Monday, April 25, 2011

Coachella Review

It would be quite a task to write a full review on each act I saw at Coachella, so instead I will just go over the highlights (of the electronic acts only):

Friday
I started off the weekend with a set by Skrillex which was exactly what I predicted: a bunch of wobbly dubstep. I can appreciate good dubstep but it was definitely not my favorite - especially when a member of Korn came on stage to wail into the mic. Dubstep mixed with metal = double ouch. Afrojack started off with the same several songs in exact order as his Music Box and TAO sets but this did not stop me from dancing my ass off and loving every minute of it. I was not alone, in fact Paul McCartney and Usher were seen dancing on stage to Afrojack as well. I unfortunately did not get to see Erick Morillo or Magnetic Man's full sets but was pleased with what I did hear. Boys Noize stole the show with his truly epic set. The Sahara tent's LED lighting matched up with his ability to feel out the crowd and play exactly what they were in the mood for. The only downside was that his set coincided with Chemical Bros.



Saturday
The first DJ of the day was Chuckie, who I have been wanting to see for a long time now. Although I was pleased with his set, it didn't compare to the following DJ's set - Laidback Luke. Luke even brought out Wynter Gordon to sing along to his biggest hit Dirty Talk, seriously amazing. Due to all of the other non-electro acts going on at the same time, I missed Fedde's set and only caught the very end of Paul van Dyk's which sounded promising but the best set of the entire weekend goes to Steve Angello who truly pumped up the crowd with banger after banger. My only regret was missing the end of Arcade Fire, where hundreds of giant glowing plastic balls were launched into the audience. But I'm not complaining, the visuals in Sahara kept me satisfied.



Sunday
Again, there were so many other bands I wanted to see so I only got to see a handful of DJs. Started off with some dubstep for Caspa's set, which was slightly more pleasant than Skrillex. As soon as he ended, I made my way up to the front and center for Jack Beats - I still kick myself for missing their full TAO set. Absolutely LOVED Jack Beats, they play a little of everything and always make me happy. The real surprise of the day went to Duck Sauce who surprisingly knew how to get the crowd going without just playing the usual hits, although they had to include Barbra Streisand (which they did end up playing after every other DJ spoiled their moment already). Sadly, I had to miss Axwell to see my beloved Kanye but left Coachella with a healthy dose of EDM and a beat in my head that just would not stop going.



Now that Coachella is over, I've got EDC on my mind. Just purchased a ticket today and cannot wait to finally see Tiesto in Vegas (I've been dreaming about this for months). As for Coachella, I've been made a believer. I'll be going back until I'm that weirdo that is obviously way too old to be there.