Coachella acts recover as festival hits second weekend
Fans at the second weekend of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif., were treated to improved performances from some of the festival’s biggest acts.
Radiohead’s headlining set Friday went off without a hitch. There was no repeat of the first weekend’s technical glitches or, as lead vocalist Thom Yorke had put it, “alien” interference with the speakers.
Lady Gaga’s set Saturday was markedly more polished than the previous week’s. She performed the same songs with more energy and cleaned up some of her more clumsy transitions, but the lengthy musical interludes that remained let the audience’s energy drag.
The singer kept up a steady stream of banter with the crowd, revealing that her parents were backstage and that she was nervous about the performance. “I can’t even get the note out. I’m so emotional,” Gaga said during
Speechless, a song from her 2009 album The Fame Monster.
Rapper Travis Scott, who was criticized for a lackluster set during Weekend 1, also revitalized his act. Mid-set on Friday, he rode out on stage on a giant mechanical eagle as fans cheered.
Sunday headliner Kendrick Lamar performed without any of the guest stars who appeared last week, but his set was anything but disappointing. Lamar leaned heavily on tracks from his acclaimed new album, DAMN. and thanked the crowd for helping make it No. 1 all across the world.
New Zealand pop star Lorde, prowled the main stage Sunday like a dramatic monologist, at times rolling on the floor as she emoted without inhibition while at other times exhibiting a new level of poise.
Grouplove again stirred a sizable crowd Sunday at the Coachella Stage when the Los Angeles-based band sang its 2011 indie pop hit Tongue Tied.
While there was no Drake ap- pearance this Saturday with Future, he did have Migos on again. Migos made four guest appearances with four different artists last week but was a no-show at DJ Khaled’s set this Sunday.
Bon Iver’s hypnotic set at 9 p.m. Saturday included a couple of guests — Bruce Hornsby and Francis Farewell Starlite from Francis and the Lights, who performed Friday.
There were fewer celebrities on the grounds — though actor Taylor Lautner was spotted listening to Oh Wonder on Friday — and less haute couture, and some attendees prefer it that way.
“The second weekend, it’s more packed with regular people like us,” said Leo Zaldivar of Baldwin Park, Calif., attending his first Coachella.
“Weekend 2,” shouted Glass Animals frontman Dave Bayley on the main Coachella Stage just before sunset Friday. “The good weekend! That’s what I hear. The weekend where everybody takes too many drugs!”
The festival’s second weekend also was hotter, reaching 102 degrees Saturday, according to AccuWeather. Friday and Sunday peaked in the 90s, and the heat had fans traversing the venue in search of intermittent shade and artists pitching in — or at least commiserating.
Skepta, a British rap and grime artist, threw bottles of water to his Sunday crowd in the Sahara Tent.
Grace Mitchell, a powerful 19year-old indie rock vocalist, joked Sunday about using the porta potties.
“It’s 100 degrees out here; it’s 500 degrees in there,” she deadpanned. “It teaches you patience and humility.”
The festival’s new air-conditioned Sonora Tent, home to punk and Latino rock, proved popular and also was the starting point for a March for Science on Saturday led by members of the Downtown Boys after their set.