Author Archives: Vanessa

Coachella predictions


Death Cab for Cutie could play the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. (Special to The Press-Enterprise)

The big 2008 Coachella announcement is on the horizon. As soon as I get it, it will be up here, so keep checking.

Also, revisit last year’s highlights at our special online section.

My last stab at guessing this year’s lineup is behind the cut.

-Radiohead
The timing fits in with their current posted tour schedule. “In Rainbows” just came out. Plus, everyone loves Radiohead.

-The Hives
Putting out a new album that rocks the socks off their previous releases, I think these Swedes will be on the main stage.

-The Cure
Coachella always puts on a throwback band. The Cure had to cancel dates in 2007, this could be their kickoff for 2008.

-Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings
Jones has had a ton of buzz, and for good reason–the woman can sing. Plus, the Dap-Kings backed Coachella ’07 vet and tabloid queen Amy Winehouse on “Back to Black.”

-Spoon
They’re supporting a new album, they’re just the type of act that would be perfect on the side stage a la the Decemberists.

-Death Cab For Cutie
New album coming out. Plus, the members could perform as Death Cab, the Postal Service and Chris Walla’s solo effort.

-Cold War Kids
I was shocked these SoCal faves weren’t on last year’s bill.

-Gram Rabbit
This Joshua tree outfit released a booty-shaking disc in 2007 that would be perfect for one of the dance tents.

-The B-52’s
An ’80s throwback, they are releasing a new disc in March.

-Vampire Weekend
Another band getting a ton of buzz and they didn’t play last year.

My big giant “snowball’s chance in H-E-double-hockey-sticks” is Led Zeppelin. Coachella is known for ultimate reunions and well, this is the biggest one out there. It’s not going to happen, but what if it did?

I think we’ll also see a more mainstream headlining act this year, like last year’s Saturday capped with the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Green Day and No Doubt are two names I’ve seen thrown around.

I would love to see The Rapture come back. I don’t think they will, but I had such a fun time dancing in the tent last year that I want to do it again.
Who are your picks for this year’s show? Who do you want to see?

Sammy Hagar’s new adventure

Fontana’s rockin’ son Sammy Hagar is launching a new radio station–Cabo Wabo Radio, on the eve of his 60th birthday, which the Red Rocker has deemed “All Sammy Eve.”

You can get a sneak preview starting at noon today at this Web site. This weekend’s programming is “The Cabo Wabo 55: Fifty Five Hours Of Music You Can’t Drive Without.” It ends on Monday. The station will broadcast from Hagar’s Cabo Wabo Cantina in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

We here at the Audio File headquarters figured out how many times you could listen to Hagar’s solo anthem to traffic tickets, “I Can’t Drive 55,” in 55 hours. The answer is 776.5 times. That’s a lot of Hagar.

Here’s a little something from the press release on the playlist:

Cabo Wabo Radio will feature nothing but feel-good, party energy, cutting edge New Rock from across the globe, with a huge catalog of the greatest and most exciting rock from the past twenty five years.
“Cabo Wabo Live” will feature interviews with stars on vacation and interesting people from around the world, and live concerts from major stars and the hottest new artists in the world. It’s a world party of biblical proportions.

Will there be any Van Halen played, and if so, will the David Lee Roth years be included as well? (Because let’s face it, nobody wants to listen to Gary Cherone Van Halen. Nobody ever did.)

I’m not exactly sure how this radio station will reach “biblical proportions,” unless Sammy contacts Noah and Moses, but live concerts sound fun. It’s kicking off with a live performance from Sammy’s 60th birthday party on Saturday night live at the Cabo Wabo Cantina. Apparently Kenny Chesney, Toby Keith and Emeril Lagasse are all going to be there. (Is it just me or does Emeril seem to not fit with the country stars?)

Apparently if you visit the Cabo Wabo Radio site over the weekend you can sign up to be a VIP member and find out when the station is actually launching. It’s expected to be up by the end of the year.

But being a VIP, which looks like it costs nothing at the moment, will also get you messages from Sammy, ticket opportunities, behind the scenes videos and special prices on trips to Cabo. Wait, what?

Is Sammy Hagar trying to sell me a timeshare?

Trapped In The Closet: Chapter 18

Chapter 18*

Twan’s still angry. The first minute of this is just filler.

But then, everything changes. The narrator takes us to a church. The standard musical background is gone and is replaced with a choir of praise music.

Then, we’re back to the drama. Rufus (Kathy’s husband and a preacher) gets a phone call from Chuck, the man he was seeing behind her back.

Kathy enters the Rufus’ office and she and Chuck have a screaming match over the cell phone. Rufus tries to end it with Chuck. Chuck threatens to go public with the affair, Rufus asks to see him, Chuck refuses and drumroll, please says he’s in the hospital. The camera zooms out, Chuck is in a wheelchair and with an IV bag.

The screen fades to black.

Such drama! R. Kelly also plays the Rev. Mosley James Evans.

*As a warning, these videos are not recommended for the kids. Violence, strong language and other issues happen throughout.

Brooks & Dunn

Brooks & Dunn are probably one of the biggest acts in country music because of how they play to the crowd.

Ronnie Dunn, with a wireless microphone headset and a wireless guitar, walked all over the stage, serenading the crowd of tens of thousands that filled the main field.

They even plucked fan Laurie Maisonneuve from the audience to join them to dance onstage during “Boot Scootin’ Boogie.”

Like Alan Jackson last night, the duo was down to business and dynamic onstage as they played fan favorites such as “Neon Moon” and “You Can’t Take the Honky Tonk Out of the Girl.”

Who is John Doe?

I never thought I would be watching punk legend John Doe at a country music festival.

Doe, of seminal Los Angeles punk band X, has released a number of country rock albums and blew away the crowd watching him on the Palomino stage Sunday afternoon.

Skip Paige of Goldenvoice introduced Doe, as the “greatest singer in rock–not punk rock, not country–in rock.”

Doe came out on the stage dressed like Roy Orbison, wearing a black suit jacket and pants with a white button-down dress shirt.

Doe didn’t have any regrets about his fashion choice, though.

“It’s awfully sunny out, don’t you think?” he asked the crowd. “But black is always a good choice.”

After another song or two he shed the jacket.

“Thank you. I’ve paid my debt to fashion today,” Doe said.

The Finale

Rodrigo Pena / The Press-Enterprise

Rage Against the Machine rocks the house during the final day of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio on Sunday.


Rage Against the Machine may have been the most important and historic performance in Coachella existence.

It was the first time the politically-charged band played together in nearly seven years and they closed the first three-day installment of the Indio festival.

As soon as Zack de la Rocha, Tom Morello, Tim Commerford and Brad Wilk played the opening of “Testify” it was like an instant time warp to a time when there was no war in Iraq and before 9-11.

A sea of digital camera screens lit up the crowd and 60,000 fists pumped in the air.

The set hit the best of the band’s three original albums, as well as included their cover of “Renegades of Funk.”

During “Sleep Now in the Fire,” a track from “The Battle of Los Angeles,” pieces of fire flew up in the air facing the left side of the stage. However, the sporadic flames were quickly controlled.

The band may have played harder than any other at the festival, with de la Rocha bounding across the stage, jumping higher with each beat. Morello and Commerford followed suit and Wilk wailed on the drums.

However, it seemed to me that the sound wasn’t as strong for Rage as it was for all of the other mainstage acts. You could tell the guys were playing ridiculously hard but it seemed toned down in the mix.

The politics the group is famous for didn’t come into play until near the end of the main set, when de la Rocha raged against the current administration.

“They should be hung and tried and shot,” he said.

“It’s a system that we have to break down generation after generation,” he continued.

Whenever de la Rocha pointed the microphone to the crowd, the audience gladly filled in the blanks of the well-known songs, as if they were a national anthem for Generation X.

Rage came back for an encore and performed “Freedom.”

The band closed the encore with “Killing in the Name,” the explosive hit off the band’s self-titled debut.

The foursome locked arms and bowed to the packed crowd.

Not so Crowded House

New Zealand popsters Crowded House played a set on the Coachella Stage Sunday night to a crowd of not-so-enthusiastic people who were merely waiting for Rage Against the Machine.

Singer Neil Finn tried to get the crowd to sing along to “Don’t Dream It’s Over” without much success. However, as the set went on, more people started filling the field.

The band also played hits such as “Locked Out” and “Something So Strong.”

Finn thanked the crowd at the end of the set, telling them he was taking a “mental snapshot.”

Willie The Cool

Willie Nelson is oblivious to the outside world and because of that he may just be the coolest man alive. He just chills up there on stage with every hair still in his head, a smile on his face and his beat up guitar around his neck. He is totally carefaree and I am envious. His set began slowly with the Coachella crowd, but once he broke into “Poncho and Lefty” things picked up. Hipsters and hippies alike danced to the classic country crooner. Next week he’ll be at Stagecoach playing to a more familiar group, but something tells me he won’t be having as much fun.

Best cover award

Nothing says fun like a solid cover song and British guys The Feeling obliged by playing a stellar cover of The Buggles’ “Video Killed the Radio Star” Sunday afternoon on the Coachella stage.

It looked like about half of the thousand or so people watching them were really into it, clapping, dancing and singing along. The other half stood motionless–either they’re too cool for school, drained from the heat or quite possibly born long after that song was popular.

The Feeling’s set was peppered with bright and airy pop songs and singer Dan Gillespie said the band had been in the United States for two weeks and are headed back home on Monday. He thanked everyone profusely for welcoming them in the country and included Canada as well.