I slogged through the first half of last night's main-stage-closing set by Roger Waters—which was billed as "Roger Waters
Dark Side Of The Moon"—partially out of masochism, partially in the interest of sociological research, and partially because I didn't feel like dragging my ass over to the stuffed-to-capacity-all-weekend dance tent to see Modeselektor, who were the only other act playing for the first portion of Waters' set. While it was interesting in a "so
this is who he lured out to the desert" sort of way, it was also infuriating, and at one point a friend said to me, "I can hear your eyes rolling back from here." But no portion of the evening filled me with more rage than the pre-show, which had as its visual an old-timey radio, a model airplane, and a tumbler of whiskey; every so often, a hand would reach into frame to change the station and/or refill the glass, and the stations that the hand hit on, for the most part, had a playlist that lulled the classic-rock fans in attendance into a state of self-righteousness: Bob Dylan, "Hound Dog," and "My Funny Valentine." There was also a "humorous" bit when the radio somehow was all-ABBA, all the time, and hand man couldn't escape from the tyranny of radio! ABBA! I mean, could you believe the nerve!
More »
.jpg "This Year, \"American Idol\" Will Be Won By A Dude Named David (But You Knew That Already)")
Idolator
Over at Hitsville, Bill Wyman responded to my ravings about Coachella—specifically, my love for the sets by Prince, Portishead, Kraftwerk, the Breeders, and the Verve—with the riposte "Didn't I see this show in 1995? I certainly could have, except for Kraftwerk..." A fair point, and one that I found myself thinking about a fair bit during the course of the weekend (like, for example, when Swervedriver tore into "Rave Down" and "Son Of Mustang Ford" back-to-back—not that I wasn't thrilled, but you know). But are there any acts who have come up since the turn of the millennium who can headline a 50,000-capacity festival? And what does my having to think long and hard about rounding such a list up to five (1. Jack Johnson; 2. Hmmm....) mean for the future health of the festival circuit?
More »
