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Flak Presents: Coachella 2009 Part 2

By BehindTheHype.com • on May 5, 2009

Ah Coachella Day 2. Welcome back kids to my Coachella 2009 series. The journey continues, as I explore the musical styling of some of my old favorite artists, and realize new ones. But I won’t give an arbitrary opening any further. Let’s get to the nitty.

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Coachella Lesson #4: BRING A COOLER WITH YOUR OWN DRINKS IN IT! You might not be able to bring in your own drinks to the actual festival, but if you’re camping there, you will likely die of thirst by about 7am, no joke.

Renee, Dan and I hung out all day in the tent, saying hello to fellow campers as they passed by our shade, and charged our phones for the impending day’s madness. As you’ll learn next year when you go, there’s really not a whole lot to do on the festival grounds if your performers haven’t started yet, as you’ll want to save your energy (and lower back) for the rest of the evening. In the morning on the campgrounds, there are fun, childish activities like face painting and similar tomfoolery whilst having fun in the sun.

Around 6, the gang and I headed for the front gates of the grounds, where I met up with my upstate home girls, Alexis A. and Robyn D. We headed straight for the main stage, where we made camp in the cool grass, to await the sound check for TV on the Radio to be completed. While I don’t know what the exact set list for the band was, I had a few notable favorites. The band started off with a version of their first song, from their first album (The Wrong Way- Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes), complete with a horn section that was amazing.

Also on the set list was a faster version of one my personal favorites from Dear Science, Golden Age.

What I loved about this band is how much energy they gave the crowd, and the humor of front man Tunde Adebimpe. During the set he calmly told us whilst we fried in the sun:

“Alright guys, our mission during this set, is to bring the sun down”

And while I don’t have a great clip of it, they also performed Wolf Like Me, the hit single from their second album, Return to Cookie Mountain. Katrina Ford of the Baltimore, MA band Celebration, came onstage to sing alone with Kyp and Tunde.

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After the set, I moved along on my own, and stumble upon James Morrison’s set in the Mojave Tent. I thought that maybe he wouldn’t be that great live, but the brotha can sing! I got a shoddy clip of If You Don’t Wanna Love Me for your pleasure.

There isn’t a lot to say about them really, but Thievery Corporation was a joy to listen to as well. Have a look at the band performing the end of El Pueblo Unido from their recent album Radio Retaliation.

Ok, but let’s talk about MIA just a bit. This is a girl who was onstage at the Grammys the due date of her pregnancy. This woman has guts. This had to be one of the most intense entrances to date that I’ve seen at a show. Her set can be described by a quote during her show:

~FlakSimilar Posts:

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