Music,
art, desert vibrant in Coachella documentary
film
By Brigid McGuire
Online Forty-Niner
Diversions Editor
As the desert sun sets, you watch the sky become orange and the mountains
turn purple; the crowd cheers as your favorite band takes the stage and you feel
nothing could ruin this perfect moment. These images are wonderfully illustrated
in the Coachella Music and Arts Festival documentary film. The film directed
by new comer Drew Thomas, is a breath of fresh air in the world of music documentaries.
You feel as if you are there all over again or visiting for the first time.
The film gives a new look at the yearly music festival held on the
beautiful polo grounds in Indio, Cal. The film, begins with an old clip of
the first settlers of the Coachella Valley and then quickly moves into the
present with the valley hosting the No. 1 music festival in America. The film
is loaded with scenes from live performances from past years, beginning with
the reggae-influenced group, Spearhead. All of the shots are vibrantly colorful
and give viewers the sense they are there.
The film continues with live performances from the Mars Volta, Belle and Sebastian,
the Flaming Lips and Iggy and the Stooges, just to name a few. Between each performance
there may be an interview with a fan hiding from the sun or Mos Def asking why
the White Stripes weren’t playing that year. You never know what to except
from the young director, but the film runs very smoothly.
The works of art on display at the music festival are also pictured in the film,
with some artist interviews. One artist is Christian Ristow and his crew of robots.
For those of you who can’t believe what I just said, every year, on the
last day of the festival, about half a dozen remote control robots put on a show
for about an hour of scheduled chaos.
Each year the artist decides on a theme from a controversial topic, whether it
is abortion or sexual conduct in the church. After the sun sets, the robots come
alive and shoot fire into the sky and attack each other. Other art pieces include
a giant dragonfly with cool misters on its wings and a large metal sculpture
with mallets for the crowd to make their own ear splitting noise.
There are many different types of music represented in the film, including rap,
house, trance, rock and indie just to name a few. There are two out- door stages
and three tents, including a gigantic trance tent, which glows at night.
By far the best part of the film is watching the lead singer of the Flaming Lips
place himself into a giant hamster ball and have the massive crowd push him around.
Another standout moment in the film is the performance of the recently reunited
band, the Pixies. The crowd’s voice rises above the music and the amount
of people is awe-inspiring.
This film is in your face and bound to get your blood flowing. The music and
scenery is breath taking and will have you begging for more. You can watch the
documentary at the Long Beach Town Center 26 and the Irvine Spectrum.
The upcoming 2006 Coachella Music and Arts Festival will be held April 29 and
30 in Indio, Cali. The line-up has yet to be announced, but one confirmed headliner
will be Depeche Mode.
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