Loved:- Arcade Fire - humble and happy to be there. A great headliner performance.
- Cut Copy - great music and a pretty, energetic crowd.
- Kraddy - unexpectedly awesome Do Lab tent action.
- Leftfield - a band I thought I'd never see live. They were my favorite act of the weekend, and their show put other electronic acts to shame. (Looking at you Armand Van Helden/Duck Sauce). The live vocals for "Afro-Left" were welcome too.
- The Presets - their set started well but fell a little flat in the latter half. That didn't stop the crowd; no one wanted the three day party to end.
Liked:- A-Trak
- Bloody Beetroots - started late and were cut off a few seconds into their finale. One of the band members freaked out and leaped theatrically from the back of the stage; presumably to argue unsuccessfully with organizers.
- Boys Noize
- Broken Social Scene - would have preferred to see them after dark, and maybe on a smaller stage...
- Ellie Goulding - the sound didn't seem to be loud enough...
- Foster the People - also started late but the few songs we saw were good. Would like to see a full show...
- Joachim Garraud - keytar, alien masks, cameras, generally fun entertainment and solid tunes. (From a guy who "looks like a chef").
- Phantogram - heard only a few tracks before we needed to leave for Leftfield.
- Mumford & Sons - most humble act of the weekend.
- Sander Kleinenberg - we arrived as his "Tron Legacy (End Titles)" remix began. Did not enjoy white girl rap (twice!?) or obviously-miming-crappy-dancing-white-guy.
- Sleigh Bells - but they did little other than replay their album with added live screaming (after they figured out some sound issues) and guitar. (They didn't do it nearly as well as The Presets did either).
- The Chemical Brothers - not much different to their 2010 show at The Fox Theater in Oakland, and I still prefer the older tracks, but the brothers still work it out.
- The New Pornographers - with Neko Case!
- The Swell Season - Glenn Hansard broke a string on his battered guitar and fixed it while Markéta Irglová sang solo.
Wasn't feeling:- Animal Collective - aside from not caring for their music, they had awful, cheap visuals, and for some reason were on the biggest stage late on Saturday night.
- Caifanes
- Cee Lo Green - late, poor sound, (understandably) pissed with his Friday afternoon time slot.
- Duck Sauce - (young, packed, high) crowd loved the mediocre performance. Duck Sauce seemed more interested in toying with costume accessories and smiling for the cameras than playing good music. (A-Trak's solo set was better so I blame Armand Van Helden).
- Death From Above 1979 - hipsters. Yelling. Full of themselves e.g. "I didn't wanna say but we had a riot at our SXSW show", like you know, cos we're so hip, and awesome.
- Jenny and Johnny - boring.
- Magnetic Man - boring. Weren't good enough to stick around for "I Need Air".
- Skrillex - Korn made a guest appearance (??).
- Yacht - weren't good enough to stick around for "Dystopia".
Also heard:- !!!
- Beardyman - was entertaining but the Oasis Dome sound setup (and stink of horse manure) did not make for ideal circumstances.
- Bright Eyes - I confess, I was writing work emails during this set...
- Ratatat - I was outside the tent. Some of those who were inside assure me Ratatat were awesome.
- Robyn - heard her big single live. Don't like her music.
Closing thoughts:
- Schedule issues - want to see three of your favorite bands? Tough, cos they're all playing at exactly the same time. (PJ Harvey, Leftfield, Bloody Beetroots). How about most of a day where, in spite of seven (or more) music venues, nothing really interests you? (Saturday). Enjoying this performance? Good, but it's a shame you need to leave after two songs to get a spot for the next show.
- Late starts - given the above hassle, having to deal with schedule adjustments due to consistent 20 to 30 minute late starts was not appreciated.
- Logistics - fancy waiting an hour to get out of a parking lot at 1am after three days of partying?
- Spoiled in San Francisco - SF has many great, cheap music venues. My 2010 Fall schedule was at least as much fun (and probably cheaper), than Coachella 2011.
- Stamina - without artificial stimulants, and with minimal sleep, three days on your feet and/or dancing, is tough...
- Energy - ...but there's still little comparable to sharing a Coachella live music experience with thousands of happy people, and your friends.
Will I go again? Maybe.
