For the uninitiated, Coachella is a multi-day music festival held in Indio, CA. This year was the first time the festival stretched three days. The location is very close to my hometown, but I never actually made it to a show, either because they cost too much in past years or the artists weren't a strong enough draw. This year, several bands I've wanted to see signed on, most notably Rage Against the Machine, so I finally made the trip.

Wait, No Day One?

Yeah, I'm skimping on an entry for day one because most of the performers really weren't my bag. I will say a few things, though. I arrived and immediately went to the Comedians of Comedy. Despite the train whistle blaring behind us through most of that show, it went really well. Particularly funny were Aziz Ansari and Zach Galifianakis. Galifianakis ended his routine by running around and dancing to the tune of "Tomorrow" while tearing through messages on his easel, the last of which read "KILL DANE COOK." Priceless. Transcript and Youtube links here.

My guess is that they were trying out comedians for the Coachella lineup, and I think it went really well. Besides the comedians, I saw Rufus Wainwright, Jarvis Cocker, Sonic Youth, and Bjork. As I said, I wasn't heavily invested in any of these groups, so I'll sum up the day quickly.

Rufus was good, but I couldn't stay long. I think I might check out a Jarvis album. I left during the first Sonic Youth song. My Bjork experience was plagued by a blond, WASPy girl's dreadlocks that kept hitting me in the face. In retrospect, I wish I had seen Gogol Bordello instead of Bjork. Alas.

Now, onto Day Two.

Afternoon Haze

On our second day we made the mistake of parking at a friend's house instead of the polo fields. It was a mistake because we didn't realize we would have to walk over a mile in the heat to get to the festival gates. I lost a ton of energy and don't really remember much about Fratellis or Peter, Bjorn, and John. The only thing that I do clearly remember was that Peter, Bjorn and John had a recording play for the catchy whistle in "Young Folks" while they faked whistling.

The Decemberists

I left Peter, Bjorn, and John early to get a good seat for the Decemberists, and I'm really glad that I did. I was hoping for their older tunes because I hadn't listened to their new CD, The Crane Wife, extensively. But, most of the stuff that they played was off of their new album. Here is the set list:

1. The Crane Wife 3
2. The Island
3. July, July!
4. Oh, Valencia!
5. The Perfect Crime #2
6. The Mariner's Revenge Song

The new songs didn't detract from the show, though. They played "July, July!" with tons of energy and the crowd was eating it up. When they got to "The Perfect Crime #2," they held an impromptu dance contest to the funk bass line of the song. It's still not clear who won the dance contest.

You probably noticed how short the set list is, and that happened for two reasons. First, they stretched their songs out a little longer than they usually are, especially with the addition of dance contests. The second reason is that "The Mariner's Revenge Song" went on for at least 15 minutes, which culminated with them bringing the whale onstage. It was epic.

All told, the Decemberists were pretty amazing. They were definitely one of my favorite acts.

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Once the Decemberists were done, I rushed to get food so that I could go get a good spot for the Arcade Fire -- not that I really wanted to see them; I just wanted to get a good spot for the Chili Peppers. I got to Arcade Fire and watched the show. I was honestly not very impressed. Their intensity was there, but I couldn't get down with their sound. I realize that such an assertion is probably heresy to all the hipsters that love Arcade Fire, but oh well.

Credit: Moondog

Arcade Fire finally finished and I rushed to the front for the Chili Peppers. I was only 20 feet from the stage when they started. But then the crowd started pushing for the stage, which crushed everybody in front, including me. After pushing around in the crowd until I got within 10 feet of the stage, I gave up. It wasn't worth it to be smashed against everybody just to be close to the stage, so I moved to about 30 feet back from the stage by the end of "Can't Stop." The energy was perfect there. The guy filming this video was almost as close as I was:

Here is the set list:

1. Intro Jam
2. Can't Stop
3. Dani California
4. Baby Appeal Jam (Anthony en Flea)
5. Otherside
6. Readymade
7. Throw Away Your Television
8. Songbird (John Solo)
9. Snow ((Hey Oh))
10. Get On Top
11. She's Only 18
12. Flea Solo
13. Higher Ground
14. I Feel Love
15. This Velvet Glove
16. Don't Forget Me
17. Give It Away
18. C'mon Girl
19. Under The Bridge
20. By The Way

It was a really long set, especially given that they only had an hour and 15 minutes scheduled. But, when all was said and done, they went for an hour and a half, even after starting 10 minutes late. Maybe Tiesto was late arriving, or maybe they just realized that nobody really cared about Tiesto, but they let the Chili Peppers put on a monster show.

The most awesome part of the Chili Peppers' show was that by the end, when everybody started showing fatigue, the crowd just sang along to "Under the Bridge" and "By the Way." As a Californian, I do feel a stronger connection to the Chili Peppers songs than most, I imagine, and think that many in the crowd were in the same boat. That's the vibe I got, especially from the girl next to me who sang with me.

Tesla Coils

Once the Peppers were done, so was I. I tried to check out Black Keys and the Rapture, but I didn't have the stamina. I sat exhausted by the tesla coils while I waited for Starr and Laila to finish their last shows. Then we walked the mile back to the car. I don't ever remember falling asleep as fast as I did that night.