Back From My Coachella Coma!

COACHELLA VALLEY MUSIC & ARTS FESTIVAL, INDIO, CA, APRIL 17 - 19, 2009

Damn The Man is back on track now that I've woken up from my Coachella hangover. For the record, I did NOT do what the folks in the above picture are doing; instead, we very strategically stuck to our Motel 6 room until sunset to avoid the grievously hot desert temperatures, but still ended up inhaling pounds of dust...hence the coma I've been in since coming back to L.A. on Monday.

What did Your 90's-ologist think of the show? It was not so much 90's-centric as boomer-era rock-tastic with Paul McCartney on hand to assail us with 2 hours and 45 minutes of mostly Beatles tunes. I can't lie...it was classic and I'm sad if you missed it. Paul had suspenders on and he was ready to rock. "Hey Jude," "Ticket to Ride," "A Day in the Life," "Let It Be," "Give Peace A Chance," "Can't Buy Me Love," "Blackbird," "Yesterday," "Band on The Run," "Live and Let Die," "Something," "I Got A Feeling," and on and on. Variety can tell you more about that, if you please.

I was also lucky enough to briefly catch the set by the fabulous Leonard Cohen; more about him in an upcoming I Can't Believe You Don't Own This F%#kin' Record on the Natural Born Killers soundtrack, which I believe heralded Cohen's surprising resurgence in popularity in the 90's.

While The Cure played gorgeously, their set noticeably avoided recognizable jams, excluding songs like "Lullaby" and "Just Like Heaven," and they were unceremoniously cut short by the powers that be, plugs pulled and lights cut out, leaving them to play perennial favorite "Boys Don't Cry" (which, admittedly, turned into a tearjerking acapella crowd singalong) and "Jumping Someone Else's Train" to the ether without the aid of amplification, which was a very rad thing to do, actually.

The Killers were succinct (set ending at midnight on the dot) but entertaining. Love that "When You Were Young." They have some time to marinate as a band beyond an early 80's U2 copy, methinks.

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs and M.I.A. alike were a little disappointing. I give the Yeah Yeah Yeahs points for a spot-on rendition of "Y Control," which closed their set, as well as Karen O's King Midas gold coin outfit, which mingled nicely with the setting sunlight. M.I.A. gets the gas-face, however, for being atonal, arrhythmic and largely avoiding anything resembling songs. She pulled out "Galang" and "Paper Planes" to a less than enthusiastic crowd in the beer garden, who are always ready to shake their booty. Always. It's a shame considering her set last year in the Sahara tent, while riddled with technical difficulties, was kinetic and packed to the gills with dance-crazed nutcases ready to rock it with her.

Thievery Corporation, who played before M.I.A., made booties shake proper. Public Enemy did as well, although because I had to keep my husband company in the beer garden before The Cure, I was not able to see them. Though I hear they played quite a bit of their classic 1988 album, "It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back."

Morrissey was as he is always: fabulous. Gucci pour Homme and Murray's pomade.

X were great. I wish John Doe and Exene Cervenka were on my speed dial...see them if you get the chance. You may not get too many. Hardcore real punk rock.

Last but not least, my harbingers of pain: My Bloody Valentine. This band makes the little industrial girl inside me jump for joy. They take noise to unholy levels and it is beautiful. Seeing hundreds of people walk away from the main stage with their fingers squished in their ears and their faces scrunched in horror is an unparalleled treat for the misanthropic side of my psyche. And "Only Shallow" is terrific to dance to.

Enough out of me already. Metrowize has a full Coachella report if you want the nitty-gritty, and Style.com has a fashion report if you absolutely need to see how naked people were this year (anyone who has photos of the fellow in the body-length neon green thong, and if you saw him you know what I mean, contact me).

See you in the desert next year!

Some 90's hits from Coachella 2009 artists:



Public Enemy - "911 is a Joke" from their 1990 album, "Fear of a Black Planet"



The Cure - "The 13th" from their 1996 album, "Wild Mood Swings"

I'm really jazzed I found this one. I wish they had played it at the show.



Morrissey - "We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful (Live May 1992)" from his 1992 album, "Your Arsenal"