Coachella 2012: A dinner table for 75,000, please

From his bar and restaurant on the grounds of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, John Catti has seen some pretty cringe-inducing incidents. We're talking men down on the ground, injured so badly that a helicopter would need to be called in. Kids, don't try playing polo at home.

Situated on the site of the Empire Polo Club, Coachella has swelled in size over the years to take in more structures that belong to the club. One is a bar and restaurant that overlooks what would normally be polo matches. For the dual Coachella weekends, it's situated near the campsite and main entrance. 

Catti runs Palm Desert's Roc's Firehouse Grill with Jayme Cook, and the two this year have leased the Empire Polo Club site for polo and music festival season. Folks have harrumphed about the effects of rock 'n' roll on young'uns since even before Elvis Presley shook his hips, but Catti wants to make one thing clear: Coachella festival goers are relatively tame.

COACHELLA 2012 | Full coverage

"All our regulars are bummed because they can't get in here without tickets," he said. "But the polo people? They know how to party." 

Take that, ravers. 

Donovan inducted, Chili Peppers teased at Rock Hall ceremony

John Mellencamp took a good-natured poke at the Red Hot Chili Peppers while giving his introduction to inductee Donovan.

Reading from the liner notes on the back of the first record he bought at age 14, Mellancamp invoked the word "ungimmicked," used in those notes to describe the Scottish singer-songwriter.

Mellencamp paused and said, "You know what a gimmick is, right? Like when you wear your hair all puffed up, cuss a lot onstage and maybe come out wearing socks," referencing the Chili Peppers' famed stunt years ago when the group would show up for a performance with only socks covering their private parts. "I'm just kidding!" Mellencamp added.

Donovan then recited a poem he said the honor inspired, calling his induction "a singular honor ... the brightest searchlight on my music the world can shine."

Mellencamp, who brought Donovan on tour with him in 2005, joined him for "Season of the Witch," the  final number of his three-song set that also included signature hits "Catch the Wind" and "Sunshine Superman."

RELATED:

Despite Axl Rose's protests, Guns N' Roses plaque installed at Rock Hall

Bee Gees' Robin Gibb is gravely ill

Five guitars stolen from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

-- Randy Lewis

Photo: Donovan speaks during the 27th annual Rock And Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Cleveland. Credit: Michael Loccisano / Getty Images

Coachella 2012: Buzzcocks cut through the Gobi tent

Ageism is real, and it affects musicians more than people in most other professions. Take old guys and punk rock. Try to convince an 18-year-old that "Harmony in My Head" by the Buzzcocks was a sonic revolution when it was released in 1977, and that "Ever Fallen in Love With Someone?" once packed the same shock-of-the-new wallop as Death Grips, Azaelia Banks or Neon Indian do these days. What they see is men with thinning hair and thickening middles playing music for their parents' nostalgia trips.

COACHELLA 2012 | Full coverage

And it's true: A lot of giddy-eyed fortysomethings were shouting along to every "Oh-ooooh-oh" in "What Do I Get?," and a lot of chubby dudes were moaning along with the fake climaxes in the Buzzcocks' gem of a teen anthem "Orgasm Addict." But just as many twentysomethings were mouthing along too, singing those magnetic pop-punk refrains that not only wrote the blueprint for Green Day but also influenced (unfortunately) the emo movement. 

G-Dep Confesses to Involvement in 1993 Murder (Video)

Thu 12 Apr 2012

G-Dep sent shock waves through out the industry towards the end of 2010 when he confessed to a murder dating back to 1993. The former Bad Boy rapper was 18-years-old at the time in what's being called a botched robbery. While news of the confession released back in December 2010, only now have local authorities released footage of the chilling interrogation where G-Dep admits to shooting a man but not the murder victim he's currently on trial for.

Spotted at Nigel D./RealTalkNY

Previously: Former Bad Boy Artist G-Dep Confesses To Murder

1. jwilliams Says:
   April 12th, 2012 at 9:12 pm

   he's a classic sociopath. anti-social personality disorder. sad. horrible. extreme poverty breeds predation, and greed but strangely so does extreme wealth.

   Reply

   

   Bank0o Reply:
   April 12th, 2012 at 11:51 pm

   He was a fucking kid.. al that shit you talkin aint even called for'

   I feel sorry for the family of this guy and in some weird way I'm happy G-Dep got that shit off his soul..

   Reply

Leave a Reply

'Something to Nothing: Art of Rap' with Kanye West, Eminem, Nas, Q-Tip (Trailer)

Thu 12 Apr 2012

Director Ice-T takes us on a journey to explore the roots of Hip-Hop from the beginning to the cultural phenomenon it's become today in Something to Nothing: Art of Rap. The documentary features appearances from Kanye West, Eminem, Nas, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Common, DJ Premier, Q-Tip, Raekwon, Bun B, MC Lyte and plenty more. Here's our first preview of the upcoming film which hits theatres on June 15. Looks like it's going to be a good watch.

Spotted at XclusivesZone

1. Neji1k Says:
   April 12th, 2012 at 11:49 pm

   LuV Tip at the end of the cLip LoooOoooL sOn wenT incognito at first I couldn'T tell that was him

   Reply

Leave a Reply

Jennifer Hudson and Ne-Yo Grace the Stage on 'American Idol' (Video)

Thu 12 Apr 2012

Leave a Reply

Johnny Depp jams with Marilyn Manson at Golden Gods Awards

Johnny Depp's life took a pretty different turn after he moved to L.A. with his band The Kids to try his hand at rock stardom. But he never quite lost the itch to jam, and last night at the Revolver Golden Gods Awards -- a metal and hard-rock-centric tweak on the Grammys -- he took the stage with an artist who shares his taste in both rock and the macabre: Marilyn Manson.

Depp, dressed incognito in a black cowboy hat and boots, joined Manson on stage at the Club Nokia show for Manson's cover of the Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams" and his own single "The Beautiful People." Manson reportedly introduced him as "my personal savior, my personal guitar hero," and even though we don't know the details, the praise doesn't come completely out of left field. Depp has a history of collaborating with veteran rockers including Pearl Jam, Oasis and Alice Cooper; post-acting-fame, he also started the band P, a collaboration with members of the Butthole Surfers, Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Sex Pistols.

Depp was also seen hanging out with Bruce Springsteen and Paul McCartney at the Foo Fighters' after-Grammys bash. He more than holds his own as a guest axeman, proving he's taken more than style clues from his muse Keith Richards, and making him an entertainment double-threat.

 

--August Brown 

Photo: Actor Johnny Depp performs with Marilyn Manson during the 2012 Revolver Golden Gods Award Show at Club Nokia on April 11 in Los Angeles. Credit: Frazer Harrison / Getty Images