Friday, April 17, 2009
So a few thousand Angelenos should be headed on their way East on the 10 toward Coachella today. One of us will be covering a bit of the desert fun while the rest will be staying put manning the phones, checking out local shows, and watching some of the festival comfortably in our living room thanks to AT&T Blue Room. Here's our little survivor guide for the weekend's festivities:
1. Coachella isn't a sprint, it's a marathon. Some people have waited their whole lives to see some of these bands so you want to be the fan who will be able to outlast all those kids who wind up passed out in the beer garden at dusk because they expended way too much energy jumping around like idiots for the 2pm band.
a). Drink water (duh)
b). Stretch in between bands (double duh)
c). Bring candy/gum for quick sugar rush
2. Don't give in to the sun. Standing out in the middle of the desert for several hours can lead to psychological impairment of one's senses and moral character. We've all seen people out there become delusional and/or aggressive from a combination of heat, drug use, and general poor human behavior. So when those short teenagers do that thing where they chainlink each other's arms and start shoving to the front of the stage even though you've been standing in that damn spot since effing noon, just smile and say "I never worry about the little things." Thank you, Anne Bancroft.
3. We have no idea why people take off their shirts at festivals. Gosh knows indie kids don't work out enough to be showing off anything to really flaunt. Perhaps watching Woodstock sparked the imagination of our youth to instantly remove clothing the minute they walk through the Coachella gates. Taking off your deep v-neck hipster t-shirt essentially removes a layer of protection from the sun, thus dehydrating your body probably 15-30% faster than keeping it on. I mean, did you ever see Abebe Bikila take off his shirt when running through the deserts of Ethiopia? Never. Plus, the bearded shirtless look only works if you're actually playing Coachella.
4. Don't forget the day parties and after-parties. Most all of them are free with RSVP and have many of the big-name acts performing. Many people go to Coachella just for these events.
5. Twitter. This might be one of the most Twitter'd events in history and we fully expect to see fail whales from server overload all weekend long. And don't worry if you Twitter something you shouldn't have because of some drunken stupor you were in. The post will probably be ghosted because of some worm hack that Twitter is still vulnerable with...
Have fun, kids. And support the local bands playing: Jenny Lewis, Devendra Banhart, Silversun Pickups, Liars, The Airborne Toxic Event, Ariel Pink, Peanut Butter Wolf, Aggrolites, No Age, Christopher Lawrence, The Knux, Shepard Fairey, and all the rest...
