4:30 am: get home from indio, ca, after 2 days of heat and music overload. take shower. pass out full of happiness. coachella was like a treasure hunt, with gems of music tucked away waiting to be discovered amidst some incredibly boring fluff too. it was a musical buffet, of sorts. the weekend itself was a blur of intense sweating, stages, dance tents, gatorade, frozen lemonade, beer, tacos, grass, the sun, palm trees, random encounters with long-lost friends, meeting new friends, non-stop walking, laughing, sneezing, frisbee, and hotel-based regenerating. i managed to ignore a cold that invaded my body on friday and lasted the weekend. i took a bunch of photos, and here's what stood out from the artists:

hybrid: very cool mix of electronic music and instruments. i actually clearly remember the sound in the tent as one of the best and loudest of the weekend... i think they turned the mains down after hybrid.

the walkmen: i was so bored i couldn't handle it. had to leave.

lady sovereign: she was very, very impressive. awesome rapping, super fast at times, and a little bit of growl for good measure. i need to check her tunes more...

wolfmother: man they rocked! i was a little nervous because i love their debut album and for some reason felt that they weren't going to be able to pull off the same energy live, but they totally did. the vocals were spot on. they basically saved face for the rest of the semi-indie bands... thanks for representing, wolfmother.

animal collective: well, it was definitely odd, but certainly not enjoyable. i felt like they were just trying to be weird for the sake of being weird, and you can't be weird on purpose. it was just annoying.

my morning jacket: i barely remember the sound, but i remember making a mental note to check them out later because there was something i definitely dug...

imogen heap: i was only able to catch about 3 songs, but she was so cool. her voice and range are incredibly soothing and powerful at the same time, and she rocked her little booth of synths and keys.

sigur ros: they were one of the selling points for me (at least for purchasing tickets for both days) so i made sure to catch their entire set. simply put, they floored me. it was a perfect moment for day 1: their set coincided with the desert sunset and the heat was passing. the singer almost looked as if he was always about to cry and he nailed those incredible pitches with pure emotion. it was great to see all the instrumentation on stage too, even if there were some initial sound problems. sigur ros was a midday massage for the senses...

carl cox: i had to check out the dance tent during his set, just to see. it was hoppin'.

franz ferdinand: i was skeptical about them, but they were actually pretty good live. the music was fun and energetic, but also didn't really go anywhere. they're fun live, but i couldn't get into it outside of that.

depeche mode: they sounded good, but were kinda boring.

daft punk: WOW! i wanted to check them out because i have memories of some of their hits during high school, but i was pretty much pleased with sigur ros highlighting day 1. i was completely thrown for a loop. we packed into the dance tent, and a pair of robots from space emerged from their pyramid shuttle to grace us with some high-energy tunes. it was so packed and everyone was SO into it. we danced for their hour-long set and left awestruck, pleasantly capping day one. in fact, it was surprisingly the most enjoyable experience of both days.

amadou & mariam: they were super tight and sounded amazing - a refreshing mix of jam band and african rhythms.

metric: it seemed like every-other song was cool. but the cool ones were really cool.

sleater kinney: they could have been cool, but one of the singers sounded like a dying sheep that needed to be put out of its misery. her vibrato was driving me crazy.

gnarls barkley: highly anticipated, and from what i heard was very solid, but it was too crowded and we were parked directly under the sun. we had to keep moving.

yeah yeah yeahs: no no no. please no.

madonna: i missed her because i had to go to the main stage early to secure a good spot for tool. day 2 basically seemed split between madonna and tool fans, and this is were most people parted. i heard she was about 20 minutes late though, and only played a few songs. but she still rocked it, apparently.

massive attack: i have bittersweet memories of them, but they were pretty much overshadowed by tool. they had the unfortunate luck of being placed right before tool, so the crowd was incredibly huge, but it just wasn't for them. sonically they sounded good, but was a little too dronish for a live show. it was near the end of the evening and the energy was way too low from the stage.

tool: well, they are pretty much what convinced me to buy the coachella tickets this year. i've been listening to 10,000 days for a couple weeks and i think its one of their best albums to date (if not the best). needless to say, tool rocked the end of day 2. the crowd was enormous and responsive. the band was in a great mood and the setlist was pretty much a greatest-hits run through. i was very impressed seeing them for the first time, though i have to say it sucks watching tool with tool fans, if that makes any sense.

tonight we practiced, and it went well, and sounded great - it makes me so excited, anticipating what's going to come out of this. there were some rough edges, but the work ethic was awesome from all. we took a short break to go buy 10,000 days (which you should, as well). the packaging has some cool stereoscopic 3D images that can be viewed with the included lenses. it's pretty neat.

ja, ne.