While most of us are satisfied surviving just one weekend of Coachella and making it out of the desert without a tragic sunburn or a chronic cough from dust-filled lungs, the hundred-plus bands on the lineup have to do the whole thing twice over consecutive weekends. Among those returning for a second go around are Seattle's own Tacocat. Emily Nokes was kind enough to take some time away from the band's spring tour schedule to let us know how things went on their first Coachella weekend and what they're looking forward to heading into this next one.
First things first: were your instruments and gear sufficiently heat and dust proofed?
Our gear is pretty caked in glitter and stickers, so I think that's acted as a decent defense against the desert...
Just how much sunscreen did you bring? As a survivor of the long Seattle winter have you found a few days in the desert a welcome or terrifying proposition?
I LOVE the sun, theoretically, but don't like the idea of being tan. Or melting. Before we left, I did a lot of sunscreen research and brought three options ranging from hippie dippy to industrial strength. Plus a giant sunhat with sequin fruit on it.
The folks hosting us the first weekend were really sweet and kept checking that we had enough sun protection—they were worried about our "Seattle skin" coming into contact with the direct sunlight.
What is it like to prepare for a set at a big festival vs. a club show? Do all festivals start to feel alike or do you have different expectations for each one?
For me, preparing for a festival usually just means I'm more nervous than usual, which is pretty nervous to begin with. Yeah, I had a different expectation for this one for sure just for the sheer size of it, and of course because it's THIS FUCKING FESTIVAL.
I usually find that festivals are like video games. You have to beat all the levels and complete all the tasks. Like: make your way to this stage, successfully order a $15 drink, find the bathroom, avoid that pack of dudes at all costs, bum a lighter from a person made of drugs, etc... So then I guess Coachella is beating the boss. The first night, I got stoned trying to get through the Gucci Mane crowds and kept saying "we have to save the princess, Gucci Mane is the princess!"
But yeah, it's still the same circus or coordination—parking passes, golf-cart transportation, wristband gauntlets, and other ways to miss soundcheck—but because it's so artificial and manicured (palm trees, temporary grass, gardenia bushes, etc.) it has a real Disneyland feel.
When you play a festival are you more likely to lean into playing the hits vs. deep cuts or newer material?
No real changes to the setlist, except for adding "UTI" to the end since it's one of the first songs we ever wrote and because we thought it was important to play every song we had that might possibly make a wealthy bro uncomfortable.
Coachella loves its special surprise guests — anything up your sleeves? Anyone else on the lineup that you’d love to have drop in on your set this weekend?
Beyoncé just said she was canceling so she could surprise everyone at our set next weekend. Pass it on. Lady Gaga is also welcome to join us at any point; we have some outfit ideas for her.
Did you get to hang out at the festival all weekend? Are there any other bands, art installations, or festival foods that you’re excited to check out?
It's been fun checking out a few things every day, but with a healthy sun / booze / drugs limit.
New Order was incredible, Lady Gaga was good (though her whole "look" was unremarkable to the point of absurdity? Maybe that's the point?), and of course there are no words for Kendrick. I'm hoping to have time to check out the smaller bands this next weekend, fully armed with my sunscreen collection.
In terms of food, we can only really afford to eat in the free artist area (which is the mother of all food tents) on the day we play, or eat beforehand on the other days. We did not budget for baroque s'mores structures unfortunately.
I'm super curious — just how luxurious are the artist areas?
The artist areas are really cute—little clusters of trailers with a yard in the middle. Picnic tables to hang out around. I can't imagine what the headliner area is like, maybe I'll try to poke around and find the secret next level.
What effect does the back-to-back "Clonechella" have on you or your tour or other logistics? With the festival's blackout rules do you have enough time to play a show or two in between festival weekends?
We played a show in Sacramento on the way down, and will play Phoenix, Tucson, Las Vegas, and Reno on the way back. I can't remember exactly what the blackout fine print is, but I know we aren't allowed to play shows in the state of California unless Coachella approves it.
So we had an approved show in Santa Ana on Wednesday, a couple things to do in LA during the week, and then we're back to Indio on Thursday. It's not the most economical tour we've ever done in terms of the forced vacation aspect, but it has been a nice change of pace.
Aside from tour business, have you had time for chilling poolside, getting sound baths, and exploring the desert? Please feel free to bolster or shatter any ideas of rock star largesse and/or hype any tourist activities.
Playing the festival and just existing in it with the "I just played a show here" feels SO FANCY, like we're pulling a fast one, but outside of that we crash with friends to keep costs down and basically just eat and swim as much as possible (the usual).
Coachella (and the fashion press that covers it) has a legacy of surfacing a certain festival fashion aesthetic into mainstream ubiquity — from offensive to innocuous. Most importantly— how much thought have you put into your outfits? I feel like Beach Goth started picking up last year and was going strong last weekend. Is this the year something finally unseats floral crowns as default festival signifier?
Oh boy. Figuring out what to wear has been a major stress for this one. It felt important to "go for it," but in the end it was fairly easy to accidentally stand out as a freak no matter what we wore.
Because of the prohibitively expensive nature of Coachella, I think that sort of weeds out the acid people and other neat weirdos you might find rolling around the grasses at smaller festivals. It's kind of nuts how similar everyone looks for the uh, resources I assume they have?
This year's homogenized fashion seems to be sheer, lacy dresses in white or cream or black. The flower crowns are still going, which makes it feel like you stumbled into an opulent wedding party. Floral button-ups are still going strong. Ugh, and lots of cringe-y bindis and other appropriative ornate jewelry. And "funky" sunglasses, which I'm okay with tbh.
Tacocat plays the second weekend of Coachella on Friday at 4:55pm in the brand new Sonora Tent, which is mercifully fully-enclosed and air conditioned (perfect for a Beyoncé drop-in or a Lady Gaga cameo — perhaps as part of the A Star Is Born remake being filmed on the festival grounds). Although this weekend's happenings aren't being live streamed, highlights from last weekend are available on Coachella's YouTube Channel.
