Artists Covered:

fun.
Jack’s Mannequin
Wiz Khalifa
Death From Above 1979

Sunday rolled around as it always does, and I was sad to feel this epic weekend slipping through my fingers. But, alas, I had no time to wallow; two of my favorite bands were playing today—fun. and Jack’s Mannequin—and I had to prepare. Unfortunately, the cruel temptresses behind the Coachella schedule decided to arrange their set times to go AT THE EXACT SAME TIME. Naturally, I was outraged. I mean, clearly, these two artists are in the same genre—they recently toured together for God’s sake—and it’s highly likely fans such as myself would want to see both bands. Anyways, these were difficult whiny-privileged-upper-middle-class-kid-problems I was so brutally forced to navigate, and I ended up catching half of fun.’s set and the back half of Jack’s Mannequin’s.

fun.

fun. pretending they have moustaches. Silly fun., those aren’t your real moustaches.

Let me just say, I was beyond excited to finally see Nate Ruess—fun.’s lead singer—in flesh and blood. I have long been a diehard The Format fan, and was rather devastated that I had never gotten to see them live before they went on hiatus. Furthermore, I had somehow managed to miss all of the fun. concerts in my area, so this was my big moment. The set kicked off on the Outdoor Stage and Ruess’ highly recognizable voice filled the space. They played tracks from their first album, Aim and Ignite, including “Walking the Dog”, “All the Pretty Girls”, and “At Least I’m Not As Sad (As I Used to Be)” with a great energy and a much appreciated live flair. Ruess was great at engaging the crowd, and their cover of Queen’s “Radio Ga Ga” only increased said engagement. I was actually really excited they did a Queen cover because I’ve always thought Ruess’ vocals and style were reminiscent of Freddy Mercury’s—his crazy range and affinity for “Bohemian Rhapsody”-like pace and volume changes. It was a great set, but I was a little unsatisfied: all my favorite songs from Aim and Ignite went unplayed (“Benson Hedges”, “The Gambler”, and “Take Your Time (Coming Home)”), at least during my stay at the set. Also, I was hoping for a Format song, but that was a definite long shot. Regardless, I had my fun. fix and jetted off to the Main Stage to see Jack’s Mannequin.

fun.’s “Walking the Dog”

Jack’s Mannequin

Andrew McMahon, sitting on a bridge. The usual.

Let me preface this with saying, holy crap, I love Jack’s Mannequin. I am aware of the stigma surrounding it: yes, it’s a little whiny; yes, it’s very teenager-y, blah, blah, blah. But I will defend front man Andrew McMahon ‘til the very end. He is talented beyond belief, has an amazing ability to tell earnest stories, and makes some damn catchy, truly pop-rock tunes. Another undeniable aspect of his music that hooks fans left and right is the sincerity behind each note and word; McMahon is so emotive and genuine that you can’t help but believe and relate to him. I caught “La La Lie”, “MFEO: Made For Each Other”, “Dark Blue”, and “The Resolution”, and sung along with every word. Everyone around me knew all the words as well, and it was a simultaneously liberating and unifying experience. It was like one of those perfect days, driving and the weather is beautiful and you’re with people you love and you’re singing and just brimming with life and energy. This is ridiculously cheesy—I’m aware—but entirely true. It was a very happy and pure moment for me and hundreds of other fans.

Wiz Khalifa

Wiz Khalifa took the Main Stage next before hundreds of rowdy and excited fans. A distinctly different atmosphere from the previous Jack’s Mannequin set—though equally as excited—soon surrounded the area. The up-and-coming rap superstar took the stage to roars of applause, looking gaunt and tattooed and, honestly, pretty awesome. He played favorites from his album Burn After Rolling such as “Black and Yellow” and “The Thrill”, which samples Empire of the Sun’s “Walking on a Dream”. “The Thrill” was my highlight of the set, and I rapped along ferociously like I was in a rap battle with Eminem (I totally won). The rest of the performance was amped with high-energy beats and crafty lyrics and a responsive, reactive crowd that was obviously digging the sound.

Wiz Khalifa looking all angsty and tattooed.

Death From Above 1979

Death From Above 1979 with real moustaches.

After Wiz Khalifa, Boyfriend and I, exhausted and sweaty, sat in the middle of a chilled-out, rasta-love, green-red-black-and-yellow-bearing crowd awaiting Nas & Damien Marley. We had a mission—well, he had a mission: get as close to the stage as possible for Death From Above 1979. He was going in for the mosh, I was happy to kick it on the outskirts. Following Nas & Damien Marley (who were delightfully laid back), he rushed up to the front, and I took to the shade to enjoy the two-part band from afar. Here’s the thing about DFA1979: they were only together from 2001-2006 and released one full-length studio album, You’re a Woman, I’m a Machine, so this reunion show was kind of a big deal. Also, what’s interesting about this band is it’s just drummer Sebastien Grainger on drums and vocals and Jesse F. Keeler on bass, which makes for a really interesting, heavy sound. Also, it doesn’t hurt that Grainger is a total beastly blur of sweat and hair and awesomeness. The set was pretty legendary, with my favorite song played being “Black History Month”—such a sexy song. The crowd was seriously stoked to see the band, and the devoted fans’ longing for more DFA 1979 music was easily detectable. It was a pretty awesome way to end an afternoon. Now it was onto The Strokes and Kanye West to close out an unreal weekend.

“Black History Month” by Death From Above 1979