By day three, the festival starts to wind down. The headliners are less exciting, the ambience is more subdued and the people less jumpy. Everyone seems to need a little bit more room to breathe and relax. I decided to enjoy the performances from behind the stage, instead of amongst the crowd in front. My feet were blistered, my skin burnt from the sun, my vocal chords on their last stretch. I saw the beautiful Florence (and the Machine) as she nervously psyched herself to get on stage. I chatted with De La Soul’s David Jude about his ambition to start a jewelry line—he was wearing his own magnificent diamond encrusted fish-on-a-hook necklace. I watched Charlotte Gainsbourg from the comfort of own square meter on the back of the stage, water at my disposal.

For the past three days a few things had caught my attention. I noticed how many hot girls are at Coachella. For a casting director like myself this observation is simply a professional hazard, for the straight man at the festival however an absolute joy. Skimpy dresses, short shorts, bikini tops, cut out T-shirts, even some thongs here and there. The sights were dizzying. Models.com was taking notes on passing supermodels, casting agent Douglas Perrett was scouting the next new face of fashion, and photographer Derek Ketella simply said: “Damn!”

And what better way to truly amplify the festival experience than some good old-fashioned, mind-altering drugs. About half the people on the field must have taken mushrooms or XTC. I saw many eyes rolling and smiles that were just a bit too delightful and dreamy. For the local dealers Coachella must be height of their fiscal year. If you stood in the same place long enough something would surely fall in your lap.

All in all, Coachella is the caviar of festivals. Palm trees, dry weather, clean toilets and unbelievable lineups. The crowds might be getting bigger, and the tickets more expensive, but the experience remains stellar. The festival would, however, be a completely different experience if cell phones worked properly. Communication on the field was about half an hour delayed, and by the time your lost party got your text about a meeting place, they had already moved miles away. By the time you received their text to stay put, you had literally walked a marathon to get to them, so neither of you were where you said you would be! I had my own personal melt down after a 4-hour intensive search for my car keys one night. I think there may have even been a few tears…

My personal mission for the day was to meet my teenage crush Mike Patton, singer of Faith No More. With my artist wristband I had access to just about every area on and behind the field, but for some reason the band had taken special security measures. I made a few attempts to slip into their gated backstage section but gave up before it became too embarrassing. Instead I bolted to the field twenty minutes ahead and planted myself in front of the stage, in the center of the mosh pit. I was prepared to get crushed, but found out quickly that American fans are a bit boring. There was not enough singing, jumping and dancing, just a lot of sweating, pushing and groping. The highlight of the show was a crowd surfing Mike, which sent the fans in a mad frenzy. Sadly, my crush did not make it over to me… Mission incomplete…

On Saturday night 2 Many DJ’s trailer party was kicking off. 1. Champagne was handed around 2. Fellow DJs Eroll Alkan, Trevor Jackson and James Murphy visited. 3. Friends from all over the world found each other. 4. DEVO watched from across the “street.”

To get from the backstage to the stages or tents the production team commands a fleet of golf carts. The field is so big it literally takes fifteen minutes to get from one side to the other. And that’s if you’re running and can avoid stumbling over the thousands of festival-goers sprawled across the field. In the Sahara tent, DJ Z-trip was just finishing his set to give the stage to Die Antwoord, a Zef-Rap act from Capetown, consisting of three members dressed in matching white printed, hooded tracksuits. Frontman Ninja looks like a mix of Vanilla Ice and Jeremy Scott. His sidekick Yo-Landi is a tiny girl with a long blonde Mohawk. Their lyrics are in Zuid Afrikaans and apparently quite obscene. When 2 many DJs finished their set at 1am, we had one more champagne for the road. It would take me another two hours before making it back to the hotel. If I were more of a rock star I would’ve jacked one of those golf carts…

Jigga who? The ten-minute count down to Jay-Z’s performance was electric. As soon as the two giant digital clocks appeared on the LCD screens, announcing his approaching appearance, seventy-five thousand people merged and shuffled to see hip hop’s finest. It was the reward for a stressful day. In the hours leading up to the main event, the conversations overheard on and off the field all dealt with the same issues: 1. The volcano in Iceland had artists and fans stranded in Europe. 2. At least five British bands had to cancel their performance, including Gary Numan and The Cribs. 3. 2 Many DJs was left with just one member and had to replace the younger brother with the Soulwax keyboard player. 4. For the first time in Coachella’s 10-year run, tickets were sold out, even if you had $300 to buy a 3-day pass, or $600 for a VIP pass. 5. Traffic from Los Angeles to Indio was brutal, causing massive delays. 6. My own artist wristband only arrived at 8.30pm which, sadly, caused me to miss Them Crooked Vultures. 7. All the hotels in the area were booked solid, or had jacked up the rates to at least $500 a night. 8. The lines up to the main entrance were almost a one-hour wait, which the blaring hot sun made all the more sweaty and messy. 9. Happily, the principal topic on everyone’s lips was Jay-Z’s rumored surprise guest. Many people were convinced it would be Dr. Dre or Drake. Others thought it was Rihanna.

So when Hova finally emerged on a platform through the stage floor, to the opening tunes of “Run This Town,” the suspense culminated to an explosion of cheers and whistles. What followed was an hour-long track list of Jay-Z hits interluded with rock ballads like The Verve’s “Bitter Sweet Symphony.” Forty-five minutes into the show, the band started to play the intro of Alphaville’s 1984 “Forever Young.” As the intro dragged on, the tenstion built. Finally, in white cut-out printed T-shirt and black hat, appeared the beautiful Beyonce, singing her heart out.

I hate to break it to you, but if you are not in Palm Springs this weekend, you are missing out on one of the best outdoor festivals in the world. The line-up for the 2010 Coachella festival is unprecedented. And for me personally a dream come true. Over the next three days, four of my favorite bands will perform on various stages on a lavish, manicured polo field, lined with towering palm trees, in gorgeous 80 degree weather in the middle of the Palm Desert. Faith No More, Them Crooked Vultures, Jay-Z and 2 Many DJ’s, all nicely gathered, within arm’s reach. Sigh…

What you will read over the next four days, is an account of my travels, encounters and adventures of a truly unique musical desert experience.

Enjoy!

What do a dozen grannies, a flock of nearly extinct sheep and a couple supermodels have in common? Together they are the driving force behind The North Circular, a new knitwear company that produces cozy wool sweaters and accessories for ethically-conscious customers. Early this year model friends Lily Cole and Katherine Poulton invited Central St Martins graduate Alice Ashby to come up with designs for a line of knitwear pieces using the wool of rescued Wensleydale sheep from the Izzy Lane Sanctuary in Yorkshire. Then they recruited a few friendly grannies for knitting duty. Katherine’s grandmother, Eileen Poulton is 91 years old and has been knitting since the 1950s. While in those days she relegated her talents to teapot covers, her knowledge of garment patterns has become a major asset to the company. “Knitting is a dying art,” she explains. “In those days it was cheaper to knit items for your family than to buy. And what better way to spend your evening?” We concur. Place your orders at www.thenorthcircular.com.

For their 10^th anniversary, Swedish threesome Peter Bjorn and John have been up to their ever-enchanting tricks, traveling the US with a surprise tour and marking each city stop with special guest appearances from famous indie rock faces. They have, thus far, shared the stage with Spank Rock, Amanda Blank, Rose and the Alien with the Beer Baby Bong, Andrew WK, Au Revoir Simone, U-N-I, Matt Sweeney and Hollywood Holt, and upcoming shows are promising even more neo-jam band collaborations. Favorite singer El Perro Del Mar and her Swedish All Star Trio are opening each show, and during each concert PB & J have held a whistling contest—the prize being an opportunity to sing along to the 2006 hit “Young Folks” on stage. To add to the celebratory mood, a Birthday Light Show was specially designed by award-winning light master Ed Warren. The tour closes on November 21^st in LA at Club Nokia—in true Hollywood style—with a star-studded guest list and more surprise acts. For those of you who don’t get to sing Happy Birthday with them live, follow their twitter updates on http://www.ilike.com/artist/Peter+Bjorn+And+John.

Photography by Aaron Stern for amediumformat.com