Coachella Highlights, Part 1: God damn, Doechii is great. The likes of Pusha T ensured that there was no shortage of quality hip-hop at Coachella Friday, but Doechii was right at the top of that pile. The opening “Ignant” and the career-forging “Yucky Blucky Fruitcake” were highlights of a set that could well see her rocket in 2023.

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The Murder Capital (Courtesy of Coachella/Pooneh Ghana)

Irish band the Murder Capital have been produced by Flood, whose list of credits includes New Order, Gary Numan and U2. That makes sense — there’s a swagger mixed with dark energy to the band that was like a bast of weirdly fresh air in the Sonora Stage, out of the desert sun, early in the day.

Talking of the Sonora Stage, the fact that it’s one of only two (along with Yuma) that is closed off to the elements and you have to enter through doors means that the lines to watch Magdalena Bay and TV Girl beat us. We were skipping between stages, and couldn’t afford to wait around. That said, it’s great for those two acts that the demand was so high.

Our only Yuma experience, as a result, was phenomenal DJ Nora En Pure. “With my music, I always try to connect to the previous releases and go a step further,” she told this writer in a previous interview. “You always want to keep evolving, go another step, and also keep a signature sound. Touch the people who like your previous music.” YES!

We saw both Wet Leg and Yungblud relatively recently, at KROQ’s Almost Acoustic Christmas. Both were enjoyable there and here, with Wet Leg in partciularly cementing their standing as one of the most exciting indie-pop bands out there. Mind you, Muna gave them a run for their money. That’s a band that has gotten crazy popular this year, and their anthemic pop-rock anthems provided perfect festival fare. Oh, and they were joined by boygenius, for extra value.

Coachella Highlights, Part 1

(Courtesy of Coachella/Julian Bajsel)

Gorillaz, as we recall, used to hide their real identities and perform as a cartoon band. That hasn’t been the case for years now, so we get to see Blur man Damon Albarn and his cohorts in all their glory. The cartoons play on the big screens and that makes for a fun show, plus the two remaining members of De La Soul joined them for a run through “Feel Good Inc,” which allowed for a tribute to Trugoy the Dove.

The Chemical Brothers were the band of the day. They had the best light show, better animation than even Gorillaz, and banging tunes like “Block Rockin’ Beats and “Hey Boy Hey Girl.” Magnificent.

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Angele (Courtesy of Coachella / Ashley Osborn)

Angèle is arguably the most joyful artist we’ve ever seen. The Belgian pop artist came on stage with a video depicting her surrounded by pugs, a rollercoaster and other cute stuff, then she danced through her French-language set, often surrounded by a sea of dancers in pink. It’s like a contemporary take on yé-yé girls, and it’s wonderful.

Honorable mentions for Ashnikko, DJ_Dave, Mary Jane, Lewid OfMan, Yves Tumor, and Whyte Fang. Apparently, The Weeknd made a guest spot but we couldn’t be everywhere at once. That’s what is both awesome and awful about Coachella.

Coachella Highlights, Part 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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