by Igor Bosilkovski
The legend says that there is an endemic bug that exists in California’s Coachella Valley. Nobody has seen what the insect looks like, but people say it appears around the middle and end of April.
The bite from the bug is not deadly, however it gives people a unique type of fever that comes back annually around the same time. The symptoms are going to the extravagant music festival in the aforementioned valley and having the best weekend of your year.
They call the bug the Coachella Bug.
Dan Fechser (26) from Las Vegas was bitten in 2006 and since then has been to the Coachella Music festival a grand total of seven times.
“To me Coachella is about getting a bunch of people together who have a common goal to listen to their favorite music and to straight up party their asses off.”
According to Fechser, some of the best performances he has seen include MGMT and Jay-Z in 2010, the Black Keys in 2011 and Rage Against The Machine and the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 2006.
“The Chili Peppers put on an amazing show and they have since then become one of my favorite live acts,” Fechser said. “This show was also a plus because it featured the Chili Peppers’ original guitarist, John Frusciante, who is undoubtedly one of the driving forces behind the massive success of this band.”
According to him, Coachella’s magic lies in its ability to unite folks:
“Having a group of people this large, all of whom share more or less similar ideas is really a very special thing that happens way too seldom in our society.”
Chapman students are not prone to the bite of the Coachella bug either.
One of the leaders in Coachella appearances is Olivia Collins, a senior communications major who has been to the festival six times since 2007.
Her favorite performances included 2012’s Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg accompanied by Eminem and 50 Cent among others, as well as last year’s “Phoenix” which is her all time favorite band. This year she is definitely going and is most excited for “OutKast.”
“I still haven’t bought my ticket, normally I get it last minute because that's when they are cheapest.”
Some of Olivia’s best high school and college memories come from the festival.
“When Coachella rolls around, it’s the most wonderful time of the year, better than birthdays, Christmas and any other holiday you can name."
Junior screenwriting major Adam Morina is up on the ladder of Coachella visits, having gone five times since 2009.
“The interesting thing about Coachella is that everyone that goes gets even more excited for it the next year” Morina said.
His most favorite performances were last year’s Wu Tang Clan and Jurassic Five.
He is also definitely going this year.
“There’s a certain smell and feeling there that make me happier than anything because I feel like it’s the first day of summer.”
Up there next to Morina with five appearances is senior economy major Connor Walden.
“I went for the first time because it was a tradition for kids in LA high schools to go, it was like a rite passage.”
Walden is one of the few students who can say they’ve had a song of theirs played at Coachella. In 2011, Canadian DJ A-Trak played a mash-up song by Bassnectar and Whiz Khalifa that Walden created.
“I was at the show and we were watching it from the back when I suddenly heard my song playing. I went crazy” Walden said.
He created the song three weeks before the festival and posted it on The Hype Machine, a website for sharing free music.
“I emailed A-Trak immediately after I came back from the festival and he responded telling me that he heard it on the website and really liked it. It felt awesome.”
