ON THE FLOOR
Heading to the main stage to switch things up with some Postal Service, we explore the beer gardens and find the air conditioned Redbull ‘Speak Easy’ tent. The only way past the friendly bouncer is by knowing the password, Dance With Bulls, which we luckily had seen on twitter a week earlier. From the inside, you forget that you are at Coachella all-together and are once again transported to another setting. This time, you are taken to a more pub-like atmosphere with dueling pianists and DJ’s playing classic sing-a-longs.
After taking a moment to recharge, we wander across the grounds again, stopping to admire the giant Coachella Snail seen wandering around the campgrounds throughout the day. As the sun is going down, the snail lights up displaying beautiful luminescent colors as it continues to crawl on toward the next tent. Many of the other art pieces truly come to life at night, such as the giant Coachella Mantis whose eyes glow as it swings around, the ferris wheel that has its own lightshow on par with the stages, and the massive hippopotamus-operated (don’t ask) tesla coils that spark electrical lightning at each other.
We make our way back to Sahara for another legendary act of dance music, this time hanging out back in the beer gardens to get the full light show as the bald headed Moby steps out to greet the crowd. Moby would play a slew of energetic tracks, both new and old, including the classic Guru Josh Project’s Infinity 2008. We would stick around to catch most of Knife Party’s set before taking off to the Yuma Tent to catch a Canadian techno master by the name of Richie Hawtin.
New to Coachella in 2013, the Yuma Tent that’s located by the food courts is the smallest tent on the grounds. It’s closed off completely from the sun with a line to enter that can grow large when it reaches capacity for the popular acts. The Yuma Tent is a welcome addition this year for us house heads, playing host to cutting edge DJ acts such as Julio Bashmore, Joris Voorn, and Loco Dice (again, only naming a few). Displaying an array of disco balls, images of lavish paintings on the walls, and equipped with hardwood flooring, the Yuma Tent transported us to an Ibiza-esque nightclub.
As we’re walking out through the campgrounds, we take the time to admire the art, including a giant dog-shaped bench-swing and posters showing lineups from previous years. We pause to watch the silent disco party underneath the dome of light up balloons; a party where everyone is given headphones and dances to their hearts content to the same beat. Seeing some of the antics going on here, it becomes very apparent that camping is a whole other experience aside from Coachella itself that we’d definitely like to spend some more time looking at next year.
DAY 3
Starting off our day at the main stage for a change, the Lumineers set a chill atmosphere for what would be the last day of the last weekend at Coachella. We headed to the air conditioned Heineken Dome to cool off and listen to some groovy house music while intricate 3D visuals waved around on the curved ceiling above. The dome featured big house names such as Mark Farina and Canadians Lazy Rich and Dzeko & Torres. Having put off riding the ferris wheel all weekend, we finally made time to go up and soak in the view. Dusk provided the perfect lighting of the grounds, where we had a bird’s eye view of all the stages and attractions including Paul Oakenfold’s light show going off in Sahara tent.
After the surreal moment of looking over the thousands of music lovers, it was time to head to the Outdoor Stage and get a good spot for the best light show we’d have all weekend. As the sun is beginning to set, we look behind us to admire the view one last time; the ferris wheel still turning as the last bit of light disappears behind the rolling mountainous hills. The Outdoor Stage suddenly comes to life as Pretty Lights hits the decks, playing a barrage of chill tunes hinting at influences of both hip-hop and dubstep and making sure to keep the crowd engaged with his trademark light show that changed constantly with every break and drop. Lights and lasers filled the smoky air, flashing in patterns and directions I’ve never seen at a DJ show before.
After Pretty lights came to an end, it was back to the Sahara beer gardens to catch Excision. Excision had his full Executioner stage setup, equipped with a massive visor that would go up and down to reveal the DJ behind the music from time to time. Flashing all kinds of insane visuals like a mech assault warrior that shot into the crowd and a robotic T-rex that breathed fire on us for the big drops, the visual aspect of this show, much like Pretty Lights’, proved to be essential to complementing his heavy bass sounds. Running next door to Mojave to quickly see the amazing visuals and hard style mixing of Roni Size, we eventually return to Sahara again for one of the final big headliners of the weekend.
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www.djmag.ca
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