Coachella Day 3

Sunday was the day I was most excited about. I would finally get to see Tapes ‘n Tapes, Explosions in the Sky, and of course Rage Against the Machine. The day started the same way Saturday had, waking up bright and early at 7am due to the heat. i decided to shower in the morning due to the not so long lineups. Yet I still stood in line a good 45 minutes. for the rest of the morning we spent playing more Joe Rummy, and chilling under the tent. Around 2pm we finally headed up towards the venue.

Here are the shows I caught Sunday:

Tapes ‘n Tapes
Explosions in the Sky
Rodrigo Y Gabriela
Kaiser Chiefs
Willie Nelson/Crowded House/Air
Manu Chao
Rage Against the Machine

Tapes ‘n Tapes started the day. I had been addicted to their album since the summer and was happy to finally see them play. They sounded great, however I wish they had put more volume into the vocals. Plus I was a little disappointed that they used a drum track for a number of their songs, I thought that was pretty weak. Overall though another great band to start the day (In the Mojave tent no less).

Next up was Explosions in the Sky on the main stage. Their set started at 4pm, and it was crazy hot outside. I could barely handle watching the show, but powered through it. Security was throwing water bottles into the crowd, which was good in some ways as they were cooling down the audience, however it was also pretty dangerous, as they were throwing them pretty good. Of course there is the irony in that they are throwing open water bottles into the sky while a band called Explosions in the Sky is playing. Anyway back to the show, Explosions rocked hard! Really awesome show. Only complaint was that they only played for like 40 minutes. I guess they go for the adage quality not quantity.

After Explosions we kind of wandered around a bit before finding ourselves getting drawn into the Gobi tent. This was the second time I had been drawn into this tent, and this time it was for a group called Rodrigo Y Gabriela. The whole tent was hopping, and overfilled no less. This duo from Mexico put on one of the most exciting performances I had seen all weekend. Really fantastic. I suggest everyone go checkout their album.

Next up we made our way to the Outdoor Stage to checkout the Kaiser Chiefs. They were really nothing to write home about, and I eventually took off to get some food. After that I caught a bit of Willie Nelson, and a bit of Crowded House, before finally making my way back to the outdoor stage to see Air.

My plan was to see Air before Rage. Kind of like the calm before the storm! However Air was late. Really late. Like 35 minutes late. They took the stage 15 minutes before they were suppose to be finished. So after watching their first song Joe and me took off to the main stage to get a good spot for Rage.

Manu Chao had recently taken the stage and was putting on a charged performance. Joe and me made our way as close in as possible during this set, however were still a ways back. We didn’t want to start pushing our way forward while Manu Chao was on stage, we wanted to wait for Rage for that. I think I would have probably enjoyed Manu Chao’s set a lot more if I understood Spanish, and wasn’t in complete shock that I was about to see Rage.