127 Bands, 5 Stages, 3 Days and 1 Mean Sunburn.
"Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival - April 17-19th, 2009 or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Find 30 Reasons To Love a Weekend in the Desert."
- By Scott Butterworth
Day #18 - Artist #18 - White Lies:
"Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival - April 17-19th, 2009 or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Find 30 Reasons To Love a Weekend in the Desert."
- By Scott Butterworth
Day #18 - Artist #18 - White Lies:
One part Joy Division, one part Muse, one part Interpol, served in a tall glass to a West Londoner sitting in a downtown New York bar. The White Lies released their debut album, To Lose My Life..., less than a year from the date of the trio’s first gig and entered the UK Charts at number one in January, but the album wasn't released in the US until a few weeks ago in March. These lads (sorry...I've just always wanted to use that word) from Ealing, West London, England, have been the talk of the town, playing packed shows throughout the UK since last summer. 
Strangely, as they were selling out shows in the UK, they could hardly give away a show here in the US, as was evidenced when their free show at The Roxy here in Los Angeles drew a crowd of maybe 100 back in October of 2008. I know...I was there. My roommate and I had a tough decision that night between attending the White Lies show or the Secret Machines playing just next door at the Key Club. But we went with the free show and it was priceless (literally and figuratively)! It seemed like something special...more than the usual local club gig, but there was not much of an audience to receive it. With the American press just starting to catch on and a standout performance at the South By Southwest festival in Austin a couple weeks ago, I think America is finally ready for the White Lies.
Strangely, as they were selling out shows in the UK, they could hardly give away a show here in the US, as was evidenced when their free show at The Roxy here in Los Angeles drew a crowd of maybe 100 back in October of 2008. I know...I was there. My roommate and I had a tough decision that night between attending the White Lies show or the Secret Machines playing just next door at the Key Club. But we went with the free show and it was priceless (literally and figuratively)! It seemed like something special...more than the usual local club gig, but there was not much of an audience to receive it. With the American press just starting to catch on and a standout performance at the South By Southwest festival in Austin a couple weeks ago, I think America is finally ready for the White Lies.
Today is the day of the battle between Spoon and Interpol. I have always been a bigger Interpol fan so I am siding with them. I think most people are really either a Interpol fan or a Spoon fan. Or they don't really care about either. They both have big new albums out today. They both are on David Letterman this week. 
band that you have either fallen in love with or never liked to begin with. As one of those that actually likes Interpol, I am liking the new album. Like most albums, it took me a couple listens. On about the third listen on my headphones I was hooked. I don't think they will ever be able to top what was their first album "Turn on the Bright Lights." I still remember when my friend at Matador told me about this new band "Interpol" that they had just signed. She told me that I was going to absolutely love them. And she was right. This may seem like old news now, but at the time it was exciting to hear a band that sounded like some new indie version of Joy Division. Now there is a whole new group of bands that have ripped of Interpol ripping off Joy Division. But at least they sort of did it first.