In our second US Focus of the month, our intrepid reporter Lauren is getting excited about Coachella this weekend. See what she’s stoked about seeing below, and then get pumped/jealous in equal measure
It’s T-minus 24 hours until Coachella kicks off, so life here in sunny So Cal has come to a screeching halt. Everyone is either packing for the fase, mapping out their must-sees or installing tracking apps so no friend is left behind right now, so basically if it’s got to do with Coachella we’re getting it done.
So I’m getting down & dirty with the lineup and prioritizing and making my musical don’t miss list today, and anyone who’s ever been to a fest knows that planning your day takes skill. It takes some serious tactical manoeuvring and the ability to manage time wisely to damage control the world ending clashes. With a little strategic planning you can make this musical menage-a-trois work with a few well timed sprints across the Indio desert sands to your other love. Not only have you mangaed to laugh in the face of Coachella grade clashes, you’ve managed to get some good exercise in the at the same time.
Now before you look at this year’s Coachella lineup take a couple deep breaths. It’s big. It’s intimidating. It’s going to be alright, probably. I’ve taken the liberty of crafting this little don’t miss list for those in the UK to cry over a little, and to help our US friends plan their weekend without lifting a finger:
So, it’s Friday morning at Coachella. You are amped for Friday amd raring to go, so you’re going to want to catch Divine Fits first. I cannot stress this enough – they will be amazing. Since you’re ready to conquer Coachella’s first day and you have all the energy in the world you also need to catch C2C’s set. Their recent album ‘tetra’ is a force to be reckoned with and they’ll help you kickstart your Coachella weekend off in fine style. Over the rest of the day, Foals, Of Monsters & Men, Alt-J, Jake Bugg and Neighbourhood all made our don’t miss list too, and it’s pretty much guaranteed to be an amazing day.
So now that you’ve survived your first round of twenty-four, it’s SATURDAY. After nursing some sense of normalcy back into your body with a mimosa (the breakfast of champions), you’re going to want to ease yourself back in. Accessorize with a lot of SPF and search out Guards. They’ll gently guide you back into the sun-soaked scene and get back on top form. Now that you’re starting to feel human again your next manadatory musical treats for the afternoon should definitely be The Wombats – you will probably be singing along in no time whether you know the words or not. The next few to catch at Coachella on the Saturday are the excellent Biffy Clyro, Two Door Cinema Club, Janelle Monae, Portugal the Man, Franz Ferdinand, Hot Chip, Yeasayer, & the XX, and here’s where you’ll probably have to practice the art of hit it & quit it again, because some of these set times have a fairly strong overlap! It’s a very, very strong evening for Coachella, and it’s going to be tough containing the excitement as the day goes in.
Onto SUNDAY, and now that you’ve adjusted to the Coachella way of life, you’re on Coachella time. It’s going to close down with as much awesomeness as it started with thanks to Social Distorton, the Lumineers, Smith Westerns, Airborne Toxic Event, White Arrows, Thee Oh Sees, & Robert DeLong. It’s pretty like that you’ll be all up in the middle of the crowd with thousands of other rock lobsters, and it’s going to feel worse than Dante’s Inferno on the last day. You will also not care, because this is Coachella, and you’re more than capable of braving sun-stroke in pursuit of good tunes. Rest assured you’re not suffering from a heat-induced hallucination- the bands mentioned above are just actually that good.
LAUREN NOVIK