After two full days of festival-going, I got a little later start to the third day, but with such a stacked lineup Sunday evening there was no time for fatigue to set in.
Santigold: Not much of a Santigold fan, her Sunday afternoon warm-up set was in no way noteworthy. She had dancers in crazy outfits and performed her uninspired M.I.A./Gwen Stafani hybrid songs. And that was that.
araabMUZIK: Basically only knowing his production work with Dipset and his Electronic Dream hit "Streetz Tonight," I didn't really know what araabMUZIK's live show was all about. I heard rumors about his skills on the MPC drum machine, but had my doubts. araab-produced Dipset cuts "Get it in Ohio" and "Salute" are solid hip hop beats, but don't hint at an exceptionally talented drum machine master. Initially, I was surprised at how dubstep-y araabMUZIK's set sounded, incorporating almost none of the hip-hop of his Dipset work or the dreamy electronica of Electronic Dream. As a casual electronica/dubstep listener, araab's set wouldn't have done much for me without his calling card, the MPC. While simultaneously dropping beats and jamming away at the drum machine, he solved the one problem I tend have with live electronica music, that the live shows seem so sterile. To my untrained eye, I can't really tell what the artists are doing onstage at any given time, being unable to differentiate what is preprogramed and what is improvised in a live environment. And if you need any video proof, araabMUZIK is just ridiculous and must be seen in person.
The Weeknd: Knowing that The Weeknd has played only a handful of live shows, I was nonetheless shocked at the dedication of Abel Tesfaye's crowd. Girls screamed (and cried!) and the outdoor stage was as jam packed as I saw it all weekend. The Weeknd's backing band did an excellent job at translating his studio productions into live tracks, but for some reason his vocals were waaaaay back in the mix. This took away from some of the potential power of the show, as Tesfaye's amazing voice is easily the most important aspect of his songs. It was interesting but unsuprising that The Weeknd was not yet a natural live performer, but looked like a studio rat at heart. All-in-all, a solid show kept from greatness by technical problems, I would love to see The Weeknd a couple years down the road (after an album?) when he is routinely killing these live performances.
Justice: After seeing Justice live, I understand the disappointing follow-up to Cross that was Audio, Video, Disco. What fans and casual listeners (myself included) didn't understand, is that Justice is essentially a rock band, they just happened to make dance music. Members Xavier de Rosnay and Gaspard Auge primarily appear in leather jackets, and their stage setup includes an lcd organ and light-up stacks of Marshall amplifiers. In this interview, Ed Banger label head and Justice manager Pedro Winter says that when he first met Rosnay, he only had two dance records in his collection, one by Armand van Helden and one by Daft Punk. Hence Audio, Video, Disco's poorly received blend of dance, prog, metal riffs, and stadium rock. Though not the most enthralling headphone listen, in a live context the Audio, Video, Disco material shined, especially when bookended by material from Cross. Their songs were all performed in different edits than those on their albums with tracks mashed together and hip hop and rock samples added (particularly enjoyable were the 4-5 straight songs with the vocals from "D.A.N.C.E." and a Jay-Z "On to the Next One" sample). Though Justice's first week set was marred by technical problems, week two went off without a hitch and overall was a great performance by another group that must be seen in a live environment to be fully appreciated.
Girl Talk: At this point in his career, Greg Gillis is almost a parody of himself...in a good way. Throughout his amazingly even and successful career, Girl Talk's music hasn't changed a bit. There can never be too many familiar pop samples in one song, can never be too many dancers on stage, and Gillis can never be in too late a stage of undress. With Gillis, what you see is what you get, and its a good thing that what Girl Talk does is so damn enjoyable. An excellent set of mashups and onstage flailing to get the crowd going, Gillis mixed in some new tracks (including an amazing Waka Flocka/The Throne segment) that made the set a great pick-me-up at a time when most of the crowd should have been dragging.
01 Oh No.mp3 by 406UofM
AVICII: As I mentioned in my notes about Swedish House Mafia, I don't feel very well equipped to judge the artistic merits of EDM, but similarly to SHM, Avicii put on an amazing show. Avicii's boards were set up on top of an impressively large white face/mask structure, and his introduction with an epic string arrangement and extended Etta James sample leading into international superhit "Levels" would be hard for any artist in any genre to top. As the breakout year for electronica at Coachella, Avicii was the perfect closing act at the Sahara tent, and who knows, maybe next year Avicii will be headlining the main stage with Elton John. It was difficult to tear away from Avicii's set after only a half hour, but Dre, Snoop, and Pac beckoned.
Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg: As a weekend two festival goer, all i heard from anyone (friends, coworkers, parents, grandparents) was "are you going to see that hologram thing?" Watching the video online I was unimpressed (Tupac looked like he was doing the electric slide every time he moved) and by the time I got to Coachella was sick of answering questions about it. But Dre and Snoop's show was more than just a hologram, with many guest appearances, Dre and Snoop were basically party facilitators. Dre rarely came to the front of the stage (not even doing his verse from "I Need a Doctor"), serving as the chaperone while Snoop played hype man and emceed the event. After an amazing performance of Dre and Snoop's greatest hits, the guest appearances started. First out were Korrupt and Warren G for a the Nate Dogg tribute "Ain't No Fun," then Wiz Khalifa equipped with baseball bat sized joint performed feel good pop hit "Young, Wild and Free," and Kendrick Lamar came out and destroyed the Dre featuring "Recipe." 50 Cent and Tony Yayo blazed through three tracks before it was time for the hologram. On video it looked corny and a little weird, but in person it was an impressive technical achievement and amazing once-in-a-lifetime moment. After two hologram-aided songs, the opening bars of "I Need a Doctor" started and the always sharp Eminem performed a few Dre-produced highlights. After a few more Snoop and Dre cuts, they fittingly closed the show with "Forgot About Dre," bringing the most memorable night of an amazing Coachella to a close.
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| The Weeknd |
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| Girl Talk |
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| Avicii |
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| Dre and Snoop |
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