Coachella Misses You, Too - Pt. 3

I love how something spawned by this festival can translate into news across the country. Naturally, the biggest news about this year's Coachella is the "one-time" reunion of Rage Against the Machine. News of this reverberated everywhere as RATM are one of the most vocal politically-powered bands of the current generation... and also one of the most ferocious and excitable live acts, as well. A few days after the announcement of the Coachella bill (that included RATM), I was told about this at my job here in suburban Atlanta. At the Lily Allen show I went to on Monday, there was talk about the Rage reunion also. It just gives me a smile to be a part of something that's so incredibly noteworthy... even though, in all honesty, I really couldn't care about RATM.

With that said, here's the last of the three-part series of what I'm looking forward to about this year's Coachella lineup. This final installment focuses on the last day, Sunday, April 29.


Courtesy of cybele malinowski.

Klaxons - I've heard this band on Left of Center (Sirius 26) enough times to really form judgement, especially since I've heard three of their songs now as well as an interview with the band. All of the statements about this band somehow tapping into the future are true - how this band sounds fits perfectly into the framework of the year 2207. Yes, that's right, their sound is two hundred years ahead of their mortal bodies. They've talked about how rave culture applies to their music, but it's also indie sounding. I mean, in "Atlantis to Interzone", there are sirens going off, minimal lyrics (saying "Atlantis" and "Interzone" x-amount of times doesn't suffice as a "lyric"), tremendous beats, and Britishness beyond belief. The future is now with this band and I entirely expect them to be "buzzworthy" at this year's Coachella. Personally, I cannot stand the track I just mentioned, but "Golden Skans" is very tolerable. I really like joining the band in their "ooh-woo-ooh-woo - OOH!" that they have going on throughout the track (hm, you need to hear it to understand). I just heard another new one the other day, but it didn't stand out. When it comes down to it though, I might visit the Mojave (because they will own this tent early in the evening) and see the reaction they are getting. People will either go berzerk over it or they will be lambasted with palm trees; it's a toss-up at this point.


Courtesy of Danny North.

The Kooks - I'm ready to take bets here - who will join who on stage for "Naive" - Lily Allen joins The Kooks or vice versa? Place your bets now!



Lily Allen - She created significant buzz over the summer with her UK-released debut Alright, Still, and she's already whining about playing her own songs to get more recognition Stateside. So who knows what kind of set we'll get at Coachella. But you cannot deny her cuteness or her wit with her songs. Some of the tunes fall a little flat, but the ones that are strong are pretty much unstoppable. As I said earlier, I saw her here in Atlanta on Monday and I was already curious about the show after reading that NME article (oh, credibility!) from Saturday. Despite her "boredom" with her songs, she carried herself nicely throughout the show. I could notice moments of, "Ugh, gotta do this AGAIN," attitude, but her songs held up and she let out a few chuckles every once in a while. When I asked her afterwards about Coachella ("See you at Coachella! Are you excited about it?"), all I got was a simple, "Oh, yes!" Hmm.


Courtesy of Serena Sundai.

Placebo - Brian Molko is back, and he has an agenda this time, folks - PURRRRRRREEEEE MORNNNNNNING! Uh huh. That aside, my only experience with Placebo is during the Black Market Music phase of their career. I did enjoy that album (to an extent) and ended up seeing them live on the resulting North American tour. The show left much to be desired for me, and revealing a hiding Brian Molko from the masses outside of the venue made it all worthwhile. Apparently their recent album Meds is something worth investing time into. We'll see about that one. I see a late afternoon Coachella Stage appearance, possibly similar to Muse's slot in '04. I just hope the IEH isn't too much for the kids in southern Cali.

Crowded House - I really couldn't believe that this was true when I first heard it. Their drummer killed himself several years ago and they were complete 80s has-beens. I just couldn't justify why they were on the lineup. But alas, they are there. I'm definitely interested in hearing how the Finns are doing these days and how those tunes are holding up. If worse comes to worse, get Six Pence None the Richer to come and complete the set... or just sing "Don't Dream It's Over".


Courtesy of Guy Eppel.

Kaiser Chiefs - I could've sworn that parts of their last big hit here ("I Predict a Riot") sounded like the Ramones. This time, "Ruby" is completely infectious. They'll probably go on right after Placebo and get the crowd all riled up for the evening session.



Explosions in the Sky pic courtesy of cyberkode.

Explosions in the Sky/Air - Here's the conflict everyone hopes to avoid this year. Everyone knows how good Air is live, especially after their out-of-body experience in '04. Also, a lot of people know how ridiculously mindblowing EITS is in the live setting. Both bands appeal to those who long for "sunset sets". I fall into each sentence I've said so far. I've seen Air twice and loved 'em both times. I recently saw EITS for the first time in a packed, sweaty club that they blew apart. Both bands are pretty amazing live. Please, for the love of God, Goldenvoice has to really examine this possible conflict.

Deck the halls with... Coachella?

First things first (and this really cannot go without saying) - Coachella 2007 will be a three-day affair in the desert.



I mean, really? Enough said? By clicking on the lame-o teaser poster, you are brought to an article in Palm Springs' The Desert Sun newspaper about the announcement. Also, two-thirds of the line-up is committed? Whaaaaat? C'mon, who's gonna be the tool over at Goldenvoice that breaks into the safe and take a super-cool cameraphone capture of some of it? Rumors are already circulating that Prince (uh, yes?), Radiohead (oh, yes!), and The Smashing Pumpkins (YEESSSSSS.) are the three headliners, but who doesn't love Coachella rumors, right? Let's see how much these babies get blown out of proportion this year. We all remember 2006. It's just funny that when you google "coachella 2006" in google images, you see a fake poster more than anything else. Gotta heart it, I swear. Just stay tuned to this place because there are two things I really live for out of life - hockey and Coachella. What I might lack in hockey, I certainly have in being on top of stuff with Coach... and maybe vice versa.

Also, alpharuin is reporting a new Explosions in the Sky record in February. Time to get my instrumental post-rock (uhhh...) on, and stat!

And all music stuffs aside, while trying to decipher the Thrashers/Capitals game on 680 The Fan tonight, I could SWEAR I heard something about a trade between San Jose and Phoenix that would've been amazing - Sharks' goalie Evgeni Nabokov for Yotes' d-man Ed Jovanovski. Other than that bit of warbling I thought I could make sense out of, I haven't seen ANYTHING on that anywhere. I guess I was caught in some sort of weird fourth-dimensional hole in the Fayette/Coweta boundaries. Whatever.

What made that news worthwhile for me is that I have Jovo on my fantasy team (POLSKA KIELBASA) and moving him to San Jose would do wonders for the guy and for the Sharks' squad. Nabby's value would dip a bit in PHX, but he would remain a top goaltender in the west. But to know that Jovo would be a fixture on the blueline of the Sharks would be an amazing thing... all I'd say is that Anaheim better duck and cover... ugh, pun intended. Lame.

Le Thrash aren't doing so hot right now (well, presently, they're holding a 3-2 lead over Le Craps after two) with four straight losses and not much representation from the team. Playing behind in most of the games, you can't expect to win even half of those. Even though the Thrash are quite the resilient bunch of mates, they can't keep coming back from such deficits. The Dallas game from Saturday was just terrible to watch, even though the Thrash did keep in it. Kari's slack performance could've been the kicker, but going up against a Western conference stronghold was a good test for the playoff-caliber Thrash and they failed. Dallas held up for the entire game and you expect teams with that much skill and talent to do such. Pre-season speculations about the Thrashers living and dying on the back of Kari Lehtonen are appearing as such. There is definitely a positive correlation with Kari's nightly performance and the success of the Thrash. It's good to know that Moose is reliable enough to step up when Kari falls a little short. And that's to be expected with someone as young as Lehts. With all of the early pressure on the guy, he had to come back to earth eventually. Hopefully this is his grounding time and that things will get sorted out in the short-run.

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving and a safe holiday weekend!