The Desert Is Alive with the Sound of Music

We went, we saw, we survived. Coachella 2006, alas, has come and gone. The experience was simultaneously exhausting and exhilarating. Above all, it was thoroughly memorable.

Sure, it got off to an inauspicious start when I got stuck on a conference call and missed my flight. But what's an adventure without an adventure? It all worked out anyhow. All I had to do was sit around for a couple of hours at the airport and catch a flight into LAX instead of SNA. Still managed to get in before In-N-Out closed for the night.

We got up the next day at a decent hour, scarfed down some yummy Taiwanese food, and then mozied on down to Indio. The temperature was a non-fatal 95 degrees. The sky was a non-imposing bed of blue. And the music -- ah, yes -- the music.

Awards for the Weekend

"Holy crap, I didn't expect to like that so much"
Franz Ferdinand

"Wow, I'm all happy now"
The Go! Team

"It'd be scary to see her when she's high"
Yeah Yeah Yeahs

"Man, what a time to be unattached"
Yeah Yeah Yeahs, performing Maps

"Damn, we got here too late"
Phoenix

"Buy some new equipment ya cheap bastards"
Wolf Parade

"Money well spent on the band-in-a-box"
Imogen Heap

"I think I hear animals dying"
Animal Collective

"Maybe I'd like this better after inhaling a bit more second-hand pot"
Mogwai

"You lost me at hello"
She Wants Revenge

"You certainly still know how to pander"
Depeche Mode

"Hmm ... you're worth buying after all"
Editors

"Am I a closet Skynyrd fan?"
My Morning Jacket

"You should've made songs for Transformers"
Ladytron

"It's all good, but let's work a bit on the legato"
Bloc Party

"Turn it up, please"
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

"Please don't invite her again"
Madonna