coachella - road trip + festival

Coachella 2007

Day 1, Monday, April 23

We left for Coachella on Monday afternoon (was supposed to be Monday morning, :\ ). I was worried about being too much of a girl and over packing, but it was needless. The guys I went with packed waaay more than me. It's probably a good thing I packed so lightly, they pretty much filled up the entire back of the van (and also the secret space behind the glove box, heh). So we finally get the van packed, and burn one before we leave. We ended up stopping in Illinois for the night at a KOA. Hot showers and free wifi, you can't ask for more than that. The next morning we were eating powdered donuts, and there was powdered sugar all over one of the guy's mouth, and the other guy was like "Dude you look like Tyrone Biggums." and he did! It was really funny. We finally packed up and got back on the road.

Day 2, Tuesday, April 24

People in Missouri love three things, Jesus, porn, and Steak n Shake. We stopped in Oklahoma for the night at some random state park. We camped next to this river which was a BIG MISTAKE. There are these things called winds that don't get obstructed when they go over large bodies of water.. So the next morning we were woken up around 6:30am when the tent came crashing in on our heads. It started raining, and we packed up in a hurry.

Day 3, Wednesday, April 25

That day we stopped in Albuquerque, New Mexico (NOW I find out that evangeline lives there, after i get back, of course). I bought cute moccasins, and the guys found a glass shop and bought a bubbler. That night we made it to a KOA in Arizona. I got a bit wasted off of a ---- hit and a beer, and they totally made fun of me. I also took one of the longest showers of my life. The shower head was really short (I guess they want you to get in and get out, but I didn't care. I took my time.

Day 4 Thursday, April 26

We stopped at a grocery store, and I bought a five pound bag of cinnamon bears. I almost didn't buy it, but really how could I not. We arrived in Indio that afternoon around 4pm. It took us about an hour to unpack and get all our stuff together. I called my parents while I was waiting on them, and they told me their cat broke its leg and they had to get it amputated D: So now my parents have a tripod cat. My Dad said he was going to try and make it a prosthetic, and I said he should make it out of wood and make movies and post them on youtube.

We finally got into the campground and set up our tents. After that it got dark, and I walked around for awhile. I was really tired, so I fell asleep around midnight. I woke up an hour or so later, and I had a text message from becomingcloser from coachella forums, so I met up with him, and we chatted for awhile, went out to his car, chilled in the parking lot, found someone's coachella tickets, took them to lost and found, chatted for a while longer, then went to bed around 4am. Also, while walking around the campsite earlier I saw the most handsome man I've ever seen in my life. He was Australian.

Coachella

Friday
I woke up a few hours later and showered. I had to wait in line for about 45 minutes, and the girl next to me totally peed, uuuuuggggghhhhhh. The showers weren't too bad though, I couldn't believe some people weren't wearing shower shoes, they must be the ones who already have foot fungus :\ I took my time getting dressed, and around 11:30 I went to get in line to get into the venue. It took more than an hour to get into the venue, but this v. cool polish woman was behind me, and we chatted practically the entire time. she's getting married this fall in Italy, lucky wench. The first show of the day was Noisettes, and they fucking rocked, the lead singer is so rad, and it was just so much fun. The tent was really full for being the opening act. I stayed for a bit of Tokyo Police Club, and then went to get lunch while Tilly and the Wall played. I tried to get up close for Amy Winehouse, but it was impossible, it was just so crowded. She sounded amazing live, and she was funny, and she sounded a bit nervous (maybe that was just the booze?), which made me like her all the more.

After that I walked over to the outdoor theater for Stephen Marley and Peaches, but I left the Peaches show when she started yelling about impeaching Bush :\ I'm all for political activism, but I came to see a music show.. After that I went over to the Gobi tent to rest before the Brazilian Girls show, and this group Busdriver was on. That guy sure can rap fast. As soon as Busdriver was over I rushed to the front so I'd be really close for Brazilian Girls. I was front and almost center. The Brazilian Girls show was amazing, Sabina can really fucking sing, and her costume was great. The set seemed a bit short though. After Brazilian Girls I hung out in Mojave tent and caught the last of El-P's set, and waited for Gogol Bordello to come on. I was pretty exhausted by the time they started, so I only stayed for a couple of songs before I made the long trek back to my tent. I fell asleep pretty early, but was woken up around 4am by the idiots camping next to me. My neighbors then blasted Meatloaf all morning. Yay for earplugs.

Saturday, woke up and laid outside my tent in the shade for a couple of hours because it was stiflingly hot inside my tent. I waited until a bit later to shower (no lines, woot), and waited until a bit later to go to the venue (very short line, woot). I went straight to the Sahara tent for Steve Aoki, and it was so much fun. People were dancing so crazily, it was fun just watching them, and Steve Aoki is just too cool. The music was great, even the security guard that was behind the barricade was dancing. (I should have gotten vid of that!!) Cory Kennedy came on stage with her friends. Her outfit was fabulous (of course), and she looked like she was having fun. At the end of his set, DJ Heather came on and they were battling(?). After Steve Aoki I was pretty tired from dancing and hungry, too, so I went to get food, and hung out until Hot Chip came on. They were so great live. so much energy, the whole crowd was dancing, and it was just a great set.

After Hot Chip I hung around for Peter Bjorn & John, and watched them for a bit (I cant remember much about their set, if that says anything) and meandered over to the outdoor theater to catch the end of New Pornographers and The Decemberists, whose set was so boring I walked over to the main stage to wait for the Arcade Fire after just one song. The Arcade Fire were amazing. They sounded even better live, and it was just great. I was so exhausted after their set that I just caught a couple Chili Peppers songs and headed back to my tent. I fully intended to shower and go charge my cell phone in the charge tent, but I fell asleep and didn't wake up until 7am the next morning. I apparently slept through a "riot", which actually just turned out to be a drum circle which lasted until after 3am, and since lights out is at 2am, someone called the cops to break it up, and people started screaming RATM lyrics at the cops in full riot gear. i heard one guy got tasered, but I'm not sure if that's just a rumor (probably).

Sunday came, and I was excited, but very tired. I woke up early and booked it for the showers, and I got to go in as soon as they opened. I hung out all morning in this big tent because it's pretty much the only place that had shade, and I just wanted to lay down and hang out/meet new people, etc, and that's where everyone was. I brought my book with me (Lust for Life, Irving Stone, for those interested and still reading), found a semi-comfortable spot leaning up against a bench, and read for awhile. After a few hours a recliner opened up, so I grabbed it. I took a nap, but I got really hot. Just before I was about to get up some guy came up to me and said "I'll pay you $10 for your seat." So I said "Sure." and took his money, and went and laid down on this big pouf thing that other people were laying on. I fell asleep, and the guy next to me totally put his arm around me (well, he was asleep, and it really kind of just fell across me), but it was kind of sweaty and gross, so I pushed it off. After I woke up I went and showered again (no line!) and went into the venue.

The first act I heard was Explosions in the Sky, but I wasn't too captivated by their performance. I caught a little bit of Against Me!, but again, I just wasn't that into it. I was hungry, so I went to the food stands and got a one pound bratwurst to eat, and it was delicious. The food was kind of ridiculously expensive, but at least it was really good. The first two days of the festival I lived on corn on the cob, guacamole, chips, and taquitos. Sunday I branched out and got a chicken artichoke wrap and a brat. After my food I headed over to the Outdoor Theater for The Roots, and they did not disappoint at all. The music was great, and the crowd was hilarious. Everyone was dancing. After their set, I headed to the back area to rest for a bit, and Willie Nelson came on. Kaiser Chiefs were so loud though, I could barely hear Willie's songs. Placebo I saw next, and they did a pretty good show. They sounded as good live as they did on their albums. I went over to the tents to get dinner, and I heard a couple songs by Lilly Allen. I didn't see her though, and I kind of regret that. Oh well, there's always Bonnaroo. After that I headed back over to the outdoor theater to see Air, but they were so late coming on, that I didn't even stick around for one song. I just headed over to the main stage to get ready for Rage. Manu Chao was in the middle of a set when I got over there, and they were really fun. The songs sounded all the same, but they had a lot of energy, and they sounded really good. These guys were passing a joint, and they saw me kind of hovering near them, so they offered me the rest, and I took it. I'm glad I did though, I don't think I would have wanted to be sober for Rage's performance. I think I got kicked in the back at least 25 times waiting for them to come on. I did meet these really cool people from LA County, two brothers, and their friend, and we chatted a lot, and they took me along when they rushed it closer to the front.

Rage started off the show with Testify. There seemed to be a lot of build up, but it was kind of over-hyped. I actually felt pretty nonchalant the entire weekend. Even standing ten feet away from Sabina Sciubba didn't have much effect on me. I mean, I was excited, but there were people literally crying and jumping up and down from excitement, and I kind of envied them. I did get into the Rage performance more than the others. It was kind of hard not to, the entire crowd was screaming and jumping. About halfway through the performance a bunch of people climbed up the camera area in the center. Security chased them down off of it though. The crowd seemed pretty tame after that. I guess people were expecting riots or something. I guess Zack didn't realize that young people today care more about voting in American Idol than voting in political elections. After Rage, I along with about 55,000 others, headed to the exit. It didn't take me too long to get back in the campsite. I headed over to the charge tent to charge my cell phone, and I kind of just hung out there for awhile, talking with people and resting. I stayed up and partied all night that night, as did the two guys I drove with. Getting out that morning, it took me about 20 minutes to pack up, and about an hour and a half for the guys. We were pretty exhausted, so when we got on the road, I drank the biggest coffee I could find, and booked it. We drove straight back to Michigan, with minimal stops, and made it back around 5am Wednesday morning. This is really long, and no one is going to get this far. Whoever does read this whole thing, tell me, and you will win a prize!