countessian

post-coachella come down

Things I Learnt at Coachella 2009:

• Sleep is nice but basically optional
• American painkillers are useless. Stock up on English ones with codeine.
• Keeping your spare battery in a securely zipped compartment does not mean it won’t disappear in a blood-drenched, wristband-tearing, zip-breaking frenzy
• Bringing extras of things like ear plugs, allergy medicine and plasters, etc, will make people more likely to lend you their spare batteries (cheers, Darren!)
• In the middle of the desert when everyone’s giving up on everything, people will be very impressed if you can coordinate your ear plugs with your nail varnish (lilac)
• Do whatever it takes to get some sort of parking priviledges. Do not—this is serious—park in the normal car parks, if you ever want to leave. If you have to file the day’s photos before you sleep, do not underestimate how long it will take to find your car and get through the traffic. I’m not joking, kids. I don’t care if you have to sleep with the drummer from some band you’ve never heard of in order to pinch his Lot A parking pass—you must find a way to park somewhere sensible.
• Mid-afternoon sunlight is a mortal enemy to your health, sanity and ability to take photographs
• The rules about who can go where are different depending on whom you talk to, so keep trying
• If all else fails, meet by the fountain
• Bring lots of cash, especially if you’re new to the concept of churros. You will want to eat many of them, and they’re $4 each.
• Processing your pictures every night before you go to sleep will make your return to reality much easier (ie, you can go directly to the beach instead of to work)
• Further to the previous point, it’s much easier to transition between shooting and processing if you’re sitting in a hot tub
• Some stages are better lit than others (that was a terrible Morrissey joke, sorry)
• All the photographs are either someone you sort of know or someone who sort of knows someone you sort of know, and you should talk to them
• Waterproof mascara. Waterproof everything. They’re just being polite by calling it “water” proof, and if you’re not dripping sweat then you’re doing it wrong.
• Be early to the photo pit for everything, always, unless you’re late, at which point you can probably get to the front of the crowd if you dance instead of push
• If you must sit down for a min, do it somewhere photogenic where attractive people will walk by
• Watch other photographers setting up impromptu artist portraits and realise that they’re just as bad at it as you
• Much as I hate to disagree with Public Enemy about anything, ever, do believe the hype and see as many of the bands the other photographers wrote about on Twitter as possible. It’s only three days. It’s only 100 degrees. You can do it. Suck it up.
• Don’t miss shooting Fucked Up, ever, unless you want people to be pointing at you and shaking their heads sadly for the rest of the day
• T A K E M O R E P I C T U R E S

And Now, The Galleries:

• Friday: The Hold Steady, M Ward, The Black Keys, The Ting Tings, White Lies, Franz Ferdinand, Leonard Cohen, Morrissey, A Place to Bury Strangers, Patton & Rahzel, The Presets, Paul McCartney
• Saturday: Ida Maria, Liars, Joss Stone, Blitzen Trapper, Dr Dog, Superchunk, Amanda Palmer, TV on the Radio, Fleet Foxes, Theivery Corporation, MIA, Jenny Lewis, Glass Candy, Turbo Negro
• Sunday: Friendly Fires, Fucked Up, No Age, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Lykke Li, Peter Bjorn & John, Anthony & The Johnsons, Murder City Devils, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Late of the Pier, My Bloody Valentine, The Horrors, Public Enemy, The Kills, The Cure, Throbbing Gristle
• People, including girls in glow-in-the-dark bikinis
• More People and a small toy mushroom that reads “your music is what keeps me sain”, which is possibly the best thing I saw all weekend

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009 at 10:43 am. It is filed under documentary, music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.