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Festivals like this aren’t for people who like music, they’re for people who kind of like the idea of drinking in a crowd in a field near other potential sexual partners

murky21 wrote:1999 looked amazing!

laist.com wrote:
ORIGINAL PIC ACCOMPANYING ARTICLE NSFW DUE TO BARE FOOKIN' MAMMARIES.

With the first weekend of Coachella taking over the Coachella Valley desert on Friday comes a host of hip parties for festival-goers. Most of them sound promising, boasting sexy locations, libations and even more music (as if that was needed), but one sounds downright ridiculous, offensive and unbelievable. Said event would be Flaunt Magazine's "New Guantanamo" party. That's right, Southern California. Under the boiling desert sun you will find a revamped version of the United States military's infamous detainment and interrogation facility in Cuba. Because that, friends, is what music, art and fun are all about...

It's nearly impossible to fathom why Flaunt, Smashbox Studios and True Religion would team up to host such a thoughtless, tasteless, haphazard event (strike one), aside from the opportunity to photograph scantily-clad women holding automatic weapons (strike two). These stylish, slinky "guards" are shown in the invite holding captive bathing suit-clad, blindfolded beach-goers (strike three). And yes, there is a nipple proudly showing. We wonder if these "detainees" are also participating in the ongoing Guantanamo hunger strike, because, you know, this type of protest is actually happening in the real world. And it should probably not be mimicked ever, especially not in the form of a party associated with one of the biggest concert events of the year.

A look at the email invitation shows that the "one night only" "pop-up experience" features "pleasurable torture" (strike four) and music by Kitsuné. Refinery29 posted actual text from the invite: "...unique and painfully pleasurable pop up (sic) experience. The watering hole, the first building ever built in Coachella, CA, will feature playful torture by Smashbox Studios with beats poured by French music and fashion label Kitsuné. This one will go until dawn." The fashion-style-beauty website notes, "Yep, that was a waterboarding joke you just read." Yep. (Strike five.)

Refinery29 acknowledges that the point of the event may be "the contrast of two totally disparate events, but that doesn't make it interesting, edgy, or even okay." There's nothing glamorous about torture, detainment, interrogation or suicide. And we're quite shocked that reminder even needed to be made. Please don't party on, Coachella-goers. Opt for something a little less... disgusting.

UPDATE, APRIL 9, 12:25 P.M.: True Religion emailed LAist a statement Tuesday: True Religion Brand Jeans was not consulted about the theme of Flaunt Magazine’s April 12th Coachella after party. When we learned of the theme on April 8th, we notified Flaunt Magazine that we will not participate in this event.

UPDATE, APRIL 9, 10:30 A.M.: Smashbox has pulled its sponsorship of the event. Per an email to LAist: Smashbox Studios will no longer act as a sponsor to Flaunt’s Coachella after party. We were not informed of the inappropriate theme prior to the release of the invitation today. We feel strongly that even with a new event title, the feel good atmosphere of the party has been tainted.

UPDATE, 4:55 P.M.: Smashbox emailed LAist the following statement Monday afternoon:
Smashbox Studios agreed to sponsor the pop up photo session portion of Flaunt's Coachella event not knowing there was a theme beyond it being a "feel good after party" to the music festival. We saw the invitation for the first time this morning, when it was thankfully brought to our attention by our concerned clients. In no way do we condone the artwork or title and have spoken with the magazine who have agreed to a name and artwork change. The theme is now: NIGHTSHIFT. The event has no affiliation with the Coachella Music Festival.

LAist.com wrote:
If you ever doubted that Jimmy Kimmel is one of the best people ever to grace the small screen, brace yourself: you're about to become a believer.

In dealing with the topic of Coachella, Kimmel observed last night that lots of people who go to the festival love nothing more than to know about bands who no one else has ever heard of. In that spirit, the late night talk show host sent a camera crew out to Indio, and did what the rest of us only dream of doing -- he asked a bunch of fans what they thought about bands whose names he made up.

"These bands are so obscure that they do not exist," he said.

The ensuing footage is so priceless we're actually surprised that it's being given away for free on YouTube. A quick sample:

Reporter: Are you as excited as I am about The Obesity Epidemic?

Fan: I just like their whole style, like their whole genre is great. They're kind of like, very innovative, and they're new...

PRICELESS.

Here's the whole video:

Phigure wrote:

Festivals like this aren’t for people who like music, they’re for people who kind of like the idea of drinking in a crowd in a field near other potential sexual partners

yeah sounds like coachella alright

DRTY wrote:I've heard Coachella is shit. Atleast from a UK perspective... apparently you can't drink in there you have to go in a special 'drinking area'

esfandyar wrote:

DRTY wrote:I've heard Coachella is shit. Atleast from a UK perspective... apparently you can't drink in there you have to go in a special 'drinking area'

yea they are called beer gardens. they also charge like 8 bucks for a 12 oz bottle of heineken.