(Pictured: Buraka Som Sistema)
Call me an old lady but the smell of cigarette smoke is a beyatch. I want to rip every last one out of every hand I see at this point. Okay, sorry for being Negative Nancy, but I have some very sore lungs. Day 2 was much easier on the piernas than day 1. The crowd was scarcer and the lines shorter. We entered the Sahara tent to find a tranced out crowd thanks to Zizek Club, a crazy collective out of Argentina that makes you want to party. Even if it is only 1PM. Diana resuscitated her camera so we were good to go when we ran into BURAKA at the press tent.
ACTS OF THE DAY:
Zizek Club (1PM): Electro cumbia for your mind. What? What?!?! Thank God I drank a very large iced coffee from McDonald’s this morning because my heart was pounding like a mutha so this scene made me feel normal. Dressed in neon headresses, feathered boas, and loincloths, the mohawk mullet sporting Zizek crew included Fauna, El G, and Douster. Freaky Latino dancehall made me actuallly consider getting my groove on with the guy trying to creep his crotch up behind me (j/k boo). He asked me what the music was and I tried to explain as best as I could the electro cumbia craze. White teeny boppers and thuggish ruggish bones mixed pleasantly while a guy in a wheelchair proudly partied like it was 2009. This is sped up cumbia, dancehall, reggaeton, and Latin rap at its finest, ya’all.
Paolo Nutini (3:55 PM): Don’t let the name fool you. I thought homie was Latino, but turns out he’s English. Either way, he was pretty damn cool. Folky, but cool.
Calexico (6:10PM): I ain’t gunna front, the heat was killing me at this point and I would of rather been lounging at a pool somewhere. From Tucson by way of Spain (DePedro) and Germany, these guys put on a good show by bringing some pure rock to the scene. A little bit of mariachi was thrown in too because you know we all mixed.
Thievery Corporation (7:40PM): DJ/production duo Rob Garza and Eric Hilton rocked the house with many a guest appearance, including Perry Farrell and New York-based Brazilian singer/songwriter Karina Zeviani, who sang a Latin-tinged number while simultaneously crowd surfing.
M.I.A. (8:55PM): All I want to do….bang! bang! bang!….and take your money! Homechick looked so cute holding on to some baby phat still. Rye Rye made a guest appearance and we all know homechick has flows for days. I was so jealous when M.I.A. invited the “athletic” up to the stage. I was a little too far to take part in the action. She made a reference to Amy Winehouse by saying “They tried to make me work the Oscar’s but I said no, no, no…” but if it weren’t for her flakiness, we would’ve never been blessed to have this rebel mama on stage.
Karma Points: I found a cellphone laying on the ground and turned it into Lost & Found even though it was 15 miles away.
Star Sightings: Drew Barrymore, Justin Long, Agyness Deyn, Jeremy Scott, Brandon Boyd, Jared Leto, Brent Bullhouse, and Anne Hathaway.
Rumor of the Day: Morrissey grabbed Paul McCartney’s ass.