Bryan Ferry
Aloe Blacc
AFI
AFI
Focus Turns Back To The Music
Weekend 2 Of Coachella 2014
Day 1 Review
L. Paul Mann
As weekend two of this years Coachella music festival got underway it was clear that there was a very different atmosphere unfolding across the massive venue and it’s seven performance stages. Gone were most of the Hollywood elite and their entourages, who invaded the festival the first weekend. Most of the giant corporate after parties catering to the rich and famous, that took place during the first paparazzi crazed weekend, also seemed to be winding down. The focus for the second weekend seemed to be squarely back on the music where it belonged. There seemed to be a relatively older and more sophisticated crowd of music fans swarming the Indio Polo fields this first day. With near perfect temperatures peeking in the low 80’s, aided by an unusual cloud cover and practically no wind, the weather itself seemed to be more relaxed than the wild swings it had experienced the week before. The previous Saturday’s virtual sandstorm was a pretty miserable experience by most accounts. But smiling faces prevailed on the Easter friday opening day of Coachella 2014 round two. As usual, those festival goers hearty enough to arrive early were treated to sparse crowds, with easy access to the front of most any stage. The festival has continued to expand in physical size over recent years and the immensity of the venue is most evident in the early hours of the festival when the grounds are most devoid of the masses yet to come. This year, the restaurants and bars, the institutional Do Lab, and the newest tent stage, the Yuma have all been moved to yet another impounded polo field in the back. The resulting move has created a massive main stage area, complete with delayed speaker systems stretching out to all corners of the grassy Polo fields. The new restaurant area features a new multi microbrew bar modeled after the popular ones at festivals like Bonnaroo. The old Polo field restaurant has also been annexed, adding much needed chill space, complete with a large air-conditioned dining room and real bathrooms. All the new space seems necessary to cater to what appears to be a bigger audience every year. But in 2014, even while huge crowds swarmed the main stages for headliners, more intimate moments with veteran performers could be found across the expansive festival all throughout the day and night.
For instance, while a massive crowd watched an over the top grandiose EDM set by Girl Talk on the main stage, the iconic Bryan Ferry was playing a brilliant set consisting of hit songs spanning 40 years, to a crowd of less than 900 people in the Mohave tent. There really seemed to be something for most everyone at this years Coachella music festival. Some highlights of day one of weekend two included:
The Preatures:
The Preatures are an Australian based band from Sydney, New South Wales. The five-piece group was formed in 2010 and began as a Rolling Stones cover band. Led by the charismatic Isabella Manfredi on vocals/keyboards, the band also includes. Gideon Bensen (guitar/vocals), Jack Moffitt (guitar), Thomas Champion (bass) and Luke Davison (drums). The band played a tough early afternoon time slot on the MainStage, but got the early bird crowd excited with their clean Indie rock sound.
Flatbush ZOMBiES:
As their name implies this “Beast Coast” rap band hails from the Flatbush neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. Rappers Meechy Darko, Zombie Juice, and Erick “Arc” Elliott led a tight funk rock band through an electric early afternoon set on the second largest Coachella stage, the Outdoor theater. The three rappers, sang, danced and crowd surfed their way int the hearts of a frenzied crowd. The band even played a medley including Nirvana’s iconic “Smells Like Teen Spirit”.
Anthony Green:
Probably best known as the lead singer of Circa Survive, this veteran lead singer of multiple metal bands appeared on the main stage, also in the early afternoon, with his solo project band. With a decidedly more temperate sound than the thunderous evocations of Circa Survive, the singer was able to showcase his exquisite vocal skills to a relatively mellow but appreciative crowd. Seemingly a workaholic, Green is also planning a reunion tour with his former metal band, Saosin.
ZZ Ward:
The blue eyed soul singer ZZ Ward packed the Mojave tent and had the crowd in a festive dancing mood shortly after her 2 PM set time began. The pretty young singer with her long blonde locks fronted a funky soul band that laid down a near perfect dance grove.
Dum Dum Girls:
Fronted by flamboyant lead singer, guitarist, Dee Dee Penny, this New York based all girl glam rock band was a real crowd pleaser during their 2.30 Outdoor Theater stage set. The band played in the vein of the Go Go’s with Dee Dee sporting a very revealing see through shirt.
MS MR
The New York duo consisting of lead singer Lizzy Plapinger and keyboard player Max Hershenow, led an energetic Indie rock band through an intriguing main stage mid afternoon set.
Jagwar Ma
The young neo psychedelic band from Sydney Australia had the mid afternoon crowd in the Gobi tent dancing like a 1960’s Grateful Dead concert, with a surge of young girls pressing against the front of the stage sporting flowers in their hair. This band can really jam.
ASAP Ferg
This New York rapper is the real deal and brought hard core East Coast rap to the a big crowd in the late afternoon sun on the Outdoor Theater stage.
Aloe Blacc
While this California singer had his biggest hit playing with EDM superstar Avicii, his live stage show in the Mojave tent just before sunset harkened back to classic soul music. Fronting a top notch soul band complete with horn section, the wiry performer sang and danced his way into the hearts of the crowd packing the tent.
Gareth Emery
This EDM star from the UK, was the first to lure a massive crowd into the Sahara dance tent, with his distinctive mix of trance, house and progressive music. Elated fans swarmed the stage exploding in sweaty dance trance fever after each successive crescendo in Emery’s explosive set. The state of the art lighting rig in the Sahara would “breathe” on hydraulic trusses, creating endless lighting scenarios. For EDM fans the light show holds equal weight with the actual music performance.
AFI
With their own unique mix of Goth, Punk, and Hardcore Metal music this veteran Northern California band played an arena style rock show on the main stage in late afternoon. Singer Davey Havok crowd surfed deep into the massive audience while bassist Hunter Burgan and guitarist Jade Puget, flailed about the stage like wild animals in a stampede. In the meantime drummer Adam Carson, laid down a thunderous grove behind them.
Kate Nash
The English pop singer pulled out all of her stage tricks for an emotive sunset performance in the Gobi tent. Crowd surfing into the audience, jumping on speakers, and rolling on her back on the stage, she danced and gyrated her way through an entertaining set.
Broken Bells
The highly anticipated set by Danger Mouse and James Mercer and their band Broken Bells brought a huge crowd to the Outdoor Theater stage just after sunset. Their eloquent sound was bolstered by the first light show of the evening on the outside stage. The audience loved it.
The Glitch Mob
The young Los Angeles EDM trio played their own unique set of custom instruments to create an explosive live performance that had the early evening crowd in the Sahara tent in a frenzied dance mood.
The Replacements with Billie Joe Armstrong
The reunion concert by one of Alternative rocks first American bands, was already one of the most anticipated sets of the 2014 Coachella festival. But when Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong joined the band shortly after their set began on the Outdoor stage, the massive crowd went wild. The iconic punk rocker meshed perfectly with the lead vocals of Paul Westerberg and the veteran band.
Bryan Ferry
The veteran lead singer of Roxy Music played an emotive hit laden set of that bands biggest hits as well as his hit songs from his solo career. His band of impeccable musicians blended rock and jazz sounds into a mesmerizing backdrop for Ferry’s tunes. The small crowd in the Mohave tent added to the early evening magic of the sultry singers set.
The Cult
Following Ferry, The Cult played an ear piercing set in the Mohave tent. The band did what they do best, playing balls out straight forward rock.
The Knife
The Swedish electronic pop music duo composed of brother and sister Karin and Olof Dreijer, presented a late night set on the Outdoor stage that was more theater than music. With a massive entourage composed of dancers and musicians playing all sorts of odd instruments the group presented an eye popping performance rivaling a major Broadway musical.
Outkast
The long awaited reunion concert by the superstar rap duo was probably the single most anticipated set of Coachella 2014. By all accounts, the crowd pleasing closing set on the main stage, the first night of the second weekend, was a much improved performance from the week prior. The long winded solo songs and much of the crowd banter were toned down for this second performance, allowing the band to cram five more hit songs into the 90 minute set, than in the previous week’s perfomance. The days of the historic marathon sets at Coachella, like the three and a half hour set by Paul McCartney that ran well past the city curfew in 2009, are a thing of the past. All bands, including the headliners are kept to a strict timeline. So the massive audience who witnessed Outkast closing set were greatly appreciative of a much tighter music oriented evening this second time around