Some Updates

This past week, I have posted a lot of short blog entries and they were starting to look strange and/or lazy, so I put them together into this one post. Enjoy and feel free to leave your comments.

• Torchwood in America: Torchwood is coming to America according to this article. Does this mean a certain person will come back to life?
• Shirtless Magazine Covers: In case you wanted to take a look... Johnny Depp appears shirtless on the cover of the latest issue of GQ. And (for some reason) John Mayer is shirtless on the cover of Rolling Stone. They both have tattoos on their left arms.
• Villain News: Peter Saarsagard might play the villain in the new Green Lantern movie.
• More Good News: Soon, you will be able to stream Netflix movies from your Wii!
• Traffic: I read this article today about the areas in the U.S. with the worst traffic. I can't believe only two of these are near me (in the L.A. area). It's nice to know that other Americans share the grief of the Angelinos.
• Grammy's 2010 (Um, 2009?): Here is an article from the L.A. Times about how Phoenix is up against Depeche Mode at the Grammy's.
• Death Metal Rooster: If you haven't seen this YouTube clip of the Death Metal Rooster, you should watch it. Turn down your speakers a little bit, first.

I warned you.

By the way, you wouldn't want to eat anything this cute, would you? Check out Meat Free Monday!

Coachella 2010

So today was the big day, they announced the line-up for the 2010 Caochella Valley Music and Arts Festival. You can check out the site here.

Last year was the best Coachella ever! This year a lot of great bands are playing, but there doesn't seem to be any really big act or a surprise or anything. I would go if MGMT and Phoenix were playing on the same night, but they are not. Also, I hear Jay-Z is amazing live, but I'm not really into the other acts on Friday night. Them Crooked Vultures has Dave Grohl, but I don't even know what LCD Soundsystem is. Tiesto? Pavement?? By the way, why are there so many question marks after Thom Yorke???? Does that mean it might be Radiohead? If so, will they play BEFORE Pavement?

Can you go? Do you want to? What night would you choose? I think I would pick Saturday. Leave your thoughts in the comments.

Update: I just learned that Pavement is reuniting for this. I didn't know they had split up because I don't know who they are. Um... maybe they were famous in 2002-2005 when I was living in Japan?

Update 1/20/10: Here is an article about the question marks behing Thom Yorke's name.

Not Guilty

This is the seventh in a series of blog entries about songs picked at random from my itunes library. For the post on the last song, "Flume" go (here). For "Ras Trent" go (here). For "Hole to Feed" go (here). For "Every Little Thing" go (here). For "No Surprises" go (here). For "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds (Love Version)" go (here).

"Not Guilty" is a George Harrison song from his 1979 self-titled album, but actually written years earlier in 1968 while The Beatles were in Rishikesh.

As Wikipedia notes, the original version (featured on The Anthology 3) is "harsher, driven by electric guitar and harpsichord." That is the version that popped up on my itunes. I don't think I've ever actually heard the 1979 version. The only George Harrison albums I have are Living in the Material World, the Concert for Bangaladesh, and, of course, All Things Must Pass (My favorite album)! I haven't listened to the first two yet.

So, I decided to go on itunes and get the George Harrison version and write a comparison here! The thing is, once I listened to the free 30 second demo I could see I didn't need to buy it. The '79 version is all mellow and has none of what I love about the original. The '68 version is angry and heartfelt - why don't you guys let George have more than a couple of songs on the album!? The '79 version is a little too 1979. The soft keyboards (or whatever that bell-like sound is) in the background make it seem more like (gasp) elevator music. I don't want to hear dentist-office soft strains played to lyrics like, "Not Guilty of looking like a freak, making friends with every Sikh" (which, by the way, I always thought until now was "making friends you didn't seek").

For my money (which would be 99 cents if you could buy Beatles music on itunes) the 1968 version is the best. Go listen to it. Somehow.

Pandora

I have cable and there is a section of music stations on my TV. I used to put it on a lot (before I got a radio for my living room) while I was cleaning the house or at parties, etc. Today I discovered that they have replaced the musicals station with something called "Stage and Screen." When I went there it was playing Jessica Simpsons' "These Boots are Made for Walking" from the soundtrack of The Dukes of Hazzard. Not exactly what I was looking for. So I changed to a station called "Retro Rock" thinking it was going to be music from the 50's and 60's. It plays music from 1991.

And so, I went to Pandora. If you don't already know about Pandora, it is an online radio station made just for you. You create stations based on bands, songs, or genres you enjoy and it plays just that music and music like it! You can even set it to "Quickmix" and it will play random selections from all of your stations.

Pandora also has a free iPhone app! I wrote about it a few months ago (here). It's a must-have.

Here is a list of songs that played on my Quickmix this afternoon:

1) HooDoo: Muse

2) Beware of Darkness: George Harrison

3) Rain: The Beatles

4) A Must to Avoid: Herman's Hermits

5) Eleanor Rigby (Live): Paul McCartney

6) Drive: Incubus

7) Come Together: The Beatles

8) Never Let You Go: Third Eye Blind

• I don't actually like this song, but OK.

9) Get it On: T. Rex

• Ditto this one. Still better than Jessica Simpson.

10) Yellow (Live): Coldplay

• "If you stand up we'll buy you all ice cream."

11) I Want You Back: The Kooks

• I've never heard this before, part of the fun of Pandora radio.

12) Revolution (Love Version): The Beatles

• "ALL RIGHT!"

13) Can't Explain (Live at Leeds): The Who

14) Float On: Modest Mouse

• So THAT is what this song is called...

15) Superhero (Live): Stephen Lynch

16) I'm On a Boat: The Lonely Island

17) The Wind Cries Mary (Live): Jimi Hendrix

18) Trouble: Coldplay

• Why so much Coldplay today? I don't even have a Coldplay station.

19) The Song that Goes Like This: Spamalot

• I don't care about Spamalot, but I do think this song is cute.

20) Loro: Pinback

• I've also never heard this before. It came up on my MGMT station.

To be honest, I did use all six of my skips. :)

A couple of my friends have a beef with Pandora that it almost never plays female artists unless you are on a female artist themed station. They have a point - except for half of "The Song that Goes Like This" none of those songs were sung by women. The twenty-first song was "Over and Over" by Rachel Yamagata care of my "This Never Happened Before" station, though. (It's my only station inspired by a song instead of a band). That is a pretty good song, too. I think I'll add a Rachel Yamagata station. Go women!

Ras Trent

This is the fifth in a series of blog entries about songs picked at random from my itunes library. For the post on the last song, "Hole to Feed" go (here). For "Every Little Thing" go (here). For "No Surprises" go (here). For "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds (Love Version)" go (here).

"Ras Trent" is a song by the Lonely Island, a group made up of Andy Samburg (from Saturday Night Live) and SNL writers Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer. Go to their Blogger blog (here). I like them. I went to see Nick and Norah's Something or Other Playlist in the theatre because Andy made a 3o second cameo as a rapist homeless guy.

"Ras Trent," like many of the Lonely Island songs, was featured as a Digital Short video on SNL. It was funny at the time but the odd thing is, it's still really funny. I haven't gotten over it yet (unlike "D in a box"). It's also cool to sing to in the car, if no one is around. It will make you feel like a boss.

The song is sung by Andy in the guise of a white college guy who thinks he is Rastafarian. His roommate is a ball head (have you ever noticed how they suck?), his parents are bomboclats, he watches Murder She Wrote and has rollerskates, etc.

My favorite lines include (but are not necessarily limited to):

"Oh hot stepper/You do so many dutty crimes/plus you're fully skylarking all the time"

"Are you there, Jah? It's me, Ras Trent"

and the gem,

"Me toil part-time at Jah Cold Stone Creamery"

Ah, college.

Followers of my Blog: Wear Sunscreen

In honor of Baz Luhrmann's birthday...

Remember ten years ago?

Swing dancing was big thanks to Brian Setzer and khakis? JFK Jr.'s tragic passing? The debut of The Matrix, SpongeBob Squarepants, and Napster?

Well, 1999 was also the year of Sunscreen. I don't mean the product you put on your skin to protect you from the sun (that was supposedly developed by a chemist in 1938) but the hit song, "Everybody's Free (to Wear Sunscreen)" credited to Australian director Baz Luhrmann (he of Romeo+Juliet and Moulin Rouge fame). It was played on the radio non-stop for a time when I was in college - Everyone in the car would stop talking and listen to the entire song. It was timely. It was apropos. It was weird.

I was reminded of this spoken word tune today and, while I'm not going to re-print the entire speech (which is available, among other places, here and has its own Wikipedia entry - of course - here) I will print all the advice that consists of only one word. Pay attention, class of '99:

Sing.

Floss.

Stretch.

Travel.

There you have it. Want to listen to a version of the song? You can get the 2007 "remix" on itunes from the Romeo+Juliet soundtrack. If you can find it, the original radio edit is much better (Ah, for the days of Napster...)

I may not believe that growing up in Northern California has made me soft...

...but trust me on the sunscreen.

I Want to Like Phoenix

Phoenix is an alternative rock band from France (they sing in English).

Their website is We Are Phoenix.

I want to like them. They sound like such a cool band. I like the story of their rise to success (their songs more or less don't get played on the radio in France because of laws restricting the amount of non-French music on the air). They were cool in the interview I heard on the radio this morning - they have cute accents. So, I'm trying to like their songs, but I keep not paying attention when they are on.

Can you force yourself to be a fan of a certain band and their music?

Hole to Feed

This is the fourth in a series of blog entries about songs picked at random from my itunes library. For the post on the last song, "Every Little Thing" go (here). For "No Surprises" go (here). For "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds (Love Version)" go (here).

"Hole to Feed" is a song that is still pretty new to me. It's the second song of of Depeche Mode's latest album, Sounds of the Universe, and it's a Dave song. Yes, Dave writes songs now. And then he feels compelled to sing them in concert. So, yeah, that happens.

I went to see DM at the Hollywood Bowl last week. It was a good show, but not the livliest Depeche show I've been to, and it was honestly songs like "Hole to Feed" (which is an OK song, really, it just drags a bit) which kind of slowed things down. I understand that they had to cancel their show in San Diego a few days before on doctor's orders so Dave could rest his voice, so I guess it makes sense that they would need to lower the energy level a little.

The big problem was that Dave didn't even take his shirt off! He was wearing a scarf around his neck the whole time (again, probably for his voice?) but my friend who was really looking forward to the shirtless spinning around during "A Question of Time" was disappointed (as were we all). Still, wishes of good health for Dave (and Mart and Fletch)!

The song I really like from SotU so far is "Peace." It's written by Martin (as most songs should be) and they did not do it in concert.

By the way, watch the video for "Wrong", the first single from SotU, on YouTube (here). It is messed up! People wearing people masks are freaky, the shot of the guys walking by is cool, and the fact that the car is going backwards is just, well, wrong.

Hipsters

So, my first real brush with hipsterdom was when I read an article online about the music used in the party scene of the monster movie Cloverfield. I did not see this movie, but apparently the music used in that scene was very young and cool and hip and alternative, etc. I downloaded some of the songs (and a few similiar songs not in that movie) and found that they made a very pleasant playlist to put on my ipod and then set to random in my car when passengers are present. I called the playlist "Hipster Mix."

Hipster's seem cool but are apparently actually lame and deserve our scorn (though it does seem kind of hipster-esque to heap scorn on things). I'm pretty sure I'm not a hipster, but it would be cool if I was. I tried to make a list of my hipster leanings: I like SOME alternative music, I listen to records, I sometimes shop at Urban Outfitters (and mention it WAY too often in my blog). I still don't have waterballoon fights or think Kanye West stole my sunglasses.

Here is an article from Time about Hipsters:

"A Brief History of Hipsters"

And here is a website that has a bad word in its name:

LATFH

This is a list of the songs from Cloverfield. "West Coast" is my favorite - did you know that Coconut Records is Jason Schwartzman?

19-2000 - Gorillaz
Beautiful Girls - Sean Kingston*
Cleanup in Aisle 19 - Stephan M. Sechi*
Disco Lies - Moby*
Do I Have Your Attention - Blood Arm
Do the Whirlwind - Architecture in Helsinki
Four Winds - Bright Eyes
Fuzz - Mucc*
Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof Off the Sucker) - Parliament
Going Up? - Stephan M. Sechi*
Got Your Moments - Scissors for Lefty
Grown So Ugly - Black Keys
My Kind of Lover - Locksley*
Not So Easy - Kevin Browne*
Officer of the Day - R.B. Hall*
Pankhida - Lekha Rathnakumar*
Pistol of Fire - Kings of Leon
Roar! (Cloverfield Overture) - Michael Giacchino*
Seventeen Years - Ratatat
Sunday Ticket - David Robidoux*
Taper Jean Girl - Kings of Leon
The Ride - Joan As Police Woman
The Underdog - Spoon
West Coast - Coconut Records
Wraith Pinned to the Mist - Of Montreal

*Ones I don't have in my hipster mix

Every Little Thing

This is the third in a series of blog entries about songs picked at random from my itunes library. For the post on last week's song, "No Surprises" go (here) for "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds (Love Version)" try (here).

This week's song is an Early/Mid Beatles Tune, "Every Little Thing."

I remember the first time I heard this song... OK, not really, but there is one thing I'm sure of, this entry will not be very long even though I plan to tell you every little thing I know about this song. I can't stop thinking about it now ;)

Now, in no particular order, a list of things I know about "Every Little Thing" without having to look anything up:

1. I once made a fake Beatles fan-newsletter for some reason to send to a friend of mine who was away at school and I titled it after this song, which I thought was a vastly clever title. The one real Beatles fan newsletter I knew about was called "Good Day Sunshine" which is an OK title.

2. There is a Japanese band called Every Little Thing (or ELT) but I don't know if the name has anything to do with this song. Also, it's been about four years since I have heard anything about Japanese music, so I don't know if they are still together.

3. This is kind of an unusual Beatles song in that Paul wrote it, but John sings it. (Usually they sang their own songs).

4. Ringo plays some kind of weird drum on this. I recall reading about it somewhere and also you can hear it.

5. This was on the album Beatles for Sale which was their fourth album.

This is a good song; I like it. It's not my favorite song or anything. Well, were you expecting this put-my-itunes-on-shuffle experiment to shell out nothing but the hits?

No Surprises

This is the second in a series of blog entries about songs picked at random from my itunes library. For the post on last week's song, "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds (Love Version)" go (here).

This week's song is Radiohead's "No Surprises." I only have three radiohead songs (a random quote this just made me think of by David Spade: "I only know three songs by REM and guess what? I don't like two of them! That's right, I'm not cool- I don't like REM. Don't hang out with me, I'm a nerd.") and this is one of them. I got this song because at the time I was trying to learn to play it on my ukulele - I've kind of taken a break on learning it, though, because even though I'm playing the right chords, it doesn't sound anything like this song except for the "silent" part.

Anyway, this is a cool song, but does it have to mention suicide? I think this song would be more interesting without the obvious suicide reference. Oh well.

The video for this song features a close-up of Thom Yorke wearing a space man helmet that slowly gets filled with water. The effect is achieved by filming it in regular speed and them playing it back in slow motion - he must have sang it really fast. It's a pretty standard Radiohead video - they always do weird things in their videos. Remember that one that was filmed all with light or something?

Speaking of videos (I'm going somewhere with this) Have you heard of literal videos? They are pretty popular on YouTube. People take a video and then sing what is literally happening it in. Here's a good example of one:

Total Eclipse of the Heart Literal Video (YouTube)

Favorite line: "Ringo Starr: Lined Eyes." By the way, what is up with this video? Is she a teacher at this school? And why DOES that guy have gold glitter in his fencing mask?

Here's one for this song:

No Surprises Literal Video (YouTube)

Favorite line: "Big chin."

Sources:

Wikiquote: David Spade

Lucy in the Sky

I like listening to vinyl (see this earlier post) but I have a computer, an ipod, and an iphone like many people. I also listen to the radio every day. This makes the songs on my itunes a little unusual. You see, most of the music I like to listen to I get to hear on the radio - so I don't buy the songs on itunes. For the most part, my itunes library is made up of weird songs I bought for various personal reasons and is often not a very good indicator of my musical tastes. Still, when I set it to random (as I usually do when I am working on this blog) the occasional gem will show up and make me smile. I decided, therefore, to introduce a new feature to this blog. Every once in a while I am going to press "random" on my itunes library and write a blog entry about whatever song happens to pop up. As you can probably tell from the title of this post, this week's entry features a certain girl in a certain celestial location with certain precious gems.

Friday July 10th, 2009 - "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds (Love Version)"

So most of my music is Beatles-related. The odds were that a fab tune would show up. Here we have "Lucy" from the soundtrack of the Cirque du Soleil Beatles spectacular, Love.

For Thanksgiving 2008, my dad decided to come to sunny So. Cal to visit me from out of state. I was all for a visit from my dad, but I wasn't really sure what we were going to do. I mean, I wasn't going to cook... So, he suggested we go to Vegas, since he has never been. To me, Vegas mostly means going to clubs and drinking alcohol, then seeing a weird expensive French Canadian circus show. I did not want to do the first two things with my dad, so I settled on taking him to see LOVE. Being a fan of the Beatles I had an interest in seeing the show, which features the music of the Beatles re-arranged by their original producer Sir George Martin and his son. I didn't really know much about the show. (My dad, by the way, waits until we are in our seats to mention that he "never really cared for the Beatles" but OK). The show was really not at all like the other Cirque production I have seen, "O", it was more dancing and less circusing. Still, it was OK at first. I mean, it had it's moments. I know that Paul and Ringo and Yoko and Olivia all signed off on it. The last half, however, left me with my mouth hanging open in shock and disgust. A fun circus-dance about pre-teen John Lennon's mother getting hit by a car is not exactly my idea of fun.

Anyway, the song. A lot of those LOVE songs are fun re-arrangements of the classic. This one, though, out of all of them seems the most like the original and that's not really a good thing. Not that the original isn't amazing, but compared to other songs on the soundtrack like the brilliant mix of "Here Comes the Sun/The Inner Light" (I remember thinking while watching the show, "This is the George Harrison show starring George Harrison!" Yay!) "Lucy" falls a bit flat. One reviewer calls it "largely unsullied."

The Wikipedia page about the album goes into some of the details of how the Martins used "elements from 130 individual recordings of the Beatles" to create the 26 tracks on the album. Here is an excerpt from the article:

• "Drive My Car"/"The Word"/"What You're Doing" – As reported, the medley features the guitar solo from "Taxman" and the horns section from "Savoy Truffle".
• "Gnik Nus" – As suggested in its title, the track contains the vocal arrangement of "Sun King" played in reverse.
• "Something" (with "Blue Jay Way" transition) – The track contains vocal elements from "Nowhere Man".
• "Strawberry Fields Forever" – A review of the album noted that this version builds from an acoustic demo. It includes the orchestral section from "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", the solo piano from "In My Life", the brass included in "Penny Lane", the cello and harpsicord arrangement from "Piggies" and the coda of "Hello, Goodbye".

Don't those make the songs sound like the fun and new versions of beloved classics that they are? Well, "Lucy" is not mentioned in the list - probably because it's not as interesting. It's just not as different from the original. In defense of the show, I do recall the "Lucy" part (along with "Something") being one of the most interesting circusy parts of the show - it's just that the album version of the song is not that amazing.

Don't those make the songs sound like the fun and new versions of beloved classics that they are? Well, "Lucy" is not mentioned in the list - probably because it's not as interesting. It's just not as different from the original. In defense of the show, I do recall the "Lucy" part (along with "Something") being one of the most interesting circusy parts of the show - it's just that the album version of the song is not that amazing.

That having been said, are you still thinking it's about LSD? Stop thinking that. Any good Apple Scruff worth his or her salt will tell you that John got the title from a drawing made by his then young son Julian of a classmate named Lucy. The real-life Lucy, in fact, recently re-kindled her friendship with now 46 year-old Julian. Lucy Vodden, unfortunately, has been diagnosed with Lupus, a condition which attacks the internal organs of the body and leaves one exhausted and often depressed.

Don't let me review scare you away from LOVE (the album) but you might consider letting it scare you away from wasting $250 on LOVE (the show).

Best wishes to Lucy!

References:
Alternative Health Journal
Wikipedia - LOVE (the Beatles album)
PopMatters Review

Listening to Records

Today the record player I ordered onlne was delivered. I always wanted to "listen to records" but we didn't have a record player when I was a kid. I did sometimes hang out with my friends in their parent's basement, but they didn't really have a ton of records we were interested in (I do seem to recall listening to The Turtles). Anyway, after Coachella, I decided to go for it. I ordered my cool hipster record player from Urban Outfitters and scored some old Wings records on ebay.

The player arrived before the records, however, so after I got home from work, I went down the block to the (very) nearby antique store. The records were located in the back of the store in big boxes. I quickly picked out two, then spent some time looking through some of the other boxes.

The old Hispanic man who runs the shop did kind of give me a hard time about my selections. I believe his words were, "Do you LIKE this kind of music?"

I got Red Rose Speedway and Living in the Material World (which I haven't listened to yet). It took me all of one minute to get the player out of the box, plugged in and working. It wasn't hard to learn how to use and in no time I was listening to the end of "My Love" (having not been sure enough about where to drop the needle to start with the first song). It was pretty cool. However, I did learn that the awesome B-side medley (I say things like b-side now, because I am a vinyl person) is can be pleasantly sleep inducing.

One thing I have learned: Playing records + warm weather = sleepy me.

While the needle on my record player does seem to need to be dropped manually, so far I haven't had to experience the horrible scratching sound from the end of the record. I suspect this has more to do with the record than the player, though.

The charm of the whole thing, however, lies in its very manualness. If I wanted to listen to 500 songs in a row, shuffled, I could turn on my computer - I could even use the "remote" app on my iPhone to skip a song from across the room. If I wanted to listen to a particular song while sipping my iced latte in a cafe, I could plug the headphones into my ipod. To listen to records, however, I must be at home. After five or six songs I must get up, walk over to the player, and flip the record over myself - an actual piece of vinyl in my hands. If it's too quiet, I have to get up and turn it up. If it's too loud, my neighbors just have to put up with "this kind of music."

After all, it's only for five or so more songs.

Coachella 2009

Coachella was amazing! I did not go for the entire three days, but I did see Paul McCartney from the FRONT ROW. IT was my second time at Coachella (the first was Depeche Mode in 2006).

Here's the run-down of my experience (If you only care about Paul McCartney, skip down to "An Emotional Night" - but you'll miss the burning flesh).

"Are you miserable?" Morrissey asked us, and we cheered. "Is there anything I can do to make it worse?"

I went with my married friends Becky and Ramon, and we arrived at (I'm not sure about the times because I didn't have a watch with me) about 3:00. The Airborne Toxic Event was on the main stage and so, after getting in, we walked up there. The crowd around the stage was pretty small and we could see a lot of empty lawn. Just as we came up they started playing pretty much the only ATE song I know, "Sometime Around Midnight" with a string section and everything. It sounded great and I couldn't help thinking that AT LEAST one of the guys in the band must be freaking out thinking, "I am playing on the stage that Paul McCartney is going to play on in less than seven hours!" They played one more song and then they were finished.

Up next was the Black Keys which is (no offense to the Black Keys) when I went to get a veggie corn dog, garlic fries, and a frozen lemonade. My friends and I sat on a towel on the lawn for a while waiting for Franz Ferdinand. We had a chance to soak up some of the Coachella fashions - lots of girls in dresses (in 2006 it was dresses with jeans underneath) and bikini tops. Guys with no shirts were aplenty.

When Franz Ferdinand was about to come out we went to stake out our spots closer to the main stage (Just like in 2006, I didn't have time to see anyone playing at anything but the main stage). I left my friends to check out the situation at the very front and noticed that there was hardly anyone of the left side of the stage. My friends decided to stay in the back, but I wasn't going to pass up my chance to see Franz Ferdinand up close. I managed to snag a place right in front of the left side of the stage with the big video screen above my head. There was one row of people between me and the coveted rail.

Franz Ferdinand had a lot of energy and they played mostly their hits (the kids still love some "Take Me Out"). Alex was wearing a navy blue shirt that said "George Harrison" in big white letters on it and blue and white striped trousers. I noticed that he plays lead guitar as well as singing - he was working pretty hard. One of the other guys in the band (Nick, I think) had a broken leg or something!

The best part of the FF set was at the end when they all gathered around the drum set and just all started playing the drums at once - you could tell they were enjoying themselves (even the broken leg guy) and the crowd loved it. By this time, when I turned around, about 10,000 people were behind me. It was pretty clear that I wasn't going anywhere and that I would have to meet up with my friends later.

Morrissey was up next. He sounded great (especially at the end when he sang "How Soon is Now"), but seemed moody (I know, he IS Morrissey). He played all three of the Morrissey/Smiths songs I know (including "Girlfriend in a Coma"!) and changed his shirt three times (once throwing it into the crowd), but the best part was in the middle of his set when he said, "I smell burning flesh... I hope it's human." I clapped. No one else around me really clapped. ( You probably noticed that I had a veggie corn dog with my garlic fries) then later he had to take a moment because, he said, "The smell of burning animal flesh is making me sick." (On a personal note, how cool is it that I got to see Morrissey AND Paul McCartney?! Go Veggie!)

"Are you miserable?" Morrissey asked us, and we cheered, "Is there anything I can do to make it worse?"

Between the end of Moriissey's set and Paul McCartney's scheduled 10:00 start time Leonard Cohen was playing the Outdoor Stage and a few of the people at the rail in front of me left, giving me the chance to grab ahold with one hand, then eventually two, until I was finally able to get a spot of my very own with forearms (that are still sore) pressed against the cold metal. Not only was it awesome to be in the front row, but it was also a very welcome relief to be able to lean against something. (I think it would have been really cool to see Leonard Cohen, but there was no way I was leaving my prime piece of real estate).

An Emotional Night

A DJ came out while we were waiting for Sir Paul (the remix of "Temporary Secretary" was very much admired by me). I don't know who he was, though. At this point, I turned around again and there were now about 40,000 people behind me.

Of course, when Paul came out the crowd went wild (though not as much as I expected). They started with "Jet" and I cried. Sir Paul was all decked out in a suit, the jacket of which was quickly removed after the first song. The band sounded great (Rusty! Abe!) and the HUGE video displays on either side of the stage were very cool. I, while not in the middle, had an amazing view and could see everything and everyone perfectly (except, only Sir Paul's head from the eyes up whenever he was at the piano).

The set was great, but it was also very emotional. It was April 17th, the eleventh anniversary of Linda's death. Paul talked a little about her and how much she loved the dessert before playing "My Love." I cried again. As I said, It was an emotional night. Of course, he played "Here Today" and talked about John and he played the ukelele version of "Something" and talked about George (He also said that Olivia was there). I cried a little more, but, being dehydrated, I didn't have a lot of fluids left in my body.

The second half of the set was much more rocking. The crowd went crazy and sang along any time a Beatles song was played. I screamed and sang along to "Calico Skies" (he played TWO, count 'em, TWO songs from Flaming Pie and two Fireman songs, including "Sing the Changes"). "Let Me Roll It" was incredible and "Helter Skelter" really got a good reaction from the crowd, but I think the crowd (at least around me) was the loudest during "Birthday" in the first encore. It was really fun. We also all seemed to really enjoy waving our peace signing fingers around during "Give Peace a Chance" - check out a beautiful picture of the moment from Flickr member willteeyang (here).

I was so close that I could feel the blast of heat when the pyrotechnics went off during "Live and Let Die". As someone else on Flickr said, "Paul McCartney set Coachella on fire"!

After a stirring sing-along of "Hey Jude" and two encores, it was over. Though Coachella is supposed to close down at midnight, the show went until well after 1:00 (again, sorry, I didn't have a watch - or a camera). I managed to find my friends surprisingly easily and downed a bottle of water after we got to the car.

The entire show was incredible. I've never enjoyed a concert more (sorry Depeche Mode). I'm including Paul's set list below, courtesy of Randal Roberts of L.A. Weekly:

Jet
Drive My Car
Only Mama Knows
Flaming Pie
Got to Get You Into My Life
Let Me Roll It (with a coda of Purple Haze)
Honey Hush
Highway
The Long and Winding Road
My Love
Blackbird
Here Today
Dance Tonight
Calico Skies
Mrs. Vanderbilt
Eleanor Rigby
Sing the Changes
Band on the Run
Back in the U.S.S.R.
Something / I've Got a Feeling
Paperback Writer
A Day in the Life > Give Peace a Chance
Let It Be
Live and Let Die
Hey Jude

First encore:
Birthday
Can't Buy Me Love
Lady Madonna

Second encore:
Yesterday
Helter Skelter
Get Back
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)
The End

John Packer from Blank Slate Photography also has some beautiful pictures of the show here - including this one.