Coachella 2010 Survival Guide

Well, well, well my friends; it’s that time of the year again. Mid-April…Coachella season: When all is good in the world. The hipster New Year, if you will. While I’m sure some of you have run the Coachella gauntlet before, this year’s amazing line-up is sure to bring some newbies out of the woodwork; and we want to provide a little survival guide for all the Coachella virgins, and the veterans alike.

INCLUDED:

-DOs & DON’Ts

-CAMPING TIPS

-CAB NUMBERS FOR ALL OF THE DESERT

-BAND LINE UPS AND SET TIMES

-OUR TOP MUSIC PICKS!!!

-VENUE MAP

-SURROUNDING AREA MAP (find your friends!)

And general quacky commentary… Done.

It’s hot, loud, sexy, and pretty intense. We don’t want any of our little mixsters to arrive in Indio unprepared and/or under-dressed. Sooooo…read away and, come Friday, you’ll be as savvy as any seasoned Coachella veteran out there.

1. DRINK WATER! I don’t care if you’re a gnar gnar brosef or “hardcore partier”, it’s a FUCKING DESERT. DON’T play games with the desert. Buy, smuggle, steal, beg for water.

2. Girls, wear a bathing suit, or at least a bathing suit top, under your outfit. Which, should be a light dress because even shorts can be stifling in that heat. 

3. Flask it: Alcohol gets hellishly expensive.

4. If you see buff guys in Hawaiian shirts and Oakley’s; they’re narcs. Not like we are assuming you will be doing anything deviant… or that you would even talk to dropkicks dressed like this… But just be mindful of your surroundings in general…(Oh, and nice try Coachella. Hawaiian shirts…Really?)

5. NO ONESIES: No rompers, jumpers, unitards, WHATEVER – Porta-potty floors are disgusting, and when you wear that cute little romper and have to use the bathroom… Where do you think that is going to land when you have to strip out of it? YUP. Gross.

6. Plan of Attack: Before you get there make a list of all the shows you want to catch so it’s easier to map out your…wait for it…BANDGENDA when you get to the venue! And make sure you are rollin’ with a crew homies that are on the same wavelength.

7. The Hipster shoelace/Pocahontas head-band-thing was SO last year…Get creative and try out a new trend. Personally we’re big fans of wacky sunglasses…

8. Bring a head covering device: Scarf, turban, cap, sombrero, whatever, you will be over the sun  pretty quickly, get it out of your face so you can survive the whole day. No one likes whining.

9. Bring a bag that doesn’t annoy you. This is HUGE! Even if it’s the most fugly, rat-hole bag you have; if it doesn’t bug you to carry around…BRING IT!

10. iPhone users: Download the Coachella App, IMMEDIATELY. It not only gives you the line-up each day, but it also has an awesome check list feature that let’s you mark the bands you want to see, then sends an alert to your phone right as they go on! RAD.
And it includes an Interactive Camp Site Map. Convince your homies to download it too! It’s inevitable someone will wander off from your crew – but if you save each others’ emails in the app, it allows you to see where each other are as an aerial view map! No more getting lost!! Physically lost that is…

12. Camping? Two most essential tools for survival/comfort. Paper towels & Duct Tape. Trust. Duct Tape & paper towels fix everything. You will regret your decision if you chose to not bring either.

13. Bring a cell phone charger every where you go: You will find some place between Coachella seshes with an outlet. And your phone will inevitably die — so think a little and get a portable charger device thing if that’s in the money cards for you… Or turn your phone to energy-saving mode.

14. EVEN IN THE DESERT- IT GETS COLD AT NIGHT!! KEY ITEM: LEGGINGS. TRUST.
Bring a jacket. Or better yet - LEGGINGS. They roll up, don’t take up too much room in your purse/bag/fanny pack, and they slip on seamlessly, and most importantly, stylishly, underneath your flouncy little dress. Scarves are nice and compact too, and they’re fun to wave around as well.

OTHER ESSENTIALS:

TAXI NUMBERS IN INDIO.

American Cab—(760) 775-1477
Indio, CA

Classic Yellow Cab—(760) 347-7777
Indio, CA

La Quinta Cab—(760) 347-4141
Indio, CA

La Quinta Cab Transportation— 1-800-TAXICAB (800) 829-4222
La Quinta, CA

Yellow Cab CO of the Desert—(760) 345-8398
Palm Desert, CA

A Valley Cabousine—(760) 340-5845
Palm Desert, CA

Airport Taxi & Transportation—(760) 862-9000
Palm Desert, CA

City Cab—(760) 568-1940
Palm Desert, CA

BAND LINE UP

TheMixster.com‘s Top Music Picks:
1. 2 Many DJs (Saturday)
2. RUSKO (Sunday)
3. Major Lazer (Saturday)
4. Glitch Mob (Sunday)
5. Dirty South (Saturday)
6. Bassnectar (Saturday)
7. Craze & Klever (Saturday)
8. Wolfgang Gartner (Friday)
9. Aeroplane (Friday)
10. Proxy (Friday)
11. Passion Pit (Friday)
12. La Roux (Friday)
13. Infected Mushroom (Sunday)
14. Frightened Rabbit** (Saturday)

**Actually have never heard any of their music before, but their band name just makes me laugh so much every time I see I feel like I have to go see them. For how much pleasure their absurd name gives me, I almost owe it to them in a way… FRIGHTENED RABBIT.

and obviously: Gorillaz, Jay Z (because it’s JAY ZEEEE dammit!) & Thom Yorke (????) <— given he shows up.

VENUE MAP

SURROUNDING AREA MAP ( Find out how close you are to where your friends are staying!!!)

View Larger Map

I hope this guide leads you to survival. Have fun and rock out.

By: TheMixster.com TEAM