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NME Festivals Blog 2009 - Festival action, all year round -  Festival action, all year round

Category: Coachella

By NME

Posted on 04/21/09 at 11:14:32 am

NME's LA correspondent Lyndsey Parker writes:

Coachella 2009 is over, and thanks to my obsessive-compulsive slathering of SPF 100 sunscreen (yes, such a thing exists) throughout the weekend, the festival is already a faded memory for me, since I didn't even return from Indio with a residual suntan.

But some Coachella memories do remain seared in my brain like a second-degree sunburn. Here are my picks for Coachella 2009's top 10 most magical and memorable desert sessions, in ascending order of overall awesomeness:

10) Franz Ferdinand Take Coachella Out

Is there any better song to kick Coachella into high gear on Friday afternoon than "Take Me Out"? If there is, I haven't heard it. Yes, Franz Ferdinand had many other indie arena anthems in their arsenal ("Do You Want To" and "No You Girls" were both especially effective party-starters), but this perennial crowd-pleaser was still the song that made the festivalgoers start tossing beachballs and tossing back beers in earnest.

9) Yeah Yeah Yeahs Create A Buzz With "Human Fly"

On the main stage on Sunday, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs gave an eye-catching performance--literally, as they played in front of an Outer Limits-style giant eyeball while fans in the front bounced an eyeball-beachball to and fro. Adding to the visual appeal was the YYYs' always dressed-to-impress (and dressed-to-excess) frontwoman Karen O, all gussied up in a chainmail go-go dress and blue Superwoman tights. One of most dynamic lead singers currently working in all of rock 'n' roll, Karen's characteristically unhinged performance added some much-needed muscle to the new and unfamiliar songs from the YYYs' flabby third album It's Blitz!, although the highlight of the band's set came when they covered "Human Fly" by the Cramps. The dearly departed Lux Interior--one of the most dynamic lead singers EVER--surely would have been honored by Karen's tribute. "This one goes out to Lux!"

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