I've been to almost every Coachella, exceptions being the first one and the last two. Every year around the end of January, my friends in Texas, Florida and California and I would anticipate the lineup release and furiously refresh the message boards until the magic announcement came; then we'd whoop and holler all up and down the phone lines for several days, coordinating flights, hotels and rental cars. I've made lasting friendships with people based on these annual treks to Indio, California. I've discovered bands I never would have heard of and seen epic shows that are STILL being discussed. Each year I'd feverishly wait out the two months until I could get back on that polo field, sweating out the hot parts of the day and dancing into the cold desert night. It's an exhausting event but always worth it.

Of course, the festival that started out as small and special to us soon gained popularity and grew immensely over the years. Some years were better than others (2004!). The last couple of Coachella lineup's got a big, fat "MEH!" from me and I honestly wasn't sure that I'd ever attend another. I thought maybe I was becoming one of those jaded types who always complain that stuff used to be better in the beginning, before they went all corporate and trendy. I stopped paying attention.

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It's a major undertaking to get a gal like me to Coachella (what with all the sunshine, crowding, honey buckets, $5 water), so I am uber thankful that I had a couple friends head down there and send photos back of the highlights.

Here are two favorites. They might not have been taken with some fancy flash action - but they do capture what it's like to be "on the ground" (and in one case, it appears, possibly backstage - sigh!).

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This year's Coachella Music Festival in Indio, CA just got a whole lot easier to navigate.

Previous years' Coachella challenges: losing the personalized schedule you created beforehand, losing your friends, losing your map and consequently missing the band you really, really, REALLY wanted to see.

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And she's not an M.I.A. clone.

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The shoe-gaziest of all shoegazer bands, My Bloody Valentine, will be reuniting to play Coachella 2008. (!!!!!)

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Did anyone else witness this scene? Have thoughts, comments about Coachella 2007?

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