bday and Coachella

What do you get the guy who is turning 50+ and has everything. Orchids, a dinner with friends and tickets to the Sunday April 30th Coachella Festival where his favorite band is performing – Bloc Party. I think the surprise of the flowers was a great idea. His face was beaming when he saw the box of orchids from Calyx & Corolla our favorite floral company. The spray of white orchids in the black vase with gold trim was perfect for his desk. The surprise on his desk was worth every cent. Although the flowers have drifted into dead flower land today the vase is a handy reminder of a great day.

Arrival was set for the day for his birthday and his office smelled of orchids for the entire week. D’s birthday was spent doing alot of running around on his part – he had two weddings go down and we had planned to go out to dinner for the evening with Col and Harry at Flemings, a very meaty restaurant indeed, and why would D want his birthday party celebrated in such a den of meat – put simply – we both enjoy the vegetables served in these meat caverns. The side plates are plentiful and the service, drinks and wine are very specifically designed for enjoyment. We had a bottle of Heitz Cellar Cabernet, a wonderful cheese plate with some really incredible sharp cheeses we all enjoyed devouring. Col and Harry’s dinner plates looked great – done to perfection and the side plates looked great, I had a baked potatoe, something we don’t fix at home, and asparagus, and shared with David a plate of grilled mushrooms, and we were all mesmerized by the steamed vegie plate David was served, a bowl made out of sliced potatoes filled to overflowing with fresh green pea pods, carrots, cauliflower, peppers and more. It was an incredibly delightful evening, good friends, good cheer and a very crowded restaurant. Dessert was served with a candle – creme bruele and a key lime cheesecake, the bruele was a bit soft but the cheesecake and whipped cream were devine. Here’s some shots of us enjoying.




The look on David’s face when he opened his card at the table told me I had gotten him the right present. Sunday at the Coachella Fest, with headliners Tool, Madonna, Paul Oakenfeld and of course our Favorite group today…Bloc Party. He chimed in “We’re going to see Bloc Party!”, over and over – it was a mantra all week long. I hate to bring up the past, but the Hollywood Palladium concert we saw with Bloc Party, the Kills and Noisette, is up there with the Bowie concert at the Wilshire and the Moby concert at 4th and B – incredible – sweat pouring off of every inch of these two 50 year old guys bodies, loving every minute of the energy of the music and their fans. Neither one of us could wait for Sunday Coachella. God it was an incredible evening – the night was just the perfect temp and The River (shopping complex) had the right mix of people for a Saturday night – it was too bad it had to end. Of course how could it end without a trip to the Borders – book and music were on D’s list of things to do – so we wandered aimlessly through the aisles – myself I picked up Frommer’s French Phrasebook with 5,000 phrases, it is a great little addition to my CD/book lessons for French – I feel that this time in Paris we are going to be able to communicate with a bit more confidence. I’ve been practiciing everyday. David of course wanted some music and I couldn’t say, “No”. What with the excitement of Coachella I haven’t had a lot of chance to listen to the new music, but from what I’ve heard and played over and over I really like, Prarie Wind by Neil Young – this is an incredible set of music, touching, sweet, soulful, The Painter of course is beautifully rendered, but I am especially touched by Falling Off The Face Of The Earth, Paumayo Presents Paris a collection of chanson – Nouvelle Scene music from Paris, music that follows in the tradition of Piaf and Aznavour delightful tunes, easy to listen to, and perhaps learn a few phrases from, especially pleasant are the following tunes, Les Pages by Myrlille, Jardin d’Hiver by Karen Ann and Ta P’tite by Flamme, we have been listening to Aznavour for years, I remember listening to him all the time when I would borrow records from the Boise, Idaho library record collection. I truly love his voice, and we have purchased tickets to his concert tour coming to LA in September, possibly the last chance to see him as he is getting in his 80’s. Of course a birthday is never great without some real downhome twangy guitar so we bought Alligator Records 35 x 35 which is a robust collection of blues guitarists from the Alligator Records roster of blues artists. Incredible set of music – 2 CDs jammed packed with blues masters, some living, some dead and I want everyone of their music collections. This is a true piece of gold. Salt In My Wounds by Shemekia Copeland, Speaking In Tongues by The Holmes Brothers, Lollipop Mama by William Clarke, Your Love is like a Cancer by Son Seals and Honey Hush by Albert Collins are tunes that stand out but every piece on these two CDs is worth a dozen revolutions on the turntable. I have listened to these two CDs everyday on the way back and forth to work in the Miata and I got to tell ya the time passes even in the traffic jams in Cathedral City. Confessions on a Dance Floor by Madonna is catchy and energy filled, a continuous mix of old dance buzz sounds with her vocals, make you want to get up and dance the day and night away…wait of course I am supposed to be talking about Madonna in the Coachella Fest area of this tome, but had to mention that this soundtrack is a great pick me up for a warn summer day. The only one I haven’t given alot of thought to is the newest Morrissey purchase – Ringleader of the Tormentors – I’ve listened to it a couple times, and it’s great, but I haven’t found the time yet to sit down and listen to his lyrics, this a poet singing, words that mean something, there is a Smith’s – The Queen is Dead sound and contemplation to these tunes, definitely looking forward to getting into the Moz.
Coachella:
Preparation for Coachella was a bit daunting. With D’s diabetes we were a bit worried that we wouldn’t be able to get him the right food for his diet, especially since we do the vegie thing and our main source of protein is protein whey and soy products, which we were sure they wouldn’t have, and having been at a fest before we knew at best that the concessions for vegans would probably be corn on the cob barbequed. So David had to get a doc’s script for him to carry protein bars, his blood testing kit and etc into the festival, as there was a whole list of NOs that were enforced at the entrance of the festival. The list is a bit of a turn-off, but once past the entrance the festival grounds opened up to a great arena of grass, tents, people and music. A side note – i’ve read alot about the difficulty of parking, – well David wanted to be there from the start of the fest to the end and we drove into the parking lot at 11 am and it took about 15 minutes, and less to get out. I guess if you like to try to rush in to get to see Madonna or just your favorite act – you’re going to have problems getting in, but if you go prepared, go to enjoy the day – then the parking isn’t an issue. Just my perspective though on the whining – these are probably the same people who pissed and moaned about Madonna coming on late and not doing more than 6 songs. Stay home please. We downloaded the play and tent times for the artists we wanted to see. First on the list, the Octopus Project, which David had checked out on the web, he actually checked out every band offering music on Sunday on the web while making his choices,

The crowd wasn’t huge yet, but everybody that was there was enjoying this highly energetic group of guys dressed up like Mormon Missionaries and the girl was dressed up Betty Boopish. Their music was fresh, excited and jumping and they were very happy it seemed to be playing at the festival and have people there to greet them. I especially liked the energy of the drummer, who also played guitar and was pretty much all over the stage, being apart of the music, his enthusiasm flowed out over the crowd and the girl “Yvonne” played this great instrumental with this sci-fi instrument which is basically a wand that must pick up vibrations in the air, she played it with her hand, her breath and body. It was a great set,

and by the end of the set you knew the day was going to be a scorcher. We put on our sunscreen and marched off towards the tent where the next act we wanted to see were going to be – The Dears a band from Canada, and who put out a pretty good CD last year that D bought for my birthday a year ago. We had wanted to see them, but had not yet, so the Coachella was a good opportunity. The tent wasn’t crowded so we moved up to the front, as the people who had just been watching the group before The Dears were leaving. We were about 10 people back from the front stage. Although I really like the Dears I felt their set was a bit weak, it could be these Canadian natives were too hot, or that it is difficult to get into the groove at 1 pm for a great set, I would have liked it a bit better, if they had been tighter,


Your’s truly was sweating already – dancing to the tunes and being inside of a tent with more and more people drifting in, what with James Blunt being the follow-up band after the Dears, made for a cramped tent and concert, even if the start of the set was a bit off, by the time the Dears had gotten to their “We Can Have It” they had won over the audience.


Time for a beer and one of D’s protein bars – the beers were $7.00 each and the water was surprisingly $2.00 each. Yikes. And they had to be pouring the near beer cuz there wasn’t a buzz to these two quaffs of brew. Of well – it was sweltering and we were getting ready to enjoy more. We wandered off to the Sahara tent to see where Oakenfeld and Madonna would be performing. Huge Huge tent.

We moved up to the very front to listen to Louie Vega to listen to his afternoon set. Alot people were in the tent but it wasn’t full.

We danced for over an hour and watched people watching people, a small cadre of Madonna fans had already plotted out areas where they were going to die-hard stay the entire day until she came in. It was going to be along wait – 3pm to 8pm. yikes, of course I am reminded of the time we waited for Dylan for 5 hours in the rain…so a hot steamy tent with dancing, some pot smoke wafting around the area and lots of exciting music who could complain. Well we bid farewell to the dance party – knowing we would be back – but we had to get over and get ready for Bloc Party

Spot on Guys! An incredible set by the 4some. The crowd swelled after Minus the Bears

enthusiastic fans started milling away. Really not my music I guess, nothing of noteworthiness other than they were a very tight, highly professional guitar group, but I just couldn’t get into the music…Oh well not everything for everyone. The crowd really got tight waiting for Bloc Party and the sun was beating down on everybody, no sun block was going to keep the rays from burning your skin. If you wanted to hear them, see them, they ya had to wait in this steaming mass of people, pushing, shoving, winnowing between slight openings between one another’s shoulders, the excitement was intense, and when they finally came on stage, the crowd went crazy, screaming, jumping up and down and going bezerk when they started playing. A small mosh tried to get moving about 10 feet away, but the heat either strangled it, or tempers would have flared – pushing, pushing and just plain happiness that these guys are making music. They played most of their first album and played one great new song off of their new music and if it’s an indication of the up and coming CD it is going to be grand – Kele says, “Bowie has been a big influence on their new music” – looking forward to it.


I was exhausted after the Bloc Party party, so we had a beer and bought four bottles of water cuz we knew we were going to be in the dance tent for along time. Paul Oakenfeld’s set had just started and then Madonna was going to come on. We wandered down to the Saraha tent and found our way inside the tent – center of the tent, behind the sound tables. It wasn’t real crowded, but it was full of people wanting to dance to great music Paul was making.


Incredible music, and a beat that just wouldn’t die. We were both surprised by how many people were dancing, guys with guys, girls with girls, couples, kids, everybody, just grooving to the great dance music, drifting into states of bliss. Sweat pouring off of everyone, the tent beginning to fill up with the excitement that the Queen was going to be in the tent soon. You could feel it in the air, but let me tell you the music bore us all up in waves of great enthusiasm, making everybody smile and it just made you feel so damned happy to be alive…..one of the great things about the Empire Polo fields as a concert area is the grass – no concert floors, no sticky floor like the 4th and B in San Diego, just soft grass and cushiony earth. Although it was hot, the heat was absorbed into the wafting desert breezes that were lifting up as the sun set and everybody was getting ready for Madonna

to say it got crowded once Paul left the stage is an understatement. Masses of people streamed into the tent, pushing, pushing, and we must have moved up 50 feet, and still they were pushing forward, the room got to be suffocating, about 1 ft of space around each person, the tent was open on the sides, and in the back they just kept coming, some people who had been standing by us left once it started getting so crazy, but we decided to stay. 25 minutes standing in a can of sweating humans is alot to take, probably good practice for when we are standing on the soccer field in July waiting for Robbie Williams, it was fun, it was sweaty, it was very close.



We didn’t take pictures once she came out, there were so many people, so much sound, the excitement was overpowering, our water was gone, we were being crushed and we were loving every moment of her 6 song set. She gave it all. Slowly undressing for the fans, rubbing a blue feather boa between her legs, dancing with her half naked dance boys, rubbing her face with a towel and then throwing it out into the crowd, and then she was done, the crowd was stunned, six songs were a short set, but it was more than enough for me, we moved out as fast as possible, i for one was exhausted. I wanted a beer, some water and something more than a protein bar, we found some falafel and they were tasty, but what pigs we all are, the tents where you were supposed to eat were overflowing with garbage, left but a hungry mass, water bottles, cigarette butts, the entire floor of the fields was covered in human garbage, the surprising amount of garbage was endless. In less than 8 hours the entire place had been turned into a garbage pile. D wanted to see Scissor Sister and the Go Team. We went over to listen. I was spent, so I just laid down and listened to the Go Team they sounded like they would have been great – but like I said – exhausted. Scissor Sister were a great ending for the evening, somewhat of a cross between the B52s and My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult – these guys were not an alternative band in the alternative sense – gold lame outfits just don’t fit the bill…but for excitement – they were jumping as were all of the people who had chosen to watch them instead of those tired old metal heads Tool. Maybe it’s my age but Metal is hard to keep excited about after a song or two, and the sexy innuendo blended tunes by Scissor Sister are just the perfect way to end the evening.

Well that’s it kiddies – the festival is over and packed away – back to work the next day, actually the work week was worn – I was beat all week and have only now begun to feel back in shape, too much sun, too much sound, too much excitement – can’t wait until next year – D says we are going to do both days next year. On to our next projects – Robbie Williams – Paris – Tour de France – Smokey Robinson in LA, Dr. John and Buddy Guy in LA, Lucinda Williams and John Fogary in LA, and Charles Aznavour sometime in September. Ta