Coachella day 3

Well, I couldn't watch very much- had work early this morning, so I couldn't stay up to see HoloPac, but I did see Wild Flag and The Hives. Wild Flag were decent. Honestly, I was a bit let down. I mean, Carrie had some fierce guitar pyrotechnics, but a fair number of the songs reminded me of church when I was a kid. In church, you've got a bunch of older folks who maybe were never great singers, but they certainly aren't any good, now. You've also got a few good singers, and they try to guide the rest of the flock, but it usually works against them. Every time Wild Flag tried to get it together, it just seemed to highlight the flat notes, and missed cues. When they just jammed for a bit, all was forgiven, and I couldn't hate 'em if I tried, but it really wasn't the best set I've ever seen.

The Hives, though, still brought the goods. They brought the fire. Between Pelle's patented stage banter, and the high energy precision garage punk, they managed to ignite the crowd. I don't think I saw the crowd more animated during the rest of what I saw of the festival. Watch the performance of "Tick Tick Boom" and tell me I'm wrong. Rock ain't dead- between The Hives and The Refused, it just has been hiding in Sweden...