|
langyspe
|
read my profile
sign my guestbook
Name: Travis
Country: United States
State: California
Gender: Male
Interests: Spoken Word, Dancing, Surfing, The Beach, Cars, Tattoos, Photography, Partying etc.
Expertise: Livin life to the fullest and being ready to do whatever life wants me to.
Occupation: Student
Industry: Other
Message: message meEmail: email me
Website: visit my website
AIM:  faithisrelative
Member Since:
6/25/2004
|
|
SubscriptionsSites I Read
|
|
|
|
| Coachella. So it was here. I was worried about not having the funds to have fun. I told myself, and pretty much everyone else out loud, that I was not going to be held down by my recent financial set backs. Why? Cause Fuck that, that's why.
Everyone asked me who I was going with, and I responded "Myself. None of my friends would commit or they were too broke. I'll be surrounded by a couple thousand of my closest friends. I'll make some friends while I'm out there, I'm sure."
Thursday
I spent most of the time packing: food, tent, hookah, water, and essentials. Read the directions and rules about 400 times. Nervously excited. I wrote COACHELLA OR BUST in shoe polish on my back window and cruised out at about 85mph at 9PM.
Hectic, decent line, nice people. The people who gave me my weekend wristband wished me the best and called me friend. It was gonna be a good weekend.
I set up my tent in between two groups of folks. On my right was a couple who was gonna be joined later by friends. Left – a group of highly sexually charged, self-proclaimed dykes. Across from me, some twenty-something San Diego natives who came much more prepared than I did. Ended up being my crew really.
Smoked hookah for social purposes and it worked. First guy I met was from Austria and had flown here via Munich, London, and Los Angeles and driven to Coachella. He was a festival fiend apparently. Walked the campgrounds, saw these flags:
Vancouver, Canada
Arizona
California
Pirate
England
Australia
America
Mexico
Friday
I didn't realize how much action went on in the campground until everyone else woke up. We busted out the slip and slide with the SD folks. I rocked it. Snacked, sprayed misters, water guns. We went in and I saw the following acts:
Stephen Marley – awesome. Not as good as dad.
Felix Da Housecat – awesome. Makes girls loose shirts and show off Boobies with pasties.
Benny Benassi – Amazing beats a little separated
Interpol – was okay. Didn't live up to all the indie kids stickers on their hybrids.
Bjork – Greg wasn't there and put it best "Did you like her music?' 'Yeah' 'Did you understand it?' 'No.' 'That's exactly why I fucking hate Bjork.'"
Went back to the tents and did some serious partying. Drum circles, lots of chillin, stayin up late with super energy. Refilling my faith in music and people in general. People suck, but in small doses, completely new people can be refreshing. And Thousands of new people in a quick series of small doses can lead to awesomeness.
Saturday
Basically the same thing. Hot. Lots of gorgeous women, lots of fat guys in spandex and back packs. Stayed cool and in the shade as long as we could. Showered under hoses more than once. Then headed as a crew over to the show. I decided I would bone out and separate from the troops for Chili Peppers early. Sat through a band named Travis just based on principal.
Travis – Forgettable
Kings of Leon – just as horrible as when they warmed up for U2. Why are they still playing
the Arcade Fire – Not bad at all. Restless at this point
Red Hot Chili Peppers – This one deserves more.
This is one of my favorite bands. I think they are some of the most musically talented people on the planet. Chants were all over the place. People were going nuts. I was being pushed literally and metaphorically to the brink by assholes trying to skank my spot. I held my ground as best I could. They played an amazing set and could have played another hour and it would have been fine by everyone out there. Maybe not the next act (They didn't headline that night actually – Tiesto did) but you know what I mean. Here is the best I can recall of what songs they played (in no particular order):
Dani California
Under the Bridge
Throw Away your television
Get on Top
Give it Away
Snow ((Hey Oh))
Especially in Michigan
Torture Me
Tell Me Baby
Higher Ground (Stevie Wonder Cover – Awesome)
21st Century
That's all I really recall. I'm sure there was more. Just kinda had an awesomeness overload. Anthony Ketis danced around enough make me swoon. And I'm not an easily swoonable guy. Flea solidified himself as one of the best bassists. They rocked. And we all knew it.
Back to the tent. Or so I thought. Tiesto played after Peppers, I enjoyed. At least on the way out I did. So, riots on Saturday night brought cops, a helicopter and some crazy asshole on PCP wanting to fight anyone who didn't like George Bush. A few trash fires. All is well and good.
Sunday.
I was up way too early but the sun beating at your face at 7:15 at 85 degrees will take any alarm clock on any day of the week. Took a shower. Got back to the tent. Wanted to take another one. Lines were almost an hour long. Eff that.
The crew was lethargic. I was too but I was also determined. I was dead set on getting an awesome spot for Rage and I would not be deterred. I left early. I even missed the slip n slide. Man down. Bands I sat through on Sunday:
Explosions in the Sky – not memorable
The Roots – Amazing. Did 80's cover medleys. Just plain redefining Hip Hop with every song, covering Bob Dylan and making their music in to Rock and Roll. Blew me away. They rocked.
Willie Nelson – One hell of cool ass cat. Had just about everyone smoking a blunt during the set. His son was amazing at electric guitar and his other son played the drums a few songs. It was his birthday. He rocks.
Crowded House – Okay, not too memorable.
Manu Chao – All in Spanish – good music, but wrong time.
Rage Against The Machine.
This was the end. It is the beginning. I have faith they are coming back. I was so ready it was unreal. Chants, crowd-surfing to absolutely no music, pushes, shoves, life. They came on stage and shit hit the fan. I have never in my life seen Journalists almost push each other over to get a good photography spot. I have never seen such a consistent rush of crowd surfing and moshing in my life. And I have been to some serious shows. I.E. 60,000+ people watching Tool in SD.
Started the show with Testify and rocked out some of the best songs and inspiration that 10 strings, 12 drums and 4 microphones could muster up. Here is my best recollection of the set list I can come up with:
Testify
Guerilla Radio
Calm Like a Bomb
Sleep Now in the Fire
People of the Sun
Bulls on Parade
Vietnow
Renegades of Funk
Down Rodeo
Bombtrack
Killing in The Name
Bullet in The Head
Know Your Enemy
Wake Up
Freedom
That was the story of my life as told by Rage's music. I couldn't have felt any better at almost any moment so far in my life. Everything else more than pales in comparison. My weakness and inability at words to describe it now reminds me of how I felt then. That, and I really had to pee.
My favorite band in flesh and blood but it was more than that. There was a spirit and energy there like I have never felt before. People seemed apprehensive at worst before and all of their doubts were silenced by a show that restored faith in music and action. A small speech had a sweeping cheer of response as the lead singer Zach de la Rocha said "Every American president since Truman should be hung, tried, and shot. For their war crimes and their crimes against humanity, current administration included." Cheers were heard by the Gods.
Hopefully mine was one of them.
Elated and floating, it was a long trek back to the tent, singing chorus's from Rage's repertoire and smiling didn't stop for quite a while.
Coachella or Bust indeed. | | |
| two really wierd dreams last night
cant remember the first one too well. remember some dude throwing up on my floor. then i got mad at him. then he had no legs but he had these special powers that gave me all wood floors in my apartment. which i thought was super bitchin. some other people like poured strawberry daquiri where he threw up then it turned in to a tv in the floor. again, bitchin.
second dream, a random girl walked in to my room, fur coat on, said her friend was leaving but she was staying. i was fine with that cause she was cute. then i woke up and no one was here. assholes.
im gonna get a macbook as soon as i get my refund check (hopefully today) so ill have lots of computer work to be doing. bleh. should be barrels of monkies.
| | |
| so where does the time go huh? probably no where, seeing as how time is not a movng object. i am. and ive gone places and returned. and then, time is gone, but there's always more of it but its not going to last forever and forever doesnt exsist so why does time not have anywhere to go if it cant go to a place that is not exisiting in the time it doesnt have and cant waste because its not like money and where i spend it is not how my money goes. wait, what?
anyways.
went to vegas for new years and had an overall good time mostly cause i spent it with the best pal and he's as easy going as i am. neither of us gave a hoot and that made it a hoot.
had a wonderful time over the break. did lots of giving, which i love but it put me seriously in the hole. dah well, i work hard at my jobs, and its wierd because im actually turning jobs down. never thought i'd be doing that. guess it shows progress.
learning a lot about myself and the way i see the world. im also seeing my future fall in to place (another useless metaphor) but i am enjoying it.
im happy about grades and ready for the onslaught again, although, who knows how much ill actually enjoy it at all. dah well. im writing oscar exceptance speeches and realizing that ll the women i leave behind (by their choices, not mine) are gonna not regret it because when i get rich and famous, im going to be an asshole, i plan specifically on it.
other than that, look for me on campus, and in the headlines, or maybe just the crime rapsheet section.
| | |
| still studying. spanish. just read an article on education and how its going down the toilet in america, ironically, i was on the jon. oh well. it just reminds me that no matter whether im taking tests or not, ill always be tested and ill always be learning and i hope to keep that outlook for the rest of my life. back to leyendo y hablando y estudiando espanol.
| | |
| for the fall, here we go.
still no bike.
unexpected costs
car broken in to
reconnected my roots
to the world
of the libe
first NATIONAL BYLINE PUBLISHED BITCHES.
DOUBT AND ON AND ON!
riot inside moves on
still with roomies
still smokin drinkin staight west coastin
spanish lots
loud music lots
guinness lots
tree lots
small plumbing
small athletics
training lots
talking lots
writing lots
loving lots
birthdays
more birthdays
lakers games
auto shows
random drama
random parites
even more random nights in cars
and out of cars
and picking up cars
and being followed in cars
and being pulled over in cars
and driving in cars
and watching movies in cars
and making carrer choices in cars
and sitting on heaven
or just taking pictures of the clouds
with new digital cameras
and photographs of road trips
on the clouds
| | |
|
