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Coachella 2007: Reunions and Indie Acts Under the Desert Sun

Day Three: Sunday

Having learned my lesson from Saturday, I arrived a bit later in the afternoon, missing the worst of the day's heat but showing up just in time to catch Rodrigo y Gabriela wowing an overflow crowd at the Gobi Tent. The Mexican acoustic guitar duo put on quite a display of strumming pyrotechnics, but the real highlight was a cover of Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here" that turned into a massive crowd sing-along. It was the first of many such stereotypical but thoroughly enjoyable summer festival moments on Sunday, which almost felt like a completely different event thanks to the arrival of fresh hordes of Rage Against the Machine fans.

With "Wish You Were Here" still ringing in my ears, I made my way back to the main stage for Philly hip-hop stalwarts the Roots, who played the day's most surprising set, skipping their own music almost entirely in favor of a long medley of rap and funk hits like "Push It" and "Jungle Boogie," plus an extended jam that for sheer virtuosity put most of Coachella's rock bands to shame. Drummer ?uestlove laid down a big, flashy, arena rock solo, guitarist Captain Kirk Douglas did his best Hendrix impersonation, and bewildered fans either roared their approval or left. I stayed and roared—then roared some more during Willie Nelson's set, which Willie's son Lukas stole with more guitar heroics, this time mainly in the bluesy Texas style of Stevie Ray Vaughan.

Amidst all the big, loud rawk that was building up to that evening's Rage Against the Machine reunion, I found an electronic oasis in the Sahara Tent, where Richie Hawtin delivered the best DJ set I heard all weekend—a sparse, pointillist mix of microhouse and minimal techno that was funky, relentless, and utterly unlike the cheesy builds and breakdowns that most DJs resort to when confronted with a Coachella crowd's short attention spans. It was the antithesis of the hackneyed new-rave anthems happening one tent over, where the Klaxons were being upstaged by a parade of people dressed in balloon animal costumes.

Two of what should have been the weekend's biggest highlights were both disappointments. Taking the main stage for a triumphant reunion performance, Neil Finn and Crowded House proceeded to be—well, kind of boring, favoring lackluster new songs and soft rock hits like "Don't Dream It's Over" and "Fall at Your Feet" over the more up-tempo jangle-pop that's always been my favorite part of their canon. And in a surprisingly un-crowded Mojave Tent, Lily Allen's ska-inflected dance-pop also fell short of expectations. Allen is an engaging performer, and her songs are undeniably catchy, but after enduring a year of hype, everyone seems to be feeling a bit Allened-out, myself (and, I suspect, Lily herself) included.

After checking out yet another uninspiring set, from reunited Brit-rave legends the Happy Mondays, I was beginning to think it was me—maybe I was just suffering from Coachella fatigue and had grown immune to the pleasures of good music. The band that restored my faith in my powers of judgment was, of all things, Ratatat. On disc, Ratatat's lo-fi electro-pop never impressed me, but live, the combination of Mike Stroud's aggressive guitar riffs—yes, more guitar heroics; it was Sunday's theme—with Evan Mast's groovy drum loops and fuzzy analog synths made for a giddy, crowd-pleasing combination.

It had been a day of guitar wizardry, but the greatest display of six-string prowess was yet to come. Surprisingly, I found myself actually grooving to Tom Morello's frenzied, staccato guitar during Rage Against the Machine's epic comeback set. I still can't count myself a fan—like all rap-metal, Rage's music is too bludgeoning for my taste—but there's an undeniable magic in the vast range of sounds Morello can coax out of his trademark "Arm the Homeless" guitar.

So after seeing more than 50 acts in just three days, what did I take away from Coachella? Maybe just this: trends come and go, but in modern popular music, the guitar still reigns supreme. Even Peaches strapped one on.

- Andy Hermann
05.01.07

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