Coachella ’09

Last weekend was another successful Coachella excursion. We had the privilege(?) of providing overpriced hydration, electrolytes, and whatever Red Bull is to a mass of humanity that supposedly passes as youth culture. Got to check out some pretty neat music in the midst of it all, a plus always.

The above clips would be the highlights, or what I at least decided to try and record with the shaky digital camera, Youtube-style.

Others things worth mentioning:
-I’m kicking myself for missing most of Booker T & the Drive-By Truckers Saturday night set. Of the few songs I caught they sounded fantastic, with Booker beaming huge smiles and laying down thick nasty organ runs as the Truckers more than kept pace. He’s got a brand new album out with them called Potato Hole. A guy named Neil Young also plays on it.

-Paul McCartney, when it’s all said and done, is just a dude that loves to play music. His 2.5 hour show was no doubt a surgical demonstration in nostalgia, but it also was the best sounding set I heard all weekend on the main stage. Finding out mid-performance from Paul that the day marked the 11th anniversary of Linda McCartney’s death definitely added an emotional wrinkle to the whole thing.

-Mastodon emphatically proved there’s a place for heavy metal at this festival. You’ve gotta have someone out there to put some chest hair on these meek hipster-babies.

-The Cure killed it. Hands down. Robert Smith still looks bat-shit crazy, and still can sing better than just about anyone. Their 3-hour set literally closed the festival. Organizers without hesitation blasted on the floor/flood lights and cut the sound system just as they kicked into “Boys Don’t Cry.” To their credit they kept on playing, and with only the faint sound of their own amps spilling out from the stage droves and droves of people frantically ran up to hear a song many probably waited three hours for. It was a kinda odd, but kinda cool way to end the long weekend.

Click past the jump for a few photos…