Coachella Is Now Dad Friendly

I’ve lived in Los Angeles for almost 3 years now, and I can proudly say that I’ve never been to Coachella. I used to go to the Warped Tour when I was in high school, and I definitely got my fill of masses of sweaty, dirty punks running around being generally obnoxious and spending $9 on a tofu burger patty with no bun. I know it would be cool to see a ton of my favorite bands, but from what I’ve heard it mostly a ton of money and 3 days of hell.

Now seeing this years line up, it should be a lot cheaper for kids to go, seeing as how this is the year their dad will want to join them! Look at those headliners! Jack Johnson?! Roger Waters from Pink Floyd?! Love and Rockets?! Like, I really don’t understand how anyone that’s not approaching their 40′s will enjoy this show!! Since when is Jack Johnson popular?!?!?!

I’d much rather see a bunch of the bands whose names are in tiny writing than any of those big name assholes. It’s almost like Clear Channel bought Coachella and made the concert as lame as humanly possible. What a waste of time.

Update: I think Heath said it best in the comments, that they put the filler bands in bold letters. I still think there are a lot of good bands though.
I’d love to see The Verve, Animal Collective, Battles, Diplo, Jens Lekman, Cut Copy, The Bees, Rogue Wave, Rilo Kiley, Mark Ronson (plus Santo Gold for some Pretty Green!), Islands, The Teenagers, VHS or Beta, Uffie, and The Streets. Man, the last day looks depressing.

Bobby

P.S. You should DIGG this because it makes me laugh, haha…

Bobby Solomon

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January 21, 2008 - See more posts by Bobby

Daft Punk’s Secret Set-Up

Top Photo: The view from the outside / Bottom Photo: The view from inside

By now, most people have seen Daft Punk’s iconic pyramid set-up, they’ve been playing in at all of their shows pretty much since Coachella. It’s got lights all over the side that respond to the music as well as fog and lasers and any other high-tech thing you can think of. But I’d always wondered what the inside of their crazy pyramid looked like.

Well I stumbled across a photo a couple days ago over at Crackers United, and had to post it. It was taken by the folks over at Mixmag, who also got descriptions of what all that stuff is as well, from half of Daft, Thomas Banghalter:

1 ABLETON
The show revolves around Ableton Live software on custom made super-computers, which we remotely access and control with Behringer BCR2000 midi controllers.

2 SCREENS
Next to the ethernet remote computer screens there are four Minimoog Voyagers, the classic analog synthesizers. They’re a 30-year old design.

3 MOOGS
We can mix, shuffle, trigger loops, filter, distort samples, EQ in and out, transpose or destroy and deconstruct synth lines. We keep some surprises on the side too!

4 VISUALS
There’s a direct connection between our rig and the lights and visuals of the show. The light and video engineers can also add or control layers during the show.

5 SYNTHS
Inside the pyramid are synthesizers and remote controls connected to the rest of the music equipment and computers, which are in rack-mounted towers off stage.

6 TEAMWORK
Working the music equipment, lighting and video equipment, and building the pyramid for each show takes around 10 people, including both of us.

I know what little of that means, but I think it’s so amazing that they can fiddle with all of that shit in masks and leather suits. Daft Punk also has a new live album out on Tuesday called Alive, but it’s kind of boring and filled with same things we’ve all been hearing for the last 5 years. Make new music and stop making crappy movies!

Bobby

Bobby Solomon

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December 2, 2007 - See more posts by Bobby

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