Kevin Bronson on April 15th, 2015

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Who: Drive Like Jehu in the Gobi Tent
In 3 or Fewer Words: Old Guy Emo.
Memorable Because: Before Swans blasted minds into oblivion, Gobi Tent revelers were treated to a different blast from the past — San Diego’s reunited Drive Like Jehu played a fabulous 45 minutes of post-hardcore that made one forget the genre ever took a tragic left turn just about the time ’Jehu cut the engines in ’95. You might remember guitarist Jon Reis as the Rocket from the Crypt frontman, or drummer Mark Trombino as Jimmy Eat World producer and Donut Friend proprietor, but a legion of alienated geeks and eventual musicians remember Jehu’s complex discordant compositions writ loud not with the intellect of a scholar but the urgency of a starved barbarian. Half the band hasn’t been in one since, but you’d never know it. There was unmatched ferocity in that set, contradicted by singer-guitarist Rick Froberg’s humble stage banter. Loud-quiet-loud-quiet has seldom sounded better, and climactic “Luau” was as an awesome a display of rock primacy you could find all weekend.
What I’d Tell My Friend At Flosstradamus: You can see Flosstradamus at, like, every Coachella.
— B.M. (Photo by Samantha Saturday)