Officially home and recovered (slightly) from Coachella Weekend 1 2012, suffering from massive Coachella homesickness, missing my LA friends, and reliving all the memories, amazing people we met, mind-blowing acts, and attempting to cope with the fact that I have 360 days until I’m back.
It seemed like the general feeling among everyone that I met at Weekend 1 was that everyone hated that the festival was 2 weekends this year, there were tons of people that got separated from their friends, and pretty much everyone hated that we all weren’t together to have one Coachella experience, isn’t that the point after all? Despite the fact that the event was split up this year, I have to say that I was equally, if not more impressed than last year. Friday’s line up (and weather) was slightly weak, but everyone bonded over the cold, wind, and rain, and there were some really impressive acts. Saturday was amazing, and Sunday was even better. Although I’m sure all the acts will be changing things up to keep the crowd guessing during Weekend 2, I have to say that I don’t think the crowd will be nearly as amazed by all of the surprises headed their way. However, Weekend 2 attendees will be able to read posts like this one and know where to, and not to, spend their time.
SPOILER ALERT! Here are my picks for the must sees for all you Weekend 2 goers, get ready for lots of goosebumps!
Friday, April 13, 2012
Yuck (3:15 – 4:00, Outdoor Stage) – Lay down in the grass and chill or grab a beer and watch from the beer garden between the Coachella and Outdoor Stages.
Neon Indian (4:25 – 5:10, Outdoor Stage) – Mid-afternoon groovin’
Arctic Monkeys (6:30 – 7:20, Coachella Stage) – One of the heavier sets of the weekend, good clean UK rock and lots of crowd surfing.
M83 (10:15 – 11:05, Mojave Tent) – Love me some dance rock!
Amon Tobin (12:00am – close, Mojave Tent) – Trippiest light show of the weekend, period. If you know what’s up you won’t waste your time with SHM, Amon is mind altering.
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals (3:40 – 4:25, Outdoor Stage) – This bitch is gorgeous and she can sing! Spend your morning pre-gaming and roaming to see what’s good, nothing worth seeing before her.
AWOLNATION (4:00 – 4:45, Coachella Stage) – Dozens of crowd surfing chicks, and unbelievable guest appearance by Macy Gray.
St. Vincent (7:45 – 8:35, Gobi Tent) – Annie Erin Clark’s voice is haunting, get your groove on!
Bon Iver (9:30 – 10:20, Coachella Stage) – As much as I love Bon Iver this was a bit mellow for this late in the day in my opinion, but definitely a great set to chill to late in the day, especially if you want to get a good spot for Radiohead.
Radiohead (11:05 – close, Coachella Stage) – No description needed. Thank you to this amazing individual who was smart enough to rip the entire live stream.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Santigold (3:25 – 4:15, Coachella Stage) – I honestly didn’t see any other (non-EDM) artist get this many people dancing to their set, she’s badass and so fun live! Not to mention how awesome it is that she grabs random peeps from the crowd and brings them on stage for a 50 person dance party!
Porter Robinson (4:20 – 5:15, Sahara Tent) – Rage, rage, rage! This is the last day people, time to go all out, what happens at Coachella stays at Coachella! Again, thanks to all these awesome people that manage to post full sets.
araabMUZIK (5:50 – 6:40, Mojave Tent) – araab is a beast!
Nero (6:50 – 8:05, Sahara Tent) – Heaviest bass to hit Sahara all weekend, one of my top 3 sets!
Calvin Harris (8:25 – 9:35, Sahara Tent) – Dance, dance, dance!
Modeselektor (9:45 – close, Mojave Tent) – Dope, but don’t hang around too long, lots of amazing closing sets to catch tonight!
AVICII (10:10 – close, Sahara Tent) – Worth running over to Sahara to see him spin from on top of a massive head, also, who doesn’t love Le7els?
Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg (10:35 – close, Coachella Stage) – If you haven’t heard about the Tupac hologram you’ve been living under a rock! Even if you aren’t a hip hop fan you gotta end your Coachella experience with this performance, so much fun and lots of awesome surprises, I wanted to cry when this ended.
Forgot to mention Justice here, caught the last few minutes, definitely add to your must see lists!