Coachella

After much ado, the lineup for Coachella was finally announced. Now before I offend any of you, I provide this disclaimer – I am a child of the late 90s; I do not love 80s music as much as most of you; these are solely the opinions of Jacqueline and not the Cure-loving, 80s obsessed Chris. I cannot be held liable for any anger you experience by reading and disagreeing with my assessment of past and current lineups.

People who do not know what Coachella is: check out the Wikipedia info and know that it’s a massive three-day music festival in the middle the desert, and is intense in musical lineups and the wear and tear it puts on concertgoers.

This year is the year of nostalgia for Coachella. The headliners for the 3-day festival are Paul McCartney, The Killers, and (ta-da!) The Cure. While Chris has been leery of the festival after hearing Chili and Jeremy’s uncomfortable and slightly terrifying stories involving the desert heat, car break-ins, and purse stealing, I am a believer in try anything once. As the child of Beetles-loving parents, I am sure to break their hearts by saying I would forego Day One. Day Two looks really good with The Killers, TV On the Radio, and James Morrison (wedding goers, remember the song Stephanie’s sister sang at our wedding reception? That was one of his songs “Better Man”). We could easily see those people otherwise, so the real reason for going on Day Two would be to see if a) Amy Winehouse shows up and b) what in the world she does if she goes on stage. I could be part of pop culture history! Day Three is cool with The Cure, Lupe Fiasco, and Yeah Yeah Yeahs. While Chris would argue it would be worth is all just to see The Cure, again, I am not completely sold on a three hour trip to the desert for that lineup (oh, and Public Enemy will be there – so old school!).

I think much of my lack of enthusiasm comes from this past year’s heartbreak. We missed 2008 Coachella. I am sticking with my original argument that “there will never be another one as good as this one!” I wanted to go to Day Two to see Cold War Kids, Death Cab for Cutie, Dwight Yoakum (yep, that’s not a mistype), Prince, Flogging Molly, and Café Tacuba. Little did we know 2008 mainstream up and comers MIA and MGMT would be there that night, too. Day One had Jack Johnson, Teagan and Sara (loooove them), Vampire Weekend, The Raconteurs, and Santogold. I would have been so happy going either day- well as happy as a person can be in the desert surrounded by not-so-sober, sweaty people. But we didn’t go because it was “too hot” for Chris, a 25-year desert inhabitant. I got over it (kinda).

Well, fast forward to December 2008. We have planned our holiday vacation home and booked our flights. Then the KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas lineup is announced. This time I am literally sick to my stomach because our flight comes home at 7pm, and the Day Two Concert starts in the afternoon. The lineup was The Cure (again!), The Killers (again!), Death Cab (again!), Paramore, Franz Ferdinand, Scott Weiland, Snow Patrol, Vampire Weekend, and surprise headliner Kanye West – all of which we would pay to see separately. Chris was dealing with his own inner turmoil since this would be the second time in 2008 he missed The Cure (missed Coachella and in a May concert due to his sister’s wedding). I do feel for him. Robert Smith looks terrible. And I don’t know how old he is, but he doesn’t look so good. We definitely did not regret going home, but I believe there is something evil in this world ensuring I will never see The Killers live.

Anyway, back to Coachella 2009. It is just not as awesome as 2008. There are several bands I would love to go see…in an air-conditioned venue in LA or the OC. I’ll admit my 21-year-old self would be one of the first ones in virtual line to buy a ticket, but my old, cranky 25-year-old self says “Coachella is for the birds!"