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LOVE AND ROCKETS
Save for the pie-eyed party people pasted to the speakers in the Sahara Tent and Do Lab, all hands will be on deck for the sets from Prince and Roger Waters. Well, Love And Rockets round out my almighty musical trinity for Coachella ’08. And I’m most excited about Love And Rockets. Seriously. Sunday night’s show will be the first full-length set from former Bauhausers Daniel Ash, David J and Kevin Haskins in nearly a decade (ok, second, they’re playing a warm-up date a few nights before), and manic zen it should be, a brilliant bombast of Beatles-like melodies, vintage guitar fuzz and enough soul to make a grown man swoon. This will be the comforting storm before Roger Waters’ numbing calm. If ever a night of music could sooth a restless spirit, this will be the one.

VINTAGE FUZZ: The Raconteurs (Friday), The Breeders (Friday), Red Kross (Friday), Carbon/Silicon (Saturday)

M.I.A.
Three years ago, M.I.A. packed the Gobi tent with a firecracker of a performance that vaulted her well past her already buzz-worthy status. She had arrived. This year, the Sri Lankan sweetheart has the potential to catapult to the superstar ranks. Sure, everyone at Coachella already knows who she is, but the reason Coachella is the most significant weekend of music in America is because it is more than just a festival, it is a pop-cultural tastemaker. Media converge, and all the world pays attention. When M.I.A. unwraps her smooth-as-wrinkled-silk melding of unearthly hip-hop, electronic dance, native color and tribal trance, the world outside of Southern California will finally recognize what Coachella has known for years. Maybe Mathangi “Maya” Arulpragasam won’t become a household name, but I’ll bet you ten empty water bottles that her easier-on-the-tongue acronym handle will soon bring to mind a lot more than just Chuck Norris. For the record, it’s pronounced like the letters and is short for both “Missing in Action” and “Missing in Acton,” a reference to both her politically tumultuous youth (her father is militant activist Arul Pragasam), and the neighborhood in London where she was born.
GIRL POWER: Tegan and Sara (Friday), Kate Nash (Saturday), Uffie featuring DJ Mehdi (Saturday), Yelle (Saturday), St. Vincent (Saturday)

PENDULUM
Since my days as the editor of the Voldemort of music magazines (“he whose name should not be mentioned”), I have long contested that electronic music was a break beat away from sweeping the hard rock world by storm. People laughed at me (don’t worry, I’m used to it). I laughed back. Crystal Method. Prodigy. Rammstein. Some came close. I think it’s the direction Marilyn Manson should have taken when he allied with Tim Skold, instead he took us to Wonderland... Alas, have I mentioned that nobody ever listens to me? It’s safe to say that Pendulum haven’t listened to me either (I tend to get loud, but not so loud they can hear me in their native Australia), but that doesn’t change the fact that they are the epitome of everything I’ve ever hoped the union of rock and drum ‘n bass-driven dance could be, a magnificent display of electronic splendor, hard rock grandeur and pop sensibility. Let’s face it, deep down inside all rock fans want to dance and all dance fans want to rock. Thanks to Pendulum, we can finally be one with each other. Everyone should be as excited as I am to see the band’s United States debut Friday night. If Pendulum are the real deal, I’ll be guy swinging from the rafters. Don’t stop me, join me.
ADVENTURES IN SOUND: Battles (Friday), Does It Offend You, Yeah? (Saturday), Animal Collective (Saturday), Holy Fuck (Sunday), Austin TV (Sunday)

PORTISHEAD
Okay, I admit it, I’m just about the only person going to Coachella that isn’t salivating all over themselves over the prospects of Portishead’s Saturday night performance, their first US appearance in a decade. I’m told I should like them because I love Massive Attack, but should, would, could… Portishead just doesn’t do it for me. In their defense (because they really need my defense), I’ve always opted for music that makes my knees bounce, my hips shake awkwardly (what can I say, I’m awkward), and my soul tingle. I don’t do ‘chill’ really well, and Portishead are the epitome of avant garde lounge, more chill than “March Of The Penguins” and considered masters of their trade. That means I must be wrong, right? Maybe my mind will change at Coachella this year, maybe it won’t. I’m not counting on it, as I expect them to be playing opposite Sasha and Digweed at Sahara. Look on the bright side, there will be more room for the rest of you.
DESERT CHILL: Goldfrapp (Friday), Spiritualized (Sunday)

PRINCE
The verdict is still out on what His Purple Majesty will be gracing us with in Saturday night’s headlining set: The hits, or one of his more-common-as-of-late jazz fusion amalgams. If it’s the former, get ready to party like it’s 1999 all over again, because the polo grounds will be bouncing. If it’s the later… Well, let’s all just cross our fingers that there’s a purple rain falling over Indio, alright?

ROGER WATERS
I was lucky enough to catch Roger Waters when he headlined Hollywood Bowl last summer, and it was easily one of the best shows I’ve seen in my life, if not the best. Sunday night’s headlining set is being billed as “Roger Waters Performing ‘The Dark Side Of The Moon’,” which along with time constraints means we’re not likely to see the 100-minutes of Pink Floyd hits and solo material that are also performed on his tour. But it won’t matter. “The Dark Side Of The Moon” is one of the greatest rock albums of all time, and the opportunity to experience it under the stars at Coachella will no doubt rank as not only a mind-bending experience, but also as one of the most acclaimed performances in the festival’s decade-long run. And, if it is the full show that he’s been touring behind for the past few summers? Mark my words, it will be the best show a lot of us have seen in our life. Comfortably numb, here we come…
SHADES OF PINK: The National (Friday), 120 Days (Saturday), My Morning Jacket (Sunday)

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