Tuesday, May 02, 2006

Coachella Day 2 Wrap from OC Register

OC Register is on top of it here as well, in terms of how Day 2 played out, but he doesn't get specific. He talks about Madonna being a let down (it was great for me, because I just caught "Hung Up" and then tried to beat the crowd for Massive Attack and Tool. If I had it to do over again, I would have caught at least a few songs from Scotland's Mogwai, but I was pretty hellbent on Tool at that point, so I am not terribly upset about it. Here are 5 things that made Day 2 great:

(1) Bloc Party was insane. They played some new songs, and nailed all of their stuff from SILENT ALARM. Their frontman, Kele Okereke seemed to really know how to approach their set and the event. Play it hard, play it loud, have fun, and keep the crowd excited.
(2) Yeah Yeah Yeahs sounded awesome as well, and ran through a very entertaining set that closed with "Y Control." I feel like they will always have a raw sound, and that idea has grown on me since I first saw them a month or so ago. I think I was resistant to that at some point, but hearing them at Coachella gave me an appreciation for their live performance. Karen O's dedication of "Maps" to "the largest fucking crowd we have ever played before" was both endearing and fun.
(3) For diehards and newcomers, Massive Attack brought an incredible performance. I have never gotten around to the majority of their catalog, but I was mesmerized by the layering and intensity of their performance. Guest vocals from Elizabeth Frazier put diehards standing next to me over the edge and their crashing waves of sound were an exceptional choice for "the band before Tool" spot.
(4) Tool, Tool, and Tool. From Maynard's opening greeting of "hello, hippies" in his borderline "Kevin Spacey from SE7EN" voice to the chaos that erupted once "Stinkfist" kicked off to the pulsing energy of closer "Aenima" the crowd was locked in, rocking, and alive. It was awesome in every aspect. The setlist, given their time constraints, could not have been better. My head would have exploded if they did "Ticks & Leeches" or "Parabola" so I am almost thankful that they steered clear of those.
(5) The tail end of Metric's set, before the promise of Wolf Parade demonstrated that bands can rock Coachella, even if their sound doesn't have the volume or sonic boom characteristic of a band like Tool or Wolfmother. Metric was awesome for the time I was there and Wolf Parade, well, let's just say that I was nervous walking out of there, three songs in. They were on fire. Thank God, that Bloc Party, the reason we left, came correct.

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