Ok, I'll admit I've been a little lazy recently although I've had other things to think about lately, not least of which was all the G20 events/protests dominating the news over that last week or so.. This'll be my last of my NXNE-related posts although it's more photo-oriented than commentary. Apologies to the artists - it's not that you don't deserve the commentary, but I'm just plained pooped. So let's just keep this short and sweet.
Avi Buffalo: photo by Michael Ligon
As you already know, on Saturday June 19 rather than take in the multitude of NXNE events happening around the city, I was at the Toronto Island Concert at which I caught Beach House, Band of Horses, Broken Social Scene and of course Pavement. After a day in the sun and then ending the night with Pavement's set ending before 11 pm, I waited for the ferry and eventually made it back to the city before midnight and decided to head to Lee's Palace where I caught about half of Avi Buffalo's half-hour long set. The two-guy, two-girl band all the way from Long Beach, California, barely out of highschool, were surprisingly tight, with lead singer Avigdor Zahner-Isenberg sounding a little like Flaming Lips Wayne Coyne and the band merging askewed pop tendencies with a bit of a jam band sensibility. Ok, I'm not sure how attractive that sounds but take it from me, they were good. Or at least take Sub Pop's word - the label released the band's self-titled debut full-length this past April.
I'd have stuck around for synth post-punks Cold Cave but my hunger was peaking at that point and I had to bail next door to get a burrito, at which point I headed home for some well-deserved rest.
Kid Sister: photo by Michael Ligon
Sunday June 20 was a bit of an afterthought but with the weather being so good that day and with De La Soul headlining a free show at Yonge Dundas Square, I thought I'd probably regret it if I didn't go. I headed down to the Square as Chicago's Kid Sister was rapping up a storm against the scintillating electro beats provided by her DJ. It was actually quite good, especially if you're in the mood for that sort of stuff. The crowd wasn't nearly as sizeable as it would be for De La Soul, but there were definitely some fans and or converts in the crowd. I can only imagine she worked up the crowd even stronger when she played Wrongbar in Parkdale later that night.
De La Soul: photo by Michael Ligon
And finally, De La Soul! The crowd was definitely pumped. Although I've heard and bits and pieces of their catalogue, it's their debut full-length Three Feet High and Rising which I'm most fond of. So it was definitely a treat to hear classics like "Potholes In My Lawn" and "Me, Myself, and I" (with the rappers prompting the audience to sing a certain vocal part of the song). After all these years, it's impressive to see and hear how articulate and full of flow they're rapping is. But they do like to get the party started as well, and they prompted the audience to chant or shot at just the right moments to keep the audience into it. The group mentioned several times there love for Toronto fans, even giving a shout out to a few people including some local rappers like Kardinal Offishall who popped onto stage briefly, although unfortunately did not end up rapping with the group. Had the group not mentioned the Much Music Video Awards and thanking the crowd for coming down to see them instead, I'd totally forgot that the MMVA's were happening at the same time around the corner and down Queen St. Now let's see if those kids at the MMVA's are listening to Justin Bieber in 10 years.
Stephen Malkmus of Pavement: photo by Michael Ligon
Update [June 29/2010, 11:27 pm]: My photos from the show have been up on my Flickr for a few days now but I just added the link below today. Sorry for the wait.
Traditionally the Saturday night of NXNE has always been my favourite night of the festival. Over the past several years at least it seems I'd been kicking off my music activities earlier in the day either by checking out afternoon sets at Yonge Dundas Square or seeing music film during the NXNE film festival. However, then news of seminal indie band Pavement's reunion tour coming to Olympic Island on June 19(the Saturday night of NXNE) was announced and I had to make a decision whether it'd be Pavement or NXNE for me. Adding to the difficulty of the decision was the fact that Iggy & The Stooges would be headlining a free show at Yonge Dundas Square on the 19th. As tempting as a free Igg & The Stooges show was, I chose the Pavement show as I'd kick myself if I missed that show. In addition to Pavement, also playing were Broken Social Scene, Band of Horses and Beach House, plus Timber Timbre and a Toronto Revue consisting of The Beauties, Flash Lightnin' and Zeus. Not originally part of NXNE, in a bit of musical comraderie, the Toronto Island Concert latched onto NXNE by offering free admission to the first 250 NxNE Bracelets/Badges at the Mainland Ferry Box Office on the day of the show. Hey, considering the capacity of the island, 250 free admittants might not seem much, but it was a start. In any case the show was sold out.
(4:00 PM @ Olympic Island) - Beach House (Baltimore, Maryland) I got a late start to my day, missing by the Toronto Revue's and Timber Timbre's opening sets but arrived prior to Beach House's set. I manage to get a sweet spot on the left side of the stage virtually at the front of the stage and I'm glad I ate beforehand, did the bathroom thing, and had a full bottle of water with me because near the front was were I remained for the entire day and night. That's something I've never done at a festival and maybe won't do ever again, but it did guarantee me a sweet spot for all the bands I saw. With the midday sun beating down, it was the pale white duo of Beach House comprised of Victoria Legrand on vox/organ and Alex Scally on electric guitar, joined by a live drummer, to start the outdoor festival off for me. I saw them for the first time live in September 2007 at The Mod Club and while I appreciated the band's gauzy brand of subdued pop performed with guitar and organ, my genuine satisfaction remained elusive that night. To my surprise though this time around, there seemed to be more bounce in their step, whether that might be because of the live drummer or just because the songs off their most recent album "Teen Dream" are that much stronger. More satisfying than I expected and a nice way for me to start the day.
(5:15 PM @ Olympic Island) - Band of Horses (Seattle, Washington) Band of Horses had already committed to playing the Toronto Island Concert back in January 2010 when show was announced so it was mighty nice of the band to play an intimate free show at the Horseshoe last month in advance of their major label debut Infinite Arms. Unfortunately I didn't get into the show at the Horseshoe. The first time I'd seen the band live was at the Phoenix in November 2007 although I wasn't in the best headspace at the time to enjoy that show at all. Considering these facts, I was looking forward to seeing Band of Horses this time. Led by Ben Bridwell, the band sauntered through tunes from all three of their albums, and while their were some delectable selections ("Is There a Ghost", "The Funeral", "The Great Salt Lake"), there seemed to be a bit of disconnect with the audience, perhaps to do with the minimal stage banter, and except for Ben and bassist Bill Reynolds, there was a lacklustre stage presence. Perhaps not what the kids were after, but the country-ish song "Older" with lead vocals sung by keyboardist Ryan Monroe was one of the highlights of the set for me. But such highlights couldn't detract from the fact that the band weren't owning the stage as I'd hope; they played decently but somehow I just didn't feel the passion.
(6:45 PM @ Olympic Island) - Broken Social Scene (Toronto, Ontario) It seems that a BSS show can either be full of surprises or terribly predictable and for the most part I think last Saturday's set was unfortunately the latter. Of course, if this had been you're first time seeing BSS live, you might have found it extremely satisfying. However, when you've seen BSS live as many times as I have, it's the unpredictable moments that I'm usually hoping for. Last year's BSS show at Harbourfront was full of surprises and was generally regarded by most people (including myself) as one of, if not their best show ever. That said, this current BSS set had it's share of good moments. It's always kind of fun to guess which of the three ladies (Leslie Feist, Emily Haines, Amy Millan) of BSS renaissance period will show up, and while I guessed Emily might, I was totally surprised that Leslie also did. With Stars getting ready to tour and to promote their new album The Five Ghosts I just assumed Amy wouldn't make it and that I guessed correct. It was totally cool to hear Leslie and Emily trade off vocals on "7/4 Shoreline". The live set did warm me up to the new album Forgiveness Rock Record with cuts like "Forced To Love" and the delicate vocals of Lisa Lobsinger on the electro-pop goodness of "All To All". Other guests included Mr. Sebastian Grainger singing back-up on a few tracks as well as Pavement's Scott "Spiral Stairs" Kannberg joining in on guitar near the end. The band did come back for an encore and of course, in honour of the occasion, and if I recall correctly Kevin Drew saying that he'd be an idiot if they did not play it, BSS performed a balls-out rendition of "Ibi Dreams Of Pavement (Better Day)". So overall, a mix of the familiar with a few surprises, and even if it 's not near the best I've ever seen, it was still pretty good.
(9:00 PM @ Olympic Island) - Pavement (Stockton, California) I wish there was some sort of Pavement gigography but surfin the net I came across info that Pavement played the Palladium in 1994, the Phoenix in '97 and the Guvernment in 1999. During their Olympic Island set, Stephen Malkmus mentioned that in the early nineties, they played Lee's Palace. I know Pavement played Lollapalooza in 1995 when the roaming festival stopped in Barrie at Molson Park. And somehow I missed all of these shows. Like many, their 1994 major label debut full-length Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain was my introduction to the band and since then I've liked the band a lot. I'll admit it's never been a 'love'; I've been on-again-off-again in listening them and their noisier bits were things I tended to skip over, but after they disbanded in 199 and more recently with the deluxe reissues of their albums over the last several years I've grown fonder of them. Maybe it's just that they remind me of the 90's when life wasn't as complicated or stressful. Or maybe it's the old adage, absence makes the heart grow fonder. Now 2010, Pavement have decided that a decade is a an appropriate length of time that they've been away and so reuniting for fans (and maybe moreso for the money), I finally got to cross them off my concert wishlist and it was everything I'd hoped for.
I'd read in the past that when Pavement toured in their heyday they were quite sloppy musically, but for their set at Olympic Island last Saturday night, they were much tighter than I expected, for the most part resembling their recorded material, and that was just fine with me. The setlist (which you can view over at Brooklyn Vegan) leaned towards the familiar, meaning the band's singles as well as a heavy dose of Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain, with various nifty album cuts interspersed. They wasted no time to pump out the 'hits' as they dove head first into "Cut Your Hair" to the delight of the fans, then segued next into "Trigger Cut". Other favourites of mine included "Grounded", "Gold Soundz", "Range Life" and main set closer "Summer Babe". The band came back for a three song encore and I practically collapsed when they ended off with "Stop Breathin". I was never bored for a moment and was satisfied with the pacing of the set which contained one great song after another. Member Bob Nastanovich was one to behold with his idiosyncratic approach to back-up singing and his hard-core-ish screams. Spiral Stairs played the guitar arrangements with vigor. It was fascinating to watch Stephen as vocalist sing these songs again as I'd always imagined he never ever wanted to, but it seemed he was geuninely enjoying the experience. And Last but not least, you have Steve West on drums and Mark Ibold on bass holding down the rhythm section quietly but solidly. These are all just random thoughts of mine but all those fuzzy good feelings of a great show will remain. When it was over, Malkmus said with a combination of cheekiness and perhaps a little sentimentality, "Don't Forget The 90's".
The minute I saw this Sand Art Dress on Modcloth, I knew it would be the perfect for our trip to Seaside, Oregon.
Playing in the dunes, feeding the seals at the aquarium (they have a rehabilitation and breeding program), checking out the largest Candy store on the Pacific Coast - eating chocolate covered bacon and Pringles? - lunch at the best restaurant in town (for a more thorough review, I'll be writing it up in my travel blog soon).
Sand dollar earrings and ring, Forever 21
Suede sandals, Gojane
ASOS bag
Mmmm seal food
This was Charles (don't worry, their habitat is way bigger than it looks)
Octopus, though yummy, are creepy
Candy, candy, candy
Twilight Candy? This has gone too far
MMMmmm Chocolate-covered BACON!!!
Bought a shitload of Salt Water Taffy
Best combo EVOR, no?
The best seafood platter with famous chowder at Norma's Diner - so good!
DON'T FORGET TO ENTER MY GIVEAWAY FOR AN ALIX AND ANI FEATHER BANGLE - SEE HERE TO ENTER!
While my previous night's NXNE schedule was confined to a relatively small part of the city[Queen West, from Dovercourt to just west of Dufferin], my second night of NXNE had me venue-hopping taking me from Little Italy on College, to Little Portugal at Dufferin and Ossington and back up to the Annex at Lee's Palace. The Taste of Little Italy festival took place on the same night in Little Italy on College St which caused some TTC delays for me and eventually led me to scrap by 11 pm timeslot plans but otherwise the thrill of the venue-hop was in full effect.
(08 PM @ Sneaky Dee's) - Dark Mean (Hamilton, Ontario) I'd been coming across the Hamilton band's name and read a few good things along the way since last year and had only given them a cursory listen, so I decided NXNE was as good an opportunity to check them out. Strange as it seemed to watch a band in Sneaky Dee's when the sun was still up and no curtains covering the windows there was a decent crowd on hand to witness the seven-member group's set. The band's polite demeanor aside, there was a good deal of personality in the group's dark-tinged pop rock music. I was reminded a bit of The National in the band's textures in guitars, keys, horns and rhythm section but The National are merely a point of reference - Dark Mean by all means are distinguishable from them. Their live presence is somewhat lacklustre and they haven't yet grasped the skill of stage banter, but these may be one of the times where it may be preferable to listen to the recorded material before checking them out live again. What better way to check out their recorded material than free tracks - you can download the band's "Music Box" EP, released this past February, here.
(09 PM @ Whippersnapper) - Inlets (Brooklyn, New York) With Whippersnapper Gallery my next stop of the night, this meant a stroll through the crowds taking in the Taste of Italy festival on College St. Killing a few minutes at Soundscapes to purchase the new issue of The Big Takeover, I then strolled over to the second floor gallery Space where the Whippersnapper Gallery resides. I'd got a few e-mails about Inlets which is one of the reasons why they were on my radar. Inlets is the outlet of songwriter Sebastian Krueger, and while he'd played solo for part of the set he also played part of it as a duo with a drummer accompanying him. With Mr. Krueger on vocals and guitar, his music treads the same baroque pop terrain of Toronto's own Owen Pallett with equally satisfying results. The accompanying drums at times added a slight more grit but otherwise it was a lovely set in the rather intimate settings of the gallery space witnessed by a decent crowd of spectactors cross-legged on the floor.
(10 PM @ Whippersnapper) - Silje Nes (Norway) While the first two acts of the night were must-sees for me, the rest of the night was more tentative. I did end up choosing to stay at the Whippersnapper to check out Norweigan singer-songwriter Silje Nes whose minimalist pop songs on her MySpace I remember liking. It also didn't hurt that I could stay longer in the relative comforts of the gallery rather than venture back into the throngs of the Taste of Little Italy festival happening outside. With Ms. Nes seated at centre stage and flanked by a violinist on her right and a drummer on her left, it was a set of whispered vocals, and minimalist pop instrumentation. There was a folksy ambience to her songs, and a bit of an experimental edge in the percussion[I don't think I've ever seen a drummer scratch his arm close to a mic as a percussive element]. The blond-haired Ms. Nes obviously exudes a natural physical beauty the Norweigans are known for but her music showed quite a bit of depth that one might not have expected. Her forthcoming full-length is entitled Opticks with the first single being "Crystals" which you can hear over at her MySpace. She's currently on a North American tour, and also hitting one final Canadian date on July 2 when she plays the Sled Island Festival in Calgary at the Arrata Opera Center, and I highly recommend you check her out.
(12 PM @ The Garrison) - The Soft Pack (San Diego, California) I missed my 11 PM timeslot choice [which would have been X's John and Exene performing an acoustic set at The Great Hall] due to TTC delays. Once I finally caught a streetcar, which turned out to be a rerouted #506 which would be running along Dundas St, it seemed logical to head to The Garrison for midnight where San Diego four-member outfit The Soft Pack would be playing. When I arrived at the venue, Best Coast were still playing to a packed and as I would find out extremely warm venue. I had to wait in line shortly, but I was able to get in after the throngs emptied the venue after Best Coast's set. Don't worry, though - the venue would soon fill up again for The Soft Pack who were coming up at midnight. In any case I was right up front for The Soft Pack. I'd last seen The Soft Pack live in March 2009 at Lee's Palace when they opened for White Lies and Friendly Fires. It seems then they've caused a minor stir in the indie rock scene, slowly building a loyal following. Granted I didn't remember much about my previous experience with them but they soon proved how good they are. Visually, they present a general slacker wholesomeness[think, how Pavement looked like], but musically there was a gritty, garage, punkiness to their songs. For all intensive purposes they are a great rock n' roll band and whatever garage/punk tendencies the band has are displayed with a refreshingly modern perspective rather than dated nostalgia. Put guitarist Matty McLoughlin as one of my favourite aspects of the band and one of the most fun guitarists in recent memory to watch onstage - no gimmickry or wankery from him, but rather a guitarist who plays with gusto and looks cool doing it.
(01 AM @ Lee's Palace) - PS I Love You (Kingston, Ontario) To end off the night, I chose Kingston guitar/drums duo PS I Love You who'd been racking up points in the local music scene over the last little while, especially with their split 7-inch with Toronto 'it' artist Diamond Rings released back in August of 2009. John O'Regan aka would eventually joing the duo on stage, even mentioning that the duo were his favourite band. Such accolades would seem like hyperbolic praise but after hearing PS I Love You, I realized such praise was not without credibility as the duo worked up the far-from-full but decent sized crowd. What I'd heard from the band live was a bit different from the samples on their MySpace; their recorded output based in drums and guitar also included some electronic keyboard flourishes at times, although their set at Lee's Palace last Friday night was pure drums and guitar. My best description of their songs is indiepop music with occasional grungy/metal guitar inflections. With the guitar/drums duo being commonplace nowadays [The White Stripes, Japandroids, The Pack A.D.], PS I Love You have succeeded in carving out their own niche and not sounding like those other bands. Fantastic.
Thanks to DesignerApparel.com, a shopping search engine that carries hundreds of brands from Versace to Prada, to Lilly Pulitzer, I have the chance to offer one lucky Anywhere But Here reader to win this:
The gorgeous bracelet is made up of a set of 3 wire bangles in a patented expandable design. Lacquered feather at one bangle. 2.25" diameter. Gold-plated recycled metal.
A bit about Alex and Ani: Jewelry line Alex and Ani (named after creator/designer Carolyn Rafaelian's daughters) was founded on two guiding concepts: 1. Jewelry should not only adorn the wearer's body, it should also empower by connecting her to a mystical, spiritual narrative. 2. Every woman should have a perfect jewelry fit. The brand achieves this through sacred symbols and stones bedecking their offerings, and the signature expandable collection features an adjustable sliding closure mechanism, so size is never an issue.
This contest will run for one week and is open to all of my readers. To enter, all you need to do is leave a comment below.
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Personally, I love jewelry with a feather motif, such as these ASOS earrings I wore yesterday.
I paired them with a Forever 21 dress, Botkier bag and these snazzy new sandals from GoJane.
Aren't they devilish? They actually kind of hurt if you're the type of person who likes to cross their legs at the ankles (OW) but I love how luxe they look, despite the $15 price tag. When I got them, the zipper didn't actually zip open, so I cut the fabric underneath off to make it functional and more flattering to the leg when you zip it down. My only problem is perhaps finding the proper items to wear them with - they don't go with everything!
Look! A bunny!
Found the best Cheek Stain - Make Up Forever makes one that's not only waterproof but extremely highly-pigmented. A little (and by little I mean a tiny press of your finger) goes a long way for a sunny, coral glow on lips and cheeks.
Don't mind the boob shot - check out the ASOS tooth necklace, sorta morbid, sorta my favourite :)
Tomorrow I'm heading south to Oregon for the next few days - I'm very excited and I WILL be blogging while I'm gone. I've got so many outfits just perfect for a mini-beach vacay ;P
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This year's NXNE was arguably the best Toronto's had since it's exception in 1994, at the very least the best I've experienced since I started regularly attending the festival in 2004. Although the festival officially kicked off on Wednesday June 16, it was the next day[Thursday June 17] that the festival kicked into high gear with most people, like myself, beginning their venue hopping. Having booked off June 17 and 18 from work, I devoted some of my free time on the 17th to finally give the NXNE schedule a good look, eventually coming up with a rudimentary schedule that had me confined to the Queen West corridor for my first night of NXNE. Here's how it went:
(09 PM @ The Great Hall) - Demon's Claws (Montreal, Quebec) Having read about this young garage trio from Montreal touring with the likes of Black Lips and King Khan & BBQ Show piqued my interest to check them out. That, combined with the fact that their set preceded bands Women and Best Coast who I really wanted to se who were also playing the same venue later that night. Unfortunately, whatever qualities the band have didn't seem to be on display that night. While the venue was far from full at the time, neither was it empty, so really there was no excuse for the band not to bust loose and show some energy. The performance seemed a little studied, like they were trying to hit all the correct notes and rhythms, and in the end it seemed they hardly broke a sweat.
(10 PM @ The Great Hall) - Women (Calgary Alberta) It wasn't my first time seeing Calgary indie four-piece Women live. I'd first saw them live at last year's Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona, Spain whose angular instrumentation, jagged melodies and solid rhythms made an impression on me. By this time of the night, the venue had nicely filled in, obviously people there to start off their night with Women, or at least set themselves up comfortably for buzz band Best Coast who were coming up next. The pace of the set progressed nicely, so nice, that at the end I was left wanting more. The band's debut album Women was released through Flemish Eye / Jagjaguwar in 2008 and the band will be releasing their follow-up Public Strain through the same outlets on September 28.
(11 PM @ The Great Hall) - Best Coast (Los Angeles, California) It's always fun to catch a buzz band or two during a music festival, and one such band of this year's NXNE was Los Angeles trio Best Coast. Marrying sunkissed-California pop music with Shangri-La's garage rock with just a touch of melancholy, it's a formula could be limiting but fortunately the band write such delectable melodies that they transcend those limitations. It was a bit seredipitous that the band were on just as their beloved Lakers were in the final minutes of securing their win in the NBA Finals over the Celtics. Vocalist Bethany Cosentino prompted the audience for the score with a member of the audience yelling out that Boston sucks and Ms. Cosentino responding back cheekily 'you suck'. I'm neither a Kobe hater or Lakers hater, but I was going for the Celtics myself so 'boo' to Bethany for cheering on the Lakers but 'yay' to the band's great set. The band's as-yet-untitled and label-less debut LP is apparently to come out later this year according to Pitchfork.
(12 PM @ The Great Hall) - CocoComa (Chicago, Illinois) The midnight timeslot wasn't written in stone for me although I'd tentatively pencilled in seeing Toronto's The Coast down the street at the Gladstone Ballroom. Before I took off, and partly on Mechanical Forest Sound's recommendation, I stayed for several songs during the intriguely-named CocoComa's set. Featuring the husband & wife duo of Bill & Lisa Roe, TJ Brock on bass and Anthony Cozzi on organ, the band's sound has been described as garage-punk. They were as authentic, energetic and adept at their genre as I'd hoped and really made up for Demon's Claw's lacklustre set earlier that evening.
(12 PM @ Gladstone Ballroom) - The Coast (Toronto, Ontario) While I'd been enjoying CocoComa's set over at The Great Hall, I made a conscious decision to leave partway to catch Toronto's The Coast who I hadn't seen live since their instore at Sunrise Records last year as part of NXNE. The four-piece outfit consisting of Ben, Ian, Jord and Luke, was also featuring a fifth member who I'm not sure is a permanent member of the group, but was adding some keyboards and background vox on occasion. As young as the core members are, this fifth member looked even younger than them. Unfortunatley I only caught several songs, none of which I recognized, and I believe some and or all were new songs. The band seems to have strayed from their Brit-infuenced, anthemic beginnings, opting nowadays for a more straightforward pop-rock sound. It doesn't leave me as breathless like they used to but, they still hit the mark more often than not. For the intimate settings of the Gladstone, it was a fairly full house, and if one thing is consisent, the band continues to maintain a loyal female contingent.
(01 AM @ Wrongbar) - Glass Candy (Portland, Oregon) The final set of the night for me would be to see Portland, Oregon, electro-disco duo Glass Candy playing down the street from the Gladstone at Wrongbar. The last time I'd seen them play live was back in October 2009 at The Garrison. As Glass Candy initiated me into the then-new-to-me venue The Garrison, this time around the duo did the same with Wrongbar, a venue I'd never been to before that night. Like The Garrison, the packed house onhand for Glass Candy in Wrongbar made for a warm venue. While the duo's set back in October 2009 had the benefit of being a full headlining set, NXNE's restriction of set times to approximately half an hour in length meant that Glass Candy's set was over far sooner than anyone felt it should have. Glass Candy were pretty hot almost right from the start, producer/keyboardist Johnny Jewel at the helm of keyboard/sampler duties and working out the grooves with vigor and skill, and lead vocalist Ida No the very definition of disco-soul diva, prancing around the stage and singing and playing up to crowd. And the crowd were eating up every last bit of it. Too band it was over so soon.
Well, here's an epic story I never got the chance to tell (it's long, just as the day was long):
So, the day is April 18th. The Gorillaz just finished their set to a rather confused crowd at Coachella (Cloud of Unknowing was a rather melancholic song to end on, you can read about the whole show HERE).
We moved rather swiftly out of the Empire Polo Fields, considering there was about 75 thousand of us leaving at once.
An hour later (after the walk to the car, leaving the venue in the car, fighting traffic in the Indio area) we make it back to our hotel. It's 1AM at this point.
We pack up our things and then - we are off. At 2AM. Driving from Indio, California to San Francisco.
Yes, you see we had a plane to catch at two in the afternoon. The drive is eight hours long. We originally were going to wake up at 5 AM and go but my mother - God bless her - suggested we don't sleep and pull an all-nighter. Just get in the car after the concert and drive to San Fran - that way we'll beat the crazy LA/Coachella traffic and not miss our plane.
So that was the plan. I was tired beyond hell, but I was armed with snacks, Faith No More blaring from the speakers and two giant cans of Red Bull. In the back, Mike slept, preparing to take over the drive in about four hours.
Surprisingly, there was a lot of traffic on the 10 heading West. Not surprisingly, I took a wrong turn - the signs come up so fast and by the time you realize it, you don't have time to cross over four lanes of traffic. So I ended up going to Riverside, which ironically, we accidently drove through when we came down to Coachella days earlier.
After Riverside, I hooked on to another highway that was heading North and again missed the turn off to Pasedena. I am normally a VERY good navigator but at the point in the night, it's three AM and I am freaking hallucinating at the lights on the road. Also, you know, I wasn't able to read the map, it was dark and I've never driven myself in this area before. But I knew that if I just headed North to San Bernadino, I could turn West somewhere around there.
Well, I overshot San Bernadino, kept driving up some dark mountain pass and freaking out in an increasing manner. The Red Bull wasn't keeping me alert, it was keeping me paranoid and scared.
Finally I decided to pull over in Victorville and figure out where the fuck we were.
I'm glad I did because I probably would have ended up in Las Vegas had I kept driving North. Anyway, I made Mike take over because I was in NO form to drive at this point. I tried to sleep in the back while Mike took us on the West heading highway.
I barely slept... the highway was two-lane, deserted, going through a blackened desert, with barely anyone else on the road. How did we know we were going the right way.
Finally I raised my head at 5AM after 45 minutes of shoddy sleep. The sun was coming up on the dry hills where pricey suburban homes perched. Traffic was increasing and I got the feeling we were heading... South.
Yup. The sign told us there was only so many hours till Los Angeles.
LOS ANGELES? We needed to go to San Francisco!
There was a minor freakout from both of us as we thought we had driven in a circle. Luckily, again, though the highway branched onto our beloved I-5. We headed North, not South, this time. I breathed a sigh of relief, fell asleep for maybe another hour.
I woke up somewhere in some town just outside of the LA outskirts, after the "Grapevine" hills that leave Valencia. We had breakfast at McDonalds. I felt like shit and Mike was done with driving. It was my turn again and I did not know how I was going to pull this off. See, I don't do well without sleep. I don't even speak or walk properly. DRIVING? Crazy.
But somehow, I got in that SUV and piloted it North on the I-5, all the way to San Francisco. OK, I accidently went through Oakland which robbed me of more time and patience (traffic, holy hell), but we eventually made it to San Fran and to the airport with time to spare.
At this point, we were both zonked but managing. Some yummy clam chowder at the SF airport did us some good.
Then we got on the plane for Seattle - that's where my actual car was parked and we had tickets to see Conan O'Brien that night. WHEW! What a day, am I right?
We parked at a well-priced parking garage near Seattle centre, then had dinner at a nearby bar before the show.
My comfy travel outfit. Ignore our zero sleep faces. We just drove from Palm Springs, OK?
Conan was an amazing way to end our somewhat miserable, somewhat brilliant vacation. He put on such a good show. I'm sure you all know about the show and what he does, etc, but the highlights were definitely Reggie Watts, the Meatloaf Bat, Jimmy Levino and his band, Andy and Conan's beautiful repetoire, the Chuck Norris clips, Conan serenading us in the audience and the special guests - Eddie Vedder and that other dude from Pearl Jam... they did a cover of The Who's Baba O'Reilly which was brilliant, check it out below.
Eddie Vedder...
YA GOTTA WATCH! Eddie Vedder @ Conan O Brien's Prohibited Tour covering The Who's Baba O'Reilly
Conan high-fives Vedder (waving) and proclaims to us that was the most awesome thing he has ever seen. He meant it!
Conan is inspired by Vedder... and Elvis, I guess
Coolest Conan ever
Epic ending!
After the show we were elated, despite not having slept for 36 HOURS. I've watched Conan O'Brien since 1995!!! 1995, peeps. What a great way to end our vacay, right?
Happy smiles - Coachella wrist band still intact
NOPE. Turns out the car lot we parked in locked up only minutes before we got there. Mike, running high on no sleep and adrenaline, somehow scaled the wall and got into the parking lot and tried to open the gate from the inside. NO LUCK. But man, was I proud of his monkey ability!
SO, we had to call the tow truck who charged us FIFTY BUCKS to open the gate. MOTHER F*CKERS. So, it seemed like our bad luck on this disaster trip wasn't over yet...
Once we got our car out and got past the injustice of it all, we STILL weren't done. It was 11PM and we had a 2 and a bit hour drive from Seattle to our home in Vancouver. SIGH.
Mike drove at first until he started veering off the road (just a tad) and then I took over. I was kinda hallucinating while praying I didn't kill us, but by the time we got through the border crossing and into British Columbia, I started to relax a little.
We finally got back to the city at about 2 AM. I am not sure how I managed to get us there in one piece, but it happened.
You know that scene in Almost Famous when William Miller finally gets home, he sees his bed and throws himself on it with open arms? That's pretty much how I felt to a tee.
Luckily, we had just done a little bit of cleaning up and redecorating before we left, so it was even more welcoming than ever.
Speaking of, I have the honour of doing a review for AllModern.com and other CSN stores - something I am really excited about because our apartment still needs some fixing up. I'm not sure what I'm going to pick...headboards for our bed, wine glasses, wine racks, cool wall art decor, kitchenware, new snazzy pillows for our ugly couch? I'm very excited, they have so many cool, quality items!
I'll be sure to tell you all about it though AND - better news - I'll be doing ANOTHER giveaway with this company sometime in the near future, a treat for all you readers :P Vegas Princess won the pricey gift certificate last time - who will it be this time?
OH RIGHT - I have a new layout. I've had the Classic Template for four years now but Blogger has made some annoying changes. For one, I can only have three posts on one page and there was NO way to link to older or newer posts. So basically I was missing half of my blog. Anyway, I had to change to the new template - something maybe I should have done a while ago - and luckily, though it will still only show 3 posts, least I can link to previous posts at the bottom. Anyway, change is good. Hope you like it!
