77 Days 'til Coachella - Phoenix

We've heard a lot of buzz about Phoenix, the first band on the third line of Sunday's announcement. Checking them out tonight, I can tell why. Listening to their latest, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, reminds me of when I finally "got" The Shins. They've got a similar poppiness to The Shins, but also a little more electronic feel, like the early stuff from The Postal Service.

The second song on the album is 1901, which is pretty familiar as it's been in a car commercial for the past six months or so. I think it's actually in a Cadillac commercial, and I have to once again give Cadillac props. They also used a song by Coachella favorites Justice a couple of years back to great effect. Then there's the Ford commercial that used Band of Horses' song The Funeral. I tell ya, car commercials are doing the legwork for Goldenvoice these days, aren't they?

Of course, I'm kidding. While the snippet on the commercial is catchy, it only winks at the complexity and full-on head bopping vibe of the full version on the album.

If their Wikipedia page is to be believed, they're French.

I'm only halfway through the album and I'm really looking forward to checking out more from them. They're on my list for Sunday, so hopefully they'll get a decent time and stage slot.

78 Days 'til Coachella - My Response to No Single Day Passes

I received an email tonight from a good friend, it was forwarded from someone who wrote,

"No single day passes this year? FUCK YOU COACHELLA."

I know, this is pretty subtle. But after reading between the lines, I figured out that this particular person was displeased at the fact that, despite in previous years, when attendees could purchase tickets for each day of Coachella, only three-day passes would be issued for Coachella 2010.

This is my response to that particular email.

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I gotta say, as I understand it's true, but the comment about the "non exciting" lineup is fucking stupid. This is a FAN's Coachella. No stupid Paul McCartney, Red Hot Shitty Peppers, The Killers, or Jack Johnson to me says hell yeah. This is the best initial lineup announcement I've seen since 2005 or 2006. And I really think they've got an ace up their sleeve for Saturday to boost ticket sales a la Prince in 2008. If I had to guess, I'd say they finally got Bowie, but of course, I dream a lot ;)

As far as no one-day tickets, I sympathize, and I think it will ultimately bite them in the ass. But in a good way for me. You get a wristband this year, I'm told, which means you can't even split the ticket. It's one ticket, you present it the first time you go in, and you get a wristband that you keep for the rest of the weekend.

So yeah, that sucks for my friends who really want to go, just to experience it. But I guess I'd say if you haven't done it yet, you've had ten chances. This is your 11th, so man up or shut up. This is just a different excuse not to go, so take it or leave it.

Now the people I *really* feel for are the ones who live relatively close, and who really, really want to see only one or two nights, and not the third. That's gotta suck. But hey, it's Coachella. And if they need to, they'll release single-day tickets just before the event. Think of it as a band that books a show in LA, and then waits for me and Conner to buy tickets and get a hotel and take off work, and THEN books a show here in San Diego on a Saturday (see Butthole Surfers and The Residents, just lately).

Sorry. Coachella is the closest thing I have in this world to a religion. And I think everyone should be able to get in on it but I also think you have to go for the whole thing to *really* experience it. And it's not like any day sucks, IMHO. There's not a bad day in the whole lineup, and that's just as announced. There will be additions that will make it even more appealing, though it may pit two must-see acts against each other.

Ov course, the true rock stars among us (Danelle, Thomas, I'm looking in your general direction) will get in free, VIP, and stress-free ;) I'll be looking for Thomas and Atousa's little red tee-pee that we saw them hanging out in, in the middle of the polo field, back in 2001.

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So there it is. If you're a die-hard or a douchebag, it's likely you'll be there. I'll greet the former with a hearty handshake and a smile, and the latter with a wallet-jacking that will leave you knowing what you've suspected all along.

Viva Coachella, and Viva Coachellans.

87 Days 'til Coachella - Lineup 1.0

2010 will be the 9th (?!) Coachella we've attended, and I have never been more impressed with an initial announcement as I am with this year's. I've always found a way to have an absolute BLAST when I go. Even last year, which had some amazing acts, but the schedule overall I felt was a bit of a stretch for three days.

This year's totally different. It's a total Coachella fan's lineup. Great reunions (PIL, De La Soul, Sly & the Family Stone), artists I haven't seen but am very much looking forward to seeing (MGMT, Devo, Grizzly Bear) acts I never thought I'd get to see (Gorillaz, Gil Scott-Heron, Orbital), and headliners that totally don't suck or scream "Goldenvoice are total whores!! We have no standards!! We just need money!!".

I mean, take any day. There are bands I'm TOTALLY excited to see on each and every day. My girlfriend asked me how I knew "all these bands" I was telling her about, and I realized that I maybe know half of the acts this year.

The crazy thing is, I'm pretty excited to see everyone I know, very curious to see everything I've only heard about, and anxious to check out all the stuff I've never heard of.

We'll see what the lineup looks like as the weeks roll on. My prediction: The Thin White Duke will end up headlining Saturday. I love Muse, and I think they're totally underrated, but that's also the reason I think they'll need to bring in a real heavy-hitter for ticket sales once we get closer to April and Saturday's still not sold out.

Check back often, comment on what a jackass I am, and then see you on the polo field!

This Week's SHAME: Scott Chipman of Pacific Beach

"This is truly drug dealers opening up shop in our neighborhoods."

-Scott Chipman on San Diego 6, 08 December, 2009

Hey Scott,

You're WRONG. You're just Palin (oops, I meant "plain" silly me) IGNORANT.

Or maybe the New England Journal of Medicine is wrong. I guess it's possible.

This is MEDICINE. Just like the pills we'd be sure to find if we raided any random Pacific Beach desperate housewife's MEDICINE cabinet.

Are you seeing a pattern here?

The people have spoken. They don't want people to suffer if they don't have to. Can you blame them?

If you want to take issue with that, fine. But we'll take issue with you.

Muse to Headline Coachella 2010?

I posted this to Stereogum tonight in response to this thread:
http://stereogum.com/archives/muse_to_headline_coachella_2010_102231.html

It might not get approved, but just in case, here's my rebuttal.

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Ugh, it kills me to see people letterboxing Muse as:

1. A Twilight band
2. A Radiohead ripoff
3. Unoriginal
4. On par with The Killers

Yikes!!

I saw Muse at Soma here in San Diego on their only small venue date for the Black Holes tour, and they absolutely blew the doors off. If your only experience with them live is seeing them as an opening band, it's understandable that you're going to say "They're not as good as (insert headliner here)" because let's face it, most headliners don't want a band that's going to be "better" than them. Then again, anyone who's still listening to fucking U2 has completely missed the point of what music is for. It's supposed to be listenable. U2 *were* great. Now they're just big. And if you're going to compare Muse to anyone, at least compare them to another band with a lot of talent.

I personally watched A Place To Bury Strangers and Bajofondo over Sir Paul for 2009's Friday, and was totally happy with the alternative. Sorry all, Paul McCartney has no place at Coachella. See also Roger Waters.

Saturday, I eschewed The Killers for Jenny Lewis (eh) and MSTRKRFT (better but still eh). In retrospect, I should have hit Atmosphere and then beat it. I really loved The Killers back when my friends in Electroboobies were spinning promo mixes of Somebody Told Me, but shit that was years and years ago. When I heard they were headlining Saturday I honestly asked, "Are they really THAT big?!" Hey, that's cool with me. We drove back to the hotel pretty quickly while they played on.

Sunday this year, I saw Throbbing Gristle and caught the end of The Cure. And make no mistake, that Cure set was epic. So I did catch one of the headliners.

Full disclosure. That's where this opinion is coming from.

Muse is not supposed to be big enough to headline Coachella. I think they're great, they're totally underrated in the US, but they're just not big enough in this country to headline the whole thing, IMHO. Then again, when I heard Prince was headlining Saturday in 2008, I was like, I thought Portishead was headlining?? So these are rumors at best, and even if they're in the big 36-point font on the first release of the poster, nothing's set in stone.

So maybe I'm an old hipster, but I still believe in good music. I'm pretty much never there to see the headliners. 2010 will be my 9th Coachella, and I wouldn't miss it for the world. Because no matter who's headlining, there's almost definitely going to be something as cool and opposite on another stage if you don't like the headliner.

And yeah, I guess if you're going to compare them to Radiohead (just about my favorite band of all time) and Queen, you can compare their ticket sales at Wembley in the UK, for instance. Muse sells out the whole thing, as do Radiohead and what's left of Queen.

And hey, @shoegaze45, I'm all for Blur/Spacemen 3/Lush/Swallow/Fleeting Joys/Swervedriver/The Big Pink/13th Floor Elevators taking over the festy, but let's face it, even after MBV (tied for my favorite band of all-time) FINALLY got booked this year it was to a tepid reception to all but the most hardcore fans (read: ME).

Sure, it's all about money, but it's a balance of making money off of people who just want to see the big bands and keeping the respect of, and selling tickets to, those of us who want to see and hear good music.

Every now and then, those two goals come together, but it's pretty rare.

See ya there.

Cheers,

-m

Joe Wilson is to Politics as Ace of Base is to Music

=

OK, so we don't look to Republicans as the be-all end-all of class, though I know many who, despite their abhorrent political views, actually have quite a bit of tact. The same can be said of folks from South Carolina. I spent a considerable amount of time down that way as a kid, and I've met some really amazing people from that part of the country.

But this guy... come on now. No matter what side of the aisle you're on, you have to respect the president. After we quietly endured the wrath of Bushy for eight fucking years, who does this scrotum think he is to disrespect Obama? And before you try to flame me, remember that John McCain urged this bottom-feeder to apologize.

As Ice-T said, "Freedom of speech... just watch what you say."

There's a gentleman who's planning to run against this suck-u-bus by the name of Rob Miller. At the time of this writing, he got over 6,200 donors to contribute over $215,000 to the campaign to defeat this foul cracker over how he treated the president. During the last hour or so, the number jumped about $10,000.

I really hope this Miller guy knocks fuck-o out of his seat as soon as possible.

Joe Wilson's days in politics are numbered. I just hope he's torn apart slowly by rabid pit bulls with AIDS.

Even Laura Bush Approves of Obama's Speech

Too bad her husband fucked things up for this country so bad it doesn't matter much. Even so, it's true. Laura Bush says she approves of the job Obama's been doing. And this is according to a local news station.

I mean really. Come on people. Most of you morons who were against this speech voted for Bush (twice), and probably voted for McCain. And the former First Lady is not in line with you.

Obama rules. You dumbass redneck bastards and bitches can suck on my freedom.