It's been some time since the amazing Coachella Festival and I'm sure most of you who didn't go are sick of hearing about it. But one of our members, David Virr, sent in a review offering another perspective on the festival.  Read on for David's review...

This will be Coachella number three for me and it just gets better every year. I saw Cornershop, Groove Armada, Queens of the Stone Age, Beta Band, Sasha and Digweed, Chemical Brothers, Elbow, Strokes, Cut Chemist, Paul Oakenfold, Prodigy, and Oasis. Not bad for 150 bucks. I saw so many artists this year because the organizers are thinking about who we want to see instead of the typical, "biggest artist headlines" rule. This was clear when Paul Oakenfold, clearly the biggest DJ on Sunday spun at 7pm, it was still daylight outside! This made it easy to see Oakenfold, then cruise over to the main stage for Prodigy and Oasis. Saturday also had a lineup that was easy for me because most of the bands I wanted to see played on the Outdoor stage, one after the other. Getting into Coachella is a bitch. You have to get there early, or late, not in the middle. We arrived in Indio and didn't get inside until about 3:30 because the traffic is horrible. If you want to see a band that's playing at three (like Folk Implosion!!), make sure you arrive in Indio at noon.

When I was in Tokyo earlier this year, I found a fantastic compilation called 'Airpop Terminal 2' with a rather frightening photo on the cover of a 'jet blue' plane flying in front of the twin towers in NYC. Despite the ominous image of the cover art (released on the German label "Apricot" at the beginning of 2001), I was intrigued by the huge diversity of musicians on the 2-disc set. I was pleasantly surprised that my favorite Chicagoans INSTA had rated well enough to get on a comp with BIRDIE, EGGSTONE, CINNAMON, et al. Yet above all else, the biggest joy on the album was a little Motown inspired ditty by THE SHERMANS... so 2 shermans cd's and a single later... I'm hooked.
THE SHERMANS - HAPPINESS IS TOY SHAPED
(Shelflife 035)

Strokes
San Diego, CA, 4th & B
February 3, 2002

Why can't the Strokes just be good. Some people love them to death, some people hate their guts, I on the other hand can't decide! I think their album is super catchy and really fun, but it also sounds really weak and stupid at the same time. So I had a hard time deciding when my friend asked me to go to the Strokes show, but I eventually agreed.

Charlatans/Starsailor
Los Angeles, CA, Palace
January 11, 2001

The Charlatans are known for bringing along the "hot new indie" band for their support. Some previous bands were: Catherine Wheel, Menswe@r, Stereophonics, and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. So Starsailor fit right into their supporting role and banged out a decent set. The Charlatans did the same. So why did this show suck ass?

Sasha and Digweed
Los Angeles, CA, Mayan
November 15, 2001

This is a show that you need to mentally and physically prepare yourself for. The show starts at 9pm and ends at 4am. Think about it, that's seven freakin' hours! My brother is the big progressive trance fan and I didn't want to be the one to say, "I'm tired, let's go home" at 1:30am. If he wanted to stay 'till 4am, I was going to be prepared to stay 'till 4am. Plus, I would be dancing for hours on end so I was actually going to the gym and doing a bunch of cardio so I could build up my stamina. Looking back, how stupid does all this sound for a concert?!?!

Spiritualized
Los Angeles, Wiltern
November 13, 2001

No opening act. 2+ hours of spiritualized. Full band, brass section, choir, c'mon you just can't go wrong with that!!

I almost didn't go tonight, my friend talked me into buying a ticket at the last minute so I was sitting really far away at the Wiltern Theatre. I've seen Spiritualized several times and there just isn't any reason to stand in front of Jason Pierce because he doesn't move at all. Sitting about ten rows from the back was a great place to see the show that they put on.

Last night's performance was absolutely breathtaking. At some points, the beauty was almost too much to bear. When you get chills for the 5th time in two minutes and you can't bear to see Jonsi break his heart on yet another note, you know it's definitely an emotional night.

Before I get to the songs, let me say that the whole concert was filmed for HBO's "Reverb" program, so I'll be trying desperately to find anyone I know with premium cable (or, I'm actually considering subscribing just for the month's it's on!). So the 1/2 city block of mobile video units, camera men, and wires hopefully did an admirable job of capturing the concert for those who couldn't make it last night.

Review by Melissa Fehr

Travis/Remy Zero
October 23, 2001
Universal Amphitheater

There just may be no nicer bands on the planet than Travis and Remy Zero, who hosted a packed house at Universal Amphitheater with a warm embrace that Martha Stewart would've been jealous of. The two bands-who've been close friends since first meeting and touring together back in 1999-obviously enjoy each other's company so much that the good feeling just can't help but spill out over the stage and drench the audience. Not that the crowd minded one bit; carried away on a wave of optimism and catchy tunes, a grateful crowd was on its feet and cheering loudly for the majority of each band's set.

Review by Lisa Y. Garibay

Basement Jaxx
October 2, 2001
Mayan

Basement Jaxx have only DJ'ed in the US. This was their big "live show" and there were claims of a 9-piece band coming along for the tour. I hate electronic acts with bands backing them up, it pretty much always crap (see BT). Some of the "mainstream" people might like the fact that there's a real drummer there, but I perfer to just have a few guys behind some decks playing music (Orbital, Chemical Brothers, and Underworld are perfect examples). It turns out that Basement Jaxx's band was array of singers and one guy on bongo's, which was totally sweet.