Oh HELLS yes!!!!!!

[HelloAngel]

Here's the MTV report: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1486774/20040503/cure.jhtml?headlines=true

 

[joyfulgirl]

Thanks! After reading that, I'm glad I didn't go. Hot, crowded and the weekend seemed to be more about The Cure and Beck than Radiohead, and while I love both of the former, it would have been all about Radiohead for me and it doesn't sound like they were not in top form (i.e., good but not awesome). Or maybe that's what I have to tell myself for having missed them (again). But I would still like to hear about it from HOS and pub!

 

[martha]

HOS has something in his journal about it.

 

[HeadsOnSticks]

http://www.okcomputer-fr.net/index02.html

this link has radiohead's set from coachella. you need to change the file extension from jpg to mp3. sound quality is average, but still decent enough to listen to. enjoy!

 

[pub crawler]

I went Saturday, here are my general impressions of some of the bands I saw...

Best of show: A tie between Radiohead & The Pixies

Radiohead: At best, I'm a casual fan of Radiohead. I have a couple of their discs, but frankly I hadn't listened to them much until this week. As for the show, I was glad just to see Radiohead show up. I thought Yorke's voice might be weak; in fact, he was of strong voice. He may have backed off a few high notes or something, but really, he sounded great and I'm glad I finally got to see this band that so many people rave about. "Creep" sounded good.

The Pixies: Eleven years ago I walked into San Diego Sports Arena to see U2. The opening act that night, the Pixies, were playing loud and screaming hard. The acoustics in the arena were poor, so all I heard from my side vantage point were loud guitars and screaming, and all the sound was bouncing off the walls and rafters. I wasn't impressed. This past weekend, the Pixies took the stage and played loud and screamed hard. But damn, they sounded great. They really won over the crowd and I found a new appreciation for their music. Loved 'em.


Observations about a few of the other acts I saw:

Section Quartet: Loved this kickass string quartet doing their Radiohead, Jeff Buckley covers, and even Zeppelin's Whole Lotta Love. Though I enjoyed their show, I wish they would play at least some original compositions. I can't see buying a CD of theirs if all it includes is cover songs. Again, though, I quite enjoyed them.

The Rapture: I know they've been bashed here in the B&C forum, but for my money the Rapture were the best of the Alt-Indie-whatever-label-you-want-to-use bands. They were theatrical on stage and I liked their sound.

Beck: Last week when I looked at the site map and noticed Beck would be playing in a tent, I pretty much figured he'd be doing an all-acoustic set (as he did when I saw him in L.A. at a small theatre more than a year ago). By the day of the show, it became apparent to me that everyone there was going to head to the Beck tent early to stake a claim for ground space. Beck did play an all-acoustic set and the place was PACKED. There were thousands of us outside the tent standing in the sweltering heat, looking in through the side and back. Note to Beck: Dude, we all wanted to hear some of your old hits. We at least wanted a little bit of electric guitar. Dude, you let us down. .........

Beck's acoustic sets are slooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow. Most people stayed for the whole set but many, like me, left after one or two songs and I heard several people express their disappointment with Beck's choice to play only acoustic.

Kraftwerk were quite unique. As with Beck, the tent in which they played was packed and I had to look in through the side, but I could see the projections on the screen behind the band, and it was quirky stuff. Good stuff. Interesting to see these four bald men playing what looked like laptop computers. As a couple of people walked away I heard one of them say "It's just four guys pushing buttons." Lol.

Erase Errata - Nothing to say except that I kind of liked them.

The Sounds - Swedish band (or at least a Swedish singer), kind of old-school in their stage act. The singer came across as a rocker chick with her white boots and she frequently said to the audience things like, "Honey, we're going to rock you," or similar words. I found her to be quite amusing.

It was very hot outside, but I didn't mind so much. I had a bottle of water in my hand most of the day. I enjoyed the festival and I'd for sure go again, although I'm now a bit sorry that I didn't go in previous years when they capped ticket sales at 35,000 per day rather than 50,000.