K’naan

was great in the Gobi Tent, even if he started at 4:35 p.m. Sunday with the audience somewhat sluggish from the heat. The Somalian born hip-hop artist got the crowd to dance along to songs like “T.I.A.” and “ABCs” despite not having Chubb Rock (who might be best known for “Treat em Right” for all you old hip-hop heads like me) on the latter.

Lately, K’naan has been known for giving another viewpoint about Somali piracy. Check it out here if you’re interested (and no I didn’t hear him mention any of this but I could only stay for four songs) as it’s educational.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Karen O is screaming behind me the lyrics to “Zero” on the Coachella stage but I’m waiting to see if my editors call me back. She sounds tremendous, as does drummer Brian Chase whose distinct drums are rumbling also. I’ve seen the Yeah Yeah Yeahs twice before and they never disappoint. Especially Karen O who is one of the most charismatic performers in rock to me.

The Killers

sounded great Saturday night on the Coachella stage Saturday night but a lot people appeared to leave their set after they performed their second song “Somebody Told Me.”

While I was taking notes, a “fan” who was leaving their set said The Killers best work was “Hot Fuss” and they should stop making new music.

I actually left their set to check out Atmosphere, Gang Gang Dance, Mastodon and MSTRKRFT (all of which were really, really strong) and came back during their finale of  I believe “When You Were Young” where fireworks shot off (but it paled in comparison to Paul McCartney’s fireworks and triple encore set).

 

 

Electric Touch

had probably the least amount of fans I’ve seen this weekend at the Coachella festival.

It’s not the band’s entire fault, however. The electricity filled rock group performed at 8:35 p.m. inside the Mojave tent and were competing against Outdoor Theatre’s Band of Horses, Gobi tent’s Junior Boys, Sahara tent’s Crookers (they produced a remix to Kid Cudi’s “Day and Night” and the line forming for M.I.A.’s set.

 

TV on the Radio

was a highlight for me, even if singer Tunde Adebimpe couldn’t always be heard above the pulsating bass and horn section of his group.

I tried to watch both TV on the Radio and Calexico, as they were on different stages but performed at nearly the same time, but that didn’t work out so well as TV on the Radio won out.

Their material, especially from the album “Dear Science,” is really creative with their use of multiple instruments and its cohesive sound.

Calexico’s sound is the same way but is less dark to me. They drew a decent amount of people to the Outdoor Stage to check them out but both groups had fans leave after a number of songs, which is typical of Coachella. There’s a lot to do and see.

 

Michael Franti and Spearhead

really woke the crowd up in the afternoon sun Saturday on the Coachella stage.

What was crazy is there was a lot of space in front of the stage so I easily found a seat to watch Franti, who doesn’t wear shoes,, and then watched a bunch of people run up next to me after he started performing.

Franti’s blend of chants ,reggae, positive messages and strong basslines are made to please audiences and they delivered.

At one point, he covered Stephen Marley’s “Welcome to Jamrock” which drew a lot of cheers as well as his own material like Say Hey (I Love You). .

M.I.A. was good but …

something felt a little flat during her performance on the Coachella stage Saturday night. At the end of her set, after she went into her hit “Paper Planes,” she actually said she would ask to be “in the tent again.”

Her performance was marked by crazy colors (many in the same scheme as her album “Kala”) on the big screen behind her that was well thought out.

When she started her set, she brought out about five or six dancers who all wore neon colored outfits and went into some entertaining dance routines (some that looked to be out of a Bell Biv Devoe video) while M.I.A. herself wore neon green shades, a police officer type hat and neon on her jeans.

She started off rhyming behind a podium with a bunch of microphones, like she was at a press conference, which threw the crowd in a frenzy. .

But the crowd appeared to lose some interest midway through despite performing material from both her albums until she brought a bunch of fans onstage with her and ended with the crowd pleaser “Paper Planes” before she actually went into the audience to shake hands. 

 

Good vibes from Dr. Dog

I guess it was fitting that I checked out Dr Dog a day after
seeing Paul McCartney since the band has drawn several comparisons to 60s bands such as the Beatles.

As the band performed “Army of Ancient,” I was drawn to Toby’s emotion as he belted out “I don’t want to wake up, I don’t
want to move.”

The band played upbeat versions of songs such as “My Friend,”
and “From.” As Scott wrapped up “From,” he told the crowd gathered at the
Mojave tent someone had put a hex on his electronics. “Seems like I can’t play
with out distortion,” Scott said.

As the trio danced and jammed around the stage you could tell they were having fun.

The Philadelphia-based band will be a nice addition to my music catalog.

Coachella recycles

With temperatures topping the 90s I’m sure we’re everyone is happy to know that Coachella has brought back the 10=1 bottle program. The festival organizer is encouraging everyone to recycle watter bottles and as an incentive you get a free water bottle.

The heat was on the mind ove many today including one of the bandmembers of Dr. Dog who said “I know it’s awful but it’s worth it.”

Liars hit the stage at Coachella

The experimental rock band Liars performed at the outdoor stage today. The band, which is probably still on the stage was pretty interesting.

If you listen to their lyrics then it all begins to make sense. In one of their songs they sang: “part of this is so authentic that it’s overwhelming.”
I probably will never see them again, but then again that’s what Coachella is all about, listening and discovering new bands and new sounds.