A long, warm weekend of Coachella Fest madness has finally come to a close for the year of 2009. The annual dose of eclectic music, larger-than-life art and California weather attracted thousands of visitors from all across the world to visit the Coachella Valley and soak in the beautiful environment it has to offer.
Coachella Fest’s final day was by no means less lively than the first two days. Thousands of festivalgoers still made their way into the venue and kept track of time, so they were on time to see the performance of their choice. The nice thing about Sunday was that most attendees were accustomed to the event, considering they prebought their tickets, had an idea of comfortable clothing to wear and knew their way around the festival grounds.
Popular destinations where attendees could cool down were the air-conditioned tents and the Do Lab. Inside the air-conditioned tents, attendees could hang out with friends while enjoying the precious cold air and listening to music played by a DJ. Laptops were even set up for people to check their e-mails or surf the Web.
The Do Lab was a unique location where attendees could dance to music while being sprayed with mist water. Men with painted faces and dressed in Speedos sprayed water over a dancing crowd as music loudly played. This was a great location to visit many times throughout the day because damp clothes made the blazing temperature bearable.
Bands watched throughout the day were X, Lykke Li, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, My Bloody Valentine and The Cure.
Lykke Li and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs were both modern bands that attracted large crowds earlier in the day. Lykke Li was a young singer who sung mellow tunes as the sun hung high over the stage. The warm weather lulled the audience into relaxation as Lykke Li swayed across the stage with her flowing blonde hair. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs performed later in the day when the sun was slowly setting over the beautiful Coachella Valley. Known for their retro mod fashion and indie music, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are compared to the likes of Siouxsie and the Banshees and have gained a faithful following of fans during the last few years.
The band X brought a touch of old school punk rock to the Coachella Fest. Being one of the first original punk rock bands from Los Angeles during the late ‘70s, X was worthy to play at Coachella. X received roar from the crowd that sang along to their punk rock tunes that were laced with rockabilly, a unique genre of music. The band said they were very proud to have been invited to perform at Coachella.
“We’ve been trying to make it here for a long time,” said John Doe happily, bassist of X. “I don”t think the weather will be much cooler by the time we play.”
Popular headliner My Bloody Valentine was a hit at the main stage as darkness swept across the valley. Their loud, grinding guitars, sleepy vocals and simple mod fashion confirmed that they were still tied to their shoegaze style of music. The band had the volume of their instruments cranked up so loud that crowd members could feel vibration in their bodies from the monstrous sound coming from the speakers. Many crowd members even used earplugs in an attempt to prevent hearing damage. The band finished their last song by creating chaotic sound with their instruments for a long 15 minutes, leaving the audience with partly deaf hearing and expressionless faces.
The Cure was the band that closed the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. Indeed, The Cure was the day’s highlight performance, and the crowd grew larger as The Cure’s performance drew near. Soon, the lights flickered off, and the crowd cheered with anticipation, as they waited for the legendary Robert Smith to walk up on stage.
The guitarist, drummer and bassist first took their positions on stage, and then the pale-faced, scraggly haired Robert Smith walked on stage and put his guitar around his shoulders. The band started off with their latest release “Under the Stars” and then continued playing classic hits as well as older songs that are not normally a part of their set list.
“How many of you have been here for a whole week?” Smith asked the crowd, as his bright red lips curled into a smile. “We’re going to keep playing until you all leave.”
As their set continued, it became evident that Smith was not lying. For three hours, The Cure played song after song, and the crowd listened intently to the post-punk legends. To the crowd’s surprise, the speakers were suddenly turned off during “Fire in Cairo,” and then the large screens permanently went black. The Cure was not phased by Coachella’s threat to turn them off, and even continued to play “Boys Don’t Cry” on their own amplifiers. The crowd stood up and cheered, singing the words to the song as the band could hardly be heard. Next the power was turned off for the amplifiers and Robert Smith still attempted to play his guitar. The crowd cheered heavily, knowing they had just experienced a unique performance of The Cure.
A wonderful ending by The Cure for the 2009 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival kept the crowd smiling and excited even as they exited the venue grounds at 2 a.m..
The festival’s popularity has put Coachella on the map and continues attracting thousands of people from all across the world year after year. Coachella Fest of 2010 will be more popular than ever as the legendary music festival continues into the future.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Lykke Li and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs were both modern bands that attracted large crowds earlier in the day. Lykke Li was a young singer who sung mellow tunes as the sun hung high over the stage. The warm weather lulled the audience into relaxation as Lykke Li swayed across the stage with her flowing blonde hair. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs performed later in the day when the sun was slowly setting over the beautiful Coachella Valley. Known for their retro mod fashion and indie music, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are compared to the likes of Siouxsie and the Banshees and have gained a faithful following of fans during the last few years.
The band X brought a touch of old school punk rock to the Coachella Fest. Being one of the first original punk rock bands from Los Angeles during the late ‘70s, X was worthy to play at Coachella. X received roar from the crowd that sang along to their punk rock tunes that were laced with rockabilly, a unique genre of music. The band said they were very proud to have been invited to perform at Coachella.
Popular headliner My Bloody Valentine was a hit at the main stage as darkness swept across the valley. Their loud, grinding guitars, sleepy vocals and simple mod fashion confirmed that they were still tied to their shoegaze style of music. The band had the volume of their instruments cranked up so loud that crowd members could feel vibration in their bodies from the monstrous sound coming from the speakers. Many crowd members even used earplugs in an attempt to prevent hearing damage. The band finished their last song by creating chaotic sound with their instruments for a long 15 minutes, leaving the audience with partly deaf hearing and expressionless faces.
The guitarist, drummer and bassist first took their positions on stage, and then the pale-faced, scraggly haired Robert Smith walked on stage and put his guitar around his shoulders. The band started off with their latest release “Under the Stars” and then continued playing classic hits as well as older songs that are not normally a part of their set list.