Wonderful

King Khan and the Shrines, originally uploaded by SisterSafetyPin.

So it's that time of the year again, and I couldn't imagine a better intro to the year than this.

The Coachella Line-up has been announced.

And while there are many [as always] that are bemoaning Coachella's 'sold out soul' I am excited.

What's funny is, right now.. I'm mostly excited by an all black cast.

Lauryn Hill.
Erykah Badu
Nas & Damien Marley
Kanye West...

I was so shocked and elated by those 5 names I completely missed the rest of the line-up. Meaning that I've endured rolling waves of excitement as each new band entered my awareness.

Scissor Sisters.... Trentmoller... CSS... Cee lo... Raphael Saadiq... Cold War Kids.. Gogol Bordello... Flogging Molly...

Seriously, and that's so just the tip of the iceberg. There will be I believe 180 bands this year. That means I once again must educate myself on the bands I don't know and brush up on the ones I love.

But oddly, I've found a new component to love and look forward to Coachella.

My sister.

Or rather, the musical sponge that she is right now. She's in this place where everything is shiny. She's a teenager and she's really beginning to understand how awesome and vast the world is. And thanks to me... [I'm not being full of myself, it's seriously thanks to me exposing her to different things and talking to her like a young adult instead of a child...] She's fully in a place to embrace it. She's ready for the mind blowing experience that is discovering a new band and hearing it live.

And what's more... I'm starting to realize that I want to be the one to introduce her to the world of live music. So I've promised to take her to Coachella next year. And I will, even if I have to give up coffee for a month.

Why?

Because it's really freaking awesome having a little sister that you see yourself in. [What can I say? I'm slightly a narcissist] Also... I don't know how to fully explain...

I guess it's like being a parent and discovering that your child actually looks up to you and considers you a major factor in their musical foundations.

I had that bond with both my parents. And because of that I was constantly defending my absolute love for Michael Jackson and Aerosmith. But I never felt odd or weird. I felt like I was leagues above my friends, because I wasn't afraid to sit down and give new music a try.

And now my sister has that bond with me. It's pretty cool. All the BS they sell you about the The Joys of being an Older Sister actually pan out...

You know... What's you survive their annoying years.

But seriously, dude....

Lauryn Hill and Erykah Badu....

Brown Paper Packages

IMG_4624, originally uploaded by SisterSafetyPin.

130 bands | Meeting people from around the world | Submerging oneself in music | 4 nights camping on the Polo Fields | Coachella Music and Arts Festival.

Like brown paper packages tied up with string, those are a few of my favorite things.

So the line-up was announced today and it's been a steady stream of escalating excitement since. Which is slightly ironic, considering LA county was under a tornado watch until late afternoon. But perhaps, that was simply Mother Nature trying to make sense of a line-up as insanely stacked as this one.

Coachella 2010 promises to be 4 days of utter madness. A passive glance at the line up and I see quite a few bands that I've already seen. However, a second glance reveals even more that I've never heard of. A third glance highlights the fact that of the bands that I've already seen, most are bands I'd eagerly awaited seeing again.

Put it all together and it's sensory overload.

As I set out to educate myself on the bands I'd never heard of, I was assaulted by images of the campgrounds. Of the first steps past security where the first thing you see is the row of Palm trees, the Main and Side stages just visible between them. And the only thing I know for sure is that Coachella 2010 is going to feel a lot like coming home.

I See Lights - King Khan and the Shrines