# Ariel Pink Melts Down at Coachella: WTF? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 18, 2011, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariel-pink-melts-down-at-coachella-wtf/578816 "2011-04-18T11:57:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2011, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariel-pink-melts-down-at-coachella-wtf/578816/1 "2011-04-18T11:57:28Z")
FWIW, I had never heard of Ariel Pink before reading [this article](http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/live/13322/coachella-2011-friday-the-festival-kicks-off-cee-lo-mouths-off-dance-music-blasts-off/?nc). The long and the short of it is that a performer at the Coachella festival, Ariel Pink (a freak-folk act, whatever that means), pissed off fans by sitting on stage with his back to the audience, chain-smoking and refusing to sing, before pouting off the stage after 15 minutes. What the article doesn’t say is what Mr. Pink was so put out about that he would antagonize his audience so. Anyone have the scoop? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2011, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariel-pink-melts-down-at-coachella-wtf/578816/2 "2011-04-18T13:14:10Z")
Huh. I’d heard about Cee Lo Green’s Coachella meltdown, but not this one. Never heard of this Ariel Pink person, but he sounds like a spoiled princess. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2011, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariel-pink-melts-down-at-coachella-wtf/578816/3 "2011-04-18T15:16:00Z")
I remember a Mothers of Invention concert where they came out and proceeded to sit around the stage; drinking, chatting with each other, and playing cards, for forty minutes. But then, after Frank Zappa walked up to the mike and said “Maddening, isn’t it?” they launched into two hours of music. But I’m betting _Monsieur A. Pink_ wasn’t doing performance art or a commentary on modern music. I’m thinking hallucinogens. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2011, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariel-pink-melts-down-at-coachella-wtf/578816/4 "2011-04-18T15:22:41Z")
From his wikipedia page; Pink’s solo tours have generally been met with much negativity, primarily because his music was never intended to be performed live for commercial audiences. As he explained to LA Weekly: “ People boo me everywhere…They don’t even hide their contempt. I’m used to it now…Hey, I’m giving audiences the real thing…For better or worse, I’m out there, and those are the circumstances. People don’t like it when it seems like you don’t know what’s happening, or I’m getting bummed out with certain aspects and I can’t hide it. I think people feel that pain and just think it’s bad. So, I vote “self-important pretentious DICK” ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2011, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariel-pink-melts-down-at-coachella-wtf/578816/5 "2011-04-18T19:22:26Z")
…so why does he tour then? ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2011, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariel-pink-melts-down-at-coachella-wtf/578816/6 "2011-04-18T21:54:01Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > So, I vote “self-important pretentious DICK” Funny, I seem to be one of the few people in this thread who is familiar with his music, and this is the exact impression I get from it 😃 He’s on [my list](http://threateningloveletters.blogspot.com/2010/08/least-people-think-ill-listen-to.html) of bands/artists I’m no longer going to subject myself to. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2011, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariel-pink-melts-down-at-coachella-wtf/578816/7 "2011-04-18T21:57:36Z")
[Meltdown](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WpnMVwng0g) I think that stage was having tech issues most of the day, but other artists managed to handle it with a bit more grace. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2011, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariel-pink-melts-down-at-coachella-wtf/578816/8 "2011-04-18T23:29:55Z")
Ariel Pink is a man’s name? Not that I’d ever heard of this person at all before, but seriously, that’s like a girl being named Hunk Manly. ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2011, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariel-pink-melts-down-at-coachella-wtf/578816/9 "2011-04-18T23:37:52Z")
Until Little Mermaid came out, Ariel was a boy’s name. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariel-pink-melts-down-at-coachella-wtf/578816/10 "2011-04-19T00:26:53Z")
> [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](#): > > Until Little Mermaid came out, Ariel was a boy’s name. The only one I can think of is Ariel Sharon, and Sharon is a girl’s name:dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariel-pink-melts-down-at-coachella-wtf/578816/11 "2011-04-19T01:55:47Z")
> [@Manduck](#): > > The only one I can think of is Ariel Sharon, and Sharon is a girl’s name:dubious: Ariel is one of the [archangels](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archangel_Ariel). That -iel ending is reasonably diagnostic, meaning “of God.” So “Lion of God” in this particular instance. ETA: Though I suppose “The Pink Lion of God” is still not exceptionally manly :D. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariel-pink-melts-down-at-coachella-wtf/578816/12 "2011-04-19T02:00:50Z")
Is he related to the Invisible Pink Unicorn? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariel-pink-melts-down-at-coachella-wtf/578816/13 "2011-04-19T02:14:01Z")
Full fathom five, his career lies? I think I read that temperatures at Coachella this year were very hot; maybe what’s remarkable is that AP’s meltdown was a relatively isolated event. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariel-pink-melts-down-at-coachella-wtf/578816/14 "2011-04-19T02:20:40Z")
> [@The\_Scrivener](#): > > Full fathom five, his career lies? > > I think I read that temperatures at Coachella this year were very hot; maybe what’s remarkable is that AP’s meltdown was a relatively isolated event. They’re musicians and performers, not chocolate bunnies and ice cream cones. :rolleyes: If they can’t stand the heat they should stay out of the PAR lights. 😃 ETA: I tried to listen to some of his stuff and I gotta ask: is “freak-folk” a cover term for “shitty untalented compositions”? (Yes, I know that’s seriously judgmental. So what? I thought his music sounded like something from Charles Manson’s back catalogue.) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariel-pink-melts-down-at-coachella-wtf/578816/15 "2011-04-19T02:49:47Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Funny, I seem to be one of the few people in this thread who is familiar with his music, and this is the exact impression I get from it 😃 He’s on [my list](http://threateningloveletters.blogspot.com/2010/08/least-people-think-ill-listen-to.html) of bands/artists I’m no longer going to subject myself to. Robyn Hitchcock? Really? (Everything else I can understand and/or agree with.) Do you count his work with the Soft Boys in that? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariel-pink-melts-down-at-coachella-wtf/578816/16 "2011-04-19T02:54:36Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Robyn Hitchcock? Really? (Everything else I can understand and/or agree with.) Do you count his work with the Soft Boys in that? Aye, that’s the only part of that list I don’t agree with. ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariel-pink-melts-down-at-coachella-wtf/578816/17 "2011-04-19T03:11:17Z")
> [@Manduck](#): > > The only one I can think of is Ariel Sharon, and Sharon is a girl’s name:dubious: Ariel, the sprite in Shakespeare’s _The Tempest_, is male; this is where the name comes from, in general use. A friend of mine named his son Ariel, so I’ve seen lots of discussion on the topic! 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariel-pink-melts-down-at-coachella-wtf/578816/18 "2011-04-19T04:29:16Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Funny, I seem to be one of the few people in this thread who is familiar with his music, and this is the exact impression I get from it 😃 He’s on [my list](http://threateningloveletters.blogspot.com/2010/08/least-people-think-ill-listen-to.html) of bands/artists I’m no longer going to subject myself to. Boo, I love both She & Him and M. Ward. ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariel-pink-melts-down-at-coachella-wtf/578816/19 "2011-04-19T05:08:13Z")
I guess if people booed me everywhere and didn’t even try to hide their contempt I might consider another line of work. Or maybe he could try writing some music that appealed to people. Or would that be selling out? ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariel-pink-melts-down-at-coachella-wtf/578816/20 "2011-04-19T05:31:13Z")
OK, I went to Youtube and deliberately sought out Ariel Pink and had a listen… Oh jeebuz… I actually like it Well, some of it. Reminds me a bit of old school Magnetic Fields, which I like too. So here’s a guy - a relative unknown - trying to make a name for himself and putting out some decidedly odd-ball music. What better way to get noticed than to stage a “melt down” at a big show where there are sure to be plenty of music critics and industry insiders? Might be a smart move. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariel-pink-melts-down-at-coachella-wtf/578816.md?page=2)