Coachella, How I Love Thee, Let Me Count the Ways...

Maybe the Coachella music festival should have a tagline that goes something like this: "If you love wondering through crowds 60,000 strong, suffering through 108 degree fahrenheit weather, and getting covered head to toe in a thin layer of dust that sticks like glue to your sunscreen, then COACHELLA IS THE PLACE FOR YOU!!! The six of us showed up as we watched the car's thermometer raise up to 108 degrees as the traffic hit a dead stop. We were a mere 1.5 miles from the entrance, which was not a long way at all...or so we thought. Two hours later we finally got to the parking lot. I officially hate traffic more than anything. No, I take that back...the sun is still my number one rival. Traffic takes a close second.

Once inside we raided the merch stand and I got this great Cure shirt:

yeah...it DOES say "hte cure"

We then wondered aimlessly through the biggest crowd ever trying to find bands to listen to. With 6 stages it wasn't very hard to find music. Naomi and I sat down to watch a little Bright Eyes:

They seem to have turned slightly country...which really really confuses me. But hearing Lover I Don't Have to Love live was amazing.

There were enough weird happenings for a thousand lifetimes, like the girls riding the giant smoke churning dragonfly:


The giant Tesla Coil which shot bolts of electricity 10 feet through the air:


Not to mention the double-decker bicycle jousting, the giant skeleton with exploding heart, the people on stilts, the massive mechanical monsters shooting fire, and the giant metal black widow......and I wasn't even one of the thousands toking up. Now that I think about it...everything was really big.

Next we saw Air perform, which, from the CD, sounds like it might be dull. It was anything but. The drummer was amazing and hearing them try and speak english was fun. Next I was off to another tent for some shirtless glowstick raving to the Crystal Method. I guess I pulled off the look well enough since someone asked me for some E. Later a guy walked slowly behind us saying "muuuuushroooooms" in a quiet sing-songy voice, attempting to alert us that he had mushrooms for sale but in a way that he could pass off as just talking to himself if confronted by the authorities.

We saw The Flaming Lips from inside the Beer Garden. I was more interested in the naming of the not-so-aptly named Beer Garden then I was in The Flaming Lips. Some bands are very good at making you feel like it's a show just for you. Other bands try way too hard. The Lips tried way too hard.

Considering that the food looked like this:

I didn't eat any dinner.

I was perfectly fine with this though since we had found great seats to see The Cure. The girl next to me tapped me on the shoulder and asked if her lipstick was smeared. It was all over her face in typical Cure fashion and I responded with, "Yeah...just a little." She asked me where and I pointed to a tiny spot on the corner of her mouth, trying to joke back since it was all over. She thought I didn't get it and said, "I was just joking." I told her I got it.

The Cure came out and immediately started with a brand new song. This being my first Cure concert ever, I was a little excited to say the least. It was amazing to see thousands and thousands of people standing around watching such an amazing show. We also got a great view from the giant screens:

Yeah, I looked stoned...but I swear it's because the smoke + my contacts = bad. Oh, and that guy between Chad and I with the large B sized breasts....he's one of the actors on Passions. Heh.

The Cure put on a great show, plus on encore of some of the greatest hits. The fans loved it, but there was this one girl who, the ENTIRE time, did this weird gyrating move where she would stick her hips out to the right side as her upper torso and legs stayed to the left. First off it looked painful. Secondly this isn't exactly the kind of "dancing" you would expect to see during music like this. Third, she did it the whole freaking time...never stopping. It was ridiculous/amazing and everyone in our group just stared at her very confused.

Overall the whole thing was absolutely amazing. Plus I bested my foe and escaped with barely the slightest bit of sunburn. Depending on who's headlining, I'll definitely be back next year.