Coachella festival
heats up SoCal
Radiohead and The Cure
were two of the bands at
the Coachella Valley Music
and Arts Festival this year
By Ryan Murphey
Freelance Reporter
The Coachella Valley Music and
Arts Festival began in 1999 and
since then has carried popular acts
such as Bjork, Jane's Addiction and
Weezer. Located just outside of Palm
Springs on the Empire Polo Field in
Indio, Calif., this two-day festival
draws music fans from all parts of
the globe. This year's festival was
May 1 and 2, and the lineup includ
ed bands such as Radiohead, The
Cure, The Flaming Lips and AIR.
The first act this reviewer saw at
Coachella was the Swedish electro
dash rockers The Sounds. As unpro
found as their catchy Pat Benatar-es
que synth-pop may be, there is no
denying its power to move your butt.
As long as you were dancing hard
enough to ignore frontwoman Maja
Ivarsson's
awkward
and some
what nau
seating
stage an
CONCERT
REVIEW
tics, you were fine.
Ivaisson assaulted the audience with
countless peeks at her little boy-style
undies. Between Ivarsson's doughy ap
pearance and her stiff, sluggish pranc
ing, the naughty display was about as
erotic as walking in on your parents.
Still, the music was a good way to kick
start the day, and Ivarsson's gratuitous
misuse of English profanity was funny
enough to be redeeming.
Another main stage act was Hiero
glyphics, a truly independent and tru
ly exceptional hip-hop crew com
prised of Del the Funky
Homosapien, Casual, Pep Love,
Domino and the group Souls of Mis
chief. The only disappointing thing
about this show was the crowd's
reaction. A flawless and energetic
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performance featuring Dels songs "If
you must" and "Clint Eastwood"
managed to get the crowd moving a
little bit, but all the sun-fatigued and
dehydrated audience could muster by
that point was bobbing heads and
tired enthusiasm.
1 returned to the main stage 20
minutes before Tire Pixies came on.
But even my early arrival didn't
guarantee a good spot — the closest
I was able to stand was within a
football field's distance from the
performers. Still, by the time Frank
Black began to bray the first lines of
"Bone Machine," the crowd looked
as if it stretched a half-mile back
from the stage. Fans got a little out
of hand as they attempted to acquire
a position closer to the stage. At one
point, an ambitious and unscrupu
lous audience member shoved me
into a female onlooker, who in turn
punched me in the face three times.
Dusk began to set in as Radiohead
opened with "The Gloaming." The
dark reds of the desert sunset provid
ed the perfect backdrop as vocalist
Thom Yorke sung out the words,
"This is now the witching hour" in
his eerie drawl. Rumor had it Radio
head would cancel its show because
Yorke was suffering from a severe
throat infection. However, they
played anyway, and Yorke's voice was
nearly flawless, only faltering on the
high part of their first hit, "Creep."
The set list was a near-perfect blend
of hits and lesser-known gems. By the
time they finished "Street Spirit," I
didn't even need the encore.
When !!! (pronounced "chik chik
chik") started playing, I lost control
and began moving back and forth as
if hypnotized by the group's
signature brand of disco-punk. The
gyrations eventually spread to my
legs, my arms and my head, and I
suddenly found myself dancing fever
ishly in near 109 degree weather. The
audience was either in the midst of
seizures or dancing just as hard as I
was by the time the band reached its
Turn to COACHELLA, page 13
Courtesy
The Butchies’ new release, "Make Yr Life,”
dropped in April. The band will perform at
the fifth-annual Lesbopalooza this weekend.
Courtesy
Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio's "Seis de
Mayo" has new originals and songs from
Phish played with classical instruments.
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Seis' tries too hard
while 'Make Yr Life'
needs new lyrics
Trey Anastasio battles with
the Butchies to see whose
album can be more boring
and devoid of originality
By Ryan Nyburg
Senior Pulse Reporter
It seems that Phish guitarist Trey
Anastasio wants us to take him serious
ly as a composer. I Iis new solo album,
"Seis de Mayo," is a loose, oddball col
lection of solo acoustic pieces and or
chestral renditions of his compositions.
Ihe problem? Anastasio is derivative
and boring when held to the standards
tral piece "Guyute," comes across as a
mishmash of some 19th-century Amer
ican composers, Mozart and Western
theme music from television shows. It
crescendos to undeserving dramatic
moments the piece does not earn, and
ends without having done anything in
teresting. This cheap melodrama is
REVIEW
of classical
composers.
The album's
centerpiece,
the nearly
12-minute
long orches
throughout the album.
Most of the orchestral pieces
included on the album sound like
rhythmic and melodic templates for
discarded Phish songs; this fact only
makes the idea of "Trey Anastasio:
American Composer" that much more
difficult to swallow. Anastasio is capa
ble of writing some groovy pop rock
jams, but this talent translates poorly to
traditional classical structures.
Even the more standard solo pieces
aren't all that exciting from either a
compositional or instrumental stand
point. The songs just wander into the al
bum, then wander back out, much like
a daink stumbling through a room.
While it's nice to hear Anastasio trying
new things, he needs to move away
from his "spot the influence" style of
composition and make something a lit
tle more original and a little less vague.
Some other people who could use a
little more originality are the members
of the Butchies, if their new album,
"Make Yr Life;" is any indication. Despite
being a rarity in rock music — the band
comprises an all-female trio of musi
cians — the band is pretty much status
quo in every other way. Three-chord riffs,
simple love lyrics, catchy chorus ... and
Turn to BUTCHIES, page 13
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