While I Was Sleeping: Coachella 2020 Lineup Announced

The Coachella lineup for 2020 has been announced. I don't really know how ticketing works anymore but it looks like you can register for weekend 2 passes. Weekend 1 is "sold out". If you're thinking about it, I would just wait to get tickets as weekend two passes seem to have been dumped the past couple years. Either way, Coachella takes place the weekend of April 10-12 and April 17-19, 2020. General passes start at $429. 

Photos: Superorganism & Simpson @ Music Box, April 23, 2019

After double weekends at Coachella, Superorganism popped into San Diego to play a show at the Music Box on April 23rd. Darren and I were happy to finally check them out live, though it was a whole lot different live than what my photos could possibly reflect. There were near constant animated videos projected behind the collective, while the stage lighting was mostly dark or monochromatic or flashing or spinning or sparkling or all of these things at the same time. Definitely not my best work, which is unfortunate because after a show like this, I make my own roadblocks and end up not posting photos for weeks or months. Anyway, it was a great show, their music is super quirky and chill and there were a ton of people on stage making the whole show an event. Pics after the jump.

Photos: Cigarettes After Sex at Observatory, April 30, 2018

Let's talk Cigarettes After Sex. This was another one that I was begging to shoot. I had seen them at The Hideout when there were fifty-something tickets sold, then I worked when they played The Irenic and I remember being so tired that I didn't stay for the whole show and certainly didn't try to bust out my camera. Then some strings were pulled to let me shoot at the Observatory and I realized the whole show was going to be shrouded with massive hazers and I'm thinking, "please, just let me get something, anything". Darren was able to come and we'd been listening to them so much it was a super nice date night and their music is certainly sexy-time music. But my biggest regret of the show was that after I was done shooting, I ran to West Coast to use the bathroom and grab more drinks, and completely missed their cover of REO Speedwagon "Keep On Loving You". Damnit. Fortunately, two days after the show, singer Greg Gonzalez had performed a session for SiriusXMU that included the song and it's such an amazing take on the song (which, I should admit, was a favorite when I'd listen to KyXy with my mom as a little girl). Anyway, the show was incredible, though I have to say was better that it was not on a weekend because the crowd was cool to be chill and quiet instead of the weekend warriors who might have ruined the whole thing had it been on a Friday or Saturday. They're also a band that I would love to see get enormous, but I'm also selfishly hoping a venue like the Observatory is as big as they'd play because they're not an arena or stadium type band. But I love them, and I did my best shooting, but with the whole band shrouded in darkness, it's a whole lotta Greg. More pics after the jump.

Photos: The War On Drugs at the Observatory, April 15, 2018

Nova was away for a lot of the weekend, so I spent several hours trying to catch up and upload photos from the past few weeks. Then I about had a full meltdown when I realized there were shows as far back as February that I never uploaded. So bear with me as there will be a ton of photo posts this week. By my count, there are about 35 shows I never posted.

So let's start here with The War On Drugs. The band played both weekends of Coachella and we stayed close to home for the most part that first weekend because we love watching the YouTube stream of the major stages. As we watched the band on our TV that Friday night, I was still trying every avenue available to me to get a photo pass but up to that point it was still a hard no. I don't know what strings were pulled but more than a few awesome people worked to my benefit, so that by Sunday evening, I got an approval and was one of just two photographers to shoot the show. Of course, that makes me all the bigger loser that I never posted these, but I'm trying not to be so insecure about my photography, because there are few things I love more than being behind a camera.

So here are some of the shots. I tried to whittle it down to a couple dozen but when you shoot upwards of 300 shots a band, I find I have lots of favorites. This show was amazing. I don't think I'd seen The War on Drugs since their Casbah show a few years back, and while sometimes I can get bored when a band just breaks into heavy noodling, there's so much going on on the stage and in the music that once I was done shooting, I found myself just kinda closing my eyes and getting lost in the music. More photos after the jump.

Locachella: Coachella "Sideshow" Acts In San Diego

I'm ecstatic that San Diego is getting a good cut of this year's Coachella cake. The other day I posted the freshly announced Observatory shows, but obviously there are so many venues getting in on the action, I thought I'd make a more complete list of Coachella artists playing in San Diego before, between, or after Coachella.

• Thursday, March 29 Declan McKenna, Chappell Roan @ Music Box
• Tuesday, April 10 Chromeo, Phantoms @ Humphrey's Concerts By The Bay
• Wednesday, April 11 Hayley Kiyoko @ Observatory North Park 
• Tuesday, April 12 David Byrne @ San Diego Civic Theatre
• Thursday, April 12 Angel Olsen @ Music Box
• Sunday, April 15 War On Drugs @ Observatory North Park  
• Sunday, April 15 Fleet Foxes, Amen Dunes @ Humphrey's Concerts By The Bay
• Monday, April 16 Ibeyi @ Belly Up  
• Monday, April 16 Jungle @ Observatory North Park  
• Tuesday, April 17 David Byrne @ San Diego Civic Theatre
• Tuesday, April 17 Miguel, SiR, Nonchalant Savant @ Humphrey's Concerts By The Bay
• Tuesday, April 17 Boogarins @ Casbah
• Tuesday, April 17 Kali Uchis @ Observatory North Park 
• Wednesday, April 18 Alvvays, Frankie Rose @ Music Box
• Wednesday, April 18 The Bronx, NO PARENTS @ Casbah
• Wednesday, April 18 Tash Sultana @ Observatory North Park - SOLD OUT
• Thursday, April 19 alt-J, Twin Shadow @ Humphrey's Concerts By The Bay
• Thursday, April 19 Jessie Ware @ Belly Up 
• Thursday, April 19 HAIM @ Observatory North Park 
• Friday, April 20 Japanese Breakfast, Snail Mail, And And And @ The Irenic
• Friday, April 20 King Krule @ Observatory North Park - SOLD OUT
• Sunday, April 22 Ron Gallo The Nude Party, Twen @ Casbah
• Monday, April 23 Marian Hill, Michl @ Observatory

Did I miss anything? Let me know in the comments!!

Observatory North Park Announces Coachella "Sideshows"

OMG! I have been so curious about what shows would come through for "Localchella" and I got a little heads up last night from the Observatory. All of these shows are now announced.

GRAMMY Award Winners War On Drugs are playing at The Observatory between Coachella weekends.
Photo by Shawn Brackbill Courtesy Pitch Perfect PR

• Wed, Apr 11   Hayley Kiyoko @ Observatory North Park - Onsale Feb 16
• Sun, Apr 15  War On Drugs @ Observatory North Park - SOLD OUT
• Mon, Apr 16   Jungle @ Observatory North Park - Onsale Feb 16
• Tue, Apr 17   Kali Uchis @ Observatory North Park - Onsale Feb 16
• Thu, Apr 19   HAIM @ Observatory North Park - Onsale Feb 16
• Wed, Apr 18    Tash Sultana @ Observatory North Park - SOLD OUT
• Fri, Apr 20   King Krule @ Observatory North Park - SOLD OUT
• Mon, Apr 23 Marian Hill, Michl @ Observatory North Park

Additionally, Casbah announced Ron Gallo @ Casbah on April 22. Tickets are also on sale for this one are on sale Friday at 10am. 

ICYMI: Coachella 2018 Lineup Revealed

For more info, go to Coachella.com. 

Photos: Little Dragon @ Observatory North Park, 4.16.17

I love Darren. He is the best partner in life I could ask for. For that reason, when I hear one of his all time favorite bands, Little Dragon, is playing the Observatory during Localchella, I don't even think about not going, even if there are other shows the same night, even if it means I have to hunch over my laptop all weekend to make up for the work I usually save until Sunday. It was a really fun show to shoot, mostly because Yukimi is super expressive on stage, with tulle and metallic materials draped over her body, dramatic lighting, and lots of little tambourines, cowbells, and other percussion to bang on around the stage. Unfortunately it also made me realize how terribly dirty the inside of my camera is, so I'm not looking forward to the expense or the wait it will take to clean, but I'll make it happen soon enough. It was a fun night, it was a great show to be able to take Nova to, and we've found a new favorite spot at the Observatory since I'm no longer privy to the balcony. More pictures after the jump.

Photos: Pond @ Casbah, 4.15.17

It was a sold out Saturday at the Casbah. The room was packed, Coachella was in full effect in the desert, and everyone wanted to be on the guestlist. Pond was performing and everyone wanted a piece of the Aussie action. I'm sure part of it was a hope that there would be some secret appearance by Kevin Parker of Tame Impala on the stage that night, instead, he used me as a blockade, hiding between me and the sound guy while I shot photos from the back of the room. Later he was trying to chill on the patio until everyone started recognizing him and he  bailed into the office for privacy. Can't say I blame him. The show was incredible, definitely worth the buzz and hype, and the projections kept the visuals interesting. I took a ton of photos, a handful of which are after the jump.

Coachella Brings Localchella to SoCal

When I say I've been a total slacker, I didn't realize I never even posted the Coachella 2017 lineup which means I'll be ready to fire up the YouTube and enjoy the whole shebang with my air conditioning blasting and--since Nova will be in St. Louis-- maybe a case of whatever local IPAs CostCo is selling. So you already know that the whole thing, both weekends (April 14-16 & April 21-23) are all sold out, but maybe you can win some from FM 94/9 or 91X or something.

oooooorrrr...you could just go to a ton of shows hitting the area for Localchella. Here are some of the artists rolling through town:

4/9 The Head and The Heart @ Soma
4/12 Father John Misty @ Humphrey's
4/12 Broods @ Music Box
4/12 Grace Mitchell @ Casbah
4/13 Banks @ Humphrey's
4/14 Honne @ Belly Up
4/15 Pond @ Casbah
4/16 Little Dragon @ Observatory North Park
4/17 Local Natives @ Observatory North Park
4/18 Jack Garratt @ Belly Up
4/19 Kaleo @ Belly Up (SOLD OUT)
4/19 Mitski @ The Irenic
4/19 SOHN @ Observatory North Park
4/19 Blossoms @ Casbah
4/19 Dreamcar @ Music Box (SOLD OUT)
4/20 Mura Masa @ Observatory North Park
4/20 Twin Peaks, Hinds @ The Irenic
4/20 Lee Fields & The Expressions, Chicano Batman @ Music Box

Coachella 2016 Lineup Announced

Today the good folks at Goldenvoice released the official lineup for Coachella 2016. This year's event at the Empire Polo Fields in Indio, Californiia will take place Friday, April 15-Sunday, April 17 and Friday, April 22-Sunday, April 24. The lineups are supposed to duplicate, however, as we know something always comes up and so you really never know what you're going to get either weekend. Imagine if the SoCal El Nino is really so intense that it pours both weekends!?

Anyway, I'm sure everyone is chiming in about the hits and misses on the lineups, I honestly have no opinion except that I always get excited about what secret shows are going to happen between the weekends. Grimes, if you're listening, please play an all ages show in San Diego and you will make Darren and Nova's life.

The bigger question is HOW DO YOU GET TICKETS? Well, good luck with that. But seriously, you can start buying tickets on Wednesday, January 6 at 11am. You can read full instructions here, and follow this to the purchase link.

Here's my sage advise: Coachella is ticketed through Frontgate. Make sure you have a Frontgate account with a current credit card. Like now. Long before Wednesday. And have a Coachella account. These may or may not be the same thing. I'm not that sage.

When you try to purchase tickets, know exactly what you are trying for: Weekend 2 GA, Weekend 1 GA + Shuttle, Weekend 2 GA + Shuttle, Weekend 1 VIP, or Weekend 2 VIP. If you can't get in, can't get through, or otherwise think all has failed, instead of bitching on FB (or bragging because nobody GAF), refresh your browser. Refresh it a million times. Or at least 20. As I've said before, transactions time out, people change their mind on how many passes to buy, credit cards bounce back, and eventually those tickets release back into inventory, so even if it looks sold out in the first minute, or 5 minutes, or 10 minutes, it might not actually be. And we're talking about a 99,000 or so capacity event each weekend.

So good luck. Come April, I'll be watching drinking some craft beer at home, enjoying Couchella on YouTube on our giant plasma TV.

If you need the text lineup, I took the time to type it out after the jump.

Coachella 2015

There's an awful lot of buzz at the moment and my phone has been ringing off the hook all morning, so here is a welcome distraction....the Coachella lineup is announced! Who do you hope comes to San Diego between the weekends? I already know of a couple and they're gonna be good...

Travelling to Coachella

In case you're going to Coachella, I just got this helpful email about traffic. It was sent by the people behind the Waze app, but it seems useful enough, so check it out if you need some road trip tips for Coachella. Incidentally, I talked to y friend Kelsey who's driving for Lyft and UberX and she says they're bringing in drivers for both services, so there's that, too. Anyway, road closures, instructions and other information after the jump.

So, you are off to Coachella! Awesome! What’s not so rad is sitting in a car that’s not moving. The cities of Indio and La Quinta anticipate major traffic delays during the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. There will be road closures, so please plan ahead and expect delays when traveling throughout Indio and La Quinta near the festival. Not to mention there will be approximately 30,000 guests shuttled into and out of the concert venue from various locations throughout the Coachella Valley to help ease traffic conditions.

Coachella 2013 Official Lineup Released

Coachella has released their official lineup for 2013.
The event takes place the weekends of April 12-14 and April 19-21, 2013.
Find details at Coachella.com. duh.

San Diego Show Announcements

Have you been paying attention to the Interwebs today? It feels like all kinds of announcements were made, like the S.S. Coachella cruises to The Bahamas and Jamaica this winter (tickets on sale Saturday).

Now, I'm not sure if you know this, but I'm the one who goes into the Casbah website to post new show announcements (and I attempt to create Facebook events for a lot of them, too), and we've had our share of announcements that I am personally SUPER excited about, so in case you missed them, here are just a few shows the Casbah has announced (click the event for ticket info):

• 9/2: Two Gallants @ Casbah
• 10/11: The XX, John Talabot Live @ Soma
• 10/20: Frightened Rabbit, Arc In Round @ The Irenic
• 11/1: Lord Huron @ Casbah
• 11/4: Other Lives, Indians @ Casbah
• 11/11: Minus The Bear, Cursive, Girl In A Coma @ House of Blues

and a few older ones for your radar in case you missed them...

• 8/2: Murder By Death, Cory Chisel and the Wandering Sons, Ha Ha Tonka @ Casbah
• 8/4: The Hood Internet, Psalm One, Tanya Morgan @ Casbah
• 8/10: Langhorne Slim and the Law, Jessica Lea Mayfield, Quiet Life @ Casbah
• 8/11: Saint Motel, Tribes, Italian Japanese @ Casbah
• 8/17: Y La Bamba, The Heavy Guilt, Ivan and Alyosha @ Casbah
• 9/4: AA Bondy @ Casbah
• 9/18: Moonface @ Casbah
• 9/28: Menomena @ Casbah (my birthday)

It has been months since I've actually booked a show of my own, so I also wanted to let you know that I have a show on August 14 at the Casbah with Old Tiger, Lowly Spects, Western Scene, and Michael McGraw. The show is only $6 and should be a great time with some of my favorite locals (and Lowly Spects from OC).



and lastly, my friends at the Hard Rock Hotel are once again teaming up with Filter for another SoundCheck. The show is FREE on August 7 at 207. Click the flyer to RSVP.

Coachella 2013 Advance Sale Announcement

UPDATE ADVANCE TICKETS ARE SOLD OUT FOR BOTH WEEKENDS,  General ticket sales will happen early next year.

Yes Coachella just happened not to long ago and yes April 2013 seems like a long way away, but it is already time to buy some tickets to next years show.  Coachella 2013 will be held again over two consecutive weekends.  Advance Passes go on sale beginning this Thursday, May 17th 2012 10:00am PDT and will continue to be on sale until May 24th, 2012 10:00 pm PDT, unless they sell out before that.  Considering how fast tickets have been selling for Coachella in recent years I would not wait to purchase these advance tickets.  Tickets this year will be $349 and the advance tickets are the only tickets that can be bought on a payment plan. more information can be found after the break.

Coachella 2012, Weekend 2, Sunday

I realize that it doesn't make a whole lot of sense for me to be writing about Coachella four days one week after it is all over, especially when everyone is already talking about Bonnaroo and such, but I might as well finish what I started last week. To read all about it, click the jump. If not, you can just watch the rad videos that FM 94/9 shot in their mud hut last weeekend instead.

James at Coachella (Weekend 2) & House of Blues San Diego

I thought I was going to come home from Coachella and relax and such, and I definitely attempted to get caught up in daytime sleep, but poor Chase felt like house/dogsitting was a sentence for house arrest, so on Monday night we walked over to Triple Crown for some foosball (he won 2 of 3) and ping pong (I won 2 of 3) and then meandered over to Eleven and finished the night there. My computer froze, which made editing these videos more time consuming, but I felt it was worth it to post them. I still need to post a bunch of other stuff and upload photos and such, but in the meantime, this is the video I captured of James at Coachella. I hear they're being strict on things, so it is quite possible that these videos might be pulled from YouTube, but I hope not because even though I couldn't even see what I was shooting, I'm pretty proud that they came out so well considering how far I was from the stage and how I couldn't see a goddamn thing in my viewfinder as I was recording, and I'm going to maintain that even though there were several great performances over the weekend, for me, James was the best performance of the whole shebang.

The youtube playlist below is as follows:

Born Of Frustration
Ring The Bells
Out To Get You
Getting Away With It (All Messed Up)
Sometimes
Sound
Laid




For good measure, check the playlist from the House of Blues San Diego from the night before (with even shoddier camera work). After the jump.

Couchella 2012 & Housse De Racket

I didn't attempt to request a press pass for Coachella this year, and I regret that now because it appears they were much more generous since the festival expanded to two weekends. Live and learn, I guess, but it turns out a friend of mine has a pass for me, so I'll be making the trek next weekend. In the meantime, I'll be working for and seeing a bunch of bands in San Diego, like The Rapture tonight at the Irenic, Face To Face at the Casbah on Sunday, M Ward at the Belly Up on Monday, a three night stand at the Casbah with Yuck (Tuesday), The Big Pink (Wednesday), and We Were Promised Jetpacks after I see James at the House of Blues on Thursday.

If you're at home, you can catch many of the Coachella bands live on YouTube. Call me a prude, but Azaelia Banks uses the N word about 8000 times per song and that is not okay with me. Don't need to stay on that channel so I flipped over to We Were Promised Jetpacks. Additionally, there were some funny memes, clips, and links that went viral this week, so if you missed them, here's a couple for you.

Texting Guy Almost Runs Into A Bear

Animals Who Are Extremely Disappointed In You

7 Types of People At Coachella (Funny or Die)

And while I'm at it, ChristWire is like The Onion for Christianity, but in case you missed it last year, "Coachella is a Festival of Disease and Sin. Your Children Most Likely Will Die."

Last, I just wanted to say that I know things are tough economically for everyone, and most of you have real jobs, but there have been some amazing shows in town and you should try to get out of your comfort zone a little. Housse De Racket are from France and playing Coachella this weekend, but they stopped by the Casbah on Tuesday and were unfazed that they played to about 25 people. There are some bands that you see live and you just suspect they're going to be huge, and Housse de Racket is one of those bands.

Coachella 2012 Ticketing Instructions

If you're not signed up for the Coachella newsletter, here's the information regarding ticketing for the event.

We're excited to present to you the 2012 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival line up and on sale information.

Passes go on sale THIS Friday, January 13th, 2012 at 10:00am Pacific Time. Please visit the NEW www.coachella.com to get familiar with the types of passes available. After a successful layaway offer in June, the only festival pass left for Weekend 1 is the GA Festival Pass/Shuttle Pass Combo. All passes are available for Weekend 2. LAYAWAY IS NO LONGER AN OPTION FOR EITHER WEEKEND.

Between now and this Thursday, January 12th we strongly advise you to go set up your purchasing account to expedite the purchasing process. To set up your account for Weekend 1 go here or Weekend 2 go here (don't worry, if you decide to get passes for the other weekend you can easily have your account transferred to the other weekend when buying your passes). Already have an account? Go Here to sign in.

In the meantime, please familiarize yourself with the purchasing process ahead of time. You can review the step-by-step instructions on the HOW TO PURCHASE PAGE.
 SHUTTLES
If you are not camping on site, please consider riding a shuttle. It will make entering and exiting the festival quick and easy. There are several convenient shuttle lines to choose from.