Thomas Mars of Phoenix
Still speechless from Day 2 of Coachella. Had an absolutely amazing time, caught eight acts, and ended the night with the frontman of Phoenix singing about 10 feet from our group.
We started the day off with Dropkick Murphys, a Celtic punk rock band from Boston. I have to say, one of the best live performances I’ve seen yet, and my friends and I had a blast dancing to music tinged with bagpipes, banjos, and some majorly-distorted guitars. We were originally going to head out early to catch another set, but we stayed until the end because they closed with some of their best songs, including “Shipping Up To Boston.” Woah-OH-OH!
We hopped around the tent stages over the next several acts to catch the trifecta of Baauer, 2 Chainz, and Bingo Players, before taking a quick break and stopping by the Major Lazer set.
By then we were starving, so we ate dinner at the food court and walked back to the car to grab some drinks. I took a quick break and headed right back to the festival grounds because I wanted to watch Grizzly Bear live. It took forever to get back in (parking was farther than I remembered and the security lines were slow). But I made it in time for their last three songs, and I was really glad they saved some of their best for last, including a searing rendition of “Sun in Your Eyes.”
Our group met at the Main Stage to watch our last three acts of the night – The Postal Service, The xx, and Phoenix.
I was so happy to hear the opening notes of “The District Sleeps Tonight” at the start of the Postal Service set. It definitely brought back almost a decade’s worth of memories listening to Give Up and felt very surreal – I couldn’t believe I was watching them live. The group had a relatively short set but played most of their songs from the album plus some new material.
The xx live was something else. I had a near-religious experience listening to the group’s smooth and calming lyrics. The great thing about listening to bands live is that you can actually feel the music – the bass, voices, etc. – coursing through your body. The light show was amazing as well and Oliver and Romy were so nice to the crowd, thanking them for the opportunity to play at Coachella again.
Phoenix was the headlining act of the night, and by then we had managed to almost get to the front of the stage. We got to about seven rows out, and the view and performance itself were phenomenal. The band played a lot of songs from its new album, as well as some older favorites like “Lisztomania” and “1901.” Near the end of the performance the lead singer Thomas jumped off the stage and walked to the front of the crowd, and during the encore he actually got a mic with a glowing-orange extension cable and climbed up the sound tower so the people in the middle/back could see him. After the set he crowdsurfed back to the stage, and I couldn’t think of a more appropriate way to end the night.
Read about Coachella 2013 Day 1 and Day 3!
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Coachella 2013 at randomtidbitsofthought.wordpress.com.
