Hello Boys and Girls…

Tom Blankenship, the bass playing fifth of My Morning Jacket, took some time to give me his musings on Coachella. Sorry they’re a bit late, but that’s how we like to do things around here… or that’s just my poor excuse for being a tad lame.

Mr. B on the festival in the desert…

Coachella 2008. My second time at the fest and the desert remains ridiculously hot.

The VIP section, which seems like more of a hassle than it’s worth, is a nightmare for the sober. They best provide you with some free drink tickets or a commemorative frisbee. I spent my one visit quickly chugging my $3 coffee before making my way down to the field, where I found myself more relaxed among the crowd of peoples who were more interested in seeing than being seen.

David Hasselhoff is fucking huge. Carl and I joked that we felt the 80s for a moment as he breezed past us Saturday evening. We caught him making a quick escape via golf cart the next night, five minutes before our set. The Hoff being more a fan of tank tops & black eyes than the Jacket, apparently.

Shelia E is a badass. Watching her bust out “The Glamorous Life” (and accompanying drum solo) during Prince’s set was the highlight of the weekend for me. Seriously. Even more so than seeing Morris Day do the “Jungle Love” dance.

Portishead’s Beth Gibbons emotes more by standing in one spot clutching a mic than most artists do running & jumping around the stage, screaming their heads off.

I wonder how Barack Obama feels about having his name spray painted on the belly of Roger Waters’ massive inflatable pig?

Lastly, an apology to Prince in case he saw a small group of scruffy white guys running between the barricades toward him… we were rushing to his suite to prepare his jacuzzi for him (it’s a little known fact that he likes to sit in his jacuzzi while playing mind-blowing solos).

Thanks, Tom, for your contribution. Also, I’m a loser and realized I missed Jim and Patrick’s bday while you were at Coachella so Happy Belated, lads. Being 30 was awesome (from what I remember!).

And thanks for joining us today at the SXSW Music Blog. Can anyone tell me if Mariah Carey is really married to Nick Cannon? If so, email me at musicblog@sxsw.com.

Lately I just can’t seem to believe, lp

Original post by LP