Talk about oxymorons: It might be necessary to go back to classics such as “jumbo shrimp” and “military intelligence” to match the inherently contradictory ideas seemingly at work in the concept of Soberchella.
But there is a growing community of alcoholics and addicts in recovery who still yearn to experience the music and sense of community that is the annual Coachella music festival. Now they prefer to do so minus the intoxicants that often are considered part and parcel of this and other events.
“I was so glad to find this group, and to find out that out of 100,000 people who are here, I wasn’t the only one who is doing Coachella sober,” said Rick, a pseudonym for one of two dozen festival-goers who met at noon Saturday to hold a 12-step meeting, based on Alcoholics Anonymous program ahead of their marathon day of music and revelry.
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The group allowed a reporter to sit in on their meeting on the condition of respecting the participants’ anonymity.
Raul generated a laugh when he preceded his share with the others saying, “I think that’s the first time I’ve ever heard Chapter 5 with a back beat. It was awesome,” he said referring to the chapter of the AA “big book” typically read before meetings, and the thumping drum-bass beat rumbling over the entire Empire Polo Club while they met.
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Ice Cube performs during the second weekend of the 2016 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. He will headline the Hard Summer festival this year, along with Major Lazer.
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A mask of presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders was held above the crowd during the performance of rap duo Run the Jewels, during Weekend 2 of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
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Ice Cube and Dr. Dre after reuniting N.W.A during Weekend 2 of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
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Ice Cube is joined by Dr. Dre, MC Ren and DJ Yella, from left, as N.W.A reunites at Coachella.
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Killer Mike, left and El-P, who form the rap duo Run the Jewels, perform.
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Killer Mike, left and El-P, of Run the Jewels, perform during Weekend 2.
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Fashion on the polo field as the sun sets during the second weekend of Coachella.
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Musicians Diplo, Jillionaire, Walshy Fire of Major Lazer and special guest MØ perform onstage.
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DJ Baauer spins a set.
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Singer-songwriter Alessia Cara performs onstage.
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Frontman Alex Ebert of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros performs onstage.
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Aluna Francis of AlunaGeorge performs onstage with DJ Baauer.
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Kim Schifino, left, and Matt Johnson of Matt and Kim perform onstage.
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Pete Yorn performs onstage.
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DJ Tukutz of Epik High performs onstage.
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Dave Quackenbush of The Vandals performs onstage.
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Frontman Nathaniel Rateliff performs with his band The Night Sweats.
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Lars Frederiksen, from left, Branden Steineckert and Matt Freeman of Rancid perform onstage.
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Ice Cube on stage at Coachella.
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Ice Cube and Dr. Dre together during Weekend 2 of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
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Ice Cube and Dr. Dre hug after reuniting N.W.A at Coachella.
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La Grande Wheel as the sun begins to set on Weekend 2 of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
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With “Tower of Twelve Stories,” by artist Jimenez Lai at left, the sun sets on the polo field as CHVRCHES finishes its set during Weekend 2 of Coachella.
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A sign language interpreter, left, during Ice Cube’s performance.
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A sign language interpreter during Ice Cube’s performance during Weekend 2 of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
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Fashion on the polo field during Weekend 2.
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Gary Clark Jr. performs on the Coachella Stage on Saurday at the Coachella Festival.
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Gary Clark Jr. performs on the Coachella Stage during the second weekend of the Coachella Festival.
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A festivalgoer dances while waiting to be sprayed inside the Do Lab during the second weekend at Coachella.
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Kenyan artist Ngene Maura continues working on his yet-untitled piece inside the Do Lab.
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Dancers cool off in the Do Lab on April 22 at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
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The scene inside the Sahara tent while DJ Mustard performs on Weekend 2 of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
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Inside the Sahara tent April 22 at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
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A man wearing wings walks through the crowd on April 22, the opening day of Weekend 2 at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio.
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Art installation “Katrina Chairs,” by Cuban artist Alexandre Arrechea, as night falls on April 22, the opening day of Weekend 2 of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
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Brisk afternoon winds made hat wearing an adventure on April 22 at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
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Dancers cool off in the Do Lab on April 22 at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
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Dancers cool off in the Do Lab on April 22 at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
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A festive umbrella offers a bit of shade on Weekend 2 of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 22.
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Dancers cool off in the Do Lab at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
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Dancers cool off in the Do Lab at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
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Rapper Joey Badass performs April 22 at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
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Security sprays the audience with cooling mist before the start of Joey Badass’s show April 22 on Weekend 2 of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
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Dancers cool off in the Do Lab at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
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Model and artist Chris De King walks the grounds on Friday, the opening day of Weekend 2 at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
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Megan Elischer, from west Los Angeles, a member of the Go-Go Hoop Dance Stars in L.A., dances to the sounds of LCD Soundsystem with her LED-lit hoop, on Weekend 2 of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
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A man passes through the crowd wearing a pink wig and a tutu on opening day of Weekend 2 of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
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A music fan pauses on the polo field as the sun begins to set on opening day of Weekend 2 at Coachella.
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Gallant performs during Weekend 2 of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, on April 22, 2016.
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Coachella revelers sit inside the art installation “Portals” by Phillip K. Smith III as night falls on opening day of Weekend 2 of the music and arts festival.
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A crowd gathers during the Snakehips show on Weekend 2 of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
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Festival-goers rest inside the Mojave tent before the start of the Snakehips show at Coachella.
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An art installation “Portals” by Phillip K. Smith III is seen as night falls on opening day of Weekend 2 of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
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Friends, from left, Rio Wilkinson of Australia, Marie Bjoentegaard of Norway and Lindsay Gilbert of Australia dance during the performance of Joe Badass at Coachella.
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Debbie Savigny, 64, left, from Cool, and her friend since third grade Julie Hamilton, 65, from Bloomington, bring their walkers with seats to better enjoy the second weekend of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. Hamilton, who says she has worked at 10 Coachella events, said she finally decided to enjoy one as a fan and looked forward to seeing Sia.
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Alejandro Murcia, left and Wanda Quintero, both from Colombia, at their first Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
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People stopped to take pictures at a tribute to Prince.
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Rapper ASAP Rocky performs from the middle of the crowd during weekend two of Coachella.
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Gallant performs during weekend two of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
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Rapper ASAP Rocky performs from the middle of the crowd during weekend two of Coachella.
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A memorial to Prince is seen during the first day of Weekend 2 at the 2016 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio.
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A tribute to Prince is seen at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 22, 2016.
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Joey Bada$$ pays tribute to Prince during the 2016 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
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Joey Badass performs a Prince tribute onstage during Coachella Valley on April 22, 2016.
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AJ Whitaker, from Los Angeles, attending her first Coachella, poses in front of “Besame Mucho,” by R & R Studios.
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A sign language interpreter, left, during Ice Cube’s performance.
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Ice Cube, from left, is joined by Dr. Dre, MC Ren and DJ Yella.
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) Awareness of Soberchella, which has its own Twitter account, @soberchella, Google Plus message group and Facebook page, is growing modestly but steadily.
“The meetings are bigger this weekend,” said Ed, another recovering alcoholic who nominally helped facilitate Saturday’s daytime meeting in the shade court, a stone’s throw from Coachella’s beer garden and other stands selling alcohol. “Last weekend we had 8 or 10 people.”
As different members of the ad hoc group took turns sharing their experiences at Coachella and other music events, both sober and not, a common theme emerged.
“I feel so grateful to fall asleep at night, not pass out, and wake up refreshed,” said Don, who appeared to be in his 30s and who said he has attended Coachella for several years. “This morning I got up and saw the sun rise at the same time the moon was setting. That was my God shot today. When I was still drinking I never would have experienced that. I wouldn’t have started my day until maybe 11:30.”
This group was made up mostly of men, about 20, along with half a dozen women. It was otherwise a diverse group of whites, blacks, Asians and Latinos who have in common their prior struggles with addiction and now, their sobriety. Some have as little as a few weeks of sobriety, others have been sober for 16 and 18 years.
“When I tell people I’m doing Coachella sober, I think a lot of friends and family who haven’t had experience with this program have a really hard time understanding it,” said Greg, who is in his 30s.
“They say, ‘Wow, it must be really hard,’” he said. “They don’t understand that I am having more fun now than when I was using. My life is so much better. I fully experience the music in a way I didn’t before. When somebody would ask me what acts I saw at Electric Daisy in Las Vegas, I’d have to say, ‘I have no idea.’”
Jason, who is in his late-20s, said a severe windstorm had kicked up, wrecking havoc in the campground where he was staying.
That gave him an example of the difference attending Coachella sober than when he was still drinking and taking drugs. “That would have been enough to make me start drinking before,” he said. “But cooler heads prevailed, I reset myself and now I’m out here ready to have a great day today.”
The sober community connect through an e-mail group [email protected]. Some wind up sharing rides to and from the festival grounds. Others connect to socialize one on one or otherwise offering one another support outside the daily meetings at noon.
“Anybody up for a meeting tonight at 8?” one group member asked the others in an email.
The Soberchella group has no formal affiliation with the festival and is separate from the safe harbor room that the Recording Academy’s MusiCares program hosts at Coachella, Stagecoach and other major pop music events for the benefit of performers and crew members.
“I just want to say I think this is so cool,” said Teresa, who’d decided at the last minute to try to get in this year, found tickets on EBay and drove out with a sober girlfriend for the weekend. “I’ve traveled a lot and been to a lot of different events, and it’s so great to have people I know will support me wherever I go.”
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