11:56 p.m. Sunday

Tonight was as good as I had hoped it would be. Spoon played a tremendous set as the sun went down. They are one of the few bands here who sing songs that you can understand all the words to. Their music is clear without being transparent. "The Underdog" got the best crowd response. The lyrical hook, "You got no fear of the underdog, that's why you will not survive."

Phoenix was as good as I hoped they would be. Their music makes you feel good and is great to dance to. I am definitely going to pick up some of their music.

Thom Yorke was adventurous and Gorillaz entertained.

It's late and it's been a long weekend. I'll try to wrap it all up tomorrow.

11:40 p.m. Sunday

Sly Stone is a mess right now. He went on stage three hours late, and he could not get through a song. His ten piece band was working hard to pull him through, but Sly couldn't do it. He kept stopping the music once it got going. They got through most of "It's a Family Affair," and the crowd was pulling for him, but it wasn't happening.
 
Sly came out on stage wearing a hat, sunglasses and a silver wig. He was slurring his words. He stood up and sat down. Played one keyboard for a second, then tried another. Nothing was working. The synapses were not firing. Bummer. 

5:15 p.m. Sunday

I am really excited for tonight. On Friday and Saturday, I was somewhat flexible about the bands I would see. I have tonight mapped out.

We will be at the Coachella Stage at 6:30 for Spoon. Then it's over to the Outdoor Theatre for Phoenix. We'll stay there for Thom Yorke's set at 9 p.m. We will end the evening by lounging out far from the main stage to check out Gorillaz.

I have enjoyed Spoon for about four years now, but I have never had the chance to see them live. I have all of their CD's since 2005's Gimme Fiction, and I enjoy them all.

I like Spoon a lot, just not quite enough to travel to LA or San Diego to see them live. The Coachella Festival is the only venue that would bring Spoon close enough to where I live so that I will not need to merge my car on to the freeway to check them out.

Phoenix is a band I am somewhat familiar with. I like their hits that I hear on my Sirius radio, but tonight they have the opportunity to make me a fan to the point that I would buy their albums and look forward to future releases.

Thom Yorke is a performer I have seen live many times. He is the front man for Radiohead, a band my wife and I enjoy enough to travel to see. As a solo act, Yorke plays in big city venues that are hard to get tickets to. Coachella is giving us an opportunity to see him live that we would not otherwise get.

Gorillaz should be cool. I don't know what to expect from a group of animated characters created by the DJ who makes the music. In my imagination I see a clear sky, a warm breeze, an amazing light show, and some cool cartoon characters on the video boards.

 

11:55 p.m. Saturday

Lots of people will look at the lineup of 130 artists at Coachella and say, "I don't know any of these bands." In some ways, Coachella likes this. The festival built its reputation on showcasing the music of the moment. In 11 years, Coachella has never failed to be current.

How many rock bands under 10 years old are really good and really popular? Not that many. Great rock music does not live in the mainstream anymore. Perhaps it never did, but the fact that no one buys CD's anymore, and everyone has easy access to tens of thousands of songs with the click of a mouse, makes it harder for bands to stand out and become huge.

How many rock bands under 10 years old are really good and really popular? Not that many.

Muse is close to becoming huge in the United States, but there are fans of rock music in their 20's who have never heard of them. Muse has been extremely popular in Europe for years, but they just started selling out arenas in the United States recently, thanks in no small part to their music appearing on the immensely popular soundtrack to the blockbuster Twilight film series.

If you heard Muse for the first time tonight, you are now very aware of them. In a live setting, Muse can not be ignored. Their sound is huge, their songs have hooks, and their singer has range.

My wife saw Muse for the first time at Coachella back in 2004, the year they released their first CD. They played the main stage in the early afternoon. She didn't know what she was walking in to, but she remembered them when she walked away. She came home and told me how amazed she was that this band of only three guys could produce such a big, theatrical sound. We bought their CD and have followed them since.

Watching them from up close, you would never know they are making such big music. Their singer, Matthew Bellamy, is a little guy who skates around the stage. Their rhythm section is tight and packs a big punch, but they don't make a big show of their playing, so the low-end power of Muse kind of quickly sneaks up on you.
 
This band produces interesting, theatrical sounds that travel a long way. I would say that Muse has come a long way since 2004, but I think it's more that the rest of us are finding Muse.

Their sound has always been huge, now Muse is starting to be, too. 

8:27 p.m.

Whatever regrets I had about missing a few bands this afternoon were erased when I walked in the gates tonight just as the sun was going down. Sunset is the perfect time to be here. The temperature drops, the sky turns purple for just a few minutes, and before you know it, the stars are out.

We saw two of the biggest stars in music before we saw our first band of the day. We came in a side entrance and were stopped short for a moment by a fleet of four shiny, black Escalades driving down a dirt road. Jay-Z and Beyonce got out of the first Cadillac in the motorcade and walked backstage to see the Dirty Projectors.
 
Perhaps Beyonce likes the Dirty Projectors because they feature three females who play instruments and sing beautifully. Perhaps Jay-Z gives them respect because the Dirty Projectors leader is Big Pimpin.' You don't see many bands with a male lead singer/guitar player harmonizing with two and three women at a time. It works well. The Dirty Projectors are good. So far, they are my best discovery. I will pursue more music from them.

We also stopped in to see Corinne Bailey Rae. She created a great vibe in the Gobi Tent. Beautiful voice.

Hot Chip had a big crowd dancing at the Outdoor theater. Faith No More played the Coachella Stage, satisfying their followers, but not doing much to win over any new fans. No new songs from Faith No More during their re-union tour, and not much nuance to the old ones. They played their 1990's hits, "What is It?" and "We Care a Lot," each sounded as good as the recorded versions that made them famous. 

MGMT might have been a better fit for the big stage. They had a huge crowd dancing to their hit, "Electric Feel." Their newer music didn't go over as well as the hits, but that's typical at a festival.

Looking forward to Muse tonight.

3:43 p.m. Saturday

I think it's safe to say my station in life is at a different stop along the tracks than most Coachella Festival attendees. This became clear to me late this morning when I drove by the River in Rancho Mirage and saw a line of young people standing in the parking lot awaiting a shuttle to a nearby pre-party for Coachella. I saw this line of people four different times while I was driving my kids around the block. 

We weren't looking for the party. I was hoping the kids would fall asleep in the car and give me some time to rest. We call our route, Sleepytime Lane. The drive was successful two out of four tries today. We had an unprecedented double-nap on the second lap that sent my 3-year-old son, and my 15-month-old daughter downtown to Sleepytown. Two later tries were unsuccessful with the baby girl.

After partying like a Rock Star Friday night, it's challenging to party with a toddler Saturday morning. My wife and I got home at 3 a.m. My son was up at 6 and my daughter rose before 8. Thanks Gramma Vivian for taking the earliest shift. Thanks, Children's Discovery Museum of the Desert for wearing my kids out this morning so I could rest a bit.

I heard multiple horror stories of people stuck in traffic for hours getting into and out of the festival on Friday. We came through relatively unscathed. We took Washington to 48th to Madison on the way in. Getting out was a little trickier. We stopped for a bit at The Date Shed - the new exclusive club at the Empire Polo Fields - before we hit the road, so we missed some traffic. But, a 30-minute drive probably took us close to an hour. Everyone is hoping for better organization on the roads and in the parking lots tonight.

Jay-Z ended Friday night with a bang, bringing his wife Beyonce on stage to sing a soaring version of "Forever Young." Jay-z finished his high-energy set with "Encore," and a blast of fireworks.  

Tonight, I am really excited to see Muse and MGMT. I hope to see some of the XX, Dirty Projectors, and Faith No More. We will likely end the evening with The Dead Weather. I saw Jack White's latest project perform at the Outside Lands Festival in San Francisco last year, and they are terrific.

I had hoped to get out a little earlier to sample a few bands that I am vaguely familiar with like Band of Skulls and Portugal, The Man, but you have to pick your battles on Saturday at Coachella. Some will fight for their right to party, others will absorb evey bit of music they can from 12 p.m. to 1 a.m. and others will get in where they fit in. There's a place for everyone at Coachella. Mine is just around the corner from Sleepytime Lane.

12:27 a.m.

Jay-Z is a Rock Star. He came out to "Run This Town Tonight." He is.

Jay-Z is in charge of the biggest city in the desert right now. There are 75,000 people here now. That makes this the biggest city in the Coachella Valley doesn't it? The festival is a lot like a city. Different people in different neighborhoods. Some people drawn to the small tents, and some the big ones. Jay-Z gathers them all in. Nobody is too cool to move when Jay-Z is rocking the mic. He has a huge live backing band that makes this show feel more urgent and live than any other hip-hop show I have seen. I think he's only told me to put my hands up a couple times. Instructions have not been necessary. The crowd is picking up what Jay is putting down.

Danced with my wife to Vampire Weekend a bit. Highlight of the night. Their singer reminds me of Ferris Bueller. Time for me to stop and look around for a while. I don't want to miss anything. 

8:45 p.m.

Them Crooked Vultures just rolled like bulls through Pamplona. The bottom end of their sound is bovine-herd-on-the-loose type of powerful. Josh Homme hopped on the backs of John Paul Jones and Dave Grohl, leaned forward and took every turn at full speed.

Before the train really left the station three songs into their set, Homme stopped to look around and introduce his legendary band mates. After name-checking the former drummer of Nirvana (Grohl) and Led Zeppelin's bass player (Jones), Homme said, "And you know who I am. I'm Joshua, and this is my home town. Welcome to my house." 

Homme has reason to feel at home here. This was his fourth appearance at Coachella. The Palm Desert native has played here with Queens of the Stone Age, The Desert Sessions, and Eagles of Death Metal.

Them Crooked Vultures are an all-star team that has been practicing together. There was no showing off, just rocking out. Jones would lay down a heavy, fat groove, and Homme would texture his guitar playing on top of the bass. Grohl was drenched in sweat by the end of the second song.
 
Mind Eraser, No Chaser and New Fang closed the set.

I hope these guy's make more music together. 

6:30 p.m.

Street Sweeper Social Club was awesome. Tom Morello played the guitar with his teeth. Rage Against the Machine dummer Brad Wilke joined them for the last song. They rocked LL Cool J's "Mama said Knock You Out."

5:15  p.m.

Street Sweeper Social Club just took the main stage and my head and torso just started bopping. My legs don't move much when I dance standing up, but they have no choice this time. I am sitting in the press area. It is crowded back here. Every outlet in the power strip I am plugged into is filled. I do not have a chair, but I do not mind. The grass is nice, and if I were in a chair right now, I would probably tip it over.

The distinctive thunder of Tom Morello's guitar gets me every time. I saw him play here when Rage Against the Machine re-united a few years back. I saw Rage a few times before they broke up, and I have not seen a band since that can make a crowd of thousands leave its feet in rhythmic unison.

Morello's guitar is meant to be played in an expansive open space. Rage is not together anymore, and Morello's other former band, Audioslave, is split up now, too so  Street Sweeper gives Morello the opportunity to rip it up. Bay Area based rapper Boots Riley meets Morello's riffs with a groovy aggression that updates the Rage sound. A little less angry, still incredibly powerful.

I used to listen to Rage Against the Machine before my high school basketball games. I would be ready to run through a wall before tip-off. I can't sit any longer. Gotta get up and try the legs out. 

4:00 p.m.

After emptying a bottle of 30 SPF sunblock on myself and my son, we made our way to the venue. There was a hold-up at the entrance because they temporarily ran out of bracelets. You may have heard that all tickets are being exchanged for a bracelet that you must wear all three days of the festival. There are no single tickets this year, and they still sold out. 75,000 3-day passes. Incredible.

In the four minutes it took for them to divy up more bracelets to each line, my three year old boy managed to have a sip of his first beer. My wife was mortiified. It was a Heineken. She hates Heineken. Actually, she was most disturbed that it appeared my boy snagged the near empty beverage out of a plastic bag that was hanging on the railing, i.e. a trash bag. Thankfully, my little man did not enjoy his first sip of brew. Daddy saw this as a teachable moment. Beer is yucky! My little man chased his one sip of beer by pounding back half of the water in his sippy cup to cleanse his pallet. If festival goers followed that model, dehydration cases would fall through the floor. 

About now you may be wondering, "Why did you bring a three-year old to that crazy festival." The answer, Yo Gabba Gabba.

DJ Lance Rock played a 45 minute set in the Sahara tent. There were a few dozen toddlers bopping to the music of the Yo Gabba Gabba kingpin. When Lance introduced his furry friends Muno, Fufa, Brobee and Plex, the loudest roar of the young festival went up in the tent. They played all their hits. Classics like, "So Yummy in my Tummy," "Shake Your Sillies Out," and the good-vibes inducing, "Hugs are Fun."  

Thousands are here to party like a rock star. I may try that later, but it'll be hard to beat partying like a toddler.

11:25 a.m.

I first became aware of Coachella while sitting on a counter at the North Avenue Laundromat in Grand Junction, Colorado. I was waiting for my clothes to dry, flipping through Spin magazine when I saw the advertisement. They layout mirrored the festival poster. The amazing blue sky and green polo fields were the back drop for the printed names of most of my favorite bands. Could all these bands really be playing in the same place? The White Stripes, The Beastie Boys, Ben Harper, Queens of the Stone Age. I thought of ways I could possibly go, but the buzzer to complete the spin cycle woke me out of that dream. I barely had enough quarters to finish my laundry, how was I supposed to get to the desert for this?

As it turns out, I got a job in Palm Springs a few months later. Today is my seven-year anniversaary with KPSP Local 2. I started on April 16, 2003. I was so close, yet very far from going to Coachella that first year. See, my first job here was primarily to anchor the sports reports on the weekends. Until I arrived, the only other person who did sports had worked 57 days in a row. He was ready for a weekend off. He was ready to go to Coachella. I spent the weekend in a coat and tie talking about the Dodgers and the Angels, which was totally cool. Coachella would just have to wait.

I kept working weekends for the next two years, and I somehow got stuck working Coachella weekend in 2006, so my first festival was in 2007. I have been every year since, and now it is part of my job to cover it. Needless to say, I am excited. Let's do this!