Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival  2004
May 1st, 2004
By Angela Wolf

      This was going to be the event of the year.  All the cool bands were going to be there, so
of course, Sheep Mafia had to attend.  Despite the heat, we still made it out.  Brian’s
parents drove us all the way out to Indio, Ca. About a 2 hour drive.  So it was Brian,
Rosemary, Shaudee and I, yes, 4 of us in the backseat.  It wasn’t fair that I got a crack seat.
There were so many cars that it would have taken us about an hour to get in, so we decided
to get out of the car and walk.  We didn’t know it was going to be 3 more miles until we
finally reached it.  About a mile in or so, we decided that we couldn’t stand the 110 degree
heat much longer so we were going to hitch a ride with someone.  Some guy with techno
music read our minds and asked if we wanted a ride there.  We were mighty thankful the
car had air conditioning, and we didn’t mind so much that the two guys would not stop
talking.  All their stories began with “I got drunk one night and..”.  It was great.  They even
told us how snuck alcohol in Coppertone bottles.  Great.  After hearing about 10 stories, we
arrived.  We met up with some friends, including fellow Sheep Mafian, Alice. First person
we spotted was that girl on Arrested Development (Shaudee and my favorite show.. or at
least on our top five). We knew we had to get backstage at this show, because that would
be the ultimate Sheep Mafia adventure.  So now it was just Alice, Rosemary, Shaudee and
I.  Walked around for about an hour in the heat, getting free drinks and stuff, I mean they
were stolen.  We finally found this tent near stage.  We slipped through the crack and got
inside the main stage area. This, in itself, was already a great achievement.  Rosemary and
I could barely fit through the crack and almost got stuck. Level 1 complete. So we were
backstage, but not backstage backstage.  There were tents and stuff, but no people, only
guards.  We literally crawled under trailers. This is hard to explain but, we couldn’t leave
this main stage area because there were guards.  We had to open up the side of the tent
and walk through the bushes.  Now there were tour buses, but still no one in sight, only
guards. I think the guards were suspicious, but I busted out my cell phone and yelled at the
non existent person on the other line, it always works.  People don’t like to bother mad
people.  We were closer, but not there yet.  We had to pass yet another guard, this one was
going to be hard.  So we all jumped on this go cart and asked the driver to take us past the
gate. There was nothing there except more trailers.  Had to pass anther guard to get to the
place we wanted to be.  Used the cell phone trick again and it worked like a charm. Suckas’.  
Now we were at the front of two entrances, VIP party (which we didn’t know at the time)
and dressing trailers and eating area.  We got into the dressing areas, the backstage of the
backstage of the backstage (which was a miracle).  We couldn’t believe it.  All around us
there were people that were famous or looked famous.  I think we were just glad that we
could get free stuff now. I don’t want to go through everyone we met, so just look at the
photos for an idea.  Sadly, we never met Death Cab for Cutie, but other than that, we saw
almost everyone we wanted to. We got bored, we felt as though we were missing the actual
show, so we left.  But right when we left the dressing area, we saw this party going down.  
We just had to get in.  This mean guard didn’t let us through, so we just walked another 50
feet to the 2nd entrance and got in without trouble.  This place was less exclusive, but a lot
more fun.  We could see the mainstage from here.  Here we met some other people, who
you can see in the photo.  After awhile, we decided to go watch some bands.  We got back
on a golfcart that took us to a sidestage.  We sort of wished we didn’t leave because now we
were bored out of our minds.  It was late and there were a lot of crazies roamin around.  
Out of the like 50 bands we saw a bit of Radiohead, Electric-Six and Phantom Planet.  
Because there was no reception, it was hard trying to find our ride home.  But in the end,
we did get home fine, and Alice, for all I know, is still trying to find her way back to the
hotel. If we are ever so lucky to pass 5 guards in a row again, we are gods.  

Howie Day live shot, the first live performance Sheep Mafia
witnessed

Angela and Shaudee spotted the chick from Arrested
Development enjoying the show

One of the numerous random and strange artistic features
Coachella supplies

Another one of the numerous random artistic features
Coachella supplies

Sheep Mafia survive the obstacles and get behind the stage...
not exactly what we expected

One of the many check points to get to the VIP/Backstage
area with the famous people

Sheep Mafia comfortably rest after being exhuasted from the
hours being under the 110 degrees sun

Two of our favorite bands in one trailer! (Electric Six and
Phantom Planet)

Once again Shaudee, Alice, Angela, and RoseMary meet our
favorite comedian: Andy Dick

Alice, Angela, and Shaudee meet Howie Day which we
witnessed earlier

RoseMary with Tait Nucleus, the very groovy synthesizer of
Electric-Six- the band she only went to see

Guitarist "The Colonel" and bassit John R. Dequindre of
Electric-Six with RoseMary and Shaudee

The last of the handsome boys from Electric-Six: M. the
drummer and guitarist Johnny Na$hinal, with Shaudee and
RoseMary

RoseMary and Shaudee with the very classy Wayne Coyne,
singer of the Flaming Lips

One of the many luxuries musicians are granted with
backstage

Our most famous encounter backstage was with Perry Ferrel,
singer of Janes Addiction and founder of Lollapalooza (with
Angela and RoseMary)

Alice and RoseMary once again meet Ehren Mcghevey from
Jackass, who we once met 2 years before

The very suspicious Eddie Kaye Thomas (American Pie) with
Sheep Mafia

Shaudee, Angela, and Alice again meet Phantom Planet for
the third time

A overview shot of one of the six stages at Coachella, it was
never ending

This weird yet cool huge electrical thingy, one of the many
random attractions Coachella had

A bad photo of the absolutely fabulous Electric-Six live
performance

A giant statue randomly in Coachella that was made of
colourful lit up CDs

Sheep Mafia Thanks for this Event:
Brian and his parents
Nice guys that let us hitchhike the mile walk
The trillion bands that played at Coachella
Johnny Na$hinal
M.
The Colonel
Dick Valentine
Tait Nucleus
John R. Dequindre
Andy Dick
Howie Day
Not very tight security
Phantom Planet
Wayne Coyne
Eddie Kaye Thomas
Ehren Mcghevey
Concert crew
Those who made this possible