Coachella 2012

"Here we go again," was an overused phrase last weekend as we descended into Coachella Valley, once again, like some scripted Hunter S. Thompson scene. This year was a little different. First off I had the pleasure of staying at my friend Natalie's house in Palm Desert. This meant warm showers, being able to charge my phone and relax post the polo fields madness (it' s a drugged battlefield out there). Also I was not taking the green machine with me, which meant some higher power had given me the gift of not having to drive for the whole weekend. So here's how this post is going to go, I'll give you some of the highlights of my weekend, tell you the sets I had the pleasure of seeing, concluding with which bands stood out to me.
I honestly cannot say it enough how much I love my friends. Everyone of us is successful in our chosen fields, yet we all seem to come together and just create complete debauchery. Take for example my friend Kyle who was just accepted into UCLA medical school, except you wouldn't see a hint of this in the oversized blueblocker glasses and electro enthusiast he became for those three days. To paint the perfect picture we are like a little family but instead of concerned with each other's well being, we are more concerned with excreting sobriety.
My graceful sidekick, Raye and I shared many laughs this weekend. We had the soundtrack of Bon Iver as we sat in the beer garden for over an hour giggling about God knows what. It's times like these that you will never forget and the $400 overpriced, Goldenvoice ticket seems so small compared to the good times.

Okay well as usual I did not get to see half the bands I wanted to, but all the bands I saw were tres tres tres magnifique!

Friday
GIRLS
Arctic Monkeys
M. Ward
the Rapture
the Black Angels
Sweedish House Mafia

Saturday
St. Vincent
Feist
Bon Iver (although I didn't actually see him, just heard him)
SBTRKT
Radiohead

Sunday
Goyte
Justice
Beirut
At-the-Drive-In
Florence and the Machine
Dr. Dre and Snoop

Best Bands of the Weekend:
Well of course Radiohead was amazing, besides the douche next to Raye and I who thought he was in the band. He decided to play tambourines for the majority of their set. A word to the wise please leave your instruments at home, we did not pay and stare at a computer screen for hours to see you.

SBTRKT was awesome. His dj set mixed  all types of musical influences from African sub-saharan drums, to heavy hitting bass, live percussion and repetitive riffs, all topped off with vocals from Yukimi Nagano, of Little Dragon, to his outstanding rework of Radiohead's "Lotus Flower." Just when we thought his set was over he played started to play "the Right Thing to Do" making everyone turn around and pick right back up dancing. Here a snip from his set. 

Also St. Vincent was so much more badass then I ever thought could come out of this timid Oklahoma native. She crowd surfed, screamed and totally worked the crowd. Screaming cursing and channeling a little bit of Alice Glass and Karen O., if they both put on a nice summer dress and ran a comb through their hair. Then again I've always been a fan of women throwing their manners out the window, picking up a cigarette, a glass of whiskey and just letting loose.