Coachella Tales: A Journey from Love to Confusion
Originally published in LA, I’m Yours.
Courtesy: Goldenvoice
April 2004
My first Coachella! I’m so excited. My friend, S, scored a pair of tickets and VIP passes, so we splurge for a one-night stay at the La Quinta Resort. Coachella is hotter than I could have imagined. We get to Empire Polo Field way too early and don’t quite know what to do with ourselves until we discover the VIP area, which is practically heaven after sweating it out on the field: water misters! Flushable toilets! Spicy Pie pizza! We use the area to recharge between bands.
At The Thrills, I sweat my face off; at Beck’s surprise show, I nearly get assaulted by an over-exuberant fan who appears to be there only to hear “Lost Cause” (he is not disappointed); at Radiohead, I sing along to “Creep”; I ditch The Cure to see Le Tigre rock the Outdoor Theatre. Early on the first day, under the hot sun, S and I swear we’re never coming back, but by the end of Saturday night I’ve already had it: my first Coachella Moment. The sun has just slipped down behind the hills around the Coachella Valley, and everything has a lovely pink hue; the sweat from earlier in the day has dried on my skin and I am starting to cool down; I am surrounded by amazing and beautiful music and art, and I know that I am exactly where I am supposed to be.
Courtesy: Goldenvoice
April 2007
My fourth Coachella in a row, and I am still in love with it. I’ve had different experiences the past few years: 2005 was a quick up-and-back in the same day, made worth it by MIA’s Coachella debut, and 2006 was another full-weekend commitment, this time with two nights at La Quinta and no VIP passes, but amazing shows by Daft Punk, Madonna, Sleater-Kinney, and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.
This year, my friend, C, and I found a lovely no-name motel that’s clean and close to an In-n-Out, and we see fantastic and fun shows by LCD Soundsystem, Regina Spektor, Nickel Creek, Amy Winehouse, and countless others. On Sunday, C has to leave early to get back to work, but I stick around for a trip down memory lane and shows by Crowded House, Happy Mondays, and the Lemonheads. I watch part of Rage Against the Machine for posterity, and then head home, having survived my first 3-day Coachella with plenty of Coachella Moments. Best Coachella ever…so far.
Courtesy: Goldenvoice
April 2010
Oh, Coachella! What happened? This is not the Coachella I fell in love with. We waited for 4 hours just to get into the parking lot, missing Grizzly Bear, who my friend C was most excited to see. And even though we paid for a VIP “upgrade,” our wristbands weren’t ready, which meant waiting another hour at the gate, amidst confusion and the sounds of music coming from inside the field.
Once inside, the VIP area was more crowded than it had ever been, and we are convinced that at least half the people there faked their way in. Not that I care for purposes of status, but we paid a pretty penny to have some extra space and breathing room. It’s not any better out on the field: it’s so crowded everywhere, and my days of aimless wandering from stage to stage seem long gone.
I think back to 2009, when Leonard Cohen and Paul McCartney played the same day and I nearly lost my mind with awesomeness. This year, I was most excited to see LCD Soundsystem, Vampire Weekend, Jay-Z, Hot Chip, Tokyo Police Club, Edward Sharpe, Charlotte Gainsbourg, and Matt & Kim, but I am hardly able to see and hear any of them because of the constantly moving and jostling sea of people. I realize early on that this is going my last Coachella, at least for a while. I try to find my Coachella Moment, but even now it’s gone, and I know I’ll have to rely on my memories to remind me of the good times I once had.
Courtesy: Trader Joe’s
April 2012
It’s my second year not going to Coachella. When I tell people I don’t go anymore, they look at me like they know something and say, usually nodding their head, “You’re too old, right? Me too.” I want to tell them that I’m not too old, that I didn’t change. Coachella did. I would have put up with the long walk from the parking lot, the awkward waits for the toilets, and the long hours in the sun, all to have my Coachella Moment every year. But this new Coachella is a scene beyond my ability to handle.
Everyone looks seriously great: the guys, still cool in their skinny black jeans and flannel shirts, and the women, somehow sweat-free and gorgeous in their short rompers and uber-flat thong sandals. I don’t belong here, not in my practical knee-length dresses that enable me sit cross-legged on the ground, lightweight bag with a hoodie for the evening, and sneakers with ankle socks to prevent blisters. I was in love with Coachella, yes, but Coachella left me for more beautiful creatures. It’s ok, I understand. Why stick with the nerdy girl hanging out at the back of the crowd when you can be surrounded by cute groupies who hang on your every word?
But I soon discover that it’s nothing to be bitter about. Coachella weekend in LA is kind of nice, actually. My Trader Joe’s will be gloriously navigable this weekend, and I may even brave the WeHo Target on Saturday afternoon. A lot of the bands will play in the LA area, so I’ll just make more trips to the smaller shows. Yes, part of me will wish I was there. I’ll look at the schedule, and plan my fantasy lineup (likely highlight: Explosions in the Sky at the Outdoor Theatre, and the 90s-flashback triple threat of James, Squeeze, and Mazzy Star). I’ll remember what it’s like to be there: the heat, the sweat, the smells, the art, the sounds of all the music coming from the different corners of Empire Polo Field, and of course, the beautiful sky reflecting pink on the hills right after sunset. I will yearn, deeply, for my Coachella Moment. And then I’ll remember that those are memories of a Coachella long-gone, before 150,000 tickets for 3-day passes sold out in mere hours. I’ll remember that I’d spend the weekend either getting trampled, trampling someone else, and/or debating whether it would be worth elbowing my way across the field to the Mojave tent to see if Gotye is any good live, and even if I did make it to the tent unscathed, would I even be able to see over the ocean of heads and shoulders in front of me?
Yes, I will think about all of that for a moment, probably on Sunday afternoon.
And then, I’ll go grocery shopping.
