A real deep bro.

2012-03-23

2011-04-26

Swole Win Butler or Ready to Start (crossfit)

The Saturday of Coachella 2011 was pretty chilled out for me, at first. We started with a nice dip in the pool, with breakfast being BBQ’d for us. We basked in the sun, drinking drinks in giant glasses that could easily be out of Sex And The City, waiting for our day to begin.

This year, we rode bikes to Coachella from our house in PGA West. It took about 15 to 20 minutes of easy pedaling to get to the first checkpoint. The day before, we had rode up Madison and locked out bikes spitting distance from the intersection of Madison and 51st. At the time, we thought we should’ve locked our bikes closer to the front gate, so we did that on Saturday, which ended up being a huge mistake. We had to ride around another mile and a half to get into the grounds, and that wasn’t even the worst part.

As we locked our bikes, and made it into the grounds, we hauled ass to check out Two Door Cinema Club. I was kinda pissed we missed Foals, but TDCC made up for it. There were plenty of shiny happy people around, and Saturday was off to the races. I immediately lost my Monarchy flash mob friend, and went to see Chuckie throw it down in the Sahara, which was pretty much the most mental dance tent I’ve ever seen in my life.

We headed to the Gobi for Yelle’s sunset set. Another disco sweatbath, powered by the French. There was a group of people behind us from Pasadena, waving a Swiss flag around, and they were the best bunch of people to dance with during Yelle.

It was fucking hot on Saturday. Hotter than any day I’ve ever spend on the polo grounds. Luckily for me, I trained my body months before hand by going without water for long periods of time in order to get myself prepared for the heat and the exhaustion.

But by the time the sun went down, it was cool enough to be comfortable, and we got ready at the Outdoor theatre for one of the highlights of the weekend, The Kills. This was my first time seeing them, and afterwards, I felt like if I was going to miss PJ Harvey for Kanye, then I made it up by seeing The Kills.

After The Kills, we took some time to get some pictures and exploring done. This included holding the famous Coachella balloons, as well as seeing the Tesla coils (the first time for me since ‘06!) I was so hyped during the Tesla coils, that I left my backpack unattended, and someone accidently picked it up, but brought it back. Thank you whoever that was. Your karma grew exponentially that night.

After the coils, we headed between Animal Collective (ACID) and Big Audio Dynamite (WEED). This was all in preparation of another highlight for me, Empire of the Sun. I knew some of my friends had pushed up front for them, but as much as I love EOTS, I put all my money into Arcade Fire, so we were satisfied to see EOTS back near the soundbooth. EOTS fucking destroyed. That stage setup was so detailed and so over-the-top, it felt like they were from another planet. I kept looking at Animal Collective, and I noticed that it was peaking pretty hard. I told my friends that we should get ready, and caravan up.

We left the outdoor theatre, and with me leading again, we took the Brodeep express through the throngs of humans, leaving Animal Collective, and those pushing past to get to a sweet spot for Arcade Fire. Managing the crowds is pretty easy when you’re 6’4” brown man with a loud booming voice. I never said this to anyone in my group, but whenever I felt someone’s hand attach to my backpack (the signal for me to start moving) I felt comforted, knowing that we were on a mission to get the best out of our Coachella experience.

We made it to our hallowed spot for yet another main stage closing act. Being born in Montreal, you would think I’d seen Arcade Fire before, but I never managed to get to see them live until this day. With loads of room around us, and with an amazing view, Arcade Fire managed to blow away all my expectations I initally had. My cousin, who had seen them play on TV when they won their Grammy, wasn’t too interested in seeing Arcade Fire in the weeks coming up to Coachella, but throughout the day, he was convinced that they were going to bring magic, and they most certainly did.

About 30 mins near the end of the set, my friends and I noticed a giant ass crane with a big black box hovering over the stage. I had never seen anything like that, and my mind was racing with what could’ve been hiding behind that black cloth. I had no idea that they were about to drop hundreds of led glowing beach balls that would react with tone and pitch. When they dropped during Wake Up, I was pretty much watching one of the most beautiful things I’d ever seen. But when they started glowing different colors, I knew we were witnessing something special. I eventually caught one during Ready to Start, and as you can see from my previous pictures, and according to my friends, they had never seen anyone with a bigger smile on their face ever. That show was beautiful, and it turned me into an Arcade Fire devotee forever. I used to talk smack about them and how kinda depressing they can be, but honestly, I can say now that I GET ARCADE FIRE and the hype is worth it. Ready to Start came on my ipod this morning, and I started getting emotional over it. Just thinking about it does it to me, and probably will forever.

Walking away from Arcade Fire with that giant ball was great, but when everyone started singing the “OHHHHHH OHHHHH” part from Wake Up again, and all of our balls lit up again, it was pure unadulterated magic. People asked to pose with the balloon, and many asked if they could have it, but I gave it to my Coachella virgin friend, who held it all the way as we used it as a light for our bike ride home.

OH MAN! The bike ride home was brutal that night. Not so much the ride, but trying to get out of the parking jam. At one point, I had to carry my bike over gridlocked cars. So insane. Naturally, we went back to our old spot for the next day.

As we got home, we played with our Arcade Fire Ball, and made tons of good food as we relished in what a perfect day that Saturday at Coachella gave us. What was Sunday going to bring us?

A real deep bro.

2012-03-23

2011-04-26

2011-04-24

If there was a hipster Street Fighter game, Ken and Ryu would shoot off Arcade Fire Balls.

2011-04-23

Once the crane was lifted above Arcade Fire I turned to my friends and asked “what do you think is in the box” and my friend confidently responded “David Bowie, for sure”.

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If there was a hipster dungeons and dragons, The Arcade Fire Ball would destroy everything.

2011-04-22

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Coachella 2011 Day Four.

2011-04-21

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2011-04-20