Coachella crowds get mixed weather, outstanding music
First weekend is cool and damp
INDIO, Calif. — The dark cloud that hovered over the first weekend of Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival didn’t faze fans who rocked bikinis, shorts and sandals — and were eventually rewarded with blazing sunshine.
A few highlights from “Rainchella,” which repeats April 2022 with the same lineup:
-Usher surprised David Guetta fans crammed into the tiny Sahara tent for a major dance session. The Grammy Award-winning R&B singer and the French DJ tore up the tent by playing part of hit Without You.
-Childish Gambino (aka Donald Glover, who plays Troy on Community) rocked the main stage with his broken foot.
-Rapper Azealia Banks got the whole festival talking with her debut act that spurred comparisons to diva Nicki Minaj. Too bad Banks ended her 45minute set about 20 minutes early, a move she later explained was because her DJ accidentally skipped ahead to the final track.
-David Hasselhoff made his way to the front of Arctic Mon- keys’ set and quickly became a Twitter trending topic. Other celeb sightings: Fergie and hubby Josh Duhamel; Nick Simmons, son of Kiss’ Gene Simmons; Katy Perry; Rihanna; Lindsay Lohan; Lauren Conrad; Paris Hilton; and Joshua Jackson.
-Black Lips frontman Cole Alexander took the concept of making love to your guitar to a new level when he dropped his pants onstage.
-Rapper and producer Tyler the Creator joined up-and-comer Frank Ocean onstage for a surprise song.
-Radiohead helped wind down the crowd with melodic, even lullaby-like, tunes like Kar
ma Police. But to make sure people were still awake, frontman Thom Yorke announced: “This band is called Radiohead,” triggering a blast of screams from revelers young and old.
-Protected with hoodies and makeshift ponchos, fans danced to duo Black Keys as they played new hits off latest album El
Camino. Frontman Dan Auerbach gave a birthday shout-out to drummer Patrick Carney and rocked I Got Mine.
-Macy Gray joined AWOL- NATION on the main stage during the indie pop band’s set.
-J-st when Kaiser Chiefs seemed to wrap their set, singer Ricky Wilson climbed the media tower, hamming it up by singing directly into the camera.
-Brit band Pulp reunited to rave reviews. “Consider yourself bloody lucky,” Jarvis Cocker said as he threw candy and grapes into the audience.
-Gro-plove paid tribute to Whitney Houston, singing I Wanna Dance With Somebody.
-British rock band James invited more than 50 fans on stage to dance during hit song Laid.