Coachella rocks fewer guests, retooled sets
INDIO, Calif. — The second weekend of Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival featured a few less guest artists, a lot less celebrities and a handful of lessons learned from Weekend 1.
They found out the hard way: Bands discovered that the more than 75,000 paid festival-goers are fickle. Artists played the hits early in their sets so they wouldn't lose fans halfway through.
Outkast rebounded from a disappointing opening weekend performance by shortening the set and cutting back on solo numbers, since fans did come to see the reunion of Big Boi and Andre 3000. R&B star Janelle Monae, who almost stole the duo's show last weekend, and rapper Future didn't show up, but the headliners were joined Friday by Sleepy Brown and Killer Mike, who got to perform The Whole World early enough to avoid having the plug pulled on them like last week. Outkast also performed its big hit, Hey, Ya, in the middle of the set.
Fun guests: The big surprise Friday night was Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day sitting in with alt-rock pioneers The Replacements while frontman Paul Westerberg nursed a bad back and played guitar while sitting onstage on a couch. Armstrong fronted the band most of the night, singing lead on I'm In Trouble, Alex Chilton and Kiss Me On the Bus.
Jay Z didn't sit in with Nas and his famous wife, Beyoncé, didn't dance along with her sister, Solange, this week, but they were there. Jay Z was part of Pharrell Williams' star-studded set that also included Usher, T.I., Busta Rhymes, Pusha T and the dance troupe Jabbawockeez. Members of Haim also joined Pharrell and his ensemble for the closing number.
Nas didn't just perform his 20-year-old pivotal album, Illmatic, by himself as billed. Hip-hop star Lauryn Hill joined him on If I Ruled the World to bring the set to a close, while Damian Marley turned up for Road to Zion.
Biggest no-show: Justin Bieber was nowhere to be seen, but that was mainly because Chance the Rapper, whom Bieber performed with last week, admitted himself to a hospital after complaining of not feeling well Friday at a Las Vegas performance. (He posted a photo of himself in a hospital bed on Instagram.)
Smaller celebs: The star power was a little dimmer. Queen Latifah was spotted. So was rapper Wiz Khalifa and his model wife, Amber Rose, photographed in an Indian chief's headdress. Others included reality TV stars Kendall and Kylie Jenner, Vanessa Hudgens, and longtime couple Joshua Jackson and Diane Kruger. The offspring of celebrities were well represented by Willow Smith and Jaden Smith, seen hanging out with Kendall Jenner, and Jamie Foxx's daughter, Corinne.
Suburban sprawl: This edition of Coachella culminated a week of parties some 50 miles apart co-produced throughout the desert by promoters Goldenvoice. Rockers such as The Pixies and Afghan Whigs played longer sets than they could at Coachella at a high desert Western nightclub called Pappy and Harriet's Pioneertown Palace. EDM stars such as Tiesto and Skrillex played the Hard Rock Hotel. Los Angeles soul/pop band Fitz & the Tantrums headlined a downtown midweek concert called Tachevah: A Palm Springs Block Party. Veteran underground desert bands such as Fatso Jetson and War Drum played parties hosted by Eagles of Death Metal frontman Jesse Hughes in the eastern desert town of Thermal.
Next up: The next three-day music festival from Goldenvoice and AEG Live is Stagecoach: California's Country Music Festival. It starts Friday in the same Empire Polo Club as Coachella. It is also sold out with more than 55,000 people expected to attend.
Bruce Fessier is a special projects writer for The (Palm Springs) Desert Sun.