It’s been only a week since the annual Coachella Music & Arts Festival from April 17-19, and I’m sure UCLA students currently enduring midterms are feeling the same longing as I am to return to that blazing Indio sun. This was my first experience camping for the weekend, and besides the monumental torture of being slowly herded like cattle to the campground after the headliners, the three days were a blur of one incredible moment after another. Shouting “SLACK MOTHERFUCKER” alongside hundreds of jumping fans, surviving the all-encompassing noise wall of MBV’s ‘holocaust’ (with ringing ears days later), the entire Ida Maria set, the explosive rendition of Live and Let Die, etc etc etc…all dozens of unforgettable memories that help me to trudge through stressful academic nights like these.

Coachella marks the beginning of the 2009 music festival season, and with the recent Lollapalooza line-up being revealed, those of you who’ve missed Coachella still have a chance to catch many of these same artists live.

Here are a few pictures of the weekend that happened to turn out decently:

–Ricky Irwin