Thoughts on Coachella

So its a been a while since i posted, but i've been busy with moving places and now feel finally settled enough to get back into this!

Coachella 2012 is currently taking place and I thought I'd give my thoughts on a few of my favourite artists who were part of this spectacular festival.

Looking at the lineup is like combining every Sydney festival into one big, kickass festival. It transcends genres and vibes and looks simply amazing. I really want to fucking go!

Bon Iver I think were my pick for the best act to play at Coachella. Justin Vernon sported an unusually clean-cut look, but his howling vocals were as good as ever. Opening for was always going to be a difficult task, but jeeze they put in a terrific performance. Technically very tight, some cool instrumental interludes and plenty of harmonies were the main elements that I paid attention to, and Vernon should be feeling pretty proud of himself after kicking some serious butt.




Frank Ocean is by no means my favourite artist - I think he's incredibly talented and a great hook singer but his songs just don't do it for me. However his performance was a notable one at Coachella - some really haunting vocals and a strong stage presence. I can't really understand all the trash talk about his performance - it was really good!

Radiohead were, well, Radiohead. Just simply brilliant. A very electronically-driven set list that almost hit 2 hours, with plenty of classics and a haunting new tune in 'Identikit'. Thom Yorke's new ponytail was swaying around as he did the Thom Yorke "spasmodical" dance. I cannot wait to see this band in November after watching this riveting performance.




One of the acts I was most looking forward to seeing was young Abel, better known as The Weeknd. After listening to his trilogy of mixtapes on repeat for much of the last 6 months I was looking forward to seeing him in his first big live gig.

Unfortunately he didn't live up to my expectations.

This could have been because they were set extra high for this young dude, but I just feel that he should have done alot better after all the hype he's been able to generate from those brilliant mixtapes. His vocals started okay (a little flat but we're all human!) but he really lost it in the middle... he sung 'The Zone' an absolute mile off key and seemed to be completely oblivious to it!

What he has going for him is that he's young - there's alot to look forward to in this young man's career and I'm sure with a bit of vocal and performance training he'll be killing it by the time he tours Sydney.

Of course we can't forget the brilliant Hologram of the legendary Tupac Shakur . What a brilliant moment that was as him and Snoop blasted out '2 of Amerika's Most Wanted'. The 100-400k they payed for that was definitely justified and it was such a treat for all those fortunate to see it.

Among these some other great performances came from Neon Indian, Gotye, Dre & Snoop, At the Drive-In, Justice, Miike Snow and The Black Keys

Would love to know your thoughts on Coachella - who you loved, who should have stayed home.. did anybody surprise you in any way?




I'll get into the more serious shit next week.

Peace. T