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You’ve heard of the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival. And if you haven’t, you’re about to. But first, about me; I don’t “rough it”. I don’t do port-a-potties, I don’t like dirt between my toes or in my nose and I don’t travel without a flat-iron. But I DO LOVE ROCK & ROLL. So Coachella is the perfect place to start Jessica’s West Coast Tour of Duty 06. Kanye West, Depeche Mode, Tool, Digable Planets, Eagles of Death Metal, Sigur Ros, Tool, Metric, MADONNA! Read on!

The glorious Indio desert, outside of Palm Springs CA. 2 days, 2 outdoor stages & 3 tents on plush polo fields against a breathtaking backdrop; hills, palm trees, the blazing California sun and more exposed flesh flaunting colourful tattoos then my eyes have ever seen. This is my 4th consecutive Coachella and my best time by far. Now a seasoned vet and a schmoozer supreme, I was all set with a two day pass and VIP access!

It’s just 2 hours outside of LA down the #10, through an amazing forest of windmills so all the Hollywood players make it out to Coachella to see and be seen. And I saw loads. Highlights: Sean Lennon wearing a Who t-shirt cooling off by the VIP fountain with star-crossed squeeze, Lizzie Jagger. Vincent Gallo is always in attendance. On day one he was wearing a super-chic pink suit and white fedora milling about in the artist compound. Day two, more casual, strutting back and forth between bands and backstage checking out all the girly action. This was the year I was finally gonna get the nerve to talk to him but I froze. He’s McSteamy. And if you’ve seen his movies; McScary. Scott Speedman is another fest-reg. Here’s us last year. Quintessentially Canadian he was chatting with fans and posing for pics.

Nicole Richie. I almost missed her cus she’s only 3 apples high and 2 dimensional plus surrounded by an entourage of giants. But pretty and working it. Taryn Manning was way more low-key just sitting near the VIP picnic table watching mainstagers Franz Ferdinand with friends. Speaking of Franz, caught Alex Kapranos in the chips and guac line only to find out they were out of chips. A friendly fan offered to buy him a beer which he accepted and said “well that was nice!” Food! Me and my party partner in crime Catonia were just decorating our burgers at the condiment table when we feel someone hovering. We look up to see mondo hitmaker Babyface. His confused look said “I’m Babyface. Why am I staring at a bowl of mustard packs?” Other regulars Tony Kanal and Tom Dumont of No Doubt chilling with Matt Costa. One year I saw Andy Dick get kicked out of VIP for smoking a funny smelling ciggie. This year he seemed better behaved. Danny Devito is apparently a HUGE Wolfmother fan. He got some one on one time with the Aussie shredders after their wicked early aft set. Sooo funny to see the fro’d front man towering over mini-DD! Also saw Danny Masterson side stage, Elisha Cuthbert with her new man Sean Avery, Perry Farrell djing and Rosanna Arquette making rock star friends.

Last year my passes were ultimate access so I could cruise through the backstage where the artists have these fun little trailers to call home. This year I did not. BUT I didn’t know that. So due to blind confidence and a distracted security guard, me and Cat got through the gates a couple times before losing our guts. But yo, check out me and Lady Sovereign! She’s like 11 years old and super sweet. She loved my shades so we switched-up. Mine are better ya?

Then we went to visit Kanye’s crib. We chatted with Danger Mouse from Gorillaz about producing the new Sparklehorse album. He was on the bill with his amazing new outfit Gnarls Barkley. V.V. cool. They had this whole Wizard of Oz thing going on. Danger Mouse was the Tin Man and Cee-Lo was the Lion and their band was all in Wicked Witch masks.

Man I haven’t even gotten to the live performances. Kanye, Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs, Editors, Damian Marley, Massive Attack, Tool. Madonna in a chopper and me on an octopus ride! And then … going Mexican with Pilate, high-class with k-os and trying to get a connection with Bedouin Soundclash. That’s a whole other entry. So stay tuned for part two of my rock and road trip diary. Jessica

Posted on Monday, May 15th, 2006 at 12:11 pm by Jessica and is filed under Blog.

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