So we’re back and still recovering from weekend 1 of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival this year. Coachella is a special festival because it happens on such a grand scale as far as size of the venue, amount of people that are there, and the great number of superb performances that happen by some of the best music acts around. It’s a LOT of fun, but the senses are overstimulated, the body is overworked, and personal space is overcrowded to such a high degree for three days straight to where it is incredibly exhausting by the end of the whole thing. That isn’t to say it’s a not great experience and super fun time, because Coachella is awesome, but a week later we feel like we are still recovering.

Prior to this year I have been to Coachella three or four times, and it has always been a highlight of my year! I haven’t been able to attend for the past few years though so finally getting back was an exciting feeling, but besides all of the awesome music and art to be seen there was something really special and trippy about attending this year: Inspired Flight was actually a performing act on the Do Lab stage! WTF?! This was definitely special for a number of reasons, but two of the main ones are that I have always dreamed of playing while attending the other years I’ve gone, and Eric had never been to Coachella so his first time experiencing the festival at all was going to be as a performer; so special for us both in different ways! We performed on the super vibey Do Lab stage from 1-2pm on the closing day of weekend 1, Sunday, April 15th. I must admit I had fears of there being hardly any people watching us at such an early time slot, but by the time we started there were already a few more than I expected would show, and the crowd got bigger and bigger with each song we played. By the end of our set there was a really good-sized crowd hanging at the Do Lab stage, and they were all showing us a lot of love, dancing it up, and having a great time. Our set went well, and we got to have my brother, Zach, who is a really talented MC, perform with us and rap over three songs. This was very special for me because he and I have never performed together before, plus he had never been to Coachella either, or any proper music festival for that matter. It was so cool for iF to be able give my brother the experience of performing his first time attending Coachella, and what a context for him and I to finally take the stage together for the first time! I really look forward to when we’re old men, reminiscing about that time we first played Coachella together…
For all of our fans who wanted to be there to see us play but couldn’t, and I know that sadly a lot of you couldn’t get to Coachella this year, or were going for weekend 2 and missed our set, here is some cool video shot with my phone by our friend, Tabatha Conrad, that shows the vibe and energy of the crowd, and the experience we all had. We can’t wait till we’re rocking the Sahara tent at one of the next Coachella’s. See you there : )

- Chavez

Note: If the video looks too grainy please change the quality to one of the higher HD settings. Word!