* Brit-rockers Arctic Monkeys, James, Pulp featured
* Off main stage are Frank Ocean, Alesso
By Piya Sinha-Roy
INDIO, CALIFORNIA, April 14 (Reuters) – Rain, strong winds
and gloomy skies plagued the opening day of the Coachella music
festival but failed to hamper the high spirits of festival-goers
and bands such as Brit punkers James and headliners, The Black
Keys.
“Howlin’ For You” opened The Black Keys set, and the rockers
followed with a selection of older and newer hits including
“I’ll Be Your Man,” “Tighten Up” and “Lonely Boy” that kept the
crowd’s energy high throughout the cold Friday night.
On their set’s penultimate number, “Everlasting Light,” the
pace slowed to highlight singer Dan Auerbach’s vocals while the
closer, “I Got Mine,” took full advantage of drummer Patrick
Carney’s pounding beat to end the show on a deafening high.
The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, three
afternoons and evenings of live bands playing outdoors in the
desert near Palm Springs, east of Los Angeles, is typically
bathed in sunshine and warm spring weather in April. But this
year’s opening day crowds, numbering in the tens of thousands,
were caught off-guard by a Pacific storm that swept in.
Festival first-timer Ari Blos, 18, came unprepared for the
chilly desert air that forced her to wrap up in a Snuggie
blanket, but said the weather had little impact on the crowd.
“I don’t think they care, they’ll deal with it and have fun
doing it,” said Blos, a student from Los Angeles.
Many festival-goers, typically in shorts and light shirts,
layered up with jackets and draped blankets or sleeping bags
around their shoulders. Campers on the festival’s grounds had to
secure or take down tents against the strong desert winds.
“Most people would embrace it probably. If they signed up
for camping, they should know the risks,” said festival attendee
Sam Nachbar, 25, from Los Angeles.
The cool and damp weather was the topic of the day on the
main stage, too, with Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker joking that it
was brought by two Sheffield, England bands – his group and the
Arctic Monkeys.
Brit-rock showed a strong presence when Coachella kicked off
with ’80s post-punkers James, from Manchester, preceding the
Arctic Monkeys and Pulp.
Arctic Monkeys returned to this year’s festival after their
debut here in 2007, and livened up the crowd with a selection of
classics such as “I Bet You Look Good On The Dance Floor” and
“The View From The Afternoon,” as well as newer songs including
“Don’t Sit Down Cause I’ve Moved Your Chair.”
Alternative rockers Pulp made their Coachella debut with a
raucous set of their best known singles like “Common People.”
Following The Black Keys, DJs Swedish House Mafia, took over
to keep the festivities going late into the night.
Off the main stage, thousands gathered to see newcomer
singer-songwriter Frank Ocean at the Gobi tent, a platform that
has become a proving ground for emerging artists. The singer had
the crowd chanting his name as he took the stage, riling them up
with hits such as “Novacane” and “Swim Good.”
In the Sahara tent for dance music, Alesso kept the crowd
dancing with a stream of top 40 dance hits such as Flo Rida’s
“Good Feeling” and a remix of Gotye’s break-up song “Somebody
That I Used To Know,” which had the crowd both inside and
outside the tent singing along.
(Reporting By Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)
