Coachella 2010: The Experience

There’s not much to say about Coachella that hasn’t already been said in the past eleven years. Or maybe that’s not true, because every Coachella experience is unique. And no matter how much it is talked about, or built up, the actual experience will always be beyond any and all expectations. As much as Coachella is about the music and the art, the festival wouldn’t be complete without the atmosphere: Every single person is there to have an awesome time, and as a result, people are extra nice to each other. Two of my friends lost their phones, only to have someone call all their recent contacts within 30 minutes to say they had it. Ask for a cigarette, it comes with a smile and a “Happy Coachella!” (But please bring your own cigarettes). And that’s it. You’re stoked to be there, and so is everyone else, including all of the musicians. That’s what makes Coachella so fucking awesome.

Our Friday started with one of the most anticipated Sahara tent acts of the weekend with Proxy’s second set ever in America. The Russian DJ threw down one of the nastiest sets all weekend and had the crowd absolutely freaking out at four o’clock. The bass lines were so hard they continually would knock the wind out of me, leaving me practically gasping for breath at the end of his set. He gave the crowd exactly what we wanted with a slew of his own remixes such as “What You Need” by Tiga, “Let’s Buy Happiness” by Boys Noize and “Home Zone” by Digitalism, as well as some of his original songs. Check out this video of “Raven” being dropped and you can see how Proxy gained and retained his reputation of the hardest DJ in Eastern Europe—and perhaps the world:

Up next was Aeroplane, and although he had a good set, it’s hard to follow any DJ when people have been raging their faces off, especially considering that Aeroplane’s music is pretty low-key. During this period I also got to catch some of Street Sweeper Social Club (which I still can’t say out loud without slurring) on the main stage and see Tom Morello jam on the guitar. I also got to catch a little bit of Passion Pit’s set, but they still suck. Wolfgang Gartner’s set in the Sahara was pretty massive and a great way to begin the night. He’s really been proving himself lately and his set had a nice mix of huge house hits and remixes, some choice electro bangers, and his own songs with their signature loose and hard-as-shit bass lines like “Firepower” and “Undertaker.” Some lovely soul caught the entire set on video; you can watch it here:

Pretty Lights was up next with one of the best acts of the entire weekend. I’m a big fan and I’d always expected great things from a Pretty Lights live show (which consists of Derek doing his thing, accompanied by a drummer), but they blew me away. My roommate and I got so buck both of us almost threw up—from dehydration, or ecstasy, I don’t know, but we had to go sit down outside for a moment, missing crucial moments of an extremely tight set (technically tight, that is). Check it out:

Photos:

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