Coachella Redemption & The 10 Hour Dance Party

After Saturday’s biking blunders, I opted to leave before the group to get a head start.  I knew I was in super cute but not bike friendly boots and that my behind hurt enough that I’d be needing to take breaks.  Sometimes in those high stress situations, I just need to be solo and do my own thing.  It was way better this way.  Had Disclosure blaring on my phone as I biked my way through PGA West.  I couldn’t help but smile because the day was already off to a way better start.  Then, something extra magnificent happened.  I actually never even told my friends about this out of shame at the time, so if they’re reading this – surprise!  As I turned the corner to phase 3, a man across the street in a truck yelled out to me “You need a ride?”  Initially hesitant, “actually?!” I mumbled as I attempted to get my clunky feet to start pedaling again.  I turned around and saw the truck making a u-turn and pull up beside me. “Are you serious?” I asked, still amazed that this was happening and also now realizing it was a woman. “Oh yeah, this is what I do!” she assured me.  For simply a tip she was willing to drive me through phases 3 AND 4.  She had home printed business cards for her “service”.  She spends her extra income from the two weekends on fixing up a bike of her own.  This woman is my hero.

 

We were all meeting at the side beer garden for Chance The Rapper.  He opened with Cocoa Butter Kisses and Justin Bieber made an appearance.  I discovered $11 spiced rum and cokes – a game changer.

We all felt like more dancing and Rob suggested we make our way over to Rudamental.  We found a great spot to the right of the stage with plenty of room for movement and the girl behind us even had one of those spray fans to cool us off every now and then.  Rudamental put on such a great show, I have a serious girl crush on the blonde pictured below with bad ass braided hair.  They even had one guy who’s sole purpose on stage is to hype the crowd up – and it definitely worked!  We were breaking it down when all of a sudden I felt a tug on my hair and heard a sputtering engine noise.  I did my best to turn around and see what I had suspected.  My hair was caught in the girl’s fan.  Luckily, it was a small chunk and I have plenty of hair to go around.  After a photo to document its ridiulousness, we just ripped the rest of my hair away and the fan even continued to work.  We got lots of extra air and water too, I’m sure out of guilt.  But yes, an excellent show.  I recommend you check out their song Waiting All Night – in fact, you might already know it!  There we were dancing away

Coachella Outfit Details //
Black Silk Tank, Joe Fresh
Floral Kimono, Forever 21
Acid Wash Denim Shorts, Forever 21
Boots, Naughty Monkey c/o
Large Brim Fedora, Forever 21
Mirrored Sunglasses, Forever 21
Blue Satchel, Forever 21
Assorted Bracelets, Olivia Solie c/o

Then came one of my favourite acts from the entire two days.  There is something to be said about music with a really great beat (Songza just taught me that it’s called trap music) so Adam brought a few of us to Flosstradamus.  Oh my goodness, it was THE most epic dance party of my entire life.  We posted up at the fence just outside of the Mojave tent.  The people in front of us who were technically in the tent never had any room to move at all, so we definitely lucked out with our spot.  It was an hour straight of dropping it like it’s hot.  We had impromptu dance parties with other randoms from the crowd.  We jumped up on the cables, we sang, we loved every second of it.

I’d scheduled Calvin Harris in as my resting period.  This never happened.  We ended up dancing with the entire side beer garden for the duration of his set.  How could I deny those hits?!  It was so much fun.  Then Adam and I broke away because I really wanted to see Daughter and I knew their show would be almost empty because everyone would be pushing to go see Lana Del Ray.  I like Lana enough but I made a judgement call.  Anyway, there was maybe 50 people there waiting for Daughter, so we got an amazing spot and I got to hear them perform Smother and Human live.

Disclosure was next, but I’m such a snob and just can’t compare it to their Osheaga show where there was only a couple hundred watching and I was front row.  I think the rest of the group really enjoyed them though, they really are a fun duo.  Last, but certainly not least came the epicness that is Arcade Fire.  Debbie Harry made a cameo for a rendition of Heart Of Glass. We danced away and sang along to all the Arcade Fire hits and favourites.  It was a Coldplay at Pemberton Festival kind of moment that I’ll always cherish.  Sunday was absolute Coachella redemption.

The biking was of course, not over yet!  Somehow on this last ride, Adam and I got lost (ugh, so something we would do) and ended up going 20 minutes out of the way on a trail that spat us out into unfamiliar territory.  We eventually found our way, but I definitely said a few curse words under my breathe as we rode the extra few blocks.  At least by that time, I was a bike riding pro and was already going at a much fast speed and easily maneuvering through the crowds and cars.

Can’t believe it’s all over already.  I’m having desert withdrawals!  Another Coachella adventure is complete – hopefully not my last music festival of the year!