I tend not to do a Coachella recap every year since - A) every blog/magazine/publication does one and B) I am frequently shooting from my phone or far away, so decent photos are hard to come by. However, I am going to this year because there were some excellent bands that I am not seeing much coverage for.
Can we take a minute and appreciate Neko Case? The woman has been at it forever and continues to turn out great music. She is hysterical and has the voice of a god. Anytime she is on the bill I am going to make sure I see her.
Ty Segall has become a full fledge star. Whenever your crowd doubles from beginning to end of set you know you are doing something right. In this case that means turning out quality product so quickly that until he said these were new songs, I wasn't sure if half the set was new or just an album I had missed.
Bombay Bicycle Club were fantastic. Great sound that totally drew me in without trying too hard. I only hung out for two songs because I was off to see Chvrches.
Chvrhes were fantastic. Last years Bones of What You Believe was one of my favorites and the songs totally work live. Many synth-pop bands have a hard time translating record to live show, but these guys totally brought it. Plus Lauren Mayberry is completely charming and adorable live.
Holy Ghost! are continuing DFA's long run of great Coachella shows - LCD Soundsystem 2011, Rapture 2012, Hot Chip 2013. Like those bands, there wasn't one hit that every lost there minds for, but a long build where everyone danced the entire time - really kicking off on the second song "Dumb Disco Ideas".
Washed Out are just totally made for 5pm Coachella. Its hot, you are tired and semi-dehydrated, and not sure what you want to listen to. Washed Out sound like the heat ripples you see and it is perfect.
Superchunk are indestructible. These guys just keep going and going and it is fantastic. New songs, old songs both come alive when they play with this much energy and passion. It didn't matter that the tent was mostly empty, they were here to bring it.
There are many more bands that I saw and could write about, but I like images to accompany the blurbs. Neutral Milk Hotel were fantastic and I am happy to have been able to see them. Disclosure had star making set and bring out Sam Smith for "Latch" was stunning. Scuba had the best DJ set I saw all weekend. Classixx brought out Yacht to do "Psychic City". Queens of the Stone Age welcomed us to their home in the middle of a dust storm and showed how much swagger is missing in rock. Coachella is certainly a scene and has a lot of ish, but it is still the best festival in the US.
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