Music is the Blood of Life, Part Two

My week has suddenly become very busy sprinting to finish a script - fingers crossed I got a bite that leads somewhere - but I did promise a Coachella-related article, and I thought it'd be good to mention the bands worth seeing BEFORE the set times are posted (whenever that ends up happening), just to keep my opinions free of timing and technicality, I guess.



Anyway: as always, many many bands worth seeing at Coachella. Frankly, there are very few bands playing that aren't worth seeing, and there's something great and refreshing about wandering aimlessly from tent to tent, discovering new bands on the strength of their live performances alone. But vague road maps are pretty nice too; after the jump, I'll mention some of the bands I'm most interested in seeing, for one reason or another.

Fleet Foxes (Saturday): 2008's indie darlings will soon be playing in front of one of the largest crowds of their career. I've never seen these guys live, so this should be a highlight for me. I hope their sound translates to a wide-open desert setting, so far away from the closeknit acoustics of their studio recordings and abandoned French alcoves. But whatever, I'm going to rock out as much as any other beard-having hippie in the crowd.

Leonard Cohen (Friday): I'll admit to not knowing much of this guy beyond the Essential compilation, but what am I gonna do, not see this guy? From everything I hear, he puts on an amazing live show - and this guy is in his 70s.

Friendly Fires (Sunday): Shorter festival set times are actually a benefit to bands with only a handful of songs to their name (The weird tour for Gorillaz' first album awkwardly bloated the setlist with as much filler as possible, including playing "Clint Eastwood" twice), so I'm looking forward to a concise and catchy show from these newfangled youngsters. Really danceable stuff like "Paris", "White Diamonds" and "Skeleton Boy" might make these guys this year's MGMT... for better or for worse...

Gang Gang Dance (Saturday): "Crazy post-globalization electro soundclash" will accurately describe maybe a few minutes off of St. Dymphna. This shit is seriously nuts, and I can't wait to see how it translates to a sweaty desert rave.

Franz Ferdinand (Friday): Their new album might have gotten really mixed reviews, but I like a lot of it, and there's no way they won't put on a super-energetic show.

Mastodon (Saturday): Fuck it. I'm going elbows-out in the mosh pit, so you better watch out.

Los Campesinos! (Friday): Finally, I get to see these guys! I'm going to be selfish and hope they focus on their first album over their pseudo-b-sides-collection We are Beautiful, We are Doomed, which hasn't really gelled with me yet. Regardless, this looks to be a uniquely hyper show that will probably end up one of my highlights of the weekend.

Fucked Up (Sunday): Not a huge fan of their music, but their live shows sound so insane that I kind of have to go for the spectacle alone.

Ida Maria (Saturday): I at first got her confused with the band Oreida. Then with Mirah. Then with Rainer Maria. Et cetera. But in actuality, this is a Norwegian lady whose really fun rock-n-roll sounds kinda like Bjork fronting The Hold Steady. Her live shows are supposed to be nuts, non-album singalongs and all, so it should be a good time.

My Bloody Valentine (Sunday): OK, well I just saw these guys recently so I will probably skip their set, but you should go. And bring earplugs, seriously.

There's plenty of other acts I'm sure I'll check out - Chemical Brothers, No Age, Paul McCartney why not - but I'm still down for other options, if you think I'm missing anyone that looks to be pretty awesome. Suggestions?