Friday 14th April – Coachella Day 1, If You Can’t Beat ‘Em, Join ‘Em

I woke up earlier than I expected, but surprisingly, everyone at camp had a great sleep, despite the party camp just across the way from us. Kaila and I were on the same timetable, both waking around 7am and heading into the hub for a wander and some yoga for me. Kaila went and bought herself some breakfast while I did “Sweat and Reset” with Red Bull. I thought it would be a bit of a boot camp, but it was just yoga, just an intense version. I was happy to have discovered it, the actual “Yoga” session was packed full of people but we on the silent disco stage had only about thirty attendants. The session was a good intensity for me, better than normal yoga.

I met Kaila back at camp and as she did her music research for the day, I tried to cook up her idea of a prime breakfast which was egg cooked on top of avocado in a steam bath. It didn’t really work out in the end, the avocadoes weren’t up to scratch so the eggs just fell in to the water. The result was scrambled egss with some avocado and bacon on a bagel. Good intentions, but nothing like a classic. The bagels went down super well.

When Kaila started getting festival-ready, I noticed she had on an ankle bracelet that looked kinda like a house arrest accessory and I was instantly jealous. I wanted one, so I made myself my own functional, fashionable ankle wallet. This consumed my whole morning as we all sat around and chatted. My first one was a bit too tight, but the second iteration was perfect. Annoying that something that would normally take a couple of minutes on a sewing machine cost me at least half an hour, but I didn’t have to be anywhere, so what the hell. In the end, it was perfection.

When 12 noon rolled around, it was festival time! Kaila and I were already one rum/coke, and a few beers deep so it was time to go. I donned earrings for the first time in months, wore my bikini top with no shirt and rocked my ankle wallet. Astro chick went awall, I was festival ready. Per Kaila’s advice, we carried our current beer and a new one for the road to drink in the line to get in to the festival. Kaila was right as usual. We waited in line at the festival entrance for a good while, finishing off our beers. Kaila, nearing her limits, graciously donated her beer to a jealous festival-goer nearby while I, like a trooper, downed the rest of mine before we got to the metal detectors. Through the metal detectors without issue, I was at Coachella! I was dancing through the entrance where they scanned our wristbands, already in the mood for a party. It was hot, it was sunny, perfect festival weather.

Kaila got right into the tour, me not even having to look at a map to understand where all the stages were. We dipped into Yuma, an enclosed EDM and jumped around for a bit. There was hardly anyone in there, something that was bound to change over the weekend. In this fully enclosed tent, you would never know what time of day it is, you could just party on and on. We left the dark tent and carried on across the main field through the artwork installations. Here, I got in trouble for touching one of the statues, the poor security man not happy that he had to hang around and tell people not to touch. I got a photo with the blob of a statue once he turned his back.

We hopped a few stages, not having to navigate much between people because there weren’t that many around. Kaila repeatedly warned me that it would get worse and I didn’t doubt it. My first stage viewing was of a band called Zipper Club. All I got out of it was that the lead must have been damn uncomfortable in his bright red leather pants, especially in the crazy heat.

Next we went briefly to Sahara before going to a craft brewery bar for a cold frothy. They had at least fifty beers to choose from, all $12 a cup. Drinks in hand, once we reached a table, I cheers everyone in sight, everyone wishing each other a happy Coachella. The place was electric with anticipation. Properly drunk now, we hit out first act that was actually of interest, a three piece of sisters that made up “Joseph”. I really enjoyed their music and they had good banter with the crowd and each other.

The Do Lab stage was my introduction to the DJ part of the festival where we saw Team B&L. In the shade of coloured cloths, everyone bounced violently to the music spinning from the turn tables. The best bit? There were men on stage with water guns spraying the crowd. It was a nice relief from the hot-ass weather. We got into it.

With our beers finished, we went to the Outdoor stage to check out King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, only to discover that we’re not fans, so we vacated the festival grounds and retreated back to camp for an intermission. Once there, Megan and Andrew were already chilling out, their friends having just left camp. I made Kaila and I some wraps for lunch and we sat and had a relax session, still buzzed from all our drinking.

I hadn’t even been sitting for an hour when I realised the time and rushed back into the festival. My camp mates stayed behind, none of them that keen on seeing Broods, who I was rushing for. I nailed my navigation to the Mojave stage and managed to move forwards on the side to see the band playing. The lead was wearing short shorts and a crop top bra, as if she’d just found whatever she had in the closet that morning and she was rocking out. The sound was brilliant and the songs exactly what I expected. I jumped around with everyone around me, including the proud New Zealanders brandishing their national flag in honour of the band in front of them. It was a great set, my best of the day.

By pure luck, I managed to meet Kaila at the back left corner of The Avalanches. This is where we’d planned to meet, but she hadn’t got my text specifying my location, instead just happening to walk by me. She’d come in with Megan and Andrew and managed to lose them but find me. After a while looking around for our neighbours, we gave up and moved toward front of stage to rock out to the mash up The Avalanches were making. At the end of their set, we did find Megan and Andrew but they floated away again as quickly as they’d come.

Father John Misty was next on the main stage. This is the band Tanned Dan had told us about in Ocean Beach so I was determined to see him here since we missed that chance. A beautiful voice, Father John serenaded the crowd, melting my heart when he sang “Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings”. We couldn’t stay to the end of FJM because it was imperative we got over to Outdoor for Phantagram, Kaila being a massive fan. This tall blondie in massive heels and short pants epitomises rock and roll, telling stories of drugs and sex escapades between songs that she ripped apart with her voice.

We left this set early as well to get to The XX. I know right? So much to see, there’s not time enough. Needing another beer, we started watching the set from the beer garden, but not happy with our position, we poured our beer into one of Kaila’s water bottles and snuck it out to the stage where we could sit, drink and watch. The XX is normally pretty slow, relaxed music, but they DJ’d the shit out of their songs which was brilliant. It got me up and dancing.

Despite Kaila’s warnings, after The XX, I was keen to see Empire of the Sun at the Sahara stage. Noise was already blasting from the tent as we approached and I think the crowds of people Kaila had warned me about all turned up for this band. We could barely walk through to the back of the stage. When we did manage to get ourselves a look at the front of stage, we could see specs moving around on the platform but not much else. Even from here I could see that the Empire’s costumes were crazy as ever. We didn’t stay long, not really getting the experience thanks to the throngs of people so we slowly made our way out. The crowd was near violent with people all trying to get through but we made it out. We stuck around for one more song, watching and listening from the side which was better than I expected, I could see the ridiculous glitter and flares on the sleeves of the act.

Right then, Radiohead time! We were settled at the main stage before they started and joined the crowd in cheer when the band came out on stage. They got straight into a song and to everyone’s great surprise, everything went completely silent for around 10 seconds during the song. Completely oblivious, the band carried on playing, the sound eventually coming back. This was followed by a loud microphone-type squeal, then a few seconds later a bout of loud static noise. Hmm, was this a joke? Everyone thought so when they finished the song and the lead said, “It’s those fucking aliens again” in his beautiful British accent. The whole crowd swayed to their next song, but by their third, the system went silent again and this time it didn’t recover. Still unawares, Radiohead played their hardest as the crowd lifted their hands in despair. Kaila and I were already tired and had a long festival ahead, so we called it quits. As we walked away, the stage lights turned off, the band stopped playing and the sound guys were on stage trying to fix the problem. Embarrassing!

We were both thankful that the walk back to camp was short. We’d entered the festival for the first time around 1pm and it was now past midnight so we’d had nearly twelve hours of festivalling. I cooked up some left over risotto before bed and drank plenty of water to give myself the best chance of a good morning the next day. As we sat at camp, Kaila told me in very animated sign language that our neighbours in the camp behind us were engaging in the act of fornication. The poor things though, a few minutes in, they were interrupted by their camp mates who, after discovering them in the act, promised they’d go somewhere else and party until they were finished. But first someone needed their jacket out of the sex tent and could it be passed to them? It was all hilarious listening.

Despite the various parties going on around camp, sleep came easy, especially when I could hear Radiohead playing in the distance.