A Trip to the Desert – A Diary of My Coachella 2012 Experience

I like to consider my body and mind a temple of pop culture. And in this temple, we worship three things: comics, movies, and music. For years I’ve gone to film festivals and comic conventions to gorge myself silly on those things that I love so it only makes sense that I make the pilgrimage once again to the desert for the Mecca of West Coast music festivals: Coachella. This year marked my third outing to the glorious festival and today I am here to share some of my experience as well as some do’s and don’ts if you plan on going to the fest for Week Two.

At this point you should know whether or not you plan on camping. This year I camped for the second time at the fest and I have to say it was a pretty rewarding experience. I was part of a group on Facebook called Chellavista.

This group mostly hails from San Diego but we also got some people to camp with us from Los Angeles. There were 20 cars in total and it was one of the biggest productions I had the honor of being involved in. I didn’t know a lot of these people but they taught me many things. If you plan on camping, make sure you have the following:

A tent: duh

Canopy: Who wants to wake up at 7 with the sun?

Plenty of blankets and a decent sleeping bag.

A portable stove top

Food to cook with: Your body will love you if you give it a nice hot meal when you wake up. I dined on chorizo and egg burritos or sausage in the mornings and it was pretty much heaven.

A well packed toiletries bag: Just because you are going to a place with a crap ton of hippies doesn’t mean you have to be one. I made sure my bag had deodorant, shower wipes, hand sanitizer, q-tips, aspirin, foot powder for all of the insane walking and of course a decent cologne.

The Chellavista group met at a Wal Mart close to the polo fields on Thursday morning. That way we could not only group up but also get a fresh stock of supplies. We bought a ton of fruit, nuts, meat and liquids. When you camp you can have a case of beer per person and when beer is 7-8 bucks a pop inside, it’s good to get a 30 case of Tecate on the cheap. The heat can also really get to a person so I recommend you fill your body with tons of fruit for some good natural energy. Some of this seems like common sense but when you enter into that festival…common sense can leave you sometimes.

Also, be mindful of the weather. Week 1 was really cold and we also had a bit of rain. I’ve heard its supposed to be in the hundreds for Week 2 so make sure you pack accordingly. I thought it was only going to be cold for one day and I took that for granted and ended up freezing up until it got hot on Sunday.

You can’t bring outside food in and the festival grub can be rather pricy so it is smart to eat ahead of time whether at your camp or the way in. As delicious as spicy pie pizza or the garlic fries are, they add up quickly and it’s best to save your money me thinks. Stay cool out there and make sure you bring an empty water bottle. I bought one of those Britta water bottles with a built in filter. The last time I went to the festival in 2009, they had a water refill station that was a glorified drinking fountain. The water it produced had large dirt deposits in it and was pretty gross. This year they have some decent refill stations next to a few of the bathrooms. The water they have for you to fill up on isn’t the best so I always felt better with the filtered bottle.

For the first night, I erected a make shift cave out of the back of my truck. I put a tarp over the bed and fastened it with ratchet straps and filled the truck bed with pillows, blankets and bedding. However it didn’t matter how much I put in there, the ridged lining of the back made it pretty damn uncomfortable, partnered with a nearby friend’s intense snoring and it made for a very rough first night.

Sleep can be fleeting if you are in the campground. Whether it’s snoring friends like I mentioned above or annoying people 10 cars down playing dubstep at 3 in the morning it can be pretty tough to sleep. I recommend earplugs and not being afraid to call it an early night. Your friends might want you to stay up and hang out until the wee hours of the morning but trust me, you’ll be thankful you are able to have enough energy to do all the walking and waiting that happens the next day.

Since the lineup was released for the fest, I spent so much time listening and plotting who I wanted to see. Murphy’s Law comes into effect here. Its good to stack your schedule but be prepared to abandon bands if you want to see certain things. There was a time I wish I had a rechargeable phone battery on hand so I didn’t have to stand at a recharge station for my phone while Neon Indian was rocking out. Speaking of which, have a good charge on your phone and keep a charger on you in case you do need to charge it. I hate that our society depends so much on these devices now but if it means you might loose your people or a ride, charge the damn thing good and keep off of 3G since it’s pretty tough to get a signal most times anyways. Also, if you have a smartphone you should download the Coachella app. It has all the bands and events going on during the fest and is a fun thing to have. When my phone was dead however I found myself using the handy Coachella schedule booklet that you can get in the fest. Not only does it have the lineup for every day it also has a map and other useful info that is worth knowing.

Musical acts I was really excited that I got to see were:

Wallpaper (A friend told me about this guy and all I have to say is he is a must see on Friday and he’s the first act. If you want fun dance-y music you owe it to yourself to check out someone you probably haven’t heard of. Check out a song here)

Flying Lotus: Saw him during Comic Con in SD last year but his show was brilliant at the Gobi tent this year. I can’t stand pretentious DJs who seem to cool for school when they are spinning. This guy is far from that sort of DJ since every time I have seen him he has the biggest smile on his face and seems like he really enjoys what he does. That mixed with his infectious homemade beats makes for a really enjoyable show.

Childish Gambino: I love “Mystery Team”, Community, and anything else Donald Glover does and he proves that actors can have a music career. He was funny, had a great backup band and also rocked out hard with a broken foot! Check it out.

Jeff Magnum: Neutral Milk Hotel is one of my all time favorite bands growing up. When I heard that the front man of said band was going to be returning after a very long hiatus, I know I had to be present for it. I have to say he gave a great intimate show on the outdoor stage.

Oberhofer: They look like a bunch of wiry teens but man do they rock. Check out a song of theirs here

Modeselektor: These crazy Germans know how to bring a house down. They also have a jam with Thom Yorke that is really infectious.

Musical acts I’m sad I missed:

Explosions in the Sky: I’ve never seen a whole set from these guys.

Neon Indian: Some fun trippy dance music that was happening right when my phone decided to die.

Otherlives: One of those buzz bands that got away.

The Black Keys: I’d rather not get too into detail here lets just say I was bummed.

But if you want to see what my schedule looked like, here it is: Zack’s Coachella Sched. Of course it was great to see the big acts like Radiohead, Snoop and Dre, as well as Bon Iver. However, I really enjoy checking out obscure groups also and I feel like that can sometimes be more rewarding.

Another great aspect of Coachella is all the great art installations around. Years before, I witnessed large Tesla Coils, LED walls and all sorts of craziness. This year the highlight were LED remote controlled sharks that prowled the grounds at night. Look out for those things. The DO LAB is fun to check out for a bit but I only spent 30 minutes there period. If you like strange vaudevillian circus acts, it might be just the place for you.

I really enjoyed the Playstation experience tent. It’s right before you get to the Sahara and not only do they charge your phone but they will hand you a PS Vita and let you walk around and play with it. Mind you they will have your phone so best not loose it or think you can steal it.

The Tupac hologram was awesome to see from a sci fi fans perspective. However, I couldn’t help but feel like it was blasphemous in some way. Like Tupac is now omni-present and can play in every state of America at the same time if the music gods wished it.

I got to meet up with the one and only Brian Gilmore during the fest and I have to say it was a pleasure getting to see him experience the joys of Coachella for his first time. He and I talked about how Coachella is like Comic Con for music fans and I agree to an extent. Coachella is a treasure trove of stuff to behold like Con can be however I think Coachella appeals to many more because it can be a much more rewarding experience in terms of meeting people and having your eyes opened to many new and exciting bands that you might not have heard of otherwise.

For those who are staying at a hotel, just know I have no pity for you. You have a shower, bathroom, a quiet place to sleep and potentially air conditioning. All things that are scarce on the camp grounds of infinity. Camping can be a much more rewarding experience if you do it right. I hope this has been helpful for you and if you have any questions, message me on facebook and I will be more than happy to talk with ya about anything.