Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival documentary

Last night I went with a couple friends to check out the world premiere of a documentary about the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, an event that is considered my many who have been to be the best music festival in North America. I've heard it compared to events like England's famed Glastonbury Festival, and since 2001, there have been inevitable comparisons to the Bonnaroo Music Festival (though I know a bunch of hipsters and hippies that would grimace hearing the two events mentioned in the same breath, and wouldn't be caught dead at the event geared for the other musical subculture).

We got to the movie theatre prepped to party with a flask of Bacardi in the hip pocket. Drinks mixed, seats picked, we sat down in the relatively empty theatre (20 people tops, but it was showing in a ton of theatres in the area) and got ready for what I hoped was a good time. This was the first "concert" I had seen in a movie theatre, as I was at the Brooklyn and Coventry Phish shows that were simulcast in 2004.

The movie started with a brief interview with the promoter and a overview of the festival grounds, which are set up on a polo field in Indio, California. Some time lapse shots of crews setting up the festival were pretty cool to start things off, but I was there for music, damnit!

There was plenty of that to come. Surprisingly, the first performance came from hippie activist/hip hopper/reggae act Michael Franti & Spearhead. We played the obligatory drinking game that goes with his live shows everytime Franti asks 'how you feeling?!?', you drink. There went my cocktail, because he must have said it ten times in his five on screen minutes. Franti set somewhat of a political tone for the film, which was surprising to me, but is used to hilarious effect later when the director juxtaposes urban poet/spoken word artist Saul Williams' take on the political power of music with that moronic piece of tabloid fodder Noel Gallagher of Oasis claiming music should be mindless entertainment and that only people with suits have power.

Needless to say, Oasis' performance was crap; Williams was pretty good, but nothing special.

The musical highlights for me included the Arcade Fire (yeah Montreal!), Radiohead and their seizure inducing light show, a screen-sized version of the faerie-like Bjork singing the hell out of her "All is Full of Love", Belle & Sebastian's lyrically improvisation about the festival at sunset, Fischerspooner's crazy electro stage show, numerous interludes with the Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne (and a killer Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Pt.1), Squarepusher's squelching d'n'b, last year's "never-gonna-happen" Pixies reunion and some mellow Zero 7 to end the flick.

Performances I could have done without?

Iggy Pop & the Stooges. The Red Hot Chili Peppers: good band, why pick a crap song like "Californication"? The Mars Volta: I was excited to give this band a shot considering everyone and their mother loves them, but they sucked bad. The White Stripes: if you already have Iggy & the Stooges, why have a band that just rips them off? Prodigy: I think I'm not going to Ultra this year strictly because they are headlining. Morrisey: just meh.

Picking the highlight of the night was easy.

It was a five minute interlude featuring the DJ tag team of Cut Chemist and DJ Nu Mark from Jurassic 5. It started with Cut Chemist cutting records on a full screen. Nifty editing split the screen in two, and Chemist was suddenly battling Nu Mark. Then Nu Mark is battling himself. Then Chemist is on the left, Nu Mark on the right. Then they switch. Every possible combination of the two DJs followed in an impressive display of technical skills on the wheels of steel, as well as the best use of a split screen in a concert film since it was way overdone in Woodstock.

Overall, I really enjoyed myself, and if the lineup is good this year, I may make the exodus. I've heard complaints about song selection, and I agree to a point, but I left satisfied. My only complaint: the really obnoxious cuts in between--and in the case of the Polyphonic Spree, during--performances. It really started to piss me off.

So there's my review. Ethan, are you happy?

This year's Coachella lineup!

Or is this it?

Fun with Photoshop!

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