Coachella Fest Flashes Back

Fri., Apr. 30, 2004 7:45 AM PDT by J.R. Griffin

Coachella is ready to party like it's 1989.

Three of the six headlining bands at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival hit a popularity high back when Bush the Elder ruled the White House: reunited alt-rock pioneers the Pixies, goth pioneers the Cure and electronica pioneers Kraftwerk will join some 80 other current bands and deejays when the two-day fest storms into the Palm Springs-area desert this weekend.

The time-bending cocktail has the makings of a hit to concertgoers.

Thanks to the lineup, which also includes hip noisemakers Radiohead, the Flaming Lips, Air, Dizzee Rascal, Paul Van Dyk and Kinky, the festival has claimed its first sold-out day (Saturday) in its five-year history. Sunday is also poised to push all of its tickets, even after the festival expanded to a 50,000-person per day capacity.

"This is your chance to see every kind of new cool band around in two days," said Sia Michel, the editor-in-chief of Spin magazine, a sponsor of one of the fest's official after-parties. "The Pixies are the kind of band that kids who get into good music will hear about from their friends, so it's a good combination."

Held on grassy polo field, the event also showcases art installations, hosts onsite camping and screens the Coachella Independent Film Festival. This year the six feature films and 10 shorts range from Bodysong, which includes an instrumental soundtrack by Radiohead guitarist Johnny Greenwood, to Lil' Chuck Lost, about a road-tripping monkey puppet.

"A lot of the bands like the environment," said Michel. "I sense it's like when they play at Red Rocks [Amphitheater in Denver]. It's so far from the ugly arenas that bands usually have to play that it enables them to relax put on a different kind of show."

When not hanging with the music-loving celebs or checking out other groups, band members have been known to surprise audiences: In 2001 Beck played an impromptu acoustic set with DJ Z-Trip (Beck also joined this Saturday's lineup at the 11th hour), and last year Perry Farrell appeared as an unannounced deejay. Over the years, Jane's Addiction and Iggy & the Stooges have used Coachella's stages to host their reunions.

"It's a testament to what they've done in past years that the Pixies were really excited to play at Coachella," said Michel. "I think they realize that it's a great forum for them to make a major comeback."

The performers also sing the jamboree's praises.

"I think it's awesome," said Steven Drozd of quirky rockers the Flaming Lips. "It'll be sensory overload, in a good way."

"We consider Coachella to be part of the holy trinity of festivals," adds Felix Buxton of the Basement Jaxx, who will perform cuts from the duo's latest Kish Kash on Sunday. "Glastonbury [in England] and Fuji Rock Festival [in Japan] are the others, and we're playing at all three this year."

Even with expected 100-plus degree heat toasting the crowd, attendees have a proven record of being on their best behavior.

"It doesn't feel very corporate and people don't feel like they're getting ripped off," said Michel. "I think people really want something like Coachella to succeed in this country. They want it to go off well, so they're really policing themselves."

However, concertgoers gotta watch out for one thing.

"When Morrissey played during the first year, there were a lot of goth kids in the blazing sun," said Michel. "I could see everybody's pancake makeup kind of melting as they were sweating in their long sleeve black clothes. I'm sure there will be a lot of that this year because of the Cure."

That's okay, run-proof mascara is so '80s.