Right behind DisneyWorld, Coachella might be the happiest place on earth. This probably has to do with the underlying pressure to make the $399 ticket worth it. What always surprises me the most is how beautiful it is. Not only the festival, but the people, the combination of the desert sun and the cheerleader-effect makes everyone there look like a solid 10. The sheer beauty of the atmosphere is what has led to Coachella being the most profitable music festival in the country. They hardly need to advertise, because they know your Instagram feed has been filled with your friends and favorite celebrities showing off their festival looks and intense glitter highlight.
The desert is a place of extremes, and the culture of the Coachella Music and Art Festival reflects that Idea. For the two weekends it runs, lackadaisical stoners and never-sleep ravers will come together on the Empire Polo Fields to enjoy the sights and sounds. Every year, this festival becomes more diverse in people and music. In the few years I have been, there has been a noticeable shift towards EDM and DJs, and less of the rock and roll it was founded on. Coachella is the big leagues for musicians of all popularity. Performing there can be a make-or-break moment for small bands looking to break into the mainstream.
The festival loves to invite artists back as they grow in popularity: for example, in 2015, Father John Misty played on the secondary Outdoor Stage, and this year—after dropping his new album, Pure Comedy—he moved up and played the the largest stage, drawing a considerably larger crowd. You never know how a musician will perform in the festival environment. They have less than five minutes to soundcheck and are on a strict time schedule because of how fast the turnover is on every stage. Sometimes, with the combined effect of the atmosphere, visuals, and crowd energy, the shows are amazing, but equally often, the bands seem stressed and rushed, and people leave disappointed. In an age of Spotify and YouTube and illegal downloading, hardly anyone pays for music anymore. That’s why the success of tours and festivals are so important to musicians’ livelihood today. This month, I was excited to see how successfully musicians could translate their recorded music into the live festival setting. Here are my thoughts around the shows that I was able to attend during weekend one of 2017’s Coachella Music and Arts Festival.
THE GOOD
All of these bands hit the nail on the head. They played the hits and drew large crowds of not only their fans, but also people that just stumbled upon their sets. They all had great energy that warmed my heart.
- The Allah-Las
- Twin Peaks
- Car Seat Headrest
- Classixx
- Devendra Banhart
- Surf Curse
- King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard
- New Order
- Real Estate
- Stormzy
- Tennis
- Tycho
- Whitney
THE BAD
- Avalanches: I was excited to see how this show would work out with the amount of samples the Avalanches use, but to my despair, it came off as cheesy and poorly executed. It didn’t do their recorded music justice.
- Jack Garratt: While having one man run around trying to play keyboard, drums, and vocals might sound like a fun gimmick, he would probably be better off if he just had some help.
- Radiohead: This was by far my most anticipated show of the weekend, and it was so disappointing when the sound system kept breaking throughout half of the set. You could tell how annoyed and thrown-off the whole band was after walking off stage to fix the sound for a third time.
- The XX: In my opinion, the waxy, soulless performance left a lot to be desired, but if you enjoy hearing your music from emotionally-detached robots dressed in head-to-toe Gucci, then you would have loved it. (Jamie did a great job.)
THE BEAUTIFUL
- Bon Iver: He did a great job of showing a broader audience that he’s more than just “the guy that sings Skinny Love” (in fact, he didn’t even sing “Skinny Love” or much of anything off of his first album). It was amazing to see how his complex sound comes together, and how professional he is. You could tell how passionate he is about his music throughout the performance.
- Father John Misty: Regardless of how you feel about Josh Tillman, you can’t deny that he is a great performer. This concert was, in my opinion, the strongest and most passionate performance all weekend. He was much more serious this time around at Coachella, and the intensity that he created with his music was something I’m sure every musician on the lineup hoped to replicate.
- Hans Zimmer: This concert showed a desert full of twenty-somethings how much classical music can rock. Hans Zimmer drew a huge crowd, and did not disappoint. With a full orchestra, he played songs from Pirates of the Caribbean, The Lion King, and Inception. It was inspirational to watch such a humble, lovable man thrive with so much talent and passion for his work.
- Nicolas Jaar: I didn’t know what to expect from this show. My biggest worry was that it would be boring, but I was dead wrong. The crowd was huge, and his music and visuals were captivating from start to finish.
- Kendrick Lamar: Damn.
COULDN’T SAY FOR SURE
Considering I’m just one girl, and there was a lot of music happening all at once, I can only guess how certain shows went. Like the drunk girl walking by me said, “Coachella is about sacrifices:”
- Mac Demarco: I actually only missed this because I wasn’t paying attention to the time, but I think we all know all I missed was a lot of unnecessary moshing, teen boys in dad hats smoking cigarettes in an effort to look cool, and a Mac DeMarco that looks 10 years older than when I saw him last year.
- Lorde: I sat in the way back for this show and I have no real complaints. What I gathered, though, was Lorde singing in a glass box, looking like Taylor Swift has been slowly sucking out her soul for the past four years.
- Lady Gaga: Also sitting in the back for this one. She played her hits and did her best, but she still isn’t Beyoncé, and everyone sitting around me couldn’t stop talking about that fact.
All in all, Coachella always delivers. Even if this year’s lineup wasn’t mind-blowing, there are a million other things to love, whether it’s the food, or people-watching. As obnoxious as this sounds, being on the polo field… it’s a unique experience that will always have a special place in my heart.
KATE MURRAY | KXSU DJ + Guest Writer