Gifts from Coachella

Though I'm sure it's been said more times than you'd like to hear, it's worth repeating - Coachella 2010 was incredible. 

The sold out festival (rumored to have more than 70,000 in attendance), was nothing short of a magical joyfest for music lovers of all genres. I actually got to see six of my top ten desired song performances and experienced my first ever camping adventure, complete with two showers by water bottle. 

Everything from the music, the people, the food (fresh farmer's market produce, organic coffee huts and a Ruth Chris Steak House booth), to the facilities, and even the crazy characters roaming around the desert, absolutely exceeded my expectations. 

For those of you who have asked, my favorite performances were:  the XX (during which the Coachella main stage actually caught on fire - no joke, check out the pic below), Thom Yorke, Grizzly Bear, Miike Snow, MGMT, Hot Chip, Phoenix, Major Lazer, The Avett Brothers, Jay Z, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Yeasayer and Florence and the Machine. 

Aside form the music, Coachella is almost equally defined by the crazy characters and costumes seen roaming about at any given time. Below are two videos of some of my favorite Coachella characters. I actually got to dance with this first guy in the Elmo costume, and the second guy who I found on the Coachella Web site, is just a hilarious drunk. 

Now for the real treat - for those of you who missed music's most incredible weekend, the Coachella fairy has come to bestow three gifts to help you get a taste of the glory. 


Dj's John Beaver and Thomas Radman have created two mixed CD's featuring artists from this year's festival, and as a bonus, they've also compiled a 10 year anniversary mix - all available for FREE download.  


The duo has been creating the Coachella Mixes since 2004 purely in the spirit of the festival, starting as an idea to make something for Coachella fans to listen to on the long ride home.  


The mixes quickly turned into an annual tradition and include songs from artists playing at the current Coachella blended in the style of a dance DJ mix. The end result is an Indie Rock/ Pop/ Dance music mash up of all things Coachella. 


Enjoy!

(Photo courtesy of our dear friend at Ear Blessings)