Coachella Day Two: Let's Go Crazy

Friday, April 25, 2008

By Jonathan Zwickel
Special to MSN Music

Saturday is always the most crowded day at any given festival. Saturday is the weekender's day -- a regular person with a regular job might skip out on Friday and Sunday because of real-world commitments. So on Saturday, there was a noticeable influx of L.A.-made beautiful people that turned Coachella into the hipster fashion pageant it's come to be known as. High-waisted shorts and saucer-sized sunglasses were the norm for girls; guys sported mustaches, neon Wayfarers, and panama hats.

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"Unquestionably, the peak of Coachella was Prince covering Radiohead's 'Creep.'"

The crowd skewed young along the festival grounds, packs of teenagers and 20-somethings strolling from stage to stage. Inside the paid VIP area slightly older, much thirstier revelers lingered in the shade and guzzled $12 cocktails and $7 beers.

Also contributing extra bodies to the polo fields was the festival's most impressive lineup. The mathematics of Portishead's first U.S. show in 10 years plus Prince's late-announced headlining set added up to palpable excitement. Unquestionably, the peak of Coachella was Prince covering Radiohead's "Creep." He turned a mournful rock ballad into a soul-churning epic: "You're so very special. I wish I was special." One of the most influential musicians of all time giving a nod to the most important band in the world was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Somehow, the rest of his two-hour long set felt as momentous. He launched into the performance by strutting on stage an announcing, "Coachella, I am here!" Moments later, he told the crowd, gathered at what he described as "the coolest place on earth," exactly what they could expect: "This is funk music!" Along with a seven-piece backing band and cameos from Morris Day and Sheila E, that's exactly what he delivered.

There were moments -- during a grandiose "Little Red Corvette," for instance, and a frenzied "1999" -- when it seemed unreal that this truly was the man who wrote these iconic hits. It wasn't his celebrity status that was so awe-inspiring but the way he owned the stage and owned the crowd, probably some 60,000 strong by that point. Other covers included the Beatles' "Come Together" and Sarah MacLachlan's "The Arms of an Angel." An encore of "Purple Rain" and "Let's Go Crazy" ended the night on the highest high note possible.

As pre-headliner, Portishead was just as effective with their music, though theirs was far more dark, dejected, and haunting. Beth Gibbons' voice was timeless, a noir warble that bowed along unexpected meridians and drew in several directions as once. The band played songs from their first two studio albums, pulling songs like "Sour Times" and "Dummy" out of the amber of posterity and into the present day. Numbers from their just-released "Third" sounded even heavier, especially the martial boom-bap of "Machine Gun." Like Prince, their influences on Coachella's younger bands would become apparent throughout the weekend.

Other highlights from the day: U.K. electro-popsters Hot Chip inciting a hipster mosh pit behind the stage at a packed Sahara Tent; Cold War Kids rocking "Hang Me Up to Dry" from the main stage, a young band filling a huge space; and Kraftwerk's techno soundtrack to a swoon-worthy sunset. Early in the day, Carbon/Silicon, the new project from former Clash guitarist and Generation X bassist Tony James, ably delivered classic, politically-tinged Brit-pop at the Gobi Tent.

Denver cabaret-rock outfit Devotchka were plagued by sound problems during their afternoon set on the Outdoor Theater stage, at first mediated by the addition of a pair of aerial acrobats but then worsened when upright bassist Jeanie Schroder overheated and the band had to cut their set short. In many ways, Coachella is a battle, and the sun, the booze, and the crowds can beat all the best intentions.

Jonathan Zwickel writes about music for the Seattle Times and is working on a biography of the Beastie Boys.

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