Too Tall Paul Does It All at Coachella

Author

By John Cox

Publish Date

April 25, 2011

Near the roller rink, pinball alley, and craft area, Coachella campers may have come across what appeared to be one of the many art exhibits on display at the campsite. A giant mask and decorated walls serve as a traveling venue, the Jive Joint, housing solitary performer Too Tall Paul (aka Paul Newman, multi-instrumentalist and member of L.A. trio Helios Jive).

Inside the theater, Too Tall towers over his audience poised with his ukulele like a vaudevillian Tiny Tim on a small stage that could have been taken directly from a Terry Gilliam film. Crooning like a young Randy Newman, Paul enchants his subjects with interpretations of ’40s standards to upbeat hits from this weekend's Coachella performers. Crowd favorites included Glee style mash-ups of pop hits such as "Billy Jean" and "F--- You."

With no set schedule, Paul rewrites the contract between performer and audience. The act is always the same; the audience rotates in and out. This multifaceted traveling campground act wooed audiences from late night into the early morning with music, magic, and juggling. Performing the longest set of the weekend, Too Tall Paul did it all!