SCENES FROM COACHELLA

great pics!!! really amazing! really dug the eclectic lineup of bands showed. matisyahu is a complete pretentious phoney gimmick but dave vann deserves mad props for getting a picture of dany devito rocking out!

great article Forrest and Mr.Vann what can I say?? You are a genius my man!

Amazing images Dave Vann! Captures the crazy atmosphere there for sure! Looks like a little too much for me, personally.

Weak writing in my opinion, Forrest. Sorry, just sounded too much like a runny tally of how much you and your friends bitch. Just my two cents...

Folks - Loved the words and images - "People on Poop watching madonna" Funny Shit there!

Looks like a fantastic fest - wish I could see Massive Attack live.

sadly, i have to agree with Zander- fun pic's but the narrative thread is weaker than what ive come to expect from JB. borders on painful

Wow what an amazingly gay sounding festival. The only way it could get any better is if Jack Johnson and Ben Harper came out for Madonna’s encore and covered a Beatles tune. This festival is like a gathering of all the pop bands that want to pretend they’re not. And hey, if anyone reading this ever sees me driving down the freeway in a Jetta dead set against drinking or doing any drugs, in a hurry to go see Matt Costa please do me a favor and shoot me in the head a the earliest possible traffic light. I’m going to go off on a little rant here. May be I am getting old now, because I can remember back in the good old days before there was a genre of music called “Jam Bands” and huge festivals came into existence. I’ve always enjoyed seeing a wide variety of artist based on their musical ability and instrumental prowess. The kind of music I dig depends on the night. Jazz, Classical, Reggae, rock n roll, Bluegrass you name it, but they all have one thing in common, and that is the artists ability to play their respective instruments and styles so well that they can take the music into a whole new direction. I’m just as avid about avoiding shows and bands that concentrate on an over all sound where the individual instruments are channeled into a mold that incases a genre. Needless to say I rarely run into Madonna or Danny Devito. I used to feel that I was on to something so cool it should almost be kept a secret, but such is life. Anyway different stokes for different folks I guess. I’m off to go buy a poster of Matt Costa now to replace my old John Mayer one…….. That Matt is soooo dreamy these days.
PS I hope this comment makes Dannymo laugh again

watch out for Madonna and Tool fans! : ) seriously, sorry you didn't like the thread. If you want to critique some more, i'll email you the draft (which is much longer and was wisely trimmed by kayce for publication because it is full of more "whining," but it also has a little adventure) And by the way, i meant for this article to be a running tally, so i appreciate that comment.

Damn people, this was a great festival. The scenery was amazing. These pictures do a great job of capturing the atmosphere. The lighted palm trees and mountain range background add to the essence. Sure, musically, it was more of an 80's new wave festival. But the vibe here was
perfect for a music festival. It was just a heavier, more exotic version of Bonnaroo. So you have to just respect and accept it for what it is.

Hey gifthorse76,

What did you exactly mean by "Wow what an amazingly gay sounding festival."?

Just wondering.

Andrew

Kanye West is freaking looking at his watch as he performs in his picture.

This is most likely the worst festival ever created. It took over an hour to get into. The worst lineup ever(except of course for tool). They only had Heniken and Heniken light. It cost $100 dollars for 1 day(1 Band) The crowd sucked, I saw multible people pass out from heat. I saw . I saw people get trampeled, screaming for their lives. It took over an hour just to WALK out of it to get back to my car. Then another hour to get to the main highway. TOOL KICKED ASS THOUGH!!! Massive attack made me ask the question, How many people do you need on stage to suck? FUCK COACHELLA!!! If you like life dont ever support this horrible event.

Hey Gifthorse76, I'm surprised they even posted your hateful drivel. I'm sorry I missed some of the sets, MMJ especially. Can't wait for High Sierra. Some of the artists I've seen (Matisyahu, Cat Power) are fantastic live. Do gay artist threaten you lamehorse 7.6, beacause I'm hetro, I have a suspicion your a hateful troll. Festivals are about appreciating music, even pop music. I like jamband music better, but whats wrong with Matt Costa, lighten up weakhorse.

IT'S SO DIVERSE THAT HEY DON'T INVITE ONE JAM BANDS. THEY MAKE IT CLEAR THAT STRING CHEESE, UMPHREY'S DISCO BISCUITS, RATDOG. PHIL, MOE, AND MANY MORE ARE NOT WELCOME. THESE ARE THE SAME FOLKS WHO TELL US ALL TO BE OPEN MINDED.

Where the hell are all the tool pics?

how many jambands were at this fest ZERO why is it on jambase... JAMbase for gods sake bigfro is totally right..they compare it to bonnaroo but roo's core is jambands then has some other indie and hiphop but coachella is just abunch of crappy bands together playin crappy music(except matisyahu and mmj theyre good)

Forest- just some constructive criticism. As much as i appreciate the creative license used in making it a running tally of whinning, i feel as though, and stop me if i am being a bit presumptious, the vast majority of JamBase readers, regardless of their prediliction for this band or that, would prefer that you edit out the whinning and focus more on the adventure of which you spoke. Nonetheless, i do appreciate you doing your thing. Again, just some contructive criticism.

Nice write up beautiful pics!
Matisayu = in it for the money

Coachella ruled. Sorry to those that didn't have a good time. Really sorry to those that hate for no reason. Just like any other festival, some acts came to play and some didn't.

Daft Punk - One of the greatest shows I have EVER seen. Go to youtube.com and you'll see or you won't.
Kanye West - Checking his watch b/c he got on late and they were trying to figure out the setlist in the shortened time where he asked the crowd if there was anything they wanted to hear. It was actually a nice moment.
Common - Brokedanced on stage. Pulled a girl up on stage to sing to. He's a cool mofo.
Matisyahu - Not sure why people are not down(kinda reminds me of early comments on Eminem). He was having a blast on stage and his beatboxing/hebrew singing is and was amazing in my opinion.
Damian Marley - Great to see. Sadly though, his band was not tight at all. They restarted 4 or 5 songs, with giggles and comments of "together now." Didn't ruin the set, but I was very surprised they weren't more together.
Go! Team - Awesome live. Their girl singer is pure energy. And they play really fun songs to dance to.
Madonna - Played a 30-minute set in a 50-minute time slot. DID NOT SAY GOODNIGHT.
Tool - Great end to a great festival. Maynard was singing to the left of the drums and behind the speakers. You could only see him when he was rocking out. Really weird, but that's why you gotta love them. "We're here to paper, scissors, rock you. I wrote that one myself," good ol' Maynard.
Depeche Mode - Played a lot of hits and closed with some rare stuff from what I read. Cool jagged mirror-looking video screens behind them.
Atmosphere - Heard a Lodi Dodi cover in passing.

As much fun as any Jam Fest I've been to. Just got to plan things out a little more beforehand. And as far as the music, I hope we continue to invade their fests and that they continue to invade ours.

scissor sisters tunes are so infectious. they keep the asses shaking no matter how much of a jaded hipster you are. one time i saw them in nyc and the lead singer was wearing chaps with his whole bare ass hanging out. it is just my eye or does cat power seem a litle chilly? danny devito rules. i'll bet he got the fallout of all the groupies. he was the penguin in batman people!!!

My Morning Jacket is taking over the world. From Louisville to the stars!!! If you haven't seen them, do it. Take note that this huge tool fan put MMJ as the set of the festival. There is much good still to come from this band. Keep your eyes and ears open.

How did you all forget about THE OCTOPUS PROJECT. What a great way to start out Sun. @ noon. For me they were a hard act to follow. I could only think about them as I jammed my way through the rest of the day/night.

TOOL or the Scissor Sisters??? Are you kidding me?
Tool is one of the best bands on the planet. The great comedian Bill Hicks called Madonna a piece of s*#t, how fitting to see her fans sitting on porto-potties to watch her. Weak writing and weak review. No mention of Josh Homme? Why didn't you snap a pic of him on the drums?

Rookies.

gifthorse is the defender of the JAMBAND scene... let him speak people

How can you omit TOOL?

anyone who says matisyahu is a fake, gimmick can suck me sideways because obviously u have no idea. lets not judge people based on what we THINK we know about them. get off ur highhorse, open your mind and ears to new music, and accept it for what it truly is. out of all of the acts at coachella, he deserves respect. fuck the fuck off haters