When the song "Cardiac Arrest" made its way to the tops of alternative Music last summer and landed a live performance for Bad Suns at the Conan O'Brien show, they probably saw it coming - a shinny entry ticket to Coachella, the world famous music and arts festival in Indio, California. But Christo Bowman, the lead singer, couldn't contain himself upon stepping on that stage last Saturday, April 11th. He was just exhilarated.
The alt rock band kicked off their first gig in Coachella at the Mojave stage when it was brazing hot outside - that's what 3pm in the desert grants you.
It wasn't packed, but it was full. Christo Bowman, Miles Morris, Ray Libby and Gavin Bennett started off with "Transpose", the title song of the EP released last year before the debut album, "Language & Perspective." They went all in with "We move like the ocean", a song the audience (kind of) knew, danced their way into "Pretend", "Dancing on Quicksand" and "Matthew James" (which is a real guy, Christo's friend, by the way).
The audience cheered on and a lot of people were singing the lyrics, or something approximate, while Christo, in his green t-shirt, was starting to sweat. Before they played their biggest hit, "Cardiac Arrest", Christo engaged the audience a little more, telling the story of his first time in Coachella, when he wrote the song.
"Four years ago, I was sixteen..." - wait, what? He's 20 now?, some people asked. Yes, he is. But he performs like he's 35 and has a lot of experience. At some point, the whole band reminds me of the best period of Spandau Ballet in the 80's - catchy songs with deep meanings and a gutural, strong voice.
Well, he was sixteen and went to Coachella and dreamed of one day playing "Cardiac Arrest" there.
That dream came true soon enough, and will be repeated again next weekend, for the second leg of the festival. Bad Suns, who opened for The 1975 in the U.S., are going to headline their own tour after Coachella.
It turns out that the band is pretty good live, no gimmicks necessary. They have a very specific alt-sound that is catchy without being fast-food music, and provides for a very energetic set.
Just before the last song - which obviously had to be "Salt", the best track of the EP and probably of the album too, Christo mentioned something about everyone getting their dancing shoes for that one. Funny, because 'barefoot' was a trend at this year's Coachella, as was 'shirtless' and 'booty baring'.
Next stop for them, after Indio, is Knoxville, Tennessee, with Lupe Fiasco. They will play around 20 shows in the U.S. till July.
