Wooder

I got to wake up with Kyle this morning which is a rare treat on Thursdays and Fridays since Kristen stays home and I have to work. Anyway he was doing this new thing where he sticks his tongue out.
Absolutely adorable!

So its Friday and I actually posted on here every day I worked this week. Color me impressed. TO keep the momentum going and offer some focus I think for the next 10 Fridays I’m going to list my top ten favorite shows of all time. It fits the theme of this since the only reason I write is to document my life so here are ten shows I never want to forget. I’ll start at number 10.

10. Coachella (Empire Polo Fields) 4/30/05-5/01/05

This is when I realized that I didn’t really like the whole festival atmosphere. After years of sitting through 20 minutes sets and enduring indifferent crowds at Warped Tour, Surf and Skate Fest, Lollapalooza and The FEZtival I should have known better but for some reason I expected that flying across the country would make it different. Unfortunately it didn’t.

So if the musical experience wasn’t the greatest what business does Coachella have being on my Top 10? Well I’ll tell you.

My brother, who was 19 at the time, and I got a ride to the Philadelphia Airport and flew from PA to CA. We watched all of The Fresh Prince and Seinfeld California themed episodes on the plane. I listened to a ton of Old Time Radio shows like Suspense and The Whistler. We got to drive around LA and see an adult film shoot, eat at an In n Out, roll through Compton blasting NWA and show up to a club to see The Rentals only to find out the club had closed down.

Then we drove 4 hours into the desert in a huge Oldsmobile while listening to the sugary sounds of the Beach Boys and Weezer. We drove through some truly depressing areas that made Jamaica look like Beverly Hills. Then out of nowhere a small commercial strip appeared with our hotel, tons of fast food and some top rate touristy shops. We picked up Il Polo Loco, some Cuervo and checked into our plush Days Inn.

We woke up real early and drove to the Polo fields making a stop at Denny’s for breakfast. I ordered a country fried steak (nothing screams a California vacation like a country fried steak at Denny’s) and a glass of water. The waitress gave me this really strange look and said, “We don’t really have any of that.”
My brother and I assumed she meant that the water was bad so my brother canceled his hot tea and we both got juice. When the waitress brought our breakfast out she told me that she had asked the cooks and no one had ever heard of “wooder”. Yeah my South Jersey accent does me in again.

So we get to the show early and walk the mile to the gate. As my brother likes to point out we were the 3rd and 4th people to enter Coachella 05. I would also like to add that we were next to two of the most awful people in line. Here is my Day 1 recap:
We got in and chose The Sexy Magazines over Boom Bip. After about 47 seconds we headed over to the Boom Bip tent and were blown away. I had never heard them before but instantly fell in love with their organic electronic sound. Next we headed over to the Main Stage and saw an amazing set from Buck 65. Yet another artist I had never heard before and am now a huge fan. We also saw afternoon sets from Rilo Kiley and Snow Patrol. I ate a huge sausage while my brother checked out Wilco and enjoyed some grilled corn while Bauhaus played. We got to lounge on the grass and listen to Keane. We worked out way up to the main stage for Weezer and hung back for Coldplay. All the sets seemed pretty generic with the exception of Coldplay. They really gave it their all. I also picked up a Buck 65 album and my brother promised me he would stay awake while we listened to it on the drive back to hotel. Of course he fell asleep and I could barely keep my eyes open. I’m amazed we made it back there alive. That night I fell asleep with an Old Milwaukee in my hand which spilled all over my bed.

We avoided Denny’s on Day 2 and made it straight to the In n Out to enjoy the best fast food I’ve ever ingested. My brother also had to use their facilities. We ate at the Polo Fields parking lot and I sipped from the bottle of Cuervo. The Futureheads where opening the day and I really wanted to check them out so we left the car with just enough time to get to the stage for the beginning of their set. After walking the mile to the gate I realize that I left the tickets in the car. So we head back and instead of sprinting back to the gate we turn the car on, blast the AC and down the bottle of Jose. We had a good talk and it may be the most memorable moment of the trip for me. We got in and just laid in the grass listening to Sloan. It was nice. I saw great sets from New Order and The Fiery Furnaces (where there were only like 30 people). I got up close for the Bravery and stayed way back for the groundbreaking Arcade Fire performance. Coachella dropped the ball on the scheduling by having Nine Inch Nails, The Faint, Blood Brothers and The Locust all playing at overlapping times. I made an attempt to run from tent to tent but was way too tired at that point so I settled for most of Nine Inch Nails and the end of The Faint. Bright Eyes ended the night in awful fashion by playing songs from the Digital Ash album.

The next day forgot my DVD player in the hotel and we had to turn around which made us almost miss our flight. We made the plane as it was boarding and I slept the whole way home listing to the Eels.

So that’s it. My Coachella experience. The music sorta stunk but I’ll have tons of stories for my kids.