3 Bands I Am Listening to After Coachella
Last Tuesday, three of my friends and I made a road trip down to Indio, California for Weekend 2 of Coachella 2013. After a total of ~50 hours drive time and 2700+ miles later, we made it to the festival, partied, and got back early the following Tuesday afternoon. It was completely worth it. We were able to drive through the Redwood Forest down the 101, listen to and see a ton of different bands and musicians, along with numerous art installations at Coachella, and not to mention thousands of music fans all partying in one place...amazing adventure.
Going into the festival I had a number of bands that I wanted to see perform, but due to six bands all playing at once, I had to change up my schedule a bit. It was a good and bad thing as it also allowed me to see some bands that I wouldn't have watched otherwise.
Since returning, I've started listening more to a few of the bands that I saw perform. Here are just three of them, in no particular order.
A guitarist, drummer, a few amplifiers, and a ton of sound. If you dig the Black Keys, but you want a little more in your face and out of control rock 'n roll, then the Japandroids are what you are looking for.
They were one of those shows that pulled people in. When they started up the stage area wasn't exactly packed. By the time they were finished, the whole tent was practically filled up.
This is an absolutely awesome band. From their appearance on stage to their sound, they were one of the more unique and interesting acts of the festival. The one thing that will stray a lot people away from this band is simply the subject matter of their songs.
Going into their show I knew that their lyrics involved Satan worship and that their lead singer dressed up in roman catholic clothing and had his face painted to look like a skull. Maybe a little over the top or too creepy for some...
Would have been amazing to see this show at night instead of 1 pm Sunday afternoon. The funny part about their performance was seeing people's reactions at the end of the set. They closed out with a song titled, "Monstrance Song", during which a chant says, "Come together for Lucifer's son". It wasn't easily decipherable at first, but at the end it was clear as to what was being said. To see the look on people's faces after realizing that they had just unknowingly been rocking out to a song about the devil himself was hilarious.
When you wake up and start getting ready for the day, you discuss what bands your going to see that day and what time you are going to go in to see the first band. Our camping neighbors recommended this band on the fact that the founding member of Fugazi was in the band. Luckily, there wasn't anything else I really cared about during that time slot. Turned out to be a fortunate situation.
Another band with a guitarist, drummer, and amplifiers...except they added some random living room furniture to their stage as well.
SideNote: Dinosaur Jr., The xx, Airborne Toxic Event, and Alt-J are also just a few of the bands that put on great performances last weekend.
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