This was my 14th consecutive Coachella, and 17th if you count the short-lived cruise and the two years I went both weekends, but first with Rolling Stone. I teamed up with shutterbug Andy Keilen (that’s his shot of Kamasi Washington above) and writer Steve Appleford to tackle the best fest in the west. Half of the entries on this list are mine. Can you guess which ones without looking at the tags below? Make sure to keep scrolling downward on the article itself.
Photog Wilson Lee and I hit Coachella 2015 for SPIN, and all we got were three manic daily diaries about Steely Dan melodics solos, run-ins with Rihanna, and heaping piles of hash browns. Plus, a bunch of fantastic photos and some floor drugs. Check it all out:
Never enough Coachella. Here are a few pieces I did for StubHub. They’re made for their music news app (peep it here), hence the minimal site. FKA twigs live photo by Wilson Lee for SPIN.
READ IT AT LOS ANGELES MAGAZINE (in print too)
Coachella is right around the corner and good grub awaits. I talked to Short Order chef Christian Page and Sweet Clementine’s pops boss Layne Eiler about the relatively fresh phenomenon of fine dining and epicurean snacks coming to a music festival near you. If you’re actually going to Coachella (I am), look for the next hot Buzz Bite while some band plays in the background. :/
Posterity Post: I wrote thousands of articles while on staff at SPIN, and blogged none of them.
Well, do you? This guy does. He was there and it was awesome. On the first day, Pulp performed in the boat’s massive internal ballroom, while Broaters on the top deck got gross in the hot tubs. On the second day, Father John Misty played to a bunch of rich, unappreciative assholes, and Grimes hosted a game of bingo. On the third day, James Murphy poured rare wine and Black Lips convinced me to eat escargot. I documented the weirdness for SPIN. Continue reading
Nosaj Thing wows the crowd at Coachella.
This is later than late, but better than never. The Spin Magazine fellers definitely know a good thing when it bludgeons them over the head with experimental beatwork, then nurses them back to health with a warm, enveloping beauty. That, combined with my incessant badgering, resulted in a gallery highlighting some of the Los Angeles electronic talent that made it out to Coachella 2011.
HEALTH-y headbanging. (Andrew Herrold)
Late, late, late. The internet has already forgotten that Coachella 2011 ever happened, but for posterity’s sake, here’s what I wrote about it for Spin.
DAY THREE: Wiz Khalifa, Death From Above 1979, Duck Sauce (A-Trak & Armand Van Helden), HEALTH, Lightning Bolt, Ratatat.
Badu? Bow down. (Andrew Herrold)
Late, late, late. The internet has already forgotten that Coachella 2011 ever happened, but for posterity’s sake, here’s what I wrote about it for Spin.
DAY TWO: Erykah Badu, Foals, Wire, Raphael Saadiq, Lil B.
ALSO: Animal Collective Debut Powerful New Songs (full review)
Sleigh Bells slay balls. (Erik Voake)
Late, late, late. The internet has already forgotten that Coachella 2011 ever happened, but for posterity’s sake, here’s what I wrote about it for Spin.
DAY ONE: Odd Future & Pharell, Sleigh Bells, Cold Cave, Crystal Castles, Ariel Pink*, YACHT, !!! (plus lil blurbs on Paul McCartney & Best Coast, Omar Rodriguez Lopez & Cedric Bixler-Zavala, Titus Andronicus & Lil B).
*The inimitable Carles of Hipster Runoff picked up on my Ariel Pink diss.
A champion has been declared in the epic battle of Gary vs. The Volcano. Hint: the one that spews magma won. Sadly, this means that the New Wave legend not only missed the weekend’s Coachella festival, but that he’s canceled the U.S. mini tour that was to follow. I’d written a preview for Wednesday’s L.A. gig. Read it if you wish, or make the jump to peruse Numan’s announcement.
Chris Writes Things 