Photo courtesy of Hilary Khteian.

Whether or not you were there, you’ve already heard about the most epic three days of the year.

Coachella is a three-day music festival in Indio, California, for music, camping and drug lovers alike. The festival amounts to a long weekend of what life should really be about.

Admit it, if you missed it you’re kicking yourself right now, while listening to everyone else talk about how incredible it was. And more importantly, how happy everyone was while they were there. Read on and continue the kicking.

The heat, the amazing music, the happy people, the campsites, the lights and stages were a perfect recipe for an unforgettable weekend. There’s nothing like music festivals, and with a line-up as inconceivable as this one, Coachella managed to please us all.

I realized early on that the pleasure felt by festival-goers was what the event is really all about. Everyone was so happy, generous and loving, functioning together and helping each other out.

At one point in between shows I sat down to rest on the grass and closed my eyes. A few minutes later I felt a tap on my shoulder and opened my eyes to see an outstretched hand with an orange in it. “Would you like this?” said the woman who the orange belonged to. I looked tired and she wanted to help.

As soon as they were let in, campers ran to claim their site. Those of us that were volunteering at the festival in exchange for a free ticket — thank you Work Exchange Team — headed to the dirt patch that would be our home for the next few days. As soon as we pitched the tent and each of us downed 10 water bottles in mere seconds, we headed for the venue.

We met unforgettable people. One man camping next to our site was offering everyone free ecstasy. When we asked why he was doing it he replied, “I like giving this to people for free because I know from experience that it helps people open up and enjoy themselves more.”

People were hula hooping and juggling, and wanted to teach you how. After talking to one amazing group of people from Davis, they offered us a place to stay for the Whole Earth Festival next month.

While we wanted to stay and talk to more of these amazing people willing to share everything they had with perfect strangers, we knew it was time to get to the music. She & Him was about to go on and I had to see my adorable idol Zooey Deschanel live.

How could I even begin to tell you about all the shows I saw? The edge of the massive field that served as the festival’s venue was lined with five different stages, each presenting a different musician or band at the same time. Running back and forth between the stages all day and into the night turned out to be a necessity.

The running back and forth reached its height one day as we were sitting at our campsite and realized that Vampire Weekend was going on in 10 minutes. It was time to book it.

We sprinted. We watered the grass with sweat, and I knew that whoever came after us would experience a gnarly Coachella slip-n-slide.

The show had started.

And it was during this moment — this united feeling of simultaneous joy along with the 20,000 people around the stage — that I realized that I wanted to camp in the desert and listen to my favorite bands every day for the rest of my life.

More realistically, I realized that running as fast as I can to see a band I love is what life should be about. We were so happy and so eager. We knew what we wanted to do and we did it. And most importantly, we enjoyed every moment of our memory-making experience.

At one point when we were running to another show, we went through security and a woman was waiting at the other end offering us grapefruit. The happiness of the festival was spreading into a generosity that should be present in the world every day.

As the days went on my revelation expanded. The 75,000 people at Coachella were all having the time of their lives. How often is it that you are in a place that such a massive amount of people are so blissfully happy? They are soaking up the sun during the day, listening to their favorite bands into the night, and probably surrounded by some of their best friends.

It makes me realize that I want to live like that every day. And it makes me shrug my shoulders and wonder: why not? When we realize a way to be happy, we have to run with it. Music has always been something that inspires people. When you have so many amazing bands and so many die-hard fans in one place, people will be happy.

Go to almost any music festival and I think you’ll see what I mean. It’s difficult to have a bad time. And getting to be around so many happy, friendly and giving people is one of the healthiest experiences a person can have. I pursued only two things: happiness and my favorite band playing just a stage away. Then again, maybe both of these are really the same thing.

So throw “look before you leap” out the window of your van, watch it float away over the mountains surrounding the valley, then tear up some grass on the way to the next stage.

And don’t forget to grab your free ecstasy.

Ronika Kalpage performs in order to publicize the multicultural Festival at the Quary Plaza. The multicultural festival will be on Sat, May 16th from 12-6pm in Oakes. Photo by Olivia Irvin.

Celebrating its 30th anniversary this Saturday, the 2009 Multicultural Festival (MCF) boasts a wide variety of cultural performances and ethnic cuisine.

Titled “Unity Under Changing Skies,” this year’s festival will focus on the growth within cultural communities. Additionally, the event will feature both traditional and contemporary performances, from Indian dancing to hip-hop, samba and much more.

Among the 18 participating groups are the Chinese Student Association, serving Boba tea, the Filipino Student Association, with hip-hop group Haluan, and the Indian Student Organization.

Adrian Dorris, a UC Santa Cruz alumnus and SOAR advisor who helped plan this year’s festival, hopes the program will create a multifaceted view of cultural groups on campus and beyond.

“Having both traditional and contemporary representations from different cultures distinguishes them from romanticized stereotypes,” Dorris said. “It shows that people have very complex cultural experiences.”

Third-year biology major Ronika Kalpage said that nothing was black and white about growing up Indian-American. A member of UCSC’s Indian Student Organization, Kalpage will be dancing with fellow club members at the festival. She said that participating in the club’s events, including the Multicultural Festival, opened her eyes to her own background.

“Growing up, I wasn’t really exposed to Indian culture outside my immediate family group,” Kalpage said. “I wasn’t classically trained in Indian dance, so I’m glad that we have things like the Indian Student Organization and the Multicultural Festival. They allowed me to learn and experience things I probably wouldn’t have otherwise.”

Kalpage’s performance will be on the traditional side, with the group dancing Bhangra, an Indian folk dance with ancient roots dating back to 2000 BCE.

“Cultures are constantly changing,” said Arpan Bajaj, a member of both the Indian Student Organization and MCF’s planning committee. “Most of the cultures outside the U.S. are much older. They started out very basic and old-fashioned, but they’re still around and are really coming into the world. Representing older and newer interpretations shows the growth that takes place within these communities.”

Diesel Tyne and Raul Flores perform in order to publicize the multicultural Festival at the Quary Plaza. Photo by Olivia Irvin.

SambaDa, a local Afro-Brazilian music group, will be headlining the MCF this year. Identifying themselves as a “samba-funk dance music” group with reggae, hip-hop and capoeira beats, members agreed that combining these different styles has made their work appeal to a wider audience.

“We use our exposure to old Brazilian traditions, but it’s more fun to put our own unique impression into it,” band member Marcel Menard said. “We’ve found that bringing in new musical ideas is more successful with Bay Area crowds. Even though we’re singing in Portuguese and people don’t always know what we’re saying, it still hits them hard. There’s some reggae in there or a funky back-beat that people can grab on to and relate to.”

A veteran Porter student, Menard’s interest in Brazilian music was sparked while studying fine arts at UCSC. Joining campus music circles and cultural dance classes offered at the East Field House created a foundation for Menard’s current musical career.

His experiences here still resonate with him, and he hopes to continue connecting with the university through music.

“It’s really important for us to perform up on campus,” Menard said. “We get a really warm reception from the older students that come to see us at clubs, but it’s essential that we connect with the under-21 crowd too. It’s nice when we can step into their university bubbles and share something with them. We’re overjoyed whenever we can play for UCSC students.”

Dorris hopes that SambaDa’s performance will help to create visibility for the group and invite a wider audience to campus. While MCF participants are excited for the headlining band, Dorris said that the event’s priorities lie in strengthening student organizations.

“So many of these campus communities are underrepresented, and the opportunities to express themselves can be very limited,” Dorris said. “We’re hoping to provide a lot of education and encouragement by bringing all these different organizations together to create this one great day.”

———-

The 30th annual Multicultural Festival will take place at the Oakes Lower Lawn this Saturday from noon to 6 p.m. Admission is free.

Illustration by Justin Martinez.

Slugs, food and rock ‘n’ roll.

These three words define UC Santa Cruz’s second annual day-long concert and fundraiser event, Rock ‘n’ Roll on the Knoll.

The knoll of choice, a typically serene, grassy hill located behind Stevenson College, will house a mini music festival this Sunday from noon to 8 p.m., complete with about 10 local performers, pizza, DJ sets and face-painting.

Organized by students, with partial funding from Stevenson Housing, the event aims to bring UCSC students from all ends of campus together to celebrate a common interest in music in the spirit of rock ‘n’ roll.

Second-year Ira Goldenring was one of the main coordinators of this year’s event.

“A bunch of us organized ourselves into a group to put together the show,” Goldenring said. “Personally, I dealt with booking bands, organizing set times, hanging posters up all around school, that sort of stuff.”

Although Goldenring did not organize the event last year, he and many others wish to recreate the benefit, making it bigger and better.

“It began in the spirit of charity,” Goldenring said. “Students wanted to give back to the community while organizing something that would be fun, free and local for the whole university.”

Second-year Paulie Dellamano helped Goldenring organize the event this year.

“It’s mainly supposed to be a local thing,” Dellamano said.

Last year’s event had a good turnout, with about 300 people attending over the course of the entire day.

“It was very impressive for a first run,” Goldenring said, “but we are trying to get two or three times the outcome of last year to come on Sunday.”

Dellamano discussed new plans to prepare for this year’s event.

“Last year was really last-minute, but this year has been planned out for a while,” Dellamano said.

Dellamano said  that although last year’s turnout was not as large as expected, and there could have been more donations, Stevenson Housing agreed to match the amount of money made.

Organizers expect a significant difference in the number of attendees this year, as a result of their increase in advertising and upgrade in entertainment.

Dellamano discussed the new additions to Rock ‘n’ Roll on the Knoll for this year.

“[Stevenson Housing] paid for our whole sound system, which is gonna be legit, and money for food that we won’t be selling, but asking for donations [for].” Dellamano said.

Proceeds from these donations will go to the Santa Cruz Homeless Shelter.

“The concert is free but we are asking for a suggested donation of $5 to $10, which will help to feed and house dozens of people who really need it,” Goldenring said. “Just one dollar can give 30 people a hot meal.”

Dellamano also discussed the process of informing UCSC administration prior to the event.

“We had to notify the police department and CSOs because it’s going into the evening,” Dellamano said. “There’ll be pizza, drinks and probably some other activities going on as well.”
Goldenring also commented on the notification process.

“There’s a lot of paperwork,” Goldenring said. “You have to follow guidelines in a major events policy handbook.”

While following these guidelines, as well as keeping the event drug and alcohol-free, Goldenring expects things will run smoothly.

Regardless of the turnout or amount of money made, Goldenring’s goal is to promote community and cooperation.

“I think it is really cool that Rock ‘n’ Roll on the Knoll is student-run and student-imagined,” Goldenring said. “Students had the idea, and students made it into a reality.”

Despite the rain, Kresge first-year Vinnie Bryne was able to rock out at Porterpalooza ‘09. The annual event took place last Saturday outside the Porter I-Lounge. Photo by Olivia Irvin.

As the strains of an electric guitar rose through the air, a growing crowd staggered down the Porter apartment infill through the rising fog. The students came to watch their friends and hallmates jam for one infamous day known as Porterpalooza. 

“Porterpalooza is an annual event put on by Residential Life here at Porter College,” said Derek Denny, a Porter resident assistant and Porterpalooza event organizer. “It’s a chance to showcase all of the talent concentrated at Porter, across UCSC and just around Santa Cruz too.”

Porterpalooza ’09 hosted innumerable bands and performers from across the UC Santa Cruz campus, all of whom came out in the cold to play at Porter College. Ranging from acoustic indie songwriters to hip-hop ensembles to screaming rock balladeers and everything in between, it was evident that the people of Porter know how to have a good time. 

Denny, a second-year, wanted to model this year’s event after popular music festivals such as Coachella and the Porterpalooza namesake, Lollapalooza, by providing a more inviting environment for concertgoers. 

“I wanted to add more things to do throughout the day so kids would stick around,” Denny said. “We provided free popcorn and cotton candy, body painting and sidewalk chalk to keep the crowd entertained while the concert went on.”

While the free food and entertainment appeased the crowds, the prospect of quality, student-performed music kept most out of their pajamas for the day. James Forrest, a Porter first-year and drummer for Parliament Grass, was the first act of the day. 

“Porterpalooza is just great,” Forrest said. “Currently at Porter we don’t have a place to practice our music besides our rooms, and it’s awesome to see that everyone can still get together and pull off this show.”

Without facilities in which to practice, bands and soloists have gathered in their rooms to practice every night until quiet hours force the jamming to stop. Because the ongoing construction of the Porter B and C buildings blocks access to the Fireside Lounge, Porter musicians have to utilize creativity to keep their craft alive. 

Despite the setback in practice time, Porterpalooza performers managed to each play 20-minute sets, totaling about nine hours of music. Some played covers, while others showcased their own material. Many signed up to play for fun, but others, such as Porter first-year Lonny Jones, used the festival to gain experience for later gigs. 

“I’ve made it to the semifinals in a songwriter’s contest at Mars Studios in Aptos,” said Jones, a soulful singer-songwriter. “Playing the fest is good practice for what I’ll have to do soon.” 

Performers also used the event to promote themselves and sell merchandise. The duo Teenage Galaxy sold buttons emblazoned with their pictures and lyrics for a dollar. They also fashioned tinfoil headbands for followers to show their support of the band. No Jet Left gave away demo CDs, but assured audience members that they could “pay for them if they really wanted to.”

 “Porter attracts a wide range of people and music and talents,” Jones said. “But I think that can be expected, don’t you?”

Coachella’s main stage hosted Paul McCartney, the Killers and the Cure, among others. Photo by Hilary Khteian.

It all started in 1969.

Thousands upon thousands, and then a few thousand more, journeyed to the town of Bethel, N.Y., sitting through hours of bumper-to-bumper traffic, all for the love of music.

Billed simply as “Three Days of Peace & Music,” the Woodstock Art and Music Festival defined the 1960s counterculture, allowing for both freedom of expression and freedom from authority. 

Woodstock was the godfather of the music festival, with attendees projecting their idea of how a Vietnam-focused world should be — not filled with lies and war, but flooded in peace and devoid of violence. A micro-nation where the minds were open, the people were countless, the drugs were constant and the love was free.

In fact, Woodstock’s three-day-long music, substance and sex binge paved the way for modern events which include everything from Lollapalooza to Bonnaroo, Bummershoot, and most recently, Coachella.

Three months after the disastrous Woodstock ’99 — an attempt to recreate the original event on its 30th anniversary — ended in violence, fires and riots due to unhealthy environmental conditions, Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival kicked off on Oct. 9 and 10.

This weekend marked the 10th annual Coachella festival, with acts that included Paul McCartney, the Cure, Atmosphere and M.I.A. — lightyears away from Woodstock’s Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Creedence Clearwater Revival.

And while the essence of the Woodstock formula was still present at Coachella, many things have changed since that historic weekend in 1969. The peace that ran rampant throughout the Woodstock lifeline was traded here for conveniently-placed ATM machines. Attendees that once sought solace from a Vietnam-drenched reality were instead replaced with twentysomethings desperately searching for a way to charge their phones. And if the $6 pizza slices were any indication, it’s doubtful that even the love was free.

It’s the simplicity that’s gone missing. These festivals represent more than just a three-day pass to a seemingly endless stream of live performances. What was once a celebration of music and minimalism is now simply a fashion show reminiscent of Halloween and a David Bowie house party gone terribly wrong. 

Hipsters and wannabe hippies whipped out their feathered headbands and glittered fanny packs, stopping at nothing to stand out in a crowd of thousands. The only problem was that in the process of trying to look original, everyone looked exactly the same: confused, clichéd, and hoping to get even a taste of the simplicity that ran rampant nearly 40 years ago. 

While tickets for Woodstock once cost $24 at the door, a single day at Coachella cost $99 alone, resulting in a whopping $300 for all three days. Counterculture chic, this is not.

With ticket prices like that, how could Coachella be anything but a pretentious indiefest? Woodstock’s essence was being comfortable in what it was — whatever that was. It was beautiful without being commercial, important without knowing, and original without trying.

It seems as if the music festival provides an accurate depiction of our current generation: While the love of music still prevails, this love has turned slightly sour and materialistic.

There were, however, kernels of something so much wiser within certain moments of musical nirvana. Each night’s headliners brought with them an entirely different generational feel. Paul McCartney’s generous helping of Beatles classics helped make the heat-drenched night feel like the 1960s. The Killers’ pop-operatic stage show was reminiscent of the Bowie-influenced glam rock of the 1970s. And the final night was 1980 incarnate, when the Cure reminded us that they’re still the Cure.

But there was no meaning to any of the weekend’s seemingly epic events. Every once in a while, an artist would make the obligatory “praise Obama” plug, lamenting the end of any possible Bush-bashing lyricism, followed often by a single female asserting her independence in a male-dominated media world. Note to all future faux-feminist performers: threatening to “punch a man’s balls off” is neither comical nor anatomically correct. But those moments were few and far between.

Coachella is an experience, and in essence can’t be anything more than what it is. Perhaps trying to emulate Woodstock is itself a fool’s errand; the beauty of events as seemingly important as those lies in their inability to predict their own vitality. And maybe we’re just not in the place anymore to need an escape that also serves as a message. With no draft and a president many adore, maybe the days of message-heavy festivals are long gone.

Coachella may be more superficial than its politically-fueled counterpart, but those three days represent something else now: they represent the excess of experience, just not the willingness to matter.