
22. Les Claypool - Red State Girl
23. Passion Pit - Sleepyhead
24. De La Soul - Me Myself and I
25. Orbital - The Saint Theme
26. Street Sweeper Social Club - The Squeeze
27. As Tall as Lions - Circles
28. Yo La Tengo - You Can Have It All
29. Datarock - Fa-Fa-Fa