The Raconteurs pictures with tag: coachella

Coachella Day One Wrap-Up: Jack Johnson, The Raconteurs, The Verve

As the afternoon of Coachella Day One wore on, the sounds of electric guitars getting jacked into high gear called everyone’s attention back to the main stage, where the Raconteurs were settling in. “I haven’t seen the sun in weeks,” goes the first line of “The Saboteurs” (though nobody in the heat-baked crowd could truly make that claim), and Jack White, decked out in all black, moseyed over to Brendan Benson as the two guitarists faced off and worked at their instruments. “How are you doing, you desert people?” White later asked before launching into the country-blues groove of “Top Yourself” from the band’s new LP Consolers of the Lonely. While the bedraggled Benson was an able frontman, the crowd was arrested by the natural leader White, whose guitar playing took center stage on “Blue Veins.” The track began with a lengthy, squealing solo that demanded he pause and catch his breath. White ended the song scratching a pad that made his axe stutter as the song built into a giant jam. The set demonstrated how White has taken the band to a new level, stretching out songs and turning up the volume. White and Benson cranked up the distortion even on pop hit “Steady As She Goes,” giving a desperate edge to White’s refrain, “Are you steady now? Are you steady now?” Click here for photos from Day One of Coachella The sun fully set during the Raconteurs set, leaving the Verve to soundtrack the magical part of the Coachella day when the temperatures drop, stars dot the sky and the Port-a-Potties start to ripen. The band didn’t disappoint, breaking out epic Britpop anthems that set shimmers of sound across the desert night. Singer Richard Ashcroft looked the part of the perfect frontman, tapping his chest or pointing skyward, crooning with his eyes closed in bare feet and sounding every bit as sharp as he did ten years ago when the band broke in the States. When Ashcroft strapped on an acoustic guitar and strummed the opening chords of the aching “The Drugs Don’t Work,” a

Published: 2008-04-26
Provider: Rolling Stone
Keywords: Rock News, Coachella

Jack Johnson: Coachella’s Night One Headliner on His Upcoming Tour and Laughing at His Own Mellow

How intense is the anticipation for Prince’s Saturday night headlining set at Coachella this year? Even Day One headliner Jack Johnson risked being scolded by security and sneaked around to hear the Purple One soundcheck Thursday night. “It was rad,” grinned Johnson backstage a scant hour before his own set Friday night. “They did a Radiohead cover at soundcheck, ‘Creep.’” Though it may seem like Johnson would be more at home at Bonnaroo (where he’ll also be playing next month), the laid-back singer-guitarist, who’s performed at Coachella twice before, says he’s a big fan of the desert fest’s mostly rock-oriented lineups. “The last time we played I was right between Sonic Youth and the White Stripes. I felt sandwiched, like we were the ginger between sushi or something,” he said after raving about the Raconteurs set. “I’m definitely honored to be up on stage with all these bands,” he added with characteristic humbleness. “They ask you way in advance will you headline, then they start adding bands it’s like, oh wow, should I really be a headliner?” Johnson isn’t just headlining Coachella and Bonnaroo this year — he’ll also be anchoring New Jersey’s All Points West and San Francisco’s Outside Lands. “We weren’t sure if we were going to do a full tour, so we said yes to a lot of festivals,” he explained. “We thought that would be the only thing we did, and then we slowly added other shows. But yeah, we’re doing a lot of festivals. It’s fun, because I don’t get to see that much live music — I’ve got a four and a two year old — so it’s nice to be able to come to these and catch up, see Vampire Weekend and all these bands I’ve wanted to see.” (One thing he’s bummed he won’t be able to catch is Roger Waters’ Sunday night set — Jo

Published: 2008-04-26
Provider: Rolling Stone
Keywords: Rock News, Coachella

Tegan and Sara’s Coachella Blog: Prince, The Raconteurs and “The Dog Whisperer”

Tegan and Sara will be filing dispatches from Coachella. Here is their opening entry. Click here for more from Rolling Stone at Coachella. Tegan: We watched The Dog Whisperer this morning when we got up, that helped us ease into Coachella. Sara: It’s like a safe place to watch Cesar Millan talk to the dogs. I own two seasons of The Dog Whisperer on DVD, and I don’t even like dogs, I’m a cat person. T: It really trained us. Then we got up and we got on a cart, a really nice girl came and gave us a ride to our dressing room, and it’s covered in stars and butterflies and rainbows and hearts. It’s super girly, it’s hilarious. S: The people who do the trailers say they have a sweet spot for us every time we play, so they put extra effort into it. T: For each artist, they get artists to paint funny paintings. The one we got this year is two bunnies and their umbilical cords are all tangled up. Which is kind of funny because yesterday we got a fan video for the song “Floorplan” on our new record, and in it there’s a little girl character that’s supposed to be Sara and she’s wearing bunny slippers and they’re all evil at the end, so when we walked in today and it was the bunnies I was like, oh my God! Then we ate, so we took another ride in the cart. S: And that was scary for me, because Tegan and I did not go to camp, our mother was a single parent and camp was totally out of the question. We found out later because she went to Catholic boarding school, she doesn’t like communal living without parents, so she enforced a no-communal living rule when we were growing up, so we have never done camp really. Now we’re at Coachella and we’re in the catering tent and all the bands are there and I’m sweating profusely, I’m very uncomfortable, I’m afraid everyone hates us. I see people looking at me, I think maybe we know each other. I avoid eye contact. The next time we play Coachella I hope we are the size of Prince … T: We are the size of P

Published: 2008-04-25
Provider: Rolling Stone
Keywords: Rock News, Coachella

Coachella 2008 Preview, Plus the 2008 Festival Guide

Tomorrow marks the launch of the 2008 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, the annual three-day sojourn into the desert for some of the biggest names in rock. This year’s eclectic lineup features highly-anticipated performances from the Raconteurs, Prince, Roger Waters, Jack Johnson, Portishead, My Morning Jacket and dozens of others. Hit the jump for each day’s can’t-miss sets, and check out Rolling Stone’s ongiong coverage of Coachella 2008, featuring reviews, interviews and guest bloggers live from the desert, and for the rest of the info on all of this summer’s biggest and best festivals from around the country, check out the 2008 RollingStone.com Festival Guide. • The 2008 RollingStone.com Festival Guide • 2008 Coachella Festival Coverage Friday • Jack Johnson: The laid-back surf rocker has a knack for creating collective euphoria at festivals. • The Breeders: Songs from Mountain Battles should sound stunning in the open air. • Santogold: The buzzworthy MC’s eclectic mix of sounds will keep crowds moving. • The Raconteurs: Jack White’s big, groovy side project is just hitting its live stride. Saturday • Prince: It’s a rare chance to see the Purple One in a festival setting. • Portishead: It’ll be a while before the group tours properly, and their low-key tunes will add some melancholy to the desert evening. • Stephen Malkmus: Malkmus has become something of a guitar hero as of late. • M.I.A.: Every day needs a little dancing and danger to shake things up. Sunday • My Morning Jacket: The best live band in the business will unleash Evil Urges in the desert heat. • Roger Waters: The Pink Floyd legend will aid anybody interested in chemical alteration at the festival. • Duffy: This could be the singer’s great coming out party, a la Amy Winehouse in ‘06. • Justice: Finish off the festival by sweating out the

Published: 2008-04-24
Provider: Rolling Stone
Keywords: Rock News, Festivals, Coachella

Picture: M.I.A., Roger Waters, Portishead Lead Coachella Lineup; East Coast Festival Also Announced

Picture: 'It's different than most festivals'

The Raconteurs

The Raconteurs pictures with tag: coachella

Coachella Day One Wrap-Up: Jack Johnson, The Raconteurs, The Verve

Jack Johnson: Coachella’s Night One Headliner on His Upcoming Tour and Laughing at His Own Mellow

Tegan and Sara’s Coachella Blog: Prince, The Raconteurs and “The Dog Whisperer”

Coachella 2008 Preview, Plus the 2008 Festival Guide

M.I.A., Roger Waters, Portishead Lead Coachella Lineup; East Coast Festival Also Announced

'It's different than most festivals'