Seeing that Coachella Weekend Two just wrapped, I thought it would be appropriate for us to provide our review of Weekend One. Austin and I had the extreme pleasure of witnessing some amazing artists during our time in Indio. This post will provide a brief recap of the weekend and highlight our favorite electronic acts. We’ll have another post with our favorite non-electronic acts that we saw.
WHYH’s Top 3 From Coachella Weekend One:
1. Richie Hawtin- MY GOD…there is a reason this man is the Michael Jordan of minimal and techno. My friend Gies put it perfectly “Now I can see how people in Berlin party for days straight listening to this stuff”. Richie’s set was impeccable. The mixing was flawless and people did not stop moving during the duration of his 90 minute set. It was impossible not to get down and dirty with each new selection Richie provided. The Yuma stage was my personal refuge for the weekend. The tent was decked out in disco balls, bangin speakers, and adults with great taste for dance music. I’m a firm believer in the Richie hype now and can’t wait to witness another one of his incredible sets.
2. Booka Shade- What else can be said about these guys, all they do is deliver! Every time I’ve seen them they absolutely crush it and closing out the Mojave tent on Saturday night was no exception. They played some tracks from their new EP Blackout: White Noise as well as Booka Shade classics like Charlotte, In White Rooms, Regenerate, Night Falls, and Body Language (Interpretation). Arno and Walter had the crowd going nuts and definitely garnered themselves some new fans along the way. Throughout the course of the show I heard people proclaiming their love for Booka Shade that had never seen them perform before. It’s definitely love at first set with these guys!
3. Simian Mobile Disco- SMD played earlier on Saturday night on the Gobi Stage. They were the perfect warmup to get me in the right mindset for Booka Shade. I had never seen them perform a live set before, so it was quite a treat to watch them operate. They played some hits like I Believe and Audacity of Huge. I’m assuming a majority of their set came from their new album and unreleased material. It was an awesome blend of house and techno served Simian Mobile Disco style.
Honorable Mention:
Eric Prydz- Pryda smashed the Sahara to close out the weekend. I could not think of a more perfect ending. It’s really amazing the variety that Eric puts into his sets. This was my third time seeing him and second in the same month; each set was completely different than the last. The highlights from his set were opening with his remix of Faithless’ Not Going Home, dropping Power Drive and EPIC Radio 003 ID, and debuting his new smash F.A.T. (see video below)
Loco Dice- Loco Dice followed Richie Hawtin on Sunday evening in the Yuma tent. I was in the perfect state of mind after Richie’s set and Loco Dice kept the wave going. He played a bevy of techno and tech house bangers, picking right up where Richie left off. After his set was over our group realized we just danced our asses off for three hours straight…it felt no more than 30 minutes. We were completely lost in the amazing tunes that Loco and Richie were pumping out. I was literally hypnotized by their music.
Hot Chip- As the sun set on Saturday evening the UK pop group took to the main stage. Hot Chip has steadily been building themselves a reputation as one of Britain’s best pop bands, and their set did not disappoint. Playing mostly their new album along with classic hits, they had the main stage in a dance frenzy from start to finish. We couldn’t think of a better way to kick off Saturday evening. Below is a video of my favorite song, “Flutes” from the Coachella live stream.
Today I compiled 4 of my favorite dance tracks of 2012. Each track provides a uniquie vibe, House, Techno, Disco these tracks will be sure to get you moving. These are all must have for any music junkie.