I’m finally back in the midwest from my adventures at Coachella and in San Diego. I’m not quite home yet, but that’s just a matter of driving a couple hours.
Coachella itself was the bomb. I had no idea what to expect going out there, but the likes of Imogen heap, Sigur Ros, Wolfmother, Franz Ferdinand, Depeche Mode, Atmosphere, and Daft Punk made it worth it. OMFG, Daft Punk. Five acres of jumping, screaming people under a huge light show. Now that was a treat, and only the first day.
Gabriel & Dresden, Paul Oakenfold, Editors, Madonna, Massive Attack, and Tool on the second day, not to mention all the other bands that I listened to in passing. Tool was great — sounded awesome. Funny remarks from Maynard James Keenan, too. The opening statement was “Good evening, hippies.”
There was also a 20 foot Tesla coil in the middle of the grounds. Hell yeah.
Definitely a lot of cool stuff in a place that is nothing but cool. I mean that in both senses of the word. Indio is all gated communities, with miles of walls to keep you out. Nothing says “screw you we hate you” more than a giant wall and security guards. And nowhere to park to walk in to these communities to see one’s friends. Maybe I was just doing something wrong, but the town itself was pretty damn lame. Plus, it’s in the desert. The high was 98 degrees on Sunday. Ouch. It was fine, though, mostly because there was no humidity.
It was a good trip overall, seeing friends in San Diego and Oceanside, rounding up some new consulting business, and just generally chilling out. I love the area. I especially love it at night, because it’s dark. The observatories on Mount Palomar have a lot of trouble with light pollution, so the cities in the area have stringent light pollution ordinances. It’s really nice to see the sky, plus it saves energy and pollution.
Anyhow, time to pack up and head back home. I’ve got some ideas for new things to write about here, so I’m going to commit to writing once a day for the rest of the month. Maybe starting next Monday. 🙂 I have to catch up on my email, you know! 🙂