For the first time ever, I pushed my responsibilities to the bottom of my ridiculously long to-do list and put Coachella at the top. No, I didn't have the money and no, I didn't have the time, but my life seemed to be falling apart and I needed to treat myself to a known cure for when I'm nearing the bridge to insanity: live music.
Most are surprised to hear that I had never been to Coachella before this past Saturday. Music is my absolute favorite form of art and live shows are one of my favorite ways to pass the time, but Coachella has always been too expensive.
Lucky for me, my sister won over $16,000 on Wheel of Fortune and fronted me $125 to buy a one-day Saturday ticket. My heart was content and I nearly had my peace of mind back, but I was too excited to relax. I was about to see my idol, Jenny Lewis (for the third time in hopes of remembering it for once), and my new favorite band, Fleet Foxes, plus a bunch of other bands/DJs like The Bloody Beetroots (so crazy) and MSTRKRFT (who sucked).
After my Coachella experience, I have decided the following: Coachella is a priceless experience that adds a new dimension to the way one views life and experiences live music. It is an event that calls for creative outfits, an immense amount of energy and a limitless supply of water. For many attendees it also calls for alcohol and/or narcotics.
Coachella is not a rave full of kids only under the influence of Ecstasy or a day keg full of drunkies. It is not a hippie fest, full of kids on either shrooms or marijuana and it is not a pyschedelic trip for people only on acid. Coachella is a place where people combine all of the above.
Walking around in my own daze, I was terrified by kids whose eyes were completely black due to the fact that their pupils were so big, and disgusted by kids sucking on pacifiers and dressed like babies. At Coachella everyone is their own chemist, mixing chemicals in their brain that eff them up into oblivion, making them appear out of place, out of touch and out of mind.
Outside of the kids that treat Coachella as a giant babysitter for their overly intense trip are the kids that go for the music (that would be me).
I'm not one to abstain from fun, but I am one who will do what I can to make sure I can remember some of the best live performances I've ever seen. Fleet Foxes was by far the most beautiful show at Coachella. "Sun It Rises" being performed at sunset in the desert is an experience I will never, ever forget.
