Outside Lands was Experienced and Phoenix the Band is Better than the City. Exponentially.

Just awhile back I was reading an article in the New York Times (be impressed). The premise of said article was that money might not buy you happiness but in some cases it can lead to happiness. You see, according to a study, most people are not fulfilled when spending on material goods. Those who spend on experiences are far happier.

And I could not be happier to be out $150 for Outside Lands 2010.

The WC loyalists will say, “But Adam, you already went to Coachella and wrote about that.” Indeed, I did. But what other forum could I use to convey the faux-hipster movement away from fedoras to canes? Yes, canes, as in: upright assistance. I swear there was an abundance of able-bodied cane enthusiasts at the two-day festival. I have no explanation.

Day one was filled with groups I didn’t really know, fog, cold, and disappointment. I didn’t really know My Morning Jacket or Gogol Bordeaux and each was impressive. Gogol erupted on stage and I couldn’t tell if they were singing in Spanish or eastern European but it didn’t matter. My Morning Jacket was good. Took the stage and put on a rock show that became a bit redundant but entertaining.

The cold and the fog were chilly and wet. Bothersome.

Disappointment came with Wolfmother and The Strokes. Both put on just mediocre shows and I’d venture to request that Strokes front man, Julian Casablancas, never address a crowd again. Great voice. Terrible commentary.

For day one I only knew three songs across five performances. But day two featured Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes, Phoenix, and Kings of Leon. Toss in slight familiarity with Amos Lee and The Temper Trap and I knew day two would be good.

Then MD thought the back pocket of my jeans would be a good place to keep a flask of vodka and I then knew day two would be epic!

Amos Lee was a surprisingly fun singer and was exactly what the sun needed to be coaxed out. The Temper Trap followed with a good show but was really just whetting my desire to hear Edward Sharpe followed by Phoenix. Ultimately, everyone would know that I enjoyed the Phoenix show.

Edward Sharpe's performance consists of ten hippies running around on stage and was nothing short of amazing. Folksy hippie music can’t always get people up to party. Edward Sharpe can.

Allow me to preface my Phoenix performance review with the fact that I really like this band. I haven’t taken them off my iPod Shuffle for some ten months and I frequent Phoenix radio on Pandora. That said, let’s briefly rehash my Coachella thoughts on Phoenix:

Phoenix put on a fair show but left much to the imagination.

They might as well have popped their CD in and danced on stage

So when you’re three-quarters through a two-day concert and you’ve known maybe a dozen songs and then a band plays a 75-minute set you know all the words to and you’re a few flasks-n-pints deep, let me tell you: Phoenix fucking rocks. They played a great set and I haven’t been able to get enough of their song “Rome” since Sunday.

I am told Kings of Leon closed the festival.

So back to the Times article. It was the experience that mattered, not necessarily the music, venue or liquor. And experiences – as we learned from the martyred Chris McCandless – are best when shared. So thanks and great work to:

· MD – photographer extraordinaire, but please do not share

· SC – sorry for the Franzia fiasco, if I could have chosen who to shower, it would not have been you. AJT? Kidding. LC, fo sho.

· LC – someday you’ll hear a song you know

· AJT – when missing JAOLL assume the fetal position and wait

· AM – I wish your favorite song from the weekend had been from the show

· RM – Ed Sharpe > Al Green

· PS – tardy, but good to see you

· CHFOLL – sigh

· Phoenix – I heart you

Then it was over and our crew parted ways; biking, stumbling, or walking home. Monday morning was tough, but we endure and we go back to the proverbial grind so that we can pay for some more experiences.

Coachella 2010: People Watching is Best Done in Dense Crowds

Whether you did drugs or not – and the guy who screamed “I’M ON DRUGS” at four in the morning clearly did – the 2010 Coachella Music and Arts Festival was amazing.

The impressively eclectic grouping of musicians - ranging from Jay-Z to Them Crooked Vultures to countless techno/rave/electro groups I have never heard of, and likely never will, drew some 75,000 people for each of the experiences’ three days. It was crowded to say the least, and deservedly so. The limitless people watching in itself was worth the price of admission, but the headliners and everyone else filled in quite nicely amongst the drunks, druggies, and fedoras.

Of course Jay-Z killed. You take for granted how many hits the guy has put out but when he can play a twelve-year old song and have the crowd believing they too have lived a “Hard Knock Life” you’re a superstar. And when you can roll out your spouse to duet with you and her name is Beyonce, well, you’re a megastar.

 I was blown away by the sheer rock power of Muse. The London-based group conducted an uber-show on the Coachella main stage Saturday night in front of what seemed to be one of the larger crowds of the weekend. The band’s front man, Matthew Bellamy, went absolutely rock star on the guitar, drifting into Hendrix’s National Anthem and a Rage tribute, sky-rocketing my Muse fandom.

A band I was very excited to see was Vampire Weekend and the quartet did not let me down. They played a high energy, move-your-hips-and-bob-your-head set that left a smile on everyone’s face and made me regret not yet purchasing their newest album, Contra.

Conversely, bands like MGMT and Phoenix were disappointing despite their popularity. MGMT showed little interest in playing and seemed to hammer through their set with a clock in, clock out, blah-like enthusiasm. Phoenix put on a fair show but left much to the imagination. They might as well have popped their CD in and danced on stage.

We skipped the final headliner, The Gorrilaz, to hustle out of the campgrounds but Thom Yorke was arguably headliner enough for day three. I didn’t know who Thom Yorke was one week before Coachella but I wont soon forget him now. The Radiohead front man, playing on his own, put on quite the festival closing show. He and his super group played yet another high energy show that, despite not knowing a single song, had me moving and impressed. His bassist, Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, was a gyrating riot. Incredible.

But while I’d heard of most of the headliners and bigger bands to play, the meat and potatoes of such an experience lies in the umpteen other bands that piece the days together. These bands play between noon and 5:30 under the beating sun and draw smaller crowds of hyper-loyal followers. Often, these are some of the most exciting and memorable shows. Also, at $7 an onsite beer, people tend to be drunker, earlier courtesy of their off-site pre-gaming, adding to the excitement of the smaller groups.

Of the non-headliners I was impressed by Hockey, Edward Sharpe, As Tall as Lions, The Avett Brothers, Matt & Kim, De La Soul, and Die Antwoord. Some of these bands I’d been previously exposed to (The Avett Brothers, Matt & Kim) and I may be biased. I will say that Matt & Kim played the most energetic show – so much that they prompted a streaker – I saw and I was absolutely thrilled to see them fill far beyond the parameters of the Mojave tent.

The Avett Brothers performing "I and Love and You" (brief)

Die Antwoord played a twenty-minute set at 11:34 pm on Saturday night that I absorbed slack jawed. I have no words to describe what this South African Rap/DJ group is or performs and there are no groups like them. Their front man goes by the name Ninja. Perhaps his name can shed some light on the absurdity that is this group. Coachella was their US debut after gaining viral popularity via a self-produced video. Be prepared for strange if you click here.

On the people-watching front, my two favorites occurred Saturday night. First, it was amazing to watch any person’s face having a transcendent moment courtesy of the meandering Transcenders. The Transcenders is the name I’ve given to the guys who walk through the venue with colorful LED lights on their fingertips and perform a lights show for willing observers. As the fingertip lights go zipping around, the seated observer becomes fascinated by the visual facade of streaking lights and god-knows what else. The look on their face becomes one of absolute entrancement and joy. Needless to say, there was no shortage of observers. I must admit that even as a third party observer, those were some crazy lights.

The second best people watching occurred during the Muse concert just a few feet from us. As the band destroyed it, the couple to our left was quite a site. He was a shirtless, five-foot-five, Latino in skinny jeans and barefoot. She was a five-foot-ten redhead in pretty standard garb. What made them the people-watching experience of the trip was that he stood behind her, groping any and every part of her he could get his hands on, while he moved, danced, and humped away at her back half. While he did his thing, she not only towered above him, but paid him absolutely no mind. It was like watching a puppy hump Shaquille O’Neal’s leg. Proof of her utter disregard culminated when she calmly sent a series of text messages as he continued to go at her behind.

So while music, drugs, and liquor maybe don’t bring out the best in people, it certainly brings out the fun in them. Coachella 2010 was a cleanly run event that provided fun for all and an astonishingly safe atmosphere for 75,000 people to unapologetically engage in otherwise inappropriate behavior. Kudos to the staff and event producers for a job well done.

When you leave Coachella, you leave dirty, dehydrated, malnourished, exhausted and ready to do it all over again. It’s by no means a concert. It’s by all means an experience. And if indeed we are to experience life, try Coachella. The experience only further whet my appetite for live music, shared adventures, and the hopefully seldom but always fun pre-noon Jack Daniel’s.

If You Go:

Camping is undoubtedly the way to take in the three-day experience. Arrive early and provide your own shade. Outside of pills, shade is perhaps the most sought after commodity at Coachella. Our group was lucky that I had a 12’x12’ sunburn saving, pop-up cover. Tents are good to have too but don’t expect to sleep much regardless. Bring plenty of whatever you want to consume because on site anything is expensive. Be warned that campground parties become ubiquitous as the night progresses and don't wear a fedora unless you want to look like everyone else. Other than that, tune on, tune in, drop out, and enjoy!

202 Miles is Further Than You Can Run - RAGNAR 2010

Two-hundred-and-two miles is a very long distance to run. It would take a solid runner (8 minute miles) over 26 hours to complete. That’s why we did it with twelve runners (and two drivers, but don’t tell the race officials) in over 30 hours.

This past weekend was the RAGNAR Del Sol Relay Race. This is a relay from Prescott, AZ to Tempe, AZ covering 202 miles of terrain and 5000 feet of elevation (6100 at the start, 1100 at the end). The race is broken into 36 legs ranging from 3 to 8.8 miles and each runner completes three total legs. Runners are split into two vans (Van 1 and Van 2) of six runners each. The vans leap frog one another as their six runners complete their series’ of legs and move on to the next exchange. Example: Van 1, with runners 1-6, completes legs 1-6 then passes the baton at exchange 6 from runner 6 to runner 7. Van 1 then moves on to exchange 12, and waits for Van 2 and runners 7-12 to complete legs 7-12. This continues throughout the night and into day until legs 1-36 have been completed. The baton is an early 90’s snap bracelet.

This year, I ran for team CBR, my company team. The team was a combination of both lab personnel (Tucson) and corporate personnel (San Bruno). I work in the lab so I only knew the San Brunans by name; I couldn’t pick them out of a lineup. But this is the best way to do a super relay. In my experience (four relays) the most fun part is getting to know the strangers in your van over the isolated, dense, smelly, trying 30+ hours together. While a 15-passenger van sounds big, it isn’t.

The CBR race became a cause with the creation of the Newborn Possibilities program. This is a terrific program created to raise money to assist families participating in clinical cord blood trials combatting neurological damage or disability – such as Cerebral Palsy. The objective of the fund is to offset the significant expenses these families incur traveling to and from the trials. Our runners took pledges (and still are) to support the program and the at-risk newborns. If - when you’re done reading this - you feel you’d like to support the cause, follow this LINK TO THE NEWBORN POSSIBILITIES FUND.

We kicked race weekend off by interviewing with the local NBC news affiliate who shared the story of our race and a little boy who has seen tremendous improvement in his dexterity since he was infused with his own cord blood. We were able to interact with wee Luke Fryar and his family and it was amazing to see this youngin’ move in ways his family had never thought possible (to see the story, CLICK HERE). It was a great way to start the weekend, establishing some big picture perspective for why we were running.

Running for a cause and amongst employed strangers set the stage for a race of epic proportions; however, because what happens at RAGNAR stays at RAGNAR, I will not divulge the details. I will say this: HR Directors are people too, sunrises are majestic, farts are always funny, “Eye of the Tiger” can pump anyone up (but especially a Philadelphian), men should not wear thongs unless they want to get viciously passed, Red Vines are amazing, Backgammon is dirty, just because a restaurant has a sign that says “Italian” doesn’t mean they serve pasta, Lulu Lemon is for everyone, you can’t make up your own nickname, and the f***ing Catalina Wine Mixer. Think what you will of that list, CBR RAGNAR 2010 was a glorious debacle – as are all overnight adventures.

My recommendation (other than to contribute to the Newborn Possibilities fund) is to find a race and do it. I know I said this after the PF Chang’s Half-Marathon, but this is an entirely different experience. After PF Chang’s I talked about the “we” mentality of the running community. The RAGNAR Race creates a “we” extreme (among other extremes). As a runner, you’re reliant on your teammates to get from start-to-finish. They’re supporting you no matter whether it’s 1pm or 3am. They’re sleeping next to you on middle school wrestling mats. They’ll snore like a sonic boom. They’ll pick up parts (if not all) of your run if you’re coughing up blood or about to pop an Achilles. They’ll put fake snakes next to your sleeping bag after you’ve expressed a primal fear of reptiles. They’ll hog-tie you into your own sweatshirt. It’s an opportunity to embark amongst strangers and depart amongst family. (By the way, the Homers will have tons more information on great races throughout the west coast coming soon and will also be regularly accepting invites to participate in these races)

Hog-tied

In our case, a group of co-workers bonded over a passion for the outdoors, running, and sophomoric humor. We were lucky to have superb weather and 15-passenger vans instead of mini-vans. I feel lucky to have been included. Happy Birthday Johnnie and happy trails to me. The race was a success as we raised over $8000 (and counting) for the Newborn Possibilities fund. It was a success because we did it.

And we did it for the kids.

On a somber note, Robby Mayasich, an 18-year-old Phoenician, was struck by a car and killed early Saturday morning during the race. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Mayasich family.

26.2 Halved

This past Sunday I ran the P.F. Chang’s Rock-n-Roll Half-Marathon for the fifth consecutive year. That’s two-and-a-half marathons, total. The weather was perfect. I think I saw a marquee that said 56° around mile two and around mile five there was a heavenly cloud cover that lasted the rest of the race. Conditions were perfect and I set a new PR (personal record), 1:37:22. I was, and still am, very excited.

This event is quite the event. There were 21,460 finishers and everyone was real nice. Myself included – perhaps especially. When I was making my final push (I ran the final 1.1 miles in under seven minutes), I was passing a pair of mid-thirties men. The one closest to me, understandably, had to snot. So he shot his snot-rocket (Runner’s Dictionary: close one nostril and violently evacuate the open nostril) and I got sprayed. Residual spray, nothing too overwhelming, but someone’s snot on me nonetheless. He quickly apologized and I said, “No worries, I got plenty of snot on me as it is.” Well let me tell you, twelve miles into a half-marathon that is a funny joke.

Later, I got to thinking: a run by snotting is no laughing matter. Generally, I should be upset and disgusted. Not on race day. There’s something unique about a race day; it’s different than game day. Game day, I want to kill you, punish you, let you know just how much better I am than you. Race day, we are commiserating and want to finish. Our goals and motivations may be completely opposite but we are here to accomplish. Race day is a “we” thing.

And in the spirit of WE, the highlight of my race day was not my PR (although I remain amped on that). My highlight was seeing the full-marathon finish. After I’d finished and collected all of my SWAG, I meandered over to the full-marathon finish line area. What I saw was remarkable. The race time was approaching three-hours and each of the finishers knew it. At the 2:59:50 mark, the announcer started a countdown: “10…9…8…” In the distance, two runners took off, throwing all of their training and good judgment to the wayside for their sub-three hour marathon. It was an amazing moment of human fortitude. They each crossed before the timer struck 3:00:00. Beaten, exhausted, and likely dehydrated, they each stood in their own seas of euphoria and pride. Then one of them puked – three times.

It is always an incredible site to see people accomplish a goal. I suppose it’s only fitting that I write this on Martin Luther King Day and I did not plan that. But the process of achieving a dream is quite impressive, inspiring, and contagious. Scientifically, the endorphins excreted during and following exercise are addicting and good for you. Yet another reason to set an athletic goal and conquer it.

During my 97+ minutes on the course, I saw a lot of things. I never run these races with my iPod in, there is just too much to absorb. I love high-fiving the little kids holding their hands out. You might think I do this for them. Reality: it makes me feel like I’m a superstar of sorts. The 5-year-olds make me feel cool. I saw Lloyd Christmas and Harry Dunne in their orange and silver tuxedos with matching top hats. There was a banana running, lots of tutus, a bunny rabbit costume, more LuLu Lemon gear than I knew existed, a dude running w/ a 5’ log on his shoulder, and one tramp stamp (that I saw). I also saw a guy wearing tear away sleeves but no shirt. Perplexing, yes, but he was significantly muscled and wanted us all to know. We know.

Also worth noting is the sign Zack pointed out to me. It read, “The journey of 13.5 miles begins with one step.” No one ran 13.5 miles. Also worth noting, John McCain, who was at the starting line, waves using primarily his shoulders for hand rotation and is an awkward winker.

It’s a great weekend that is made exponentially better with great friends. Thanks to Zack for driving us to the starting line and verbally confirming that he liked my CD. Great job Hayley and, on behalf of Zack and I, thank you for tolerating the guy talk, inappropriate jokes, and immaturity. Thanks for coming out.

As I said, it is a tremendous event and I suggest to anyone in the bottom left corner of the US to try it. The half-marathon distance is easily trained for and Phoenix is a city that knows how to throw an event. Do it, I say. Join us on race day 2011.

*For info on next year's race, follow this link: PF Chang's Rock-n-Roll Arizona