It happened and it was awesome.

I am normally a really big fan of planning things out and executing; however, I'm equally comfortable acting on a whim. Never did Coachella, but I decide to go for it. It turned out to be better than my most thought-out decisions. It was a musical experience I'm sure to remember for a lifetime. I had never been to a musical festival on this scale--I had never been to California--I had never been west of Austin, Texas. That all changed heading out to the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.

I WANT TO SEE LA

I flew in to LAX with a buddy and spent a fun day in LA. Ate at small breakfast spot called Eggslut.

Cool sausage, egg and cheese sandwhich. Walked Venice Beach. Saw the Walk of Fame and the Hollywood Sign. Visited a dispensary. Visited with a friend (Hi Jackie!). A great day.

DAY 1

It's really a desert. No joke. Beautiful mountains. Wind farms. It was very different scenery than I was ever used to seeing living in concrete jungles my entire life. What a change of pace. We got to the festival and set up camp. We thugged it out-- we slept in the rented SUV like a boss, tentless. Let me music begin.

Daniel Caesar

Daniel Caesar was the first performer I saw. A Grammy nominated act, Daniel Caesar has been steadily buzzing. I first heard of him through The Joe Budden Podcast; afterwards, I checked out his debut album, Freudian. Very enjoyable. His live show was great. Great band. Very gospel-y; I felt I was in church for sure. He delivered solid vocals and he plays good guitar. A great way to kick off the fest.

The War On Drugs

This wans't a band I had heard of before the festival; however, my buddy strongly suggested I check them out. They were epic, the sound was huge, every snare was full and reverberated throughout the atmosphere. They sounded a bit like U2; they were super layered and tight. I'll have to listen to them more after checking them out. A Florida friend knows the bass player and was really excited that I ended up seeing them. Small world.

Kygo

Definitely wanted to make it a point to get a good helping of EDM here. Never seen Kygo and I knew a few of his tunes. It was a decent set. Disheartening to hear Kygo tell us that Avicii passed. He cited him as a main inspiration.

SZA

Had to check out the TDE songstress, SZA. I'm not the biggest fan ever, but seeing her perform and witnessing her beauty in person was necessary.

Unfortunately, I was pretty disappointed by her set. She seemed like she was giving it her all, but she also seemed tired and out of breath. I didn't expect Whitney Houston, but her vocal chops were not the greatest and her band was pretty average. The played each song pretty much like the record except a very funky ending of "The Weekend".

Still fun to see her. Khalid joined her on stage for a tune, "Young Dumb & Broke". He would end up joining quite a few acts over the course of the fest.

The Weekend - Funky Version

The Weeknd

After SZA, I hung around to catch The Weeknd (the artist and not the song... hehe). That was a show! He had a very small band, but they were tight! There were seamless transitions between a more live sound and a more synthesized, trap sound. This drummer was a beast! Man was chopping with ease. Abel’s vocals were just as clean and breathtaking live as is on record. He went through all the hits and some old classics for about an hour and forty five minutes. It was a taste of music being performed near the highest level.

Day 2

My body was in pain, specifically my feet. I was exhausted from standing, being pressed against bodies--I’d probably go for the VIP tickets next time. I got out sorta late to the fest recovering from the pain. However, I ate some pop tarts and got back out there.

Alina Baraz

One of the performers I was very interested in seeing live--I had seen some old videos that weren't great. Loved Urban Flora, but I always wondered if she was truly talented or simply benefited from the silky smooth soundbed provided by Galimatias. Turns out… more of the latter.

This was my least favorite performance. She doesn't do much on stage other than stand there, her vocals are very unimpressive, she was low energy, and the band didn't even do the Urban Flora tunes any justice. Some of their arrangements lacked bass--literally there was no bass guitar, sub, 808, nothing; it left the band not sounding as dense and lush as I was accustomed to hearing her. Perturbed, I left early. That "I Don't Even Know Why Though" track from her latest effort The Color Of You did sound awesome though. That's a banger. Overall, still a joy to experience with my own eyes, but I was looking for more.

Can I

Tyler, The Creator

Another artist I wanted to see; not a disappointment. Quite energetic, passionate, he had the crowd going crazy, reveling in loneliness, lots of range in the music he does. Sheesh. Only stayed for a little bit. Long enough to see ASAP Rocky join him for "Who Dat Boy". Good stuff.

Fleet Foxes

A new artist to me, definitely indie, folky vibe. The vocalists in this band sang some of thw sweetest, clearest harmonies my ears have ever heard. Thoroughly enjoyed and will be for sure checking them out again.

Alt-J

Another new artist to me, Alt-J is apparently the Mac keyboard shortcut for the delta symbol. Very strange garage-y indie sound. It was punk mixed with a bit of industrial. Three piece of keys, guitar or bass, and drums; it was very open texturally; often times, there was only bass and drums or keys and drums. A very dope light show. That being said, I got no good pictures of it. :) Very interesting group.

Beyonce

I'm not in the bey hive, but it was an absolute must to see the demigoddess that is Beyonce. It was as advertised and even more. 100,000 ppl. People as far as you can see all cheering in expectation of greatness. Entertainment at the highest level.

And she slayed; I was in formation. HBCU theme on deck, she had a marching band perform with her the entire show. It was quite a sight and sound to behold. Each tune had a very different feel and felt fresh with the marching band in the front of the mix. They went in and out of songs so smoothly, performed tasty mash-ups; it was live a DJ was mixing the set, but it was all played live. Pretty sick stuff.

Dancers, step shows, bringing out Jay-Z, bringing out Destiny's Child--so many nice surprises. The entire show was perfection; she even seemingly playfully scolded Michelle to keep up with her moves. Vocals were excellent, dancers she had were exceptional; whenever one was spotlighted, they killed their time as if their 10 seconds of focus was their own show. No dull moment whatsoever.

Beautiful, intensity, and a tight sound made this a performance to never forget. Long live Queen Bey.

Bey performing Diva to the beat of Drake’s Headlines then band going into Jay-Z’s Hovi Baby

Day 3

Pushed through the pain and got out around 2:00 PM to go hard the last day. Left it all out at the festival. It was a Herculean effort that left my legs still and unable to bend at its conclusion, but it was so, so worth it.

San Holo

I came across San Holo across the Internet, perhaps a Trap Nation playlist. After getting put on to Future Bass, a cool, melodic, trappy tyle of EDM, I searched out my favorite artists. His name was a name I came across a lot. Good set.

He played his popular tunes, some cool unreleased stuff, and played the electric guitar over some of it, something I never knew he did. A solid start to the day.

Russ

This was a performer I came to Coachella to see, if, for nothing else, research. Russ is a rapper/producer I've followed for quite some time now. Russ' work ethic led him to releasing a song on Soundcloud once a week for two and a half years. That led to him doing a partnership with Columbia and now, performing at Coachella. Pure inspiration. He was the inspiration for my three month #dtruthtuesdays song series.

And he had the crowd going. Lots of Russ fans out there. Put on a decent show; everyone knew the words and were fanning out hard. Seeing that with someone whos come up I followed pretty closely was a sight to behold in and of itself.

I even saw first hand some of the snarky attitude that Russ displays that rubs some of his critics the wrong way. Annoyed that his set time was coming to a close, he opted to do "What They Want" acapella after the DJ was forcibly cut off. Seems a little tacky, but he's been doing what he wants and speaking his mind up unto now. I suppose there's no reason to change if what you're doing is working... Props to him.

Cardi B

Not a Cardi lover, but I had to see what the hubbub was about. My goodness,I am glad I did. I saw strippers hanging from what had to be a 20 feet high little jungle-gym like thingy over the stage. Hanging. With no cables in case they fell. Just twerking away. Breathtaking.

Cardi's band was pretty good, she rapped the songs well, didn't seem like she lost a step due to being pregnant. You could see her showing a bit. What a trooper. A really short set, but it was fun just to see her be Cardi in person.

Cardi B performing No Limit

Illenium

Never heard of Illenium before today; my boy put me on. DJ/Producer in the EDM realm, he definitely brings it. Trappy and dubsteppy, his set was definitely heavy on the bass while still providing danceable rhythms. His fans were wearing Illenium baseball jerseys. They were dope.

6LACK

Another R&B act I really dig, 6LACK is a favorite out of the crop of newer R&B acts with the dark, emotional, inspirational vibe. His band came to play, arrangements were fresh, drummer was amazing, and the light show was pretty epic. I'm waiting on a new project from him.

6LACK performing PRBLMS

PRBLMS ending

ODESZA

More EDM for the soul. ODESZA is a group I had my eye on. I've only heard a small handful of their songs; however, they delivered one of the moments in which I nearly cried. I didn't know the tune, but it was an epic, densely layered EDM anthem. There was one moment, one beat where it went from full, dense and loud to instantly silent for one beat, and came back in. It was so clean. It nearly brought tears from my eyes.

They were joined by a drum core adding character to tunes with cool drum work and big fat snare layering. An incredible show; they were my favorite EDM act of the festival.

Eminem

Marshall Mathers. One of my favorite rappers ever, one of the greatest to ever rhyme words, closed out Coachella. I was apprehensive; I was not a fan of his latest album Revival. He's almost too good at rapping. He rapped his way into flows that didn't sound pleasing, lame bars for the sake of rhymes, and not very creative commentary on social issues. However, he brought it with his live show, displayed his self awareness of criticisms, performed a healthy does of tunes we know and love. He even flexed some comedy chops in a routine making fun of his critics and himself,

Em's set featured a couple of guests. 50 Cent was brought out to do a few tunes solo and with Em; In Da Club is undeniably classic. Dr. Dre was brought out and reminded people who forgot about him. Em did MMLP stuff; he performed "Criminal". I was shook to the core.

"Criminal" was admittedly a song I liked back in the year 2000. As I effortlessly recited these lyrics, I realized and remembered how crazy the stuff was saying really is. He really didn't give a f***. Good for him that he still doesn't in the midst of all of his recent artistic criticism. Displaying his godlike rap abilities, Eminem actually rapped "Rap God" and the "Chloroseptic" remix verses. Super impressive. He's a word genius. It was an experience to see him rock the stage.

TAKEAWAYS

Coachella was awesome. I need to see more shows. Life is short. Live it as fun as you can. Put on better live shows, y'all because people are setting the bar high. Cheers, all. Until the next one.

- D Truth

Coachella: A Musical Experience