Countdown: Coachella Bound

12 days and counting. It's been a very busy and long, cold winter (today was -2)...but now we're setting our sights on southern California for the Coachella Festival! Our wristbands and camping passes arrived a few weeks ago and we've planned our itinerary for the long haul from Edmonton to Indio and then back again. We'll be camping most of the time - Idaho, Utah, Nevada - then after the festival we'll head out to L.A. then up to San Fran, Newport, Seattle. After spending the last decade watching the festival from afar it's a great feeling to be able to finally participate now that I'm back on the same continent. I haven't seen much of the States and this will be my first time through Utah, Zion National Park and Las Vegas.

The lineup this year is excellent and features tons of artists that I've been wanting to see - Jeff Magnum, Explosions in the Sky, At the Drive-In, fIREHOSE, WU LYF...I just missed Radiohead when they toured Japan in 1998 (Matsumoto) cuz of snow, can't wait to see Jarvis Crocker and Pulp, Wild Flag, as well as Dr. Dre onstage with Snoop Dogg. Come to think of it, the lineup consists of some of the best artists of the last 20 years. The best gigs I saw in Hong Kong included David Byrne, Elvis Costello, Franz Ferdinand, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, the Flaming Lips, but in most cases the venue or crowd was sorely lacking. Coachella is known for its outdoor setting and lucky us - we'll be camping onsite for 4 nights under the glorious desert moon.