It’s late-afternoon in the sizzling Mojave Desert. Shaded by the “Gobi” Tent, a six-member band from Paris I’d never heard of lines up onstage with massive heart-shaped pins fixed to their coordinated shirts. A heartbeat starts blasting from the massive speakers in sync with the now-flashing pins. It speeds up. Bmp…….bmp….bmp….bmp…bmp..bmp. The thousand-strong crowd roars in anticipation. Then it explodes as the members bounce into their places. A bass guitar riff and a huge smile from the lead singer and we are off. This is Coachella.
Before getting too deep, let’s first explore if Coachella is right for you. Coachella is a really bad idea if… you’re stuck in ’60s ’70s and ’80s music. You like to put down the younger generation for their tastes and attitudes. You are offended when people say mother›er all the time. You don’t like waving your hands in the air when told. You like to go to sleep at 9 pm vs 2 am (3 am is more accurate). You don’t like massive lines to use porta-potties. You don’t do well in 30+°C heat. You don’t like desert sandstorms that make your pizza a bit crunchy. You don’t want to take a few years off your hearing. You don’t like the feeling of bass beats shaking you to the core while sipping cocktails in the rose garden. You’re on a diet.
