Coachella 2009: Cure, MBV, Antony Assault The Sound System
Kevin Winter/Getty
Surprise, it wasn't My Bloody Valentine's 15-minute aural assault "You Made Me Realise" that caused Sunday's biggest audio mishap. Organizers cut the speakers during the Cure's "Fire In Cairo" (two songs into a third encore) only to watch the band play three more songs before the power was killed completely, forcing Robert & Co. to sulk offstage. I know all this because like many of you I experienced Coachella vicariously through Twitter. Amrit and Brandon are presently heading back to Brooklyn, hopefully after a long shower (nullus). Their Friday and Saturday recaps are here and here and among other notes they tell me some of Sunday's best moments came from Antony Hegarty, Genesis P-Orridge, and Devendra Banhart. Gender ambiguity FTW.
"Something different" is how Antony & The Johnsons explained a set of dusky electro rewrites of Mr. Hegary's songs featuring beats pre-programmed by Matthew Herbert and Doveman live on keys. The sound system briefly imploded on "Another World," but those issues were quickly resolved and the new beautiful rearrangements received thunderous applause. After their controversially bright NY debut, I wondered if the logistics of Throbbing Gristle's Coachella slot would make their lighting design a non-issue. Brandon tells me the stage was again super bright, so I think we can safely say TG are doing this to fuck with typical audience expectations. As they should. A small but dedicated crowd awkwardly danced. One band that was on time and sounded good was Peter, Bjorn & John. We are slowly forgetting and forgiving that SXSW debacle. The pop trio invited fellow Swedes Robyn and Lykke Li onstage to guest on "Nothing to Worry About" and "Young Folks," respectively. Devendra Banhart was dressed for a tropical vacation and, appropriately enough, debuted a tune called "Baby Baby Baby" that was described to me as a "coconut/rum song." Yeah Yeah Yeahs (did you guys know they have a new album?) were excellent, and the desert heat couldn't keep Karen O from getting her leather on. The "Zero" eyeball served as a backdrop and also adorned inflatable balls in the crowd. Sunday's celebrity sighting (David Hasselhoff) was not as exciting as Saturday's.
Despite some technical glitches, it sounds like a pretty successful weekend (Kanye says it was the shit, duh) and almost everyone went home a happy camper.
Please enjoy these pics of practically every act that played yesterday. (The ones of Etty Farrell and a bloody Pink Eyes shoving their crotches in folks' faces look especially unpleasant!) Amrit and Brandon will return tomorrow with first-person final thoughts and perhaps some photos of undressed hipsters.
Posted at 2:20 PM by Scott in Concert, Photo
Tags: Antony And The Johnsons | Coachella | David Hasselhoff | David Pajo | Devendra Banhart | Doveman | Friendly Fires | Fucked Up | Genesis P-Orridge | Late Of The Pier | Lupe Fiasco | Lykke Li | Matthew Herbert | My Bloody Valentine | No Age | Okkervil River | Paul Weller | Peter Bjorn And John | Public Enemy | Robyn | Sebastien Tellier | The Cure | The Gaslight Anthem | The Horrors | The Kills | Throbbing Gristle | Vivian Girls | X | Yeah Yeah Yeahs
I knew Sunday night was going to be shitty after all....
Score = -5
PB&J's suit in the desert makes a whole lot of sense.
Loved the eyeball... err ball in that YYYs pic!
Score = 0
belinda butcher is looking lovely these days
Score = 4
Yes she is but poor old Kevin Shields on the other hand...
Score = 2
How did MBV sound outdoors?
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I'd like to know this too since they're playing APW.
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If you want to check out some video from Coachella, there are some good clips posted here:
http://www.gotchamediablog.com/2009/04/coachella-09-videos.html
Score = -1
Everything about Coachella this year sounded so epic. I hope they release a box set DVD with the full sets of The Cure, McCartney, and such.
Score = 1
what was anthony thinking playing that horeshit set? serverely dissapointing.
Score = 0
Still feeling good about canceling my trip for sasquatch.
Score = 2
in the photo gallery the last few sets, like 17 to 21, just randomly repeat photos. some great shots though.
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I was just about to say it looks like Belinda stepped out of a time machine, it's insane how amazing she still looks.
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FYI -- it's $1k/minute for any music that goes past midnight curfew. They'll pay for Macca, but not the Cure.
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Bob had bitch tits. Fucked up.
Score = -1
PB&J sounded good, but it was a weirdly bold move to not include a "hit" from Writer's Block anywhere near the first few songs of their set.
(Oh, and Fleet Foxes sounded fine. They had a huge crowd and most everyone stuck around for the whole set.)
Score = 0
it looks like fucked up is doing their best gg allin impression.
to any band i ever see...please don't bleed on me. GROSS!
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Your pictures are so much better than mine.
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