Coachella has come and gone, and with it came the usual heavy dose of ridiculous hype, star-studded performances, bros, celebrities, and social media uproar over Hollywood bullshit. But with it also came some incredible music, cutting-edge art, and another yearly installment of one of the best mainstream festivals on the planet.
Let’s start with Coachella’s strongest asset: the music. The music at Coachella gets a 10/10. It will always get a 10/10. I couldn’t even name off the top of my head that many artists on the lineup this year, but the music always has been and always will be downright phenomenal. The quality and diversity of the music that you can see/hear in a day at Coachella is mind-boggling. Look past the “underwhelming” (Jack White and AC/DC are freaking killer. Come on…) headliners, and you will always see an undercard filled to the brim with top-tier talent and artists, both mainstream and up-and-coming, from literally every imaginable genre of music. No other festival in California can book lineups like this, so props to Goldenvoice for continuing to absolutely kill it in this facet.
Say what you will about the festival’s turn to the mainstream and its love of cash, but as a music and art festival, Coachella is still second to none. Simply put, the art is incredible. Keep in mind, this isn’t an open space for local artists to express themselves. It’s just not that kind of festival. This is Goldenvoice’s party, and with this type of mainstream festival, it’s totally understandable that artists that aren’t commissioned by Goldenvoice are not welcome to contribute to the festival environment. There really isn’t any space for it. The art installations that they do commission, however, are truly cutting edge. These are huge, expensive, breathtaking, moderately interactive, next-level art installations, and every year they keep getting bigger and better. Now a Coachella staple are the incredible pieces by Poetic Kinetics. Two years ago, it was a giant snail that roamed the festival grounds. Last year, a huge astronaut (considered by many to be one of the greatest art installations in the festival’s history) upped the ante, and this year a colorful caterpillar crawled around the festival before morphing into a butterfly on Sunday. That is just one of countless, huge, iconic art installations that litter the Empire Polo Club. For a mainstream festival of this absurd level of popularity, it’s pretty amazing what they do with art and how they use it to transform their festival into a truly magical environment. If only there weren’t 100,000 people filling all the open space between all of this art.
Praxis, by Ben and John Zamora
I generally go to festivals primarily to gather with like-minded people and make new connections. The music, art, vendors, vibes, etc. are all just icing on the cake for me. The music lineup usually determines my interest in a festival at face value, but once I’m there, it’s all about the people and the atmosphere. After this year, I have learned that Coachella is not the best place to think this way. At least not during Weekend 1, which has been my only experience with the festival. Simply put, there’s way too many freaking people. Something around 100,000 I believe, and probably quite a bit more than that (I heard from one source that the total number of bodies on-site during Weekend 1 was 140,000 or so). This is my biggest issue with Coachella. The crowds are overwhelming, and as a result, it’s impossible to avoid negative vibes in the air. There’s so many people, and this event is of such grand scale, that the experience each individual has can be so drastically different. You can be surrounded by 1,000 totally different people at any minute, and the way others act around you has an affect on your state of mind. Plain and simple. For me, personally, this year, that meant not being surrounded by enough positive vibes as I would have liked. Even I find myself annoyed by how many people are around me at Coachella when I usually am excited at the opportunity to hang out with new people.The atmosphere seemed to be lacking something this year. Everything I was surrounded by was all about party party party party party, and it’s impossible to ignore the “let’s get fucked up!” vibe of the festival these days. I know it’s not all like that, and not everybody is there just to party, but I witnessed an excess of that vibe this year. Don’t even get me started on how unacceptable it is that everyone absolutely trashes the place. Leave no trace, this is NOT. However, I think I let my expectations affect the way I experienced the festival, which I now have learned is a mistake. I shouldn’t be comparing Coachella to other festivals or smaller gatherings I have experienced. Obviously, it’s easier to make connections in a space where you are gathered with like-minded in a more niche community. I left Coachella with mixed feelings this year, but I blame myself for any negative energy I may have experienced during the weekend. From here on out, I will appreciate the festival for what it is instead of sulking over what it isn’t.
That said, I’ve heard from multiple sources that Weekend 2 might be the better way to do it. The celebrities, VIPs, and people who are there to be seen are generally in shorter supply, the festival staff has seen what worked and what didn’t work during the first weekend, and has made adjustments to scheduling, organization, crowd control, etc. Musicians have more finely polished sets. Perhaps it’s a bit less crowded (dear Lord I hope so…), and perhaps the crowd that does attend is more there to actually enjoy the music, the art, and the festival as a whole, rather than being there just to be there (and blocking my view of some of my favorite artists). Flying Lotus said it himself in a Facebook status this weekend: “Coachella pro tip: weekend two is always better. Less hype. Better sets.”
Duly noted, FlyLo. Looks like I’ll be checking out Weekend 2 next year.
I must reiterate, however, that there is a reason that so many people come here. There’s a reason people want to be seen here. There’s a reason for all the ridiculous hype. Because it’s so freaking good. Even with 100,000+ people roaming the festival grounds, at least there’s a lot of different places for those people to go.
The layout of the festival this year was the best I’ve seen it. 6 huge, unique stages/tents (7 including the brilliant Do LaB, 8 including the Heineken House) are spread across the festival, from the huge main Coachella stage to the even huger EDM Mecca, Sahara “tent” (that enormous structure cannot be called a tent anymore) to the dark, awesome, air-conditioned, techno-thumping Yuma tent (now in its third year). There’s plenty of campground activities, including a trippy turn-down tent and a sweet silent disco (always my go-to late-night activity). There’s craft beer gardens, interactive art, and lots of other fun stuff. It’s all just a huge, ridiculously awesome party. Everything is spread out throughout the square shaped festival site, and traffic flows nicely between all the stages. All the stages are just a very short walk between each other, so it’s easy to get from one area of the festival to another within a matter of minutes. This layout has more-or-less remained the same throughout the years, but subtle changes are made each year to improve sound design, the flow of traffic, the amount of open space, new bathrooms, and other things that overall lead to an enhanced festival experience.
Alas, among all the chaos is the oasis in the desert: The Do LaB. The Do LaB is a household name for anyone in the California festival scene. The Do LaB is an LA-based event company and art collective that throws the brilliant Lightning in a Bottle festival each May. They also design a unique, new stage for Coachella every year, and they curate their own separate lineup at that stage. This stage just so happens to be the best place at Coachella by far. So much so that it’s a double-edged sword for me in that each year I get sucked into The Do LaB and I find it extremely difficult to leave, often missing out on a lot of my favorite acts playing at other stages. But the fact of the matter is that there is no reason to leave The Do LaB. During the day, it is a place to get sprayed by water guns, lay down in the shade, and dance among water misters to escape the scorching desert heat. But at night, it is a place to catch intimate sets in a beautiful environment by some of the greatest lesser-known acts in the electronic music scene, a fair blend of up-and-coming talents and legendary names. Ooah (of The Glitch Mob fame) threw down one of the sickest bass-heavy sets of the weekend, tying with Bonobo’s secret Sunday headlining DJ set as my favorite of the festival. The Do LaB provides a much different vibe and energy that a lot of mainstream festival-goers might not be familiar with, but it’s that type of weird vibe and energy that makes me feel at home, which is why I find it hard to leave The Do LaB. The Do LaB is its own little world on the Coachella festival grounds, and it just freaking rules. I might try to make more of an effort to experience more of “normal” Coachella next year, but let’s face it: The Do LaB is going to suck me back in. There’s simply no other way.
The Do LaB
All in all, my personal experience with Coachella left me with mixed feelings initially. I had low expectations this year, so I was surprised to leave still feeling a bit underwhelmed. I guess I should start going with no expectations instead of low expectations. My biggest mistake, whether I intended it or not, was comparing the festival to the amazing experiences I’ve had at other festivals and gatherings. I know a lot of other festival-goers who have never been to Coachella like to hate on it and have preconceived negative notions about the festival. And to them, I defend the festival wholeheartedly. It’s not a conscious gathering, but it’s a truly amazing music festival. Yes, it’s crazy crowded, but as most of us in this scene know all too well, when there’s a really cool party in the desert, everybody keeps inviting their friends. Coachella is freaking huge. I mean, they do this TWO WEEKENDS IN A ROW. Absurd. But all that cash they rake in is spent each year towards making the festival better, and even if I didn’t have the best personal experience at Coachella this year, it was still a hell of a lot of fun, and I will certainly continue to attend. There’s a certain sense of pride among veterans of the festival, racking up attendances year after year, and the lineup will always be stunning. With a festival this popular, people on the internet always like to complain about the lineup. A lineup that includes Jack White, Odesza, Gorgon City, NERO, Tycho, Guy Gerber, Gesaffelstein, alt-J, Flying Lotus, and hundreds more throwing down epic sets on huge stages in one of the biggest events of its type on the planet. How can you complain about that lineup? No other festival in California will come close to booking a lineup of that caliber. I don’t know what it is Coachella, but you just keep sucking me back in. Haters gonna hate, but I sure as hell ain’t. See you next year, Coachella.
Just Do LaB
Bonobo with a secret headlining DJ set at The Do LaB
We’re giving Coachella 2015 Weekend 1 a solid 8/10. The crowds are overwhelming, and for me, personally, the vibe was lacking something, but I’ve also spoken to festival veterans who had the time of their life during this weekend, so the experience really varies drastically from person to person given the size of the event. The music and art at Coachella are a force to be reckoned with. If you’re a music fan, Coachella is heaven, simple as that.
