Coachella Diaries 2013 (Part 2 of 5) - Day 1, Friday – “You Got Me Dancin’ In The Sun”

• External publications:

  • Assembly Radio (Cape Town, South Africa)

  • Brandalism (Cape Town, South Africa)

  • University of Cape Town VARSITY Newspaper [1], [2] (Cape Town, South Africa)

From the 19th to 21st of April 2013, I attended the Coachella Music Festival in Indio, California, USA. This is part 2 in a series of 5 articles, focusing on the first day of the festival. All photos are my own.

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Coachellans descending upon the festival's second weekend were relieved to be able to bask in the desert heat (and then promptly find the refuge of some shade) after Weekend 1's unusually unkind weather, which included a sudden cold snap and dizzying dust storms.

Attending one of the world's largest and most ubiquitous music festivals as a South African can leave one befuddled; intoxicated with wide-eyed wonder and disbelief at the scope and organisation of this mega-event.

It would be foolish to assume that logistics would disrupt the festivities at some point, because Coachella has everything covered.

Security, camping, technology, food and drink, and, most importantly, the performances: the organisers of this event ensured that you, the festivalgoer, were able to forget about the rest of the world for one weekend and immerse yourself in the world of Coachella, which had a daily population of about 90,000 in 2013.

Passing through Line-Up Lane on the way to the main festival grounds

Even as you walk through the campgrounds to the stringent security checkpoint before the festival area, the Empire Polo Club reminds you of its history by displaying official line-up posters from previous incarnations.

Mobile phone charging stations dotted around the grounds were a hive of activity throughout the day, bringing strangers and cultures together over the universal chore of waiting for one's battery to recharge (pro-tip: drape your country flag across your back like a cape and chat away).

Friday's frenetic lineup exemplified Coachella's global influence, and the British had staked a large claim for attention across the six stages and tents this year.

Following a quick check-in at the Outdoor Theatre to witness hip hop’s walking thesaurus Aesop Rock plead to the crowd to "take the brain out, leave the heart in!", the iconic indie rock god from Manchester Johnny Marr launched into an exhilarating solo set in the Mojave Tent, coolly playing through his recent debut album The Messenger.

To remind the audience of where he first made his name as a spellbinding guitarist and hit maker, Marr performed three covers from The Smiths' back catalogue: 'Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before,' as well as fan favourites 'There Is A Light That Never Goes Out' and 'How Soon Is Now?'.

Although the ghost of Morrissey's croon looms large over those three hits, Marr's vocals, while not particularly showy, held up admirably. His guitar work, on the other hand, was exceptional: hard-hitting and lively on the uptempo 'Upstarts' & 'Generate! Generate!', and truly mind-bending & effervescent on the infectious 'The Messenger'.

Moving from the Mojave's melodic master to the Gobi Tent next door was an interesting change of scenery. Canadian garage rock duo Japandroids laid siege to the stage with their sweat-drenched and noisy take on classic rock and punk, soldiering on through a broken string in the middle of their first song 'Adrenaline Nightshift'.

Nothing seemed to stop guitarist Brian King and drummer David Prowse from assaulting the audience's senses as they gleefully powered through hits like 'Younger Us' and 'Night Of Wine And Roses' from both of their studio albums. The arrival of 'Wet Hair' was announced with a breathless "this wasn't played last weekend!", highlighting the festival's two-weekend format and attempting to provide a unique experience.

Brian King of Japandroids in the Gobi Tent

As with any action-packed festival, you must keep your wits about you, make some sacrifices, and keep moving. Rushing back across to the Mojave, genre-defying Alt-J had already finished their starters and were into the juicy main section of their set, rattling off the tranquil 'Matilda,' breath-taking 'Bloodflood,' and hit-single 'Breezeblocks' in quick succession.

Alt-J received a rapturous response from the packed audience for a band that only released its debut album in 2012, and this bodes well for their headlining appearance at South Africa's own Rocking The Daisies Festival later this year.

Alt-J onstage in the Mojave Tent

With the sun hanging low in the sky, Passion Pit then took to the main Coachella stage, bringing its gleeful and sugary indie pop sound mixed with a strong dose of acerbic lyrics.

Lead singer Michael Angelakos’ highly-publicized struggle with Bipolar Disorder has been a particular point of interest since the release of their magnificent sophomore effort Gossamer last July, and the band seemed revitalised, now knowing the battle that often goes undocumented behind the scenes.

Their set reflected this reality, opening with the sobering ‘Take A Walk’ (referencing a man at wits’ end trying to earn his keep despite the down-turned economy) and moving onto the pained yet peppy ‘I’ll Be Alright’ and ‘Carried Away’. Not that the crowd would have noticed, judging from the mood that Angelakos and his merry men created with their music: strictly light-hearted and life-affirming.

Passion Pit on the main Coachella Stage

Friday’s dark horse came in the form of scrappy, up-and-coming British indie rockers, Palma Violets, whose freewheeling ‘sun-set’ in the Mojave kept the dedicated crowd dancing.

Ringleader and bassist ‘Chili’ Jesson wildly cavorted about onstage, interspersing breaks between songs with attempts to get the crowd to wave their fingers in the air to ‘hold up the setting sun behind you’, and letting them offhandedly know that they - the band or the crowd; it’s hard to tell - are 'heaps better than last week'.

The London lads ripped through the first three singles from their recent debut album 180 ('Best Of Friends,' 'Step Up For The Cool Cats,' and 'Last Of The Summer Wine') before launching into a glorious, crowd-surfing finale for '14' and 'Brand New Song'. It was like seeing a young Rolling Stones and Libertines in their prime - a heady mix of swagger, chaos, and fun.

Palma Violets in the Mojave Tent

Twilight beckoned, and the polo grounds slowly morphed into a kaleidoscope of colours. The large pieces of installation art strategically placed in between the stages came to life, dominating the evening skyline alongside with the massive Ferris wheel – a high-rise highlight of Coachella.

The mysterious Beach House appeared as silhouetted figures through the smoke on the Outdoor Theatre stage. Victoria Legrand's velvety vocals drifted over the audience in a waft of melancholy, accompanied by Alex Scally's glistening guitar lines, all set against a stunning backdrop of long glass-like chandeliers suspended from the stage's roof.

This pungent romantic atmosphere perfectly suited their shimmery indie pop: the rhythmic pulse of opener ‘Wild’, the wordless sighs of ‘Lazuli’, or the nimble, cyclical riffs of ‘Wishes’. The rest of their set strung together an intoxicating mix of hits from the two recent albums that brought them mainstream success (2010’s Teen Dream and 2012’s Bloom).

When Legrand declared that “it’s night time this year. Night is better, it’s more forgiving”, it was evident that the cloak of darkness was only to maintain the aura, and not mask any technical shortcomings when performing live.

This mastery was acknowledged by the cheerful Ben Bridwell of Band Of Horses, whose crew was next up on the same stage. “We love Beach House!” he exclaimed, “We wanna collaborate with them!”

Although his band occasionally dispenses beautiful ballads, such as fan-favourite ‘No One’s Gonna Love You’, Bridwell and Co. primarily dealt in soaring rockers on the night, opening with the ‘The First Song’ (how fitting) and bringing a light-hearted mid-song breakdown to ‘The Great Salt Lake’ (“Mama’s little baby loves shortcake!”).

The mood shifted between triumphant (‘Is There A Ghost’) and easy-going (‘Laredo’), as the no-frills South Carolina quintet gave the crowd a much-needed jolt of energy.

Ben Bridwell of Band Of Horses at the Outdoor Theatre

The order of Friday night's headliners was reversed from Weekend 1; a move that appeared to have been planned and agreed upon all along. So the controversial Stone Roses – both in their own history, as well as the organiser’s decision for them to headline the festival – were on the main Coachella Stage first this time around.

Despite long gaps between their pair of albums and a 15-year breakup, the band’s pioneering impact on British alternative music is undeniable, but for a mostly American audience at Coachella, the question on many people’s lips before the festival was “who are The Stone Roses?”

The Stone Roses' kaleidoscopic light display on the main Coachella Stage

That question was answered quite emphatically in the Led-Zeppelin-length live rendition of ‘Fools Gold’ near the beginning of their set. Magically mixing classic rock riffs with the groove and sensibilities of late 80’s rave culture, the foursome showed off their technical wizardry and interplay to an intrigued crowd.

Mononym maestros Mani and Reni kept the loose-limbed rhythm section in check on bass and drums respectively, allowing John Squire to concoct a seemingly endless supply of guitar licks, frequently indulging in marathon solos and improvisations.

Ian Brown's vocals, on the other hand, were mostly unremarkable and buried low in the swirling vortex of sound. Nonetheless, the anthemic 'She Bangs The Drums' and 'Waterfall' were well-received (the latter was followed by 'Don't Stop,' a trippy reversal of the song with impressive attempts at live backmasking). Reni's mesmerising drum solo added to the psychedelic atmosphere before the antagonistic 'I Am The Resurrection' triumphantly ended their set. While putting the Roses at the top of the bill was a risk, their musicianship more than compensated for their relative obscurity.

Over in the Mojave, indie rockers Foals’ latest crossover success in the States, Holy Fire, showed a sublime, soulful, and funky band finally hitting top gear.

They sounded equally at home on spacey epics like 'Spanish Sahara' and 'Late Night,' as well as the fiery bombast of new hit single 'Inhaler' (where Yannis Philippakis' yelp turned into an awe-inspiring howl). The lead singer and guitarist had a great time on stage, encouraging everyone to "have a nice weekend, and don't act too...sane," as well as diving into the crowd and surfing above the faithful with his trusty guitar still in hand.

The task of closing off the eventful first day was given to Britpop barons Blur, whose set on the main Coachella Stage traversed the band’s discography, from jaunty ‘Parklife’ (from the 1994 album of the same name, with a cameo spoken word appearance by actor Paul Daniels) to the soulful ‘Tender’ (from 1999’s 13).

Backed by a three-piece horn section and extra vocalists, Blur sounded lush and melancholic on tracks such as 'This Is A Low’ and ‘Caramel'. Unlike fellow headliners The Stone Roses, Blur had moderate success in the United States in the 1990s, and closing their set with the lo-fi mega-hit 'Song 2' was a wise choice, jolting the somewhat sleepy crowd awake after a string of quieter tracks.

Britpop barons Blur closing off the day on the main Coachella Stage

After 1 a.m., the official Coachella festivities end, leaving festival-goers to either continue the party on their own in the massive campgrounds, or get some much-needed rest and sleep. With two full days left in this glittering oasis, the latter was a no-brainer.

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