Tunes Tuesday, "Joy to You Baby," Josh Ritter

When an unexpected trip came up, my friend Jason was nice enough to give me his tickets to Josh Ritter's sold-out show on Friday. And that's how I ended up seeing Josh Ritter in concert for the third time. I love his songwriting so, so much and you can tell he loves performing. He is the smile-est dude ever. I wondered though, since he just put out a "divorce" record, would he still be as smiley?

Joy To You Baby is the first single off of Josh Ritter's new album, The Beast In Its Tracks, out now. Check out Josh's 2013 tour dates now at http://www.joshritter.com

The answer is yes! Joe said he looked like the Joker, haha, and I did imagine his face cracking from smiling so much. I think he can't help ​smiling. Even the man's divorce record has a veneer of niceness, as seen in this track off "The Beast in its Tracks." And his shows are so much fun, how could you not smile? That's what selling out two nights in a row will do. 

What They Wore to Coachella

Part of the Coachella mystique is the fashion blog coverage of what the beautiful people wore to party in the desert. There's an entire genre of clothes that now exists, thanks to Coachella and Glastonbury et al: Festival Style. Perhaps it's because we went the second weekend, and all the glam people go the first weekend, but I observed that most people wore as little clothes as possible. We're talking just walking around in bikinis and sports bras. Not particularly fashionable. I get it. It is so hot there. I envied the bikini chicks. Also, this is not a place you want to take a Chanel bag, which I saw in some of the blog slideshows. It's dusty and vomit-y. Fashion people be trippin.

​Here are the main trends I observed: high-waisted booty jhorts, crop tops, floral crowns, disgustingly dirty Toms, crop tops, baby doll dresses, crop tops. Did I say crop tops? I'd like the record to show that I predicted this trend's revival back in 2009. Maybe Coachella is the only place it's really taken off.

​Anyway, before the trip I evaluated my wardrobe for Festival Style and found it lacking, which resulted in a mini-shopping spree. I bought four new things to wear and assembled three Festival Outfits. But then disaster struck, when my flight was delayed and I missed my connecting flight, which caused my suitcase to go missing. Wouldn't that be rich, I thought, if I lost my luggage and had to wear the same t-shirt and pair of jeans every single day. That would serve me right. But thank God, because somehow, against all odds, my little suitcase turned up behind the desk at the Yuma United Airlines counter. 

New for Coachella: Bag from Levi's (similar), Sam Edelman Louie boots (on sale here!)

Here's what I packed for Coachella. Nothing too groundbreaking but I tried. My issue was that I wanted to keep cool but avoid strappy or strapless tops in an effort to avoid getting a sunburn. ​The maxi dress with the cutouts was probably the best choice, in terms of being breezy but covered up. The second day I wore an ultra-light see-through shirt with a swim top underneath, and the last day I wore my boots and a pair of bright blue shorts I bought from the vintage/resell shop Meeps in D.C. I thought, "Yeah, I'm going to get some cool high-waisted vintage shorts to wear to Coachella, look at me." But then I took them home and looked more closely at the label. It read "The Gap." Vintage shopping fail. Bah.

The shorts did come with a neat fabric belt with geometric shapes, and judging by the whip-stitching, it looks like someone may have made it. I also thought that these shorts were ​scandalously short, but damn, compared to the other girls at Coachella, they were practically Mom jhorts. I saw so many butt cheeks hanging out of high-waisted jean shorts. That was standard issue.

And I bit the bullet and bought the fringed boots I was debating in an earlier post. No, I didn't go with white. ​These were comfortable enough to make it through most of the last day, although I was happy to have brought along flip flops too. And the suede survived the dusty, muddy field. Phew! My poor friend Emily was leading the way through the crowd and she stepped in a pile of vomit. That is a very Coachella story, I feel. And that would've been game over for the fringe boots. As luck would have it, Emily had on sneakers so it wasn't as horrible as it could've been.

I tried to look for fashion inspiration from my fellow concertgoers, and don't get me wrong, there were a ton of beautiful people there. They looked good. But it wasn't anything I couldn't see in D.C. on an Urban Outfitters mannequin. Except for one outfit I spotted, which I will try to replicate below:

​PacSun Eyelet Bustier Tank, Minkpink Bustier, Nasty Gal Oversize Denim Vest via R29, N_8 Draped Knee-length Skirt, Steve Madden Troopa Boot, Young Frankk Peak Brass Ring

One girl wore a bustier top with a knee-length mustard yellow circle skirt and a tough pair of boots, and she looked so fresh.  I thought it would look good with a black or white top, and maybe you could throw an oversize denim vest on top of it for some D.C. modesty, and add a streamlined, bold ring to finish the look.

I would love to try to rock this, just need to find a cheaper skirt... Thanks for reading my Coachella fashion post!

Tunes Tuesday, "Paradise," Wild Nothing

Here's a blissed-out song from a band we heard at Coachella. It reminds me a bit of M83, especially with the voiceover from the video's star Michelle Williams, who recites poetry and Latin conjugations. It makes sense for the track, really.

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What to Expect at Coachella

It seems like every year there are more music festivals than the last, and I've been to Lollapalooza, but Coachella has always been on my dream list. It's got a bazillion bands each year, and that intangible California cool. Regardless of who was on the lineup, my middle school/high school bestie Emily and I decided this would be the one year of our lives we'd check it out, since Emily is currently living in Yuma, Arizona, just a few hour drive away. We managed to purchase tickets and I couldn't believe this was actually happening.

I had a few worries though: 1) that I would get horribly sunburned and get heatstroke in the desert, and 2) that the scene would be too Burning Man-esque. But neither ended up bothering me! Here are our tips for music nerds who want to get the most music for their buck at Coachella. We were totally prepared — and that was all on Emily, I tip my hat to her. In fact, the first day we were so jazzed about the festival that I think we may have been the first ones out of 80,000 people to arrive at the parking lot. "It's not open yet," the parking lot attendent told us. "Can we wait?" Emily asked. "No," he said. "Go get a cup of coffee."

So here are a few tips to surving Coachella from hyper-organized East Coasters.

1. Don't get discouraged if the website times out when you're attempting to buy tickets. It took us a zillion tries to get through, with both of us trying different browsers.

2. Bring your water bottle with a carabiner clip (as seen above). There are a few faucets scattered throughout the grounds.

3. A handkerchief ​is crucial for those who are prissy about sitting in the grass and dust. And it folds up to fit in your purse.

4. Tons of sunscreen is a must, but to my relief, a lot of the stages have metal roofs for some shelter from the sun.

5. The last day I rented a locker for $15 for the day, and it was a luxury to stash my jacket and a few other supplies so I wouldn't have to lug them around all day.​

6. I loved following along on Twitter with @SPINfestivals — whoever is behind that is terrific.

At the end of three long days outdoors, I didn't get even a hint of sunburn. That's a major miracle for someone as pale as me. And my other fear was my fellow concertgoers, but everyone was pretty docile. There was one moment where two guys near me exchanged words, and the first day at 11 a.m., a man staggered toward us then passed out cold, bloodying his face in the process.  Poor guy. Other than that, all was well. They had two layers of security to get into the festival and they checked thoroughly. In fact, the woman administering the security check on Friday was disturbingly committed to her job. There was some cupping that I think went above and beyond the call of duty. Shudder.

Above you can see the grounds and the shaded stages. This alien looking landscape behind Emily is all the art installations at Coachella. Let's see it!

The Do Lab is that Dr. Seuss-looking thing. I  really hope there was air conditioning for those guys in the hippo costumes.

​This giant snail thing looks innocent enough, right? It motored around the festival grounds, and I thought it was swell.

​Until it pushed its way to the front during the Divine Fits and Of Monsters and Men sets, relentlessly moving forward and practically trampling people to do so. We got so squished together in the crowd because of that stupid snail that Emily and I could've lifted our feet off the ground and still remained standing. You can plot the snail's progress in this photo series. After that, we didn't attempt to get close to the stage again. Thanks, snail.

​Picturef above: iconic ferris wheel, merch and screenprinting, water bar (people will wait in line to try different kinds of water, apparently), and fancy recycling bins that were uniformly ignored. They tried!

​I don't know anyone in the photo, but it captures the scene. I believe 40% of the men at Coachella had a variation of the Hitler Youth haircut.

Pretty pictures of Coachella at night. That house on the left in the photo above was my favorite. It was all white during the day, and then projections at night made it look like there was a house party happening inside.

Come back next time, and I'll talk about, oh yeah, the music!​

Tunes Tuesday, "Aftermath," SZA

​After seeing it in a Spin article, I sent this song to my friend Debie. "Isn't it so pretty?" I said

I apologize for waiting to tell you for so long that I am not human ... I am made of bacon. Fairy tales pixie dust I don't feel I hung myself and didnt die i am omnipotent I'm alive I'm not real I'm alive You leave me careless I like it I like it Caught in the blast caught in the action caught in the bursting flame i stand there comfort in dying .

"Does the beginning of the song say, "I am not human/ I am made of bacon'?" Debie asked. ​

​I didn't even notice that, but she's right. I was too focused on the dreamy, tripped-out production to notice bacon lyrics. SZA also mentions unicorns in the song. Why not?

Tunes Tuesday, "If You're Never Gonna Move," Jessie Ware

I feel like this song is an answer to Robyn somehow.​ 

Debut album Devotion available now from iTunes http://bit.ly/devo-13 & Amazon http://amzn.to/UhfPNS https://www.facebook.com/jessiewaremusic https://twitter.com/Jessie_Ware http://www.jessieware.com/ Previous singles including Wildest Moments, Night Light Running, & Strangest Feeling available on iTunes http://bit.ly/JWiTunes Directed by Kate Moross PMR Records

It took me awhile to get into Jessie's music, but two bazillion plays of this song later, I get it.​