Bands
on Playing Coachella 2007
Cornelius, CSS, Faithless, Fields, Kings of Leon,
Klaxons, Tilly and the Wall, and Tokyo Police Club on their Coachella
Experience
We asked some of the great bands who played the 2007 Coachella festival to comment on what their Coachella experience was like and which other bands they enjoyed seeing.
Keigo
Oyamada of Cornelius:
What was your overall experience at Coachella like and how does it compare to other festivals you’ve been to (and if you’ve attended Coachella before, how does it compare to previous Coachellas)?
This time there were a lot of challenges with stage set-up, gear breaking down—but overall the show was fun.
What was it like playing at Coachella and how would you compare the audience to other festival audiences you’ve encountered?
Didn’t have time to notice. I was a having a good time by the time I was on stage.
Who else did you see at Coachella that you were particularly impressed by, what were the highlights for you?
I wanted to see The Jesus and Mary Chain but wasn’t able to. I was able to hear them from backstage, when we arrived to the stage they were [already] playing.
Ira
Trevisian of CSS:
What was it like meeting Paris Hilton at Coachella? Had Paris heard your song "Meeting Paris Hilton?" What did she say to you?
It was funny. She was very sweat and very curious to see our show. She doesn’t talk too much but I could see she was having fun. She knew about the song for sure, Steve Aoki is our friend and he said that he usually DJ’s the song when she is in a party. And she receives a lot of our clippings because of her name being in our song.
Did Paris watch your set?
Yes, she was dancing next to the monitors table all the time, just next to the stage.
What was your overall experience at Coachella like and how does it compare to other festivals you’ve been to (and if you’ve attended Coachella before, how does it compare to previous Coachellas)?
It was our first big summer festival, and none of us had the chance to go as audience [to Coachella] before, but it was an important experience to us. We loved that they decorated the trailer especially to all the bands, and our trailer had Beastie Boys posters all over it. We did some festivals before, but none this size. The best thing about festivals is meeting a lot of bands and people we like, and this one exceeded our expectations in this aspect.
What was it like playing at Coachella and how would you compare the audience to other festival audiences you’ve encountered?
The audience was one of the best, for sure.
Who else
did you see at Coachella that you were particularly impressed by, what
were the highlights for you?
We didn’t get to see a lot of things, unfortunately. We missed the
first day, and our U.K. label scheduled press in the second day. But we
saw Grizzly Bear (amazing), Justice, Arcade Fire, Klaxons and Jose Gonzalez,
and we tried to see Air but they [went on late] in the end. It made me
want to go next year just to see concerts, as we hardly had a chance this
year.
Sister
Bliss of Faithless:
What was your overall experience at Coachella like and how does it compare to other festivals you’ve been to (and if you’ve attended Coachella before, how does it compare to previous Coachellas)?
It was truly fantastic. What a lovely venue full of cool vibes. And we couldn’t believe how welcoming the crowd were considering we have not toured in the states for around eight years! It was definitely nicer weather than a lot of the European festivals we played over the years—something us Brits appreciate!
What was it like playing at Coachella and how would you compare the audience to other festival audiences you’ve encountered?
As I said the atmosphere was excellent and the 40,000 strong crowd were really open-minded—they took everything we threw at them. I felt like it was a really intense show and the political dimension of Faithless really came alive in that context (which might also have something to do with the eclectic and thought provoking line up of the whole festival).
Who else did you see at Coachella that you were particularly impressed by, what were the highlights for you?
We really enjoyed DJ Shadow and Bjork but unfortunately didn’t manage to see much else as we had to leave for San Fran. Gutted to have missed Rage Against the Machine, Arcade Fire and LCD Soundsystem, as I love the fact their music is against the grain, with a political urgency and yet still touching hearts and minds! Next time we are going to stay for the whole weekend for sure.
Jamie
Putnam of Fields:
What was your overall experience at Coachella like and how does it compare to other festivals you’ve been to (and if you’ve attended Coachella before, how does it compare to previous Coachellas)?
Coachella was about 30 degrees hotter than any other festival we’d ever played. It was amazingly tidy, not as many corpses lying around than there are at European festivals, and everyone looks really healthy, frighteningly healthy. The location is pretty inspiring as well, makes a nice change from the sort of old industrial site where lots of English festivals happen.
What was it like playing at Coachella and how would you compare the audience to other festival audiences you’ve encountered?
It was an amazing experience. We were pretty stunned by the amount of people that turned up to see us, and nobody threw anything, which was quite nice. Playing there was just brilliant, people seemed to be really into it. I think American audiences seem to be a little less concerned about standing around being hip and seem to sort of get into the music a lot more, which is really nice for us, because it feels like people are genuinely listening to what we’re doing. I was hoping for a bit more air-punching from the audience, though. Fuji Rock beats Coachella for air-punching—must try harder Coachella!
Who else did you see at Coachella that you were particularly impressed by, what were the highlights for you?
For me, The Jesus and Mary Chain were amazing because I’m a long-time JAMC fan so it was cool to see them again. I saw Sonic Youth again, who were just as good as Sonic Youth always are. The Good, The Bad and The Queen I caught a little bit of, except the rave tent next door was so mind-bendingly loud, it was kinda like a techno remix of The Good, The Bad and The Queen, it was bizarre. I think Damon got a bit pissed off, because he said “I don’t know where that ice cream man is, but it’s too loud.” And of course, The Arcade Fire absolutely destroyed the place.
Caleb Followill of Kings of Leon:
We loved being at Coachella. Definitely one of best festivals we ever played. We saw a lot of great bands and so many beautiful women. Highlight for us was definitely Rage Against the Machine. Did I mention the women?
James
Righton of Klaxons:
What was your overall experience at Coachella like and how does it compare to other festivals you've been to (and if you’ve attended Coachella before, how does it compare to previous Coachellas)?
We had an incredible time at Coachella. We were in quite a celebratory mood as it was the last gig of our U.S. tour so Jamie [Reynolds] and I spent most of the weekend partying and soaking up the atmosphere. I think, in general, the festival is unlike any other I have been to. The location and the laid back vibe contrasts to the European festivals. It was also a lot cleaner and calmer than other festivals.
What was it like playing at Coachella and how would you compare the audience to other festival audiences you've encountered?
We really enjoyed playing the festival. It probably is up there with one of the best shows we’ve played. It’s still quite early for us in America and I think there were a lot of people watching us who didn’t really know much about us, so we were out to prove something and I think the whole crowd was up for it throughout the whole set. It was a perfect way to end our U.S. tour.
Who else did you see at Coachella that you were particularly impressed by, what were the highlights for you?
Justice and LCD Soundsystem were particularly good. They got an amazing reaction. It was also great to finally see Bjork live. She didn’t disappoint.
Jamie
Pressnall of Tilly and the Wall:
What was your overall experience at Coachella
like and how does it compare to other festivals you’ve been to (and
if you’ve attended Coachella before, how does it compare to previous
Coachellas)?
Umm, amazing, Coachella was totally mind blowing. We hit a lot of the
European festivals last year. I spent the summer tromping through the
mud and watching dudes piss on fences because the port-a-potties were
so gross. Coachella was the opposite. The staff at Coachella treated us
so well, our backstage was decorated with Tilly and the Wall gear, the
bands that played were some of my all time favorites—come on, Bjork,
Sonic Youth, and Blonde Redhead in the same weekend! Fuck yeah!
What was it like playing at Coachella and
how would you compare the audience to other festival audiences you’ve
encountered?
Playing Coachella has been a dream of
mine for years. The crowd was awesome—someone shot off confetti
bombs when we started playing, I knew it was going to be a really special
show.
Who else did you see at Coachella that you
were particularly impressed by, what were the highlights for you?
I am a huge Blonde Redhead fan, their show was very moving for me personally.
There were so many people there, but it still felt really intimate.
Dave
Monks of Tokyo Police Club:
What was your overall experience at Coachella like and how does it compare to other festivals you’ve been to (and if you’ve attended Coachella before, how does it compare to previous Coachellas)?
I’ve never been to a Coachella before so this was my introduction. I really did like it—there was so much to do. People seemed more relaxed than at SXSW because they weren’t really there on business.
What was it like playing at Coachella and how would you compare the audience to other festival audiences you’ve encountered?
Much bigger. It was really amazing to see how many people were actually there for us at our show. They were really responsive and receptive.
Who else did you see at Coachella that you were particularly impressed by, what were the highlights for you?
I was really impressed by Gogol Bordello and of Arcade Fire. And I was happy to hear new Interpol songs and check out the progression of Carlos D’s facial hair.
Check
out more photos from Coachella 2007 here.
www.coachella.com
5/2007