My thoughts and prayers go out to the people currently nearing the end of their long wait at the front-stage barricades during Coachella’s second weekend. Last Sunday, I spent over 12 hours doing that — with no choice but to stand for about 10 of those hours — so I could be front row for Cardi B and headliner Eminem.
My companions included my Twitter friend Naz, whose eagle eye spotted us in this photo of Vance Joy, the performer who came on at 4:45 p.m.
Click to enlarge.
We were still pretty perky then, and, of course, we were wide awake later on for Cardi …
… and Em. I think it was one of Naz’s friends who found us in this crowd photo taken from behind Em’s hype man, Mr. Porter, taken at some point after 10:30 p.m.
Click to enlarge. Naz’s friend is standing next to me, and my friend Jessie is standing next to Naz.
What I really need to find is a photo of us taken during ODESZA’s set. ODESZA is a production duo, aka two DJs. They win some points from me for including live brass and percussion instrumentalists in their set, but basically they’re electronic dance music, which I loathe experiencing at festivals. I like EDM just fine as background music at a restaurant or a club where I can dance, but standing in a field watching DJs jump around in back of electronics? No thanks. But I had no choice last week. ODESZA was the last act before Eminem, on the schedule from 8:40 p.m. to 9:40 p.m., with Em set to come out at 10:20 p.m. I’d gotten to the festival grounds at 10 a.m., gotten to the stage at about 11:30 a.m., and been on my feet since 2 p.m. Oh, and it was hot. Did I mention Coachella takes place in a desert? I honestly thought ODESZA would be the death of me. The set seemed to last for years. Whenever I saw Naz out of the corner of my eye, she was draped over the fence, looking as exhausted as I felt.
The fans at Coachella now are just about to head into the ODESZA set. Stay strong, y’all! And stay hydrated!
You don’t want to be like the people I saw pass out right before this moment.
This week, I’ll have more videos and photos from Coachella Weekend 1 on the blog, as well as the second half of my long and shady Eminem merch story. Stay tuned!