The festival concert in the US has undergone major transformations. If Lollapalooza, the traveling alterna-tour, was the solution for the ’90s, then Coachella is this decade’s model. The logic is simple: rather than making the artists travel, have the fans do it. The results speak for themselves: Madonna has signed on as one of this year’s headliners.
Director Drew Thomas opens his celebration of Coachella with a time-tested cliché, scaffolding going up as cars speed into California from as far off as, well, Canada. The rest of the film is little more then a Coachella advert/keepsake, shot through with performances by everyone from the avant electronicist Squarepusher to the precious Belle and Sebastian, and peppered with the occasional interview. (Mos Def asks for White Stripes and, voilà, we cut to White Stripes.) What’s missing is context. Nevertheless, Thomas captures some highlights. And where else are you going to see the Arcade Fire sharing a virtual stage with Fischerspooner?
