Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is a 2 weekend affair - identical line-ups for each weekend. Unlike the British festivals it's pretty normal to stay offsite in motels or hotels (for the after parties), although apparently the camping experience (in the desert?! no thanks) is something that "should be done".
It's repped as being quite a "big" commercial festival, but in site size it's more comparable to Field Day and is laid out in much the same way, with stages around the edge. It also means it's a pretty manageable size to walk around between sets, and it’s definitely less brand-heavy than V (although the merch stand is the first thing you see).
Once you've trekked the dusty couple of miles from the site entrance to the festival proper, cleared 2 security checks and finished your first litre of water, you're welcomed into a lovely sun-trap of a festival site. Coachella is a ‘music and arts’ festival, so as well as the stages and bands, there’s a plethora of interesting sculptures and installations around the field. The ‘Recyclasaurus Rex’, which we came to first, and dressed up bottle bins from Global Inheritance are a quirky way of encouraging recycling, and the balloon chain by Robert Bose looked so beautiful floating in the wind – a different colour for each day of the festival. Aside from the main stages (2 outdoors and 4 barns/tents) there are also plenty of places to crash in the shade and escape the valley’s baking afternoon sun: Flux Foundation’s ‘Sidewalk's End’, Paul Clemente’s projection-house sculpture ‘Mirage’, and the Do LaB, with its enthusiastic spray-hose wielders (a godsend in the heat). Around sunset, it’s definitely worth heading to the iconic Coachella Big Wheel. The queues aren’t too big, and you get stunning views of the site at the moment all the lights are switched on against the amazing backdrop of the mountains.
Food & Drink:
There are tonnes of food stalls all over the site, but don’t be tempted to dive for the first ones you see, there are some gems hidden amongst the ‘less fine’ food. Monster fries (garlic fries with pulled pork), Lime Truck sliders (@thelimetruck), Spicy Pie pizza, and Crab Fries are all worth hunting out over the weekend, as well as the Paella stand near the giant Praying Mantis!
Drinking rules at Coachella are different from UK festivals as it's open to underager's. You can only drink alcohol in ID checked ‘beer gardens’ (so remember ID!), although you can still see the Main and Outdoor stages from most of them. There’s also a Heineken tent with DJ sets to enjoy. Alcohol is allowed in the campsites, but to be honest it's not worth drinking stacks in that kind of heat if you want to enjoy the festival. Staying hydrated doesn’t cause huge problems either, as there are plenty of toilets, and queues are unbelievably short!
The Music:
The good and bad thing about the site being small is that you don’t have a Glasto-style slog between sets of acts you want to see: If there are clashes, you can probably catch some of both. The downside is that in particular between the ‘Coachella’ and ‘Outdoor’ stages there is a bit of sound bleed, especially with bands like Phoenix vs Sigur Ros like on Day Two.
Day1:
Jake Bugg - he seems to have taken off almost as much in the States as in the UK. While his performance was just as stand-offish as at Shepherd’s Bush, he still as some stonking tunes which the crowd seemed to love. Of Monsters and Men were great to watch in their late-afternoon set in the Outdoor theatre. They gathered a massive audience, and the brilliant sunshine complemented their cheery hum-along style perfectly. They’re a great festival band, and I’d definitely recommend catching them if you get the chance (They’re playing Glastonbury, V, and a few other UK shows this Summer).
After years of hearing about Modest Mouse, I was really looking forward to seeing them perform, but I was left cold by their set. Beach House made a brilliant first after-sunset show to catch, a chilled-out set after a fairly hectic day acclimatising to the festival/desert combination, with a great light show to add to it. An unplanned visit to Wolfgang Gartner’s DJ set in the Sahara tent turned out to be one of the best decisions of the festival. The atmosphere was crazy, and dancing yourself into a storm was perfect for waking back up again for the night’s acts. Band of Horses were everything I’d expected live, lighting up the crowd without losing any of their quality of sound, and it was the best way to hear a mix of their other tracks before ending with ‘The funeral’. Wandering across the back of Jurassic 5’s set to Pavement’s End just as ‘Concrete Schoolyard’ started was perfect timing; Although we couldn’t really see much and there wasn’t a lot of point fighting to the front so late in the set, it was great to sit and watch the world go by with such a great soundtrack!
Day 2:
Biffy Clyro burned up the main stage mid-afternoon on day 2. Their performance, mainly from their ‘Opposites’ album, was electric to watch (even more so among a group of Scottish uber fans) and probably the best set of the festival. It’s easy to see why they’re headlining at Reading and Leeds this Summer. Playing shirtless in the crazy heat, they belted out ‘Biblical’ and ‘Many of Horror’, hurling themselves around the stage. The only shame was that they’re still criminally unknown in the US, and had to cut their set short to keep with the strict Coachella timings missing some of their biggest tunes. That said, their small audience and early slot meant you could get right to the front, without having to fight your way through.
If Bat for Lashes performance of ‘Laura’ right at the end of their set was anything to go, it looked like it had been brilliant, and I’m only annoyed I didn’t catch more. Natasha looked stunning in a rainbow metallic crop top and 50’s-style skirt, and the band (including cellist) were on great form. Later on the same stage, Major Lazer set the bar pretty high with their Giant inflatable hamster ball Crowd-surfing!
Grizzly Bear’s production and stage show were captivating to watch. Their performance of ‘Two Weeks’ with coordinated floating lamps moving behind them in the warm California evening was probably one of my festival highlights. At the end of the night it was great to finally catch Sigur Ros, if only for the sheer numbers of musicians on stage to create their intricate works. Their backdrop graphics beautifully enhanced their ethereal set, although there was a lot of sound bleed from the end of Phoenix on the Coachella stage, which spoilt the atmosphere in some of the tracks.
Day 3:
Airborne Toxic Event have an infectious energy on stage, and their lead vocalist (Mikel Jollett) is a charismatic front man, sharing stories about thoughts on life and death – which led to the band’s name, cracking jokes for the crowd and giving that bit of extra banter which really made the set (‘there aren’t enough bass guitar solos in music these days’). Their performances, both as individuals and together, were some of the best of the festival. James Blake, in the Mojave Tent was worth balancing a tent-wire to see. The music he makes is beautiful, and he does it with such respect for his audience and band members, constantly thanking everyone there. Watching him build up his tracks is captivating, and his hits like ‘Limit to your Love’ and ‘Retrograde’ went down a storm.
From around this time on the wind had really picked up, and in the Desert was creating a dirty haze across the site. You couldn’t see the hills by sunset, and most festival-goers had fashioned some kind of mask to keep from inhaling too much dust. The tent was overflowing with people trying to watch La Roux’s set, the most for that stage all festival, creating a real buzz of atmosphere in the crush inside. It was great to hear some of their new work mixed in with the old hits – when the tent went crazy – although even they were victim to the strict timings, having to drop a song from the set to stick to the schedule. As an added bonus I’m fairly sure I spotted 30 seconds to Mars’s Jared Leto nearby in the crowd. Wu Tang Clan in the Outdoor Theatre pulled a huge crowd in the gathering dust cloud, but by this time it was getting very cold, with many people huddling in just for warmth. So it was then a huge disappointment finding out Parov Stelar had had to cancel due to illness. There was no obvious announcement beforehand, and a fair crowd had gathered only to be left to wander away unsatisfied. I’ll still catch them on the London leg of their tour in May/June, but seeing them in the dust storm at Coachella would have rounded off the festival nicely for me.
Coachella Hints and tips:
1. Don't be tempted to do too much early in the day, or on Day One. You have three days to explore, and heat really will take it out of you if you go too mad. Pace yourself and you'll have a great time.
2. If you’re staying off-site, do pick up the number of a taxi company to take you back to your hotel at the end of the night. The locals are really helpful, and keen to run as taxis for a few dollars, and they’re really flexible about picking you up from wherever too. I would not recommend trying to walk back anywhere at crazy o’clock in the morning.
3. Do pick up a free festival map and lineup, or download the Coachella app. You might find you’ve go time to fill between planned acts, and that’s when you can catch some real gems!
Review & photos: Elizabeth Rogers Watch some of the 360 degree Coachella videos here
