Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival
Empire Polo Field, Indio, Calif. (October 9, 1999)
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Moby
Empire Polo Field, Indio, Calif.
October 9, 1999 |
The Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Ca. proved to be a successful collaboration of the better side of music. With only a few glitches, the producers delivered two days that, while differing in mood and content, showed that the masses could have a great time with the most stellar lineups in modern sound.
Day one, Saturday, brought fans adorned with Morrissey T-shirts, baggy pants and little else.
Generally cheerful and ready to dance the day away, the crowds of 20,000 scrambled from one tent to another looking for relief in the shade. They welcomed the cool while the disc jockey tents began to fill with sweating bodies grooving to the tunes of musicians such as Los Angeles' Christopher Lawrence.
On the side stage, live acts like Modest Mouse and Super Furry Animals gave decent performances that were a nice alternative to the stuffy tents.
Skillfully planned, the daytime festival had something to make everyone happy. Between main stage performances, DJs such as Jason Bentley would make the wait fly by. Film shows, various vendors and scattered canopies kept most people occupied while waiting for the sun to set.
The main stage acts really began to take off with Morrissey, who started his set shortly after the sun set and the air became bearable. Playful and charming, Morrissey tossed his microphone cord around while singing a balanced mix of old and new. Feeling the heat from onstage, Morrissey teased the crowd by yelling, "I can smell your sweat!" and "Are you having fun? Too bad!"
The loyal fans (who didn't run on stage to maul him) showed their appreciation with much vigor and noise. In his usual showy manner, Morrissey even delivered older songs like "Meat is Murder" as a thank you to fans for their years of devotion, dating far back into his days as the frontman for the Smiths.
Next on the bill, the Chemical Brothers thrilled all fans of big beat and house. With laser lights and video backdrops, the boys from England chose a set of favorites from the new album Surrender and old albums such as Dig Your Own Hole.
They played tunes like "Block Rockin' Beats" and "Out Of Control," though the current hit "Let Forever Be" was disappointingly left out. Even with only one hour to work with, the brothers kept the energy high and bouncy with every climax in beats.
With beats still ringing in its ears, the crowd prepared for the headliner from scratch heaven, Beck. Also introducing new songs from his upcoming album Midnite Vultures, Beck played "Sexx Laws" along with the mainstay "Loser" and closing the first set with "Where It's At."
Sliding back and forth with his backup band of vocalists and horns, Beck performed with his usual flair for funk and the style that only he could pull off in a purple-tasseled shirt. And who else could make the crowd weak with excitement with a cover of "Electric Avenue." An unusually short encore of "Devil's Haircut" sent the troops home, some weary with satisfaction and some ready for more.
Second day, new crowd.
A tougher, larger brand of music lovers assembled on Sunday mainly to hear the hard-rock styles of Rage Against The Machine and Tool. Security toughened up a bit but the end result proved a pretty mild day of standard festival rowdiness with few casualties.
Then the larger crowds began to gather around the main stage during a lackluster Pavement set. Lead singer Stephen Malkmus announced with brutal honesty that his voice had been thrashed over the weekend and apologized to the crowd for the sound.
"I hope this isn't the memory of Coachella you take home," he said to the crowd of loungers who appreciated the band's efforts.
As the sun set, Ben Harper took the stage, bringing in even more fans, yet failing to move them much more than Pavement did. Though an amazing performer, Harper performs better in a smaller venue when the crowd is more intimate and he has more than an hour to work his jamming magic.
But even before his set was over, fans crowded in the polo field to get ready for the biggest, most anticipated performance of the weekend -- Rage. Zack de La Rocha and the rest delivered a powerful set that pierced the night sky with roaring guitars and forceful drive. de La Rocha jumped around the stage with usual command and took hold of the crowd with old songs such "People Of The Sun" and new ones such as "Guerrilla Radio."
There were a few, however, that stuck to a more dance-friendly beat, and they ran over to see the techno-wonder Moby fill the second stage with larger-than-life excitement.
Unlike many DJs, Moby operates with a full band that includes bongos, a traditional drum set, bass and his own guitar. He danced and slid across the stage while letting the crowd know that "out of all the festivals I've played, Coachella's been the nicest." Playing with a source of pure energy, Moby smashed it up with the current single "Body Rockin'" off his newest album Play.
Tool closed out the festival with a raucous set that included fires onstage and lead singer Maynard James Keenan satiating those who hadn't yet had enough of the hardcore rock.
The first aid tent had few visitors and, though it took forever to leave the parking lot when the show ended, concert-goers left in good spirits, hoping for an encore next year.
MICHELLE ZUBIATE |