Coachella 2012 Day 2 Review (and why you should remember where you parked your car)Coachella Day2b 1 E1334518283738

Coachella 2012 Day 2 Review (and why you should remember where you parked your car)

The skies opened up on the second day of Coachella, bringing with it an energy that rejuvenated all of us. Despite numerous (but necessary) distractions, we managed to arrive unscathed at the polo grounds just in time to catch Jacques Lu Cont, whose performance warrants a post all its own. The only way to describe it would be phenomenal: his tight grooves and melodies were the perfect compliment to the beautifully sunny day.

 After a short hiatus to catch AWOLNATION at the Main Stage we headed back to the Sahara tent to watch Zeds Dead perform. Accompanied by Omar Lynx, the dubstep duo brought some insanely heavy bass to the Sahara tent – their unique brand of hip hop-influenced dubstep was in sharp contrast to the progressive house onslaught that would soon follow.

Coachella 2012 Day 2 Review (and why you should remember where you parked your car)Coachella Day2b 3 E1334518304561

About midway through Martin Solveig’s set, at the height of one of his most energetic performances to date, one of the members of our ragtag band of travelers presented the most heinous of questions; “You remember where we parked the car right?” All at once our expressions changed, each to mirror the awful realization that we all had no idea.  The next two hours were spent attempting to retrace our steps – we argued incessantly, someone was at fault – but who? There were countless lots scattered around the venue. Did we pull in off of Madison? or Monroe? As tensions rose and all hoped seemed to be lost, the familiar “beep, beep” of our Nissan Rogue could heard faintly in the distance.

Coachella 2012 Day 2 Review (and why you should remember where you parked your car)Coachella Day2b 2 E1334518293238

With our crisis averted we sprinted back to the Sahara tent to catch the tail end of Sebastian Ingrosso’s set – I could tell you about the tracks he played, about how “Greyhound” absolutely massacred, but you’ve heard it all before – instead I want to impart one simple truth;  you have never experienced an electronic music act until you have experienced it in the Sahara tent at Coachella. I have never been to EDC, but the scope and scale of the production and sound in the Sahara tent is unmatched – UMF and Electric Zoo cannot hold a candle to it. That’s the beauty of Coachella – every electronic act is in one tent and every electronic fan is in that tent. You don’t have to make a choice between your favorite DJs. With every EDM fan packed tightly underneath the tent, the energy is infinitely more powerful.

Coachella 2012 Day 2 Review (and why you should remember where you parked your car)Coachella Day2a 1 E1334518269270

The beauty of Coachella is that after you burn yourself out from a blistering set at the Sahara tent you can seek refuge away from blasting bass to recharge your batteries and catch a more traditional act. Miike Snow’s performance was second only to M83 the day prior. His sorrow-paned, crooning vocals sound just as incredible live as they do through a pair of headphones.

Rather than see Kaskade’s set at the Sahara tent, our group chose to watch Radiohead close out on the Main Stage. It’s true, there was this nagging suspicion that I was missing something over at Kaskade but there are very few occasions that you get to see one of the greatest bands of all time in the middle of the California desert. The choice seemed simple enough.

As we trek back to the festival for the third and final day – we just have to ask ourselves – “Are we ready to unleash the fucking Dada?” – I think we are.

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