Coachella 2012 Daily Recap: Weekend 1, Day 2

Becky Bain | April 15, 2012 11:34 am

After yeterday’s chill factor on the Coachella grounds became a nuisance among the musical revelery, I came more prepared for Day 2: Jeans! Wool socks! Two sweatshirts! The day began sunny and warm, but I was definitely glad I prepared for the winds that came to the Polo Fields in the nighttime. Wait, am I really still talking about the weather? Let’s get to the recap of what really matters: the music, the mayhem, and 90s Goth Katy Perry, who premiered her new purple hair at the festival, along with her love of The Craft.

MOST DISAPPOINTING: Azealia Banks‘ 45 minute set – her US debut – was only 20 minutes long. But it turns out it wasn’t her fault. “We fucked up!” tweeted Azealia after her set. “My DJ skipped two songs by mistake! LMFAOO so when 212 came on I just went with it. #womp.” Good for Banks for dealing with the shake-up like a pro… we just wish we got those extra 25 minutes of material! At least we can re-watch her brief-but-stirring performance over and over.

BEST NEWCOMER: Though Azealia Banks is grabbing all the press for her brief-but-killer performance, our favorite newbie to the fest was Childish Gambino (aka Donald Glover) who managed to fill all 45 minutes of his set on the main stage with biting flow, clever raps (he even flashed the lyrics to his song “You See Me” so everyone could rap along) and guest appearances (why, hello there again, Kendrick Lamar!). The man was a writer for 30 Rock, currently stars on Community, and is a truly impressive rapper. Why does he want to be Spider-Man? He’s already a Superman.

DAFT PUNK WILL PLAY AT COACHELLA NO MATTER WHAT: The electronic group that arrives on every rumored Coachella lineup was sampled and remixed all day in the Sahara tent – Jacques Lu Cont, Martin Solveig and David Guetta all put their spin on DP’s tunes. Daft Punk‘s music will rock Coachella even if they don’t show up!

THE MOST COACHELLA-IEST BAND AT COACHELLA: tUnE-yArDs. They just are.

BEST QUOTE: “You know those people who are only talking to you because they want something from you? You need to take a cold shower afterwards… this is for them.” – Radiohead‘s Thom Yorke, before launching into the band’s “Karma Police.”

MOST UNRULY CROWD: Fifteen minutes before David Guetta even took the stage, the Sahara tent was already spilling over with rave kids. (Any Top 40 listener curious about Guetta’s set was more than likely scared off by the sheer number of sweaty EDM die-hards squished up against one another, spilling out of the tent.) Personally, I got through about half of Guetta’s set before the crowd got too much for me, but that was long enough to jam out (as well as one can with absolutely no personal space) to his collaboration with Sia, the magnetic “Titanium”, and his song with Kelly Rowland, “When Love Takes Over”. (Turns out I missed Usher’s cameo for “Without You” – damn! I should have guessed that at least one A-list star Guetta has worked with would show up.)

BEST BONE-THROWING: Noel Gallagher performed on the main stage with his new band High Flying Birds, but didn’t win over the crowd until he decided to appease all the Oasis fans out there with “Don’t Look Back in Anger”.

BEST INANIMATE OBJECT ENJOYING MARTIN SOLVEIG’S SET: Mr. Bean’s floating head.

SECOND BEST INANIMATE OBJECT ENJOYING MARTIN SOLVEIG’S SET: A blow-up doll.

THIRD BEST INANIMATE OBJECT ENJOYING MARTIN SOLVEIG’S SET: Paris Hilton, who I saw entering the Rose Garden VIP lounge after Solveig concluded his performance.

MY NEW CRUSH: Martin Solveig, who put on an amazing show, even if a live collaboration with Dragonette for their hit “Hello” never came to pass. (She was apparently busy with press and couldn’t make it – but there’s always Weekend 2!) Plus, he delighted me even more after his set during our one-on-one interview, where we spoke about his recent work with Madonna on MDNA. (We’ll be posting my Q&A with the DJ/producer this coming week!)

BEST FORESHADOWING: David Guetta mashed up Aviciis “Levels” with Gotye‘s “Somebody That I Used To Know” — a day before both those artists would play their own songs during their own respective sets at Coachella. But hey, they have nothing to worry about, as the crowd went nuts for both tracks. (Gotye’s song especially got everyone riled up and singing along — could this be the “Rolling In The Deep” hit of 2012?)

MOST UNNECESSARY INTRODUCTION: “This is Radiohead.” – Thom Yorke, as his band headlines the main stage. I am 99% sure no one in the audience needed confirmation who they were watching.

Today, the weekend comes to a close with performances by Gotye (fresh off his SNL debut), Calvin Harris, Florence + The Machine, and Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, and all their friends (even the ones who are no longer alive).