For this year’s Coachella, we’ve dispatched our very own indie rock star reporter, Ed Droste of Brooklyn band Grizzly Bear.

April 27

6:49 p.m. Received text from Josh lead singer of Tapes n Tapes saying they are five hours deep in their mission to get out of LA. I truly pity them right now.

6:54 p.m. Arctic Monkeys are playing. They sound good and tight. The crowd in the main field has expanded tremendously now that the sun is going down a bit. Went to the artist area during their set and saw the Of Montreal boys and Tilly–who were wonderfully matched together in neighboring trailers because of both bands’ flashy attire. It was the most glitter and sparkle I’ve seen in years. Rufus was sitting nearby wearing some sort of striped Monk-type garb. I honestly can’t explain it. He was smoking a cigarette.

I was stopped by two boys who had seen us in Boston and were in charge of decorating the artist trailers. They told us they were going to decorate ours extra special come Sunday. Woo! They also reported that the tent where Amy Winehouse played was insanely full and she was pretty good. We are about to head over to Peaches. I haven’t seen her since she toured her Fuck The Pain Away album. I’m ready for her again. The flies are descending upon the VIP section which isn’t very VIP since there are approximately 3,000 people in it right now. Trash is accumulating but credit must go to the festival for all the trash bins. The field is actually pretty immaculate. I was shocked! Saw Win and Regine from Arcade Fire walk by. She was wearing a lovely blue summer dress. Then I received a text from their band mate Richie. We are trying to find each other to say hello. But as the texts and emails continue I realize it’s close to impossible to even meet up with anyone – just too hectic! I’m trying though. Just paid 11 dollars for a drink which momentarily bummed me out. Maybe I’ll smuggle some Jameson in tomorrow if I can.

8:04 p.m. Just had a whirlwind experience. Went backstage to meet up with Richie from Arcade Fire and he taught us about the joys of golf carts. All you need to do is show up to the line and tell them what stage you want to get to! Had I known of this perk I’d have surely made it to Amy Winehouse, but I’ve been hearing more and more lukewarm reports. Richie said the highlight of his day was Gillian Welch. I should have stayed longer there. On the way to the golf carts I ran into Simon from Klaxons who had just arrived and seemed jovial.

I rode on the back seat of the golf cart and took a picture of my foot as we all rode to Peaches stage. When we got there, Richie met up with the rest of his band, and they continued out front to see her better rather than from behind the stage. We lingered behind the stage, saw
Ron Jeremy and randomly Rachel Evan Wood (is she dating Marilyn Manson now?). She was dressed all 40’s-style and had a shitload of foundation on. Jesus I’m beginning to feel like this “live blogging” thing is turning me into a full fledged gossip whore, Perez Hilton style. Anyhow, everyone has been really friendly and happy to be here, myself included. I just wish everything wasn’t so expensive! We watched a few Peaches songs. She was joined on stage by Le Tigre’s JD and they all were wearing masks and being raunchy. It was great. The crowd was pumped, and so were we. But we couldn’t miss Jesus and Mary Chain whose sound was overpowering Peaches. (Main stage is just so much louder!) So we meandered over and the sun had set, and the feeling of the festival was getting more and more debaucherous, dirty and wild. Fire breathers and jugglers were around; there is a bit of a Burning Man/Ren Fair vibe in certain areas, but generally it’s about the bands. JAMC are still playing, no Scarlett yet but they sound wonderful. I must get back to it.

12:24 a.m. I’m in bed writing this. Totally exhausted. Bjork was transcendent. I was beginning to think it was impossible for me to truly appreciate music in a festival setting, but then I forced my way up close to Bjork and had the time of my life. Granted, we left halfway through her set to beat the traffic after our experiences earlier, but she was a mighty force. A definite headliner. Loved every note of it.

Interpol was also amazing. I’m truly excited for their new album. We saw Vincent Gallo, Britney Spears’ younger sister, some actress from Heroes, heard about spottings of Cameron Diaz and Drew Barrymore, and saw Fab from the Strokes multiple times. At one point he was joining a human pyramid for a photo op. I kept playing phone tag with Josh from Tapes n Tapes, but was able to hang out with Klaxons boys, which was nice. I also saw the lead singer from the Arctic Monkeys holding a bottle of Smirnoff and acting aloof and drunk.

It appears from the distance I was at I didn’t see Scarlett perform with Jesus and Mary Chain (oh well?). My boyfriend spotted multiple cast members of Laguna Beach hanging out with Danger Mouse, and we saw Rosanna Arquette interview Of Montreal on camera for some TV thing. The whole thing is so surreal and random; I’m barely able to keep it all straight. I felt like we were in a massive isolated city – after all the 60K people tonight way eclipses the population of Palm Springs. More tomorrow.

Now we are home and half of our house-renting roommates forsook the festival altogether and decided to trip on mushrooms. They are yelling like crazy outside our window right now. I can’t wait to see Bjork next week at Radio City Music Hall. Today was so full. I can’t believe 2 more days are coming.

Don’t Miss Our Constant Coachella Coverage! Get the scoop from Brian Hiatt, Rob Sheffield and indie-rock star correspondent, Ed Droste of Grizzly Bear.