TOP 10 PICS: Coachella, Week 1

Didn't get a chance to catch any the web stream for COACHELLA week one? Don't sweat it! We've got you covered. Our contributors HANNAH & TOM break down the Top 10 acts from the 2013 event's first of two weekends.

From FOALS to PHOENIX, DAFT PUNK to PURITY RING this colossal juggernaut of a music festival had a lot to offer in it's eclectic lineup. There were some dizzying highlights and confusing lowlights from COACHELLA 2013, let's get stuck in shall we?

THE STONE ROSES

Iconic band THE STONE ROSES were sure to put on a fantastic show for this years Coachella Festival. Being one of the headlining acts, they definitely lived up to expectations due to the explosion of sound and amazing visuals and light show. With their backdrop changing throughout their set, one particular viewing saw the act of paint dripping down a wall, very similar to the cover art of their debut album crafted by the bands guitarist John Squire (who is clearly a fan of Jackson Pollock).

They basically just jammed loads in their show; with their set consisting of thick basslines, the flying sounds of Squire's Fender stratocaster, energetic drums and Ian Brown's recognisable yet disappointingly out-of-key vocals. I should also probably mention Brown's tambourine sticks – great additional percussion although they probably didn't quite reach the ears of the thousands of fans way back in the crowd. Their performance was so good, it earnt an an extra viewing on Coachella Live which was shortened to the sets highlights. 

FOALS

It was no doubt that English outfit FOALS were to be a Coachella 2013 highlight. Drenched in a deep blue pool of light, the five piece showcased all their hard work as a band by playing tracks from all three studio records, Total Life Forever, Antidotes and their latest LP Holy Fire.

Opening up with an instrumental, you were soon to be immersed with not only this, but the addition on Yannis Philippakis' soothing vocals. Definitely putting on a great show, it was exemplified due to how much the fun the band clearly had performing it.

NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS

Another musician representing Australia's talent, Coachella saw our legend NICK CAVE twice for this years festival; once as frontman for Grinderman and the other with The Bad Seeds. Already proving versatility and endless talent in songwriting, both sets were really incredible.

Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds flooded the stage with ridiculous talent. Not only were we witness to the conventional rock band, we were spoilt with an orchestral element and a podium occupied by a choir of children. I don't think they realise how lucky they are..

DINOSAUR JR

A band made up of impeccable songwriting executed through their alternative rock and roll sound. Their set at Coachella perfectly portrayed everything that they are musically. Playing songs from all over their catalogue, such as 'Watch The Corners' from their 2012 release I Bet On Sky, back to Bug's (1988) 'Freak Scene', they have definitely shown consistency in making great music.

The only disappointing aspect about Dinosaur Jr.'s live show is the lack of audience interaction frontman J. Mascis is willing to exude. Considering that, as well as the very odd song introductions from bassist Lou Barlow, their physical stage presence was a little wacky, making the band look quite fragmented in between songs.

PURITY RING

Canadian duo PURITY RING are a group that rode the airwaves for a nice moment of 2012. After playing Oxford Art Factory in Sydney recently, I was told of their highly disappointing set.

This caused curiosity in viewing their show at Coachella this year. Although their stage set-up was ridiculously cool and their light show pretty amazing, their performance lacked substance. Megan James' vocals were pretty sketchy and their instrumentation didn't really feature any sort of extra live element, leading it to sound identical to the sounds on their album Shrines. When strung all together, the music itself sounded all too similar, causing their set to sound as though it consisted of just one huge, chunky track.

Additional note: The pan shots of the crowd displayed many a fan “munting”. Mmmm attractive.

DAFT PUNK's 'RANDOM ACCESS MEMORIES' PREVIEW

Surely by now we're all aware of the ridiculously anticipating forthcoming release of DAFT PUNK's Random Access Memories. Cleverly advertising very short snippets on what we are to expect without giving too much away, Coachella hosted the premiere of a brand new video that is much longer compared to what we've seen so far on Saturday Night Live.

Unlike previous clips, we're shown footage of Pharrell Williams singing to one of the new tracks, followed by a list of collaborators that are to feature on the new album; Panda Bear, Julian Casablancas, Todd Edwards, DJ Falcon, Chilly Gonzales, Giorgio Morodor, Nile Rodgers, Paul Williams and Pharrell Williams. Very exciting stuff!

CLOUD NOTHINGS

Although these dudes played pretty early in the day, they were easily one of the highlights of the festival. Their dark themes and harsh tones reverberated around the small stage and almost blew eardrums through the stream.

They debuted a new song for the Coachella crowd, and ripped through a setlist full of sophomore LP tracks. The vocals were intense and emotion filled, and backed by full and distortion filled instrumentation – it was the perfect setting for the crowd to lose their mind in.  (Also includes their epic shred filled take of ‘Wasted Days’.)

PHOENIX

When this year’s lineup was announced, many raised concerns around whether or not Phoenix could pull off a headline live show. Here, they proved that they are not only worthy or headlining Coachella – but are also one of the greatest Pop acts we’re ever going to have. Their set was heavy with classics, although still touched on what’s to come and every track was played to perfection. Thomas Mars is everything a frontman should be, and he demonstrated that on the main stage.

He chatted to the crowd, ended up in the front row multiple times, climbed the sound stage and then crowd surfed back to the stage – but most importantly he can fucking sing. He leads his band, but doesn’t overpower them – and overall, they proved themselves on Saturday night.

TAME IMPALA

Australia was represented reasonably throughout the festival, but seriously, how can you go past the boys from Perth? Although their set was cut short (most likely due to their extremely long versions of ‘Elephant’ and ‘Half Full Glass Of Wine’); they provided a mesmerising evening set.

Their loops were warped, the distortion intense and Kevin Parker’s vocals soothing – all in all, they proved themselves on an international scale once again.

ALT-J

The ALT-J bandwagon rolls on, like, seriously, when will people stop talking about them? Although Coachella didn’t give them anywhere near a headline spot, they definitely played like they were the last band of the day. The sounds are so different, and each note seems to hit you and take you somewhere else – even through a computer.

And even though their set hasn’t changed in almost a year now, everyone in the crowd and me at home were in awe. Bring on their Australian tour.

DIIV

A couple of days after their Sunday morning set, DIIV frontman, Zachary Cole Smith announced that his band would be cancelling their upcoming European tour.

He states that he’s ‘too tired’ to tour – and this can be seen in his Coachella performance. Their Lo-Fi tunes have so much life in them, and every instrument worked together to mold something special in their droned out music. But sadly, Smith’s vocals became drowned out from the swirls of distortion – which just left me disappointed overall. They have so much potential, so hopefully this rest helps him get back on his feet, as there are talks of DIIV heading to Australia soon.

R.KELLY x PHOENIX

As Coachella brought in a Hologram of Tupac last year, sadly they also brought in the thought that each year’s headliner has to do something special.

For Phoenix, it was to bring R.Kelly to the stage to perform a mash-up of ‘1901’ and ‘Ignition Remix’. This had the potential to be the best thing ever, except for the fact that R.Kelly isn’t actually that good of an artist… It was still the best thing in terms of novelty, but as far as the actual performance is concerned – it fell a little bit flat. I still love it though, and I’m a music journalist – so therefore I’m right.

Words by Hannah Galvin & Tom Hutchins

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