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

April 29th

3:43 am: Well tonight was fun. Really fun. Something about the evening at Coachella felt more alive yet at the same time apocalyptic. People were a bit rowdier, wilder…..insane. Glow sticks were alive and kicking. It’s hard to even keep track of it all. I guess where I left off, Kings of Leon were ending their set and the mighty Arcade Fire took stage to thousands of fans. Unfortunately I was quite far away from the stage so I wasn’t able to fully capture it all aurally but pretty much everyone around me stood captivated. I had seen them before and they’ve only gotten better. It still strikes me as so strange/wonderful that a band like them has broken so mainstream.

Halfway through we decided to catch an early spot for Girl Talk and caught the end of Coco Rosie’s minstrel-esque rapping. The turnout was predictably low considering Arcade Fire’s popularity and a draw. There was a beatboxer and all the other Coco fixin’s but soon after we arrived they finished up and the few people that were there left, giving us the opportunity to push forward for prime Girl Talk viewing. Suddenly throngs of teens inundated us and there was a mob scene awaiting Girl Talk’s arrival. After a few minutes of light projections, GT came on to much applause and put on a wild show with 30 girls dancing on stage (including Paris Hilton), confetti and Girl Talk balloons. The music was rad too. Dude definitely brought it. Guess who came on stage with his aforementioned playmate-esque girlfriend (?). Perry Farrell again. At this point I’m starting to get annoyed with Perry sightings. Dude, it’s not your festival, so stop appearing on everyone’s stage and looking for applause. He left after 2 minutes. It was was
awkward and inappropriate.

Meanwhile, some CSS kids split off from us to go to Blonde Redhead, who I missed. The rest of us went to LCD who was playing in the best tent — the Sahara, which has amazing sound. We got there and sat right under the disco ball and the rave lights were in full effect. He sounded amazing. I couldn’t see much but the few songs I caught were excellent.

That said I was starting to feel a bit claustrophobic so my BF Chad and I headed out to finally meet up with Josh from Tapes n Tapes, who was hibernating in his bus behind the Mojave tent. Sparklehorse was headlining the aforementioned tent, but with a very small turnout. So much so that Josh and I just felt bad about it. They are a great band but for some reason considering the consistent success of all tents at all times of day around the festival, there was nobody there. It momentarily bummed us out, but we washed away our sorrows on their huge new bus (courtesy of some video game system) with a few beers. Tapes dudes are the nicest guys in the business. If you get a chance to say hello , please do so. So friendly and unpretentious. Looking forward to seeing them play tomorrow.

Afterwards, I received a text from Girl Talk asking “where the party was at?” and I informed him at CSS’s house in Palm Springs. I headed back there and found myself in a 3 hour pool party with them and Tilly and the Wall (charming folks) and a surprise visit from Of Montreal’s Kevin Barnes, sans Raggity Andy cheek circles. We splashed around and played on a flotation noodles. The cops eventually came and I attempted to get a pic of Kevin and the copper, who informed me he was on patrol, not a photo shoot. My final result? A picture of Kevin looking sad. More in the AM! Gotta wake up early tomorrow to be fresh for our early slot. Hopefully it won’t be super empty, but if I weren’t playing I’d probably be asleep so I don’t blame anyone for skipping out!!

4:13am: Can’t sleep because someone is puking in the bathroom just a few feet away from our bedroom door.

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.