Axl Rose leading Guns N’ Roses back to a mass audience, Ice Cube‘s hit parade, and Kanye West’s surprise appearance are amongst the highlights at the packed opening weekend of Coachella 2016.
Calvin Harris closed out the first weekend of the festival on Sunday night with an abbreviated set on the main stage, shorter than most of his Vegas club appearances. He hit what might have been a hard curfew, ending exactly at midnight.
Speculation swirled about who of his many collaborators could join him on stage. Taylor Swift‘s name had been mentioned as a probable to attend, but not perform. Instead, it was…
…Rihanna appearing on a separate stage in the middle of the crowd.
Taylor Swift, with Lorde and other friends, watched “We Found Love” from the middle of the crowd in full freak out mode.
The night, and weekend, ended with an array of fireworks.
Earlier on Sunday, Sia’s hour-long performance played like a Broadway musical.
Thank this crew for bringing you last year’s “can’t escape” song: “Lean On”. Major Lazer arrived with all their collaborators (including vocalist MØ and DJ Snake) to the sunset slot on the main stage.
The Chainsmokers, who are on a ride of consecutive radio-friendly crossover dance hits, were the de facto headliners in the Sahara on Sunday, nearly causing an earthquake with their Red Hot Chili Peppers intro to “Roses”. After the Chainsmokers appeared with Tiesto at last month’s Ultra in Miami, the elder statesman returned the favor for the boys. A moderate surprise by comparison to the bizarro but beloved appearance from Third Eye Blind, an idea the boys hatched in a bar in Baltimore 48 hours earlier.
For reference, this is Stephan Jenkins (lead singer of Third Eye Blind) a month ago at SXSW in Austin. It’s a universe away from this scene he walked in to.
Defying all odds, Guns N’ Roses took the stage on time for their Saturday night headlining set (10:36 p.m.) and rocked for 2.5 hours straight. From a review of footage of their first four shows over the last two weeks after a 23 year hiatus, this performance had the most hug. In the giant festival setting, they seemed to click-in and have fun for the first time.
Hamstrung by a foot injury, Axl’s throne has gotten some upgrades since last weekend’s shows in Las Vegas. He can move it around stage, which makes it the most rocking Walmart scooter ever. The Periscope and Youtube footage of reunion concerts to this point do not do Axl’s voice justice – he sounded great.
They opened with “It’s So Easy” and “Mr. Brownstone”, as has been the trend in their comeback tour so far. The set included super-sized Illusion era songs “Estranged,” “Coma,” and “November Rain“. AC/DC’s Angus Young joined the group for a few songs, as Axl will be leading that band on their tour this year.
Snoop Dogg and Ice Cube performed the Dr. Dre classic “Next Episode”, with Cube singing Dre’s parts.
In the battle of the guest stars, as Snoop joined Cube, one stage over Kesha made good on a much-rumored appearance with Zedd on the Outdoor stage.
Back at Cube’s set, his “Barbershop” co-star Common joined him on stage. The two began the week on “Good Morning America” plugging the movie that opened this weekend. And speaking of Oscar winners (Common)….
…Sam Smith had just gotten off Common and Cube’s stage, where he performed hits “Omen” and “Latch” with Disclosure. Disclosure also slid Lorde in to their set for “Magnets”.
The scene on Saturday afternoon.
James Bay proved to be under-booked in the Mojave Tent. A spillover crowd could not get in to see his 4:30 p.m. set on Saturday. He plays at the Ace Hotel downtown in L.A. in between the festival weekends.
Over in the Sahara, Matoma came out throwing fastballs, opening with his hit “Running Out” and dabbling one chorus of The Chainsmokers’ “Roses”, a preview of the anthem that will arrive later in the festival on the same stage.
Away from the festival, the Neon Carnival remained exceedingly popular, a talk of conversation on the fields and on the after party circuit.
As always, you never know who you’re going to see here…except Leo. He’s a regular. From the celebrity stew, DiCaprio and Rihanna get a word in the VIP risers…
…Michael B. Jordan hangs with a friend…
…UFC legend Chuck Lidell looking festival fresh…
..and after taking the stage with his father Ice Cube at the festival, O’Shea Jackson Jr. got the sweetest table in the whole carnival: a hidden nook inside the Tequila Don Julio airstream trailer. (This columnist’s seat of choice in past years.)
DJ Ruckus showed support for the headliners over at the festival.
Kellan Lutz wore the uniform of choice for Saturday, a classic GNR tee, while playing a game.
For the festival regular, it was a wardrobe change from earlier in the day where he got ready for “neon” with the Diadora kicks being given out at the Vegas-sponsored “What Happens Here Stays Here” party in Palm Springs.
Levi’s and Re/Done sponsored the multi-thousand person party at a private airport, where rides, food, carnival games, beauty stations, and an outdoor dance floor was packed until early on Sunday morning.
After getting a huge response to his set on Friday, G-Eazy got to relax. On Saturday, he was poolside at Interview Magazine’s Paradise House in Palm Springs.
The “Me, Myself, & I” singer unintentionally matched with Amber Rose at the “What Happens Here, Stays Here” Beer party presented by the city of Las Vegas at The Music Lounge.
Rachel Zoe and Brooklyn Beckham at the stylists’s “ZOEasis” event.
TheWeeknd played the main stage at Coachella last year. This year, he got to hang at Bootsy Bellows’ party that had cars parked all over the grounds of the estate like a tailgate, promoting Chevy Cruze.
Two festival regulars: Derek Hough and Aaron Paul at the McDonald’s All Day Breakfast party on Saturday.
Meanwhile at the Ace Hotel, Questlove had audiophiles nodding their heads. The festival-hopping musician immediately put on the B&O Play headphones he had just gotten and put them to use for his set.
Ellie Goulding sparked the energy on the main stage after dark on the opening night of Coachella 2016.
Allison Mosshart of The Kills on stage earlier on Friday, where the winds were high and hats were flying. In the background, one of the art installations that towers over the grounds. When lit at night, it looks a Miami Beach condo building.
Instagram alert: This phrase had been tagged nearly 20,000 times by 5 p.m. in photos from the festival. In english it means “Kiss Me A lot” (in an imperative/command form).
Even tennis star Maria Sharapova (far left) got in to the act.
Kanye West was the big surprise guest on Friday. He took the impossibly crowded outdoor stage with A$AP Rocky.
Kanye reappeared briefly on the same stage during Diplo and Skrillex’s Jack U set, clapping along to his own song, “Power.” An instagram video from backstage purports to show the active Mr. West competing in a foot race against Tyler the Creator.
Jack U’s set involved a 1990-era Mac computer, complete with a chunky mouse and a giant floppy disc that Diplo picked up over head. They DJ’d from on top.
Check out the clean shaven, glasses-free and newly renovated Skrillex. He popped by Nylon’s party after playing the festival and took over the decks there too.
Zach Braff got a perch far from the Jack U blast, taking an outdoor day bed at the Retreat in Palm Springs. He’s with Janell Shirtcliff.
Elsewhere in Palm Springs, Kieran Shipka and Emily Ratajkowski linked up at a POPSUGAR cocktail party.
Back on the grounds, the fashion show included wings.
The winds on Friday blew a few sips off the tops of drinks and had many festival fans wrapping bandanas around their mouths in the daylight, hours before the typical dust storms at night.
The dancing was not all amateur. Ghastly added to his stage show with a duo more frequently seen in Vegas.
Darren Criss faked a tap-out at H&M’s official on-site pop up shop.
Sufjan Stevens was one of the most anticipated “new faces” acts of the festival…
…as was Maryland-based R&B singer Gallant. Seal (pictured) joined Gallant on stage, a week after Gallant’s album “Ology” debuted.
“That girl” is here.
Suki Waterhouse with Lyndsey Rodrigues, who hosts a daily fashion series on Amazon. Suki hosted a party for them at the Retreat.
Zoe Kravitz and a friend inside one of the coolest (literally) places on the fields, the indoor Heineken House.
Sunset on Day 1.
DJ Mustard led the hip hop invasion of the dance-mecca Sahara tent. YG joined him on stage, asking everyone in the crowd to raise their middle fingers as he led a chant of “F–k Donald Trump!”
Ellie Goulding catching air. Her collaborator Calvin Harris will be on the same stage on Sunday night to close out the festival.
In a sea of fashion bloggers and wannabes, two real deal influencers join forces: Chiara Ferragni and Aimee Song. They hit up a dinner thrown by clothing line Revolve (who is doing two days of major pool parties) and Moet & Chandon out in Palm Springs.
Another legit social-media star on the scene: Viner Brittany Furlan at Nylon’s party on Friday night. It went late.
Hannah Bronfman (who DJ’d) and fiance Brenden Fallis (also a DJ) at POPSUGAR’s Cabana Club on Friday afternoon.
More to come…check back for updates throughout the weekend.
