Another hot and vibrant weekend came and went last weekend at the Empire Polo Fields in Indio, California. Having gone six times, the 2008 Coachella Music Festival was, simply, probably the best in the series I had experienced.
You'll be able to find lots of eloquent reviews and great photos online. The memories are still swimming in my head and eventually, one by one, I'll put them down.
And to those concerned about Roger Waters' floating pig, which drifted off into the desert sky at the end of their first set, don't worry, it was found.
Festival facts
Duration: 3 days
Number of acts performed: 129
Number of people who attended each day: 60,000
Daytime weather: 104 and sunny with a slight breeze
Nighttime weather: 61 and calm
My experience this year
Number of acts seen: 38
Number of acts seen for the first time: 30
Number of acts heard for the first time: 10
And, the acts, grouped by how much (or little) I enjoyed their performances: 
- St. Vincent
- Dimitri from Paris
- Duffy
- Black Kids*
- M.I.A. (believe me, I really wanted to enjoy this one)
"Hey that was pretty good"
- Midnight Juggernauts*
- Battles
- Sebastian*
- The Verve
- Gogol Bordello
- My Morning Jacket
- Rogue Wave*
- Kate Nash*
- Sia
- Architecture in Helsinki
- Goldfrapp
- Aphex Twin
- MGMT
- Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks*
- Hot Chip
- Death Cab for Cutie
- Stars*
- Booka Shade
- Spiritualized*
- Fatboy Slim
- Danny Tenaglia
"Now this is why I Love Music"
- Cut / Copy*
- Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings*
- Rilo Kiley
- Portishead
- Prince
- I'm From Barcelona
- Roger Waters
- The Raconteurs
- James Zabiela
- Sasha & Digweed
- The Breeders
- Vampire Weekend
* Never heard their music before
So, another year, another Coachella. There's lots of acts to catch up on, many memories to recall, a great music high that should last until the end of the year, around the holidays, when we'll start wondering, "who's on in '09?"
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