Hey, hey baby, we've gotta get out of L.A.

Over the past weekend, I took a side trip down to L.A. to meet up with my old college friend D and to check out the Coachella Music and Arts Festival. An oldster like me, D is now a husband, father, and generally responsible grown-up, but he escapes regularly for adventures like this one, and that makes me happy.

Here are some pics I grabbed during our long weekend in the Southern California desert.


D, pleased as punch in his floppy hat. He needed it -- it was hot. Damn hot.


Fleet Foxes' bassist, Christian Wargo.


My Bloody Valentine. I was only ~20 people back! They blew my mind, and nearly my eardrums.


Porl Thompson, guitarist for The Cure. He's like Uncle Fester, if Uncle Fester rawked. I wish this pic were in sharper focus! Darn.

Here, in order, are the bands I saw:

Friday, April 17
- Molotov
- The Black Keys
- Franz Ferdinand
- Leonard Cohen
- Morrissey
- Paul McCartney

Saturday, April 18
- TheNewNo2, Dhani Harrison's band (son of George, yes that George Harrison)
- Superchunk
- Calexico
- Fleet Foxes
- Band of Horses
- The Chemical Brothers

Sunday, April 19
- Vivian Girls
- Okkervile River
- Peter, Bjorn and John
- Yeah Yeah Yeahs
- My Bloody Valentine
- The Cure

Paul McCartney played for over 3 hours, and dipped deep into his catalog of Beatles, Wings and solo material. Impressive. Leonard Cohen had the best moment of the whole festival, nearly moving me to tears with his "Hallelujah". The Cure rocked hard and looong. So long, in fact, they blew past the midnight curfiew and had their mic and lights cut in the middle of their encore. They kept right on playing, and the crowd filled in the vocals for Robert Smith. Truly unforgettable.

But far and away the best set, and the one I was most anticipating, was My Bloody Valentine. (If you don't know them, give "Loveless" a listen. Keep listening.) Poor Kevin Shields pulled a Brian Wilson and went a little funny after releasing "Loveless" in 1991, and My Bloody Valentine hasn't performed much since. This marks their return, and they just blew me away. They were thunderously, ear-splittingly loud and their ephemeral, droning, dissonant music translated perfectly into the open-air venue. I envy my Seattle friends who get to see them perform a full set next week.

If you're in Seattle, or can get to Seattle easily on Monday April 27th, go check them out. Really. Bring ear plugs.