Who to see at Coachella 2012 - Saturday

Ok, let's talk Saturday. We didn't get there until 4:15pm, boo. The traffic was REALLY bad close to Coachella. If you come late in the afternoon, I highly suggest taking MADISON down to Coachella. MONROE or JEFFERSON is what everyone else takes, but late in the day, you get funneled back to MADISON anyway, so take it and save some time (it's parallel to the other two, and in between).

SATURDAY

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals (3:40pm) - Vocals with attitude, and guitars with meaty, catchy riffs. Very bummed I missed most of this set due to traffic, but last song was good. Only wished I saw more!

Manchester Orchestra (5:55pm) - Solid indie band. Lots of facial hair. I enjoyed their set. Check 'em out if you like indie.

Sebastian Ingrosso (7:35pm) - More electronic-ness at Sahara. I'm sure you've heard his work.

The Shins (8:10pm) - Probably my favorite show of the day. I've heard a few of their songs before but not a huge fan. I really liked their set. Poppy, indie goodness. I was very pleasantly surprised to hear a cover of Pink Floyd's "Breathe". True to form and unexpected. I liked them so much that I skipped the next two options....

Kasabian (8:35pm) - Sad I missed these guys. Parts Oasis, Stone Roses, and DJ Shadow-inspired beats, they've got a really cool, upbeat sound. I especially like the non-standard rhythms. From the songs I heard, they sing harmonies too.

Feist (8:40pm) - You know her, she did that iPod commercial "I'll do handstands for you..." Would have liked to hear her live, but was still at The Shins.

Bon Iver (9:30pm) - Very popular recently but after seeing them on Saturday Night Live, I was not intrigued. My fiancee was saying they sound like cats, cats giving last rites at a funeral. I think she's right. I'm sure they were great though, just didn't make it a priority.

Radiohead (11:05pm) - O boy, I sense controversy. I was a bit disappointed actually. I've seen Radiohead four times now, so I know what they can do, but the setlist they chose was really for the hardcore fans that have kept up with the latest albums. If you wanted to hear the hits from OK Computer, Pablo Honey, or The Bends, this was not the set from you. I think only Karma Police and Paranoid Android were from the early albums, everything else was later on. And when they were from Kid A, Amnesiac, or Hail to the Thief, a lot of them were those weird, odd, sorta downer songs which can be cool, but don't exactly make for an upbeat show.

Don't get me wrong, when they rocked out, it was f#cking awesome like only Radiohead can do. There There, Idioteque, and Everything in Its Right Place were fantastic, the drummer is still his crazy tribal self, and the band can still make all the wackiest sounds live, it's just one of those "I have hella high expectations" type of thing. Of course, their set can *totally* change for next week, but I guess just keep the expectations in check.

If you're interested, here's the setlist:

1 Bloom
2 15 Step
3 Weird Fishes/Arpeggi
4 Morning Mr. Magpie
5 Staircase
6 The Gloaming
7 Pyramid Song
8 The Daily Mail
9 Myxomatosis
10 Karma Police
11 Identikit
12 Lotus Flower
13 There There
14 Bodysnatchers
15 Idioteque
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16 Lucky
17 Reckoner
18 After The Gold Rush (Neil Young cover snippet) into Everything in Its Right Place
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19 Give Up the Ghost
20 Paranoid Android

That sums up Saturday. Another fantastic day of music!