These are the bands that I’m looking forward to checking out at the 2015 Coachella Music Festival. In the unlikely event anyone cares, here’s the list so far.
Best of Luck to everyone that tried to guess my Top 10. All Systems Go!
#2 = KASABIAN
KASABIAN is an English indie rock band from Leicester that formed back in 1997. The band consists of Tom Meighan (lead vocals), Sergio Pizzorno (guitarist, vocals, and beats), Chris Edwards (bass), and Ian Matthews (drums).
Since emerging on the indie scene back in 2004, the Leicester lads have been one of my favorite bands. As soon as I laid ears on the tunes “Club Foot” and “Reason Is Treason” from their phenomenal self-titled 2004 debut album, I’ve been fully consumed. They’ve released five studio albums overall, and all to critical acclaim, albeit in Europe. Their most recent album 48:13 was released in the United States last October.
The band’s sound is heavily influenced by The Stone Roses, but also has obvious elements of Primal Scream, The Happy Mondays, Oasis, and dare I say, DJ Shadow. It’s everything you want; danceable guitar driven Madchester baggy rock, electronic beats, traces of hip hop, and it’s all perfectly executed with an extremely confident and cocky edge.
Considered by many, including me, as one of the best live acts on the planet, they’re shamefully overlooked here in the States. KASABIAN is one of the biggest bands in the world, except here in the United States, they headlined Glastonbury in 2014 for Christ’s sake! They will play the friendly confines of the Mojave stage for the second time in a row, while appearing on the poster on line 4, right below FKA Twigs, seriously FKA Twigs. The band seems to not really care about their lack of exposure in the U.S., they feel it’s one place in the world they can go and walk down the street without anyone recognizing them, that is if I’m not walking down the same street.
I’ve seen the band six times, and next Saturday night will make number seven, even if there’s an unfortunate overlap with Alt-J, my #4 band on my list. KASABIAN will be making their third Coachella appearance overall, the 2012 performance in the Mojave nearly blew the fucking roof off the joint, or maybe it did. That show probably ranks as one of the five best Coachella shows I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen a bunch over the last eleven fests. North American KASABIAN shows are rare and hard to come by, so see them while you can, they won’t disappoint.
Who likes fun facts?
The band is named after Linda Kasabian, one of Charles Manson’s disciples. Ms. Kasabian is said to have served as Manson’s getaway driver.
Discography:
KASABIAN (2004)
Empire (2006)
West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum (2009)
Velociraptor! (2011)
48:13 (2014)
Below is a nice introduction to KASABIAN, I took the liberty of providing one tune from each of their five albums, enjoy:
GoINDEEpMusic