Bands an old fart like me is mildly excited about at Coachella
- Pulp, of course. This is basically the reason to go. THANK GOD they did this.
- Mazzy Star, that will be a shitshow. Hope is utterly neurotic about sound, and i have literally seen her say “if this glockenspiel isn’t mic’d properly in FIVE MINUTES, this show is OVER.” But it will be good to see them try. Plus hopefully with that high of billing they’re on the main stage a bit earlier so they have time to really nail the sound, but I am not optimistic. But.. OMG MAZZY STAR IS TOURING.
- Refused - old punk is always rough, but I suppose this could be fun.
- Madness? NICE.
- Is that JAMES really tiny on the fourth line of day 1? Wow. These dudes headline festivals twice this big in England but in Cali? Middle of the day on the Mojave stage or something. FINE BY ME. I am ready. Dye my eyes and call me pretty…
- Atari Teenage Riot???? Come on, that will be interesting and hilarious.
- Jeff Mangum? NMH or GTFO.
- fIREHOUSE??? Wow. Nice.
- Buzzcocks - Orgasm Addict! Ever fallin in love (with someone you shouldn’t have fallen in love with)! What do I get! Okay, that’ll be fun.
- Squeeze? Really? Black Coffee in Bed Squeeze????? That could be kinda cool.
- Sunday? Literally not one old fart band. I mean, I guess maybe At The Drive In? But i was like 4 years out of college when they came around. Maybe they should have booked the sundays.
- OH WAIT - Sunday has Greg Ginn of Black Flag. That is pretty awesome.
Honestly, as an old fart, this is pretty weak. No prince, throbbing gristle, roger waters, willie nelson, new order, bauhaus, jesus and mary chain, suede, etc. I mean, I guess it’s not bad. Friday is definitely the old farts day. But there are only like seven 80’s bands total, and only four 70’s bands - and that includes Jimmy Cliff.
The old farts, however, do offer honorary membership to Jacque Lu Cont. And the Vaccines. They pretty much sound like an 80’s band. Or at least early 90’s
I dunno. I mean, there’s a lot of bands I like. M83 will be great in the big desert, ditto for Godspeed! and Explosions. Big Pink was fuzzy fun last time I saw ‘em at Coachella. Black Keys and Radiohead are always kinda okay live but.. meh. Seen ‘em enough at festivals. We were robbed with New Order. Hopefully Lolla will get ‘em. I’ll eat my shoe if Cat Power actually manages to play. Andrew Bird, Dawes, St Vincent, Yuck, Neon Indian, Feist, Andrew Bird, Wild Flag, Santigold, Fitz and the Tantrums, La Roux, Fanfarlo, Head and the Heart, We Were Promised Jetpacks are all loved but you can see them all whenever. But the only band I really love that I haven’t seen yet is Florence and the Machine.
The walking around checking out bands will be fun, and the weekend will be pleasant. But after Friday, most of the thrill of OMG I CAN’T BELIEVE I’M SEEING THIS BAND AGAIN will be gone.
Also, there are people playing that were born after i was out of college. Wow. And there are a LOT of bands playing who were on various Twilight soundtracks. Just sayin.
