Category Archives: Music

Pulp lead singer Jarvis Cocker recently issued a solo album, and his solo set at Coachella has been filled with energetic pop songs and plenty of live panache. Cocker knows hw to interract with a crowd, which is something the weary audience at 9:15 p.m. needs. It’s been a long day and it’s still not over.

Coachella Art Curator Philip Blaine said that when he selects the large-scale sculptures for the show, he looks for pieces that will have different senses depending on the time of day.

Now that the sun has gone down, there are flames shooting through the air, lights glowing and a modest crowd waiting for the Tesla coils to start shooting lightning bolts through the air.

If you’re attending on Saturday and Sunday, do yourself a favor and check out the different art pieces both during the day and at night.

Some things are in short supply at Coachella: restrooms and cell phone reception.

Some things in surplus: vast open spaces between stages to run through and people wearing comic book superhero shirts (someone’s been shopping at Target).

— KIMBERLY PIERCEALL
kpierceall@PE.com

Drawing people away from the packed Amy Winehouse set, British lads the Arctic Monkeys played a blistering set on the Coachella stage this evening.

They played a mix of old songs and a few new ones off their latest effort, Favourite Worst Nightmare at about three times their normal speed, which was for the better.

The band played its biggest hit, “I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor,” only a few songs into the set.

Amy Winehouse, the young British chanteuse with a classic sound that finds a home somewhere between Motown and Trojan records, easily created the biggest buzz thus far. For some reason her 6 p.m. slot in the miniscule Gobi tent, which resulted in thousands of fans spilling out into Coachella’s walking arteries, wasn’t in a larger locale — but so be it. Beyond any logistical performance her set showed that the hype was well deserved. Backed by a nine-piece band that featured horns and backup singers, Winehouse proved that she’s way ahead of “American Idol” and a lot closer to the Aretha Franklins and Diana Ross’ of the world. It will be interesting to see what she does in the future.

Gillian Welch and her songwriting partner David Rawlings opened their set in the Gobi tent with a cover of Johnny Cash and June Carter’s “Jackson,” which was every bit as authentic and soulful as the original. As an ode to Gram Parsons they were decked out in Rhinestones a la the Flying Burrito Brothers — classic. The two are American treasures playing the native music of this country the right way. The Coachella crowd took well to it, and they should have — it was undeniable. Thus far my favorite performance of the day.

Belated kudos to the folks who set up the handy signs with clear arrows directing traffic seamlessly to the Empire Polo Club, venue for the Coachella music festival.

Granted, it helped to get to the concert early at about 10:30 a.m. when there was no traffic in sight.

— KIMBERLY PIERCEALL
kpierceall@PE.com

So stand-up-comedy may fit in with Coachella much like a mime performing in a casino (heat-exhaustion folks, my head and metaphors are weak) as fellow blogger Paul Saitowitz mentioned, but I did enjoy the greeting comedian Patton Oswalt gave the crowd: “Sweaty, sweaty, sweaty hipsters in ironic T-shirts,” he said.

Then he implored the crowd to sit down, “like when you’re playing Dungeons & Dragons.”

— KIMBERLY PIERCEALL
kpierceall@PE.com

Perry Farrell has been a part of Coachella in several incarnations — first as a part of Jane’s Addiction, later as a solo artist and DJ and now as a part of his rocking new band, Satellite Party. Think Jane’s with more punk energy and melody and less jamming. I don’t think many people here knew this was Farrell’s band, but when they heard his unmistakable voice they rushed over.
Regarding the people: No real freaks spotted yet, just typical concertgoers, but the day is still young.

Three and a half hours after the gates opened, the rock finally appeared at Coachella in the form of British trio the Noisettes. Mark my words, this band, which sounds like a new-wave rock Yeah Yeah Yeahs, could be the next big thing.

The Mojave tent was packed when the band took the stage at 2:30.

After a couple of songs of playing bass and singing behind the microphone, Noisettes frontwoman Shingai Shoniwa shed her instrument and started doing some Rockette-style high kicks in chartreuse hot pants. Seriously.

Plus, the band’s drummer Jamie Morrison was so manic I originally mistook him for Animal from The Muppets.