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I've been to almost every Coachella, exceptions being the first one and the last two. Every year around the end of January, my friends in Texas, Florida and California and I would anticipate the lineup release and furiously refresh the message boards until the magic announcement came; then we'd whoop and holler all up and down the phone lines for several days, coordinating flights, hotels and rental cars.
I've made lasting friendships with people based on these annual treks to Indio, California. I've discovered bands I never would have heard of and seen epic shows that are STILL being discussed. Each year I'd feverishly wait out the two months until I could get back on that polo field, sweating out the hot parts of the day and dancing into the cold desert night. It's an exhausting event but always worth it.
Of course, the festival that started out as small and special to us soon gained popularity and grew immensely over the years. Some years were better than others (2004!). The last couple of Coachella lineup's got a big, fat "MEH!" from me and I honestly wasn't sure that I'd ever attend another. I thought maybe I was becoming one of those jaded types who always complain that stuff used to be better in the beginning, before they went all corporate and trendy. I stopped paying attention.
However today I got a familiar phone call: "Have you seen the lineup yet? HOLY SHIT. Gary Numan??" Praise Jebus for the iPhone, I had the lineup in my hot little hand in under a minute. And it's good, y'all...I think I may have to make another trip out to my ol' stompin' grounds after all. And that feels good.
Tell us who you're excited about! For me, there's too many to list but I'll highlight: PiL, The Specials, Echo & the Bunnymen, She & Him, The Whitest Boy Alive, Deer Tick, Grizzly Bear, MGMT, Dead Weather, Hot Chip, Devo, Gossip, Camera Obscura, Girls, Beach House, Thom Yorke, Phoenix, Orbital, Gary Numan, SDRE, Yo La Tengo, and Florence & the Machine - Did I forget anyone?

1 josh said on January 19, 2010
2 Ford said on January 19, 2010
3 jessi said on January 19, 2010
4 Ian Duggan said on January 20, 2010
5 imaginary liz said on January 20, 2010
Jessi - yes let's light candles and cross fingers for a Seattle Gorillaz show... and put major mojo out there for a US BLUR REUNION SHOW!!! Or at least a Seattle screening of their new documentary.
Ian - fingrs doubly crossed for all these folks to make their way to a Seattle venue rather than being forced to see them en masse with the masses.
6 John in Ballard said on January 20, 2010
7 Jeanine Anderson said on January 21, 2010
8 heather b said on January 22, 2010
9 Imaginary Mimi said on January 22, 2010
10 Tim said on February 5, 2010
Heather you are correct about 2004! I guess my quarrel with Coachella the last few years (this one included) is that the headliners just don't do it for me and if I'm going to spend the $$$ I want the big ticket items to be amazing (seriously I'm going to spend $300 on tickets to see Jay-Z and Muse, not so much)
Outside of the headliners though, the lineups are always outstanding. By going to Coachella you've got the chance to see pretty much every up and coming band that's going to show up on Pitchfork over the next six months.
I'm w/ Mimi on the Sly Stone questions. He's flaked on other scheduled shows in the not too distant past, but if he shows and plays that is THE THING to see at this year's festival. They'll have to stick him off in one of the tents or else it's not going to happen.
And of course there's Thom Yorke. I was lucky enough to see one of the LA shows back in October, if this set is anything like those two it'll be worth the trip down on it's own.
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