LA WeeklyBillie Joe Armstrong Joins The Replacements
Early in The Replacements' Friday night set, Paul Westerberg welcomed Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong onstage. Armstrong, who matched the rest of the band (except Westerberg, who wore his own thing) in a plaid suit, seemed giddy to be onstage with his idols, saying “Dreams really do come true.” Westerberg was splayed out on a couch for most of the set (he said his back was hurting), letting Armstrong sing lead on several songs. No Green Day tunes were played, but who needs “Longview” when you've got “Tommy Gets His Tonsils Out.” -Kai Flanders
See also: The Worst of Coachella, Weekend Two
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| Timothy Norris |
Smaller Crowds
Weekend two is notable for its population decrease. That means fewer Hollywood types, fewer bros, fewer people asking us for molly. -Nate Jackson
Aloe Blacc
Aloe Blacc gets kudos for maintaining the cool vibe of tracks like “The Man,” his horn heavy tip of the hat to Elton John, in a live setting – even when that setting is a punishing desert. Pacing out other hits like “You Make Me Smile,” and the acoustic version of his collaboration with Avicii, “Wake Me Up,” gave Blacc time to sneak in a few funky, socially conscious album cuts like “Soldier in the City” and “Hey Brother.” Otherwise, he mesmerized us with his golden pipes and ankle-breaking James Brown impressions. – Nate Jackson
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| Ben Westhoff |
Glowsticks at Darkside
During Darkside's performance on Saturday night, whenever there was a critical moment in the set someone would toss dozens upon dozens of glow sticks out over the crowd – purple, red, green, yellow, and blue. It added a level of spontaneity and whimsy to the proceedings, even if some of them would smack you in the head. -Ben Westhoff
Charging Stations at Yuma
The new Yuma tent is great for many reasons, including the charging stations they added for weekend two, outside near the restrooms. Don't worry, there were speakers playing the music inside so you never have to miss a beat. We even caught a fan doing an amazing LED Hula Hoop performance to The Magician while we got re-charged. -Alejandra Loera
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| Timothy Norris |
Pharrell's Trolling
At Pharrell Williams' set Saturday, he played some of his recent hits, and then thanked the audience in a gooey voice for supporting him “since the beginning.” He said this like three times. Considering Pharrell's been in the game since 1992's “Rump Shaker” – before many in the audience were born – and that most were probably unfamiliar with him before “Get Lucky,” this was a great troll. -Ben Westhoff
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| Timothy Norris |
Getting Daft Punk'd by Arcade Fire
Win Butler and co. took the ultimate piss out of Coachella Sunday night by opening with an alleged surprise set from none other than Daft Punk. Except, not really. “Boy have we got a surprise for you!” Butler gushed just a little too enthusiastically, as two white-clad figures sporting the French DJs' signature helmets appeared before a pair of laptops onstage. The call prompted the entirety of the festival to stampede towards the Main Stage. But the ruse was up once the group began jamming on a slow, emphatically bored-sounding version of “Get Lucky” for about 30 seconds, after which “Daft Punk” disappeared and the show really got started. It was a jab some of the most annoying aspects of Coachella's hype, and the meme-like mania for Daft Punk's Coachella comeback year after year.-Andrea Domanick
LA culinary scene, represent!
With a number staples in the LA/OC food community, like Beer Belly's, Eveleigh, Kogi amongst others showing up, it's great to see Southern California's finest establishments expanding their brands to a wider audience. Though the prices could have been better, the deliciousness and variety of food allowed for people to scarf down on traditional festival grub or go with other finer options. -Daniel Kohn
Karaoke hour with Beck
Beck's superb set Sunday night had all the dance moves and lackadaisical weirdness of the L.A. singer at his best, but the highlight was arguably when he and his band surprised us with a few covers and extended jams. Beck eschewed some of last week's tunes like “Gamma Ray” and “Guero” in favor an all-too-brief acoustic cover of Arcade Fire's “Rebellion (Lies)” (he later joined the band for their set), and then moonwalked his way through a funked-up call-and-response version of “Billie Jean.” The band's closing jam “Debra,” however, stole the show, with adrenalized performances from bassist Justin Meldal-Johnsen and guitarist Smokey Hormel. -Andrea Domanick
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| Josue Rivas |
Zoé to the rescue!
On a day when Chance the Rapper cancelled his anticipated mid-afternoon set on the main stage, people were wondering who would pick up the slack – turns out it was Mexican-based psychedelic outfit Zoé. Though generally unknown to the greater American listening public, the band's sunny brand of indie-meets-alt-rock won over the fans assembled. By the end of the set, the pink shirt wearing León Larregui had the fans eating out of his palm. -Daniel Kohn
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