Now in its fourth year, the Goldenvoice produced event focused more on local and U.S. talent due in part to 9/11 and our country’s foreign policy. This brought Los Angeles screamo group The Kinison to the Outdoor stage and S.T.U.N to the Mojave tent and gave the attendees a taste of what the bands in our own backyard are like. S.T.U.N had their tent filled with people raising their fists and shouting along to the band’s cover of Another Brick in the Wall Pt. 1 and we watched in bemusement as the singer swung from the lighting hanging at the top of the tent. To top that off, after a short and fast thrasher, the singer tackled the drummer and trashed the kit. S.T.U.N. left the stage to thunderous applause and likely made many new fans.

Soundtrack Of Our Lives played the Coachella Stage in the bright afternoon sun and put on a solid set of rockers played with intelligence and swagger. If you need a fix of actual guitar virtuosity and soulful, powerful singing, look no further than these guys.

Tortoise played a set on the Outdoor Stage that had their fans shuffling their feet and shaking their hips while the rest of us rhythmically challenged fans bobbed our heads to the syncopated often double drumming and heavy bass grooves of the group. They often changed instruments, from drums to keyboards, from guitar to drums and from keyboards to bass. The coolest parts were when they jammed on vibes and a digital table they hit with mallets and sounded like a more earthy xylophone. They often tweeked their keyboard samples and played guitar in unison with the offbeat melodies coming from the keyboards. Tortoise are perfect at what they do, mixing a Latin groove with twangy guitars and segueing into a beefy dance number or just making some weird tempo change and going off into the nether regions of ambient jazz. Their music is sexy, grooving and cerebral, sometimes all at once. And that’s just the way we like them.

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COACHELLA VALLEY MUSIC AND ARTS FESTIVAL 2003
INDIO, CALIFORNIA
APRIL 27,2003

PHOTOS AND REVIEW BY BRET MILLER

soundtrack of our lives
soundtrack of our lives
soundtrack of our lives

tortoise
tortoise