**Cold War Kids
Friday, Outdoor Theatre**
As the sun finally began to set behind the mountains after a day with temperatures reaching 95 degrees, Cold War Kids stepped onto the stage. Pointing at the purple and orange horizon, lead singer Nathan Willet began to belt the lyrics to “Royal Blue,” a track off the band’s latest album, “Mine is Yours.”
Dressed in flannel and long pants that looked uncomfortably warm, the band began a set that focused mainly on its newest album, but still played some older crowd favorite, such as “Hang Me Out to Dry.”
The show’s high point came when the band performed “Bulldozer,” as Willet said that it was his favorite song off the band’s latest album.
“I’d be overjoyed if you sang along,” said Willet.
So the crowd did.
Willet had an incredible range, and sounds the same in concert as he does on the band’s albums.
There was real feeling behind his singing, although this seems to be a characteristic of most Coachella artists. Still, Willet has the ability to make his voice sound sweet and soothing in one song, then switch to harsh and grating in the next, as made apparent in the performance differences between the band’s latest single, “Louder Than Ever,” and its gospel song “Lord Have Mercy on Me,” from the album “Robbers and Cowards.”
While the band’s versatility was impressive (band members switched instruments multiple times throughout the show), it fell short when attempting to engage the audience in the beginning and the middle of the show. However, the crowd became more enticed when the band began to tell anecdotes before each song.
The best songs of the set were “Hospital Beds,” “Hang Me Up To Dry” and “Bulldozer.” The band closed with “St. Johnny,” a song which Willet said was very special to him. By some miraculous coincidence, the sun dipped behind the mountain peak and the temperature finally dropped as Cold War Kids finished its last song at Coachella.
-Leah Christianson
**Arcade Fire
Saturday, Coachella Stage**
You know a band has performed well when the front row is cheering for an encore, yet cannot even see the band because it is covered in giant, glowing, beach ball-esque orbs.
Arcade Fire kicked off its set on the Coachella main stage Saturday night with its high-powered “Month of May,” off its latest album, “The Suburbs.” An old film that showed the rebellious suburban teens that Arcade Fire addressed on this album preceded the song and accompanied most of its set. The band’s excitement was apparent. There was not a single minute in the show when at least one of the band members was standing still; someone was always wildly dancing, ecstatically beating a drum or throwing a drumstick into the air.
The band focused mainly on “The Suburbs” during the first half of its act, which was accompanied by antique-style film footage. “Rococo” and “Keep the Car Running” were especially well-received. After the band sang its crowd pleaser, “We Used to Wait,” it switched to a more upbeat vibe, upping the intensity on both its lighting and its sound to really get the crowd jumping.
Lead singer Win Butler told the crowd that if, in 2002, someone had told the band it was going to be headlining Coachelle, it would not have believed it. The band’s modesty was impressive; Butler thanked the crowd for listening after every song performed. This humility was an apparent crowd-pleaser, as it broke out into “Happy Birthday” (Butler announced that his birthday was Thursday) while Butler blushed and smiled goofily.
Butler announced the band’s last song, “Wake Up,” much to the crowd’s displeasure. But as he sang, “Children, don’t grow up,” a bunch of glowing, blown-up balls fell from above the stage onto the people who had pushed their way closest to the stage. This created a magnified “beach-ball-in-crowd” effect, as people jumped around laughing and hitting at these orbs. This transformed the atmosphere in the pit from one of air-restricting discomfort, where people were vying for the best view of the band, to a bunch of kids having a good time dancing around, in effect complying with Butler’s request of his fans to not grow up.
The band closed with “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains),” still thanking the crowd that was buried under a pile of glowing beach balls. It was a fantastic way to end one the all-around best Coachella performances this year.
-Leah Christianson
**Death From Above 1979
Sunday, Coachella Stage**
While Death From Above 1979 may have made an appearance at South by Southwest, Coachella represents its first real show since its break-up in 2006.
The band is perhaps best known for the depiction of the two members, Jesse F. Keeler and Sebastian Granger, as half-man, half-elephant on both the cover of its debut EP, “Heads Up,” and its only full length album, “You’re a Woman, I’m a Machine.”
Before the band even took to the stage, the show began when the roadies hoisted a giant poster featuring the zombie-like appearance of the same, famous elephant-faced men from the covers, rising from a grave bearing a tombstone that read, “DFA 1979 2001-2006.”
Rigor mortis had yet to take hold of these corpses risen from the dead, though, as Keeler and Granger took to the bass and drums/vocals, respectively, with vigor.
The band played popular titles such as “Black History Month,” “Romantic Rights” and “Little Girl.” They also played a few lesser-known titles such as “We Don’t Sleep at Night” and “You’re Lovely (But You’ve Got Lots of Problems),” which remain fan favorites.
Little banter was shared between the two, as the band powered through its set, not slowing down for even a second. This energy was shared by the audience, especially in the mosh pit, where not a minute passed without an audience member being lifted into crowd-surfing position.
-Matthew Overstreet
**Ellie Goulding
Sunday, Gobi tent**
The Gobi tent basked in the youthful energy and spirit of British
songstress Ellie Goulding, who captivated her audience from the moment she walked onto the stage.
Essentially playing the majority of her debut album “Lights,” Goulding explored her vocal range beginning with “Under the Sheets.” Her soft whispery voice continued to entrance audiences with “This Love Will Be Your Downfall.”
With an acoustic guitar in hand, Goulding exuded raw emotion throughout her performance. You could feel the conviction behind every note she uttered, creating a vibrant atmosphere among the audience, who enthusiastically clapped and sang along to songs such as “Your Biggest Mistake” and “Guns and Horses.”
The audience became truly enthralled when Goulding performed one of her most popular songs, a cover of Elton John’s “Your Song.” Goulding poured her heart into every lyric as she fell to her knees.
Goudling ended climatically with her most popular single, “Starry Eyed,” while lucky members of the audience got to sport sunglasses shaped as stars. These “starry eyed” glasses embody the quirk and spirit of Goulding and her performance at Coachella.
-Michael Palumbo
**Kanye West
Sunday, Coachella Stage**
Many people speculated that Kanye West’s Coachella performance would
be a huge spectacle filled with star-studded guest appearances from
other artists, akin to the surprise Beyoncé appearance during Jay-Z’s performance at Coachella last year.
What audiences got instead was much more; it was just not as evident. From the moment the white curtain unveiled a gothic marble-like canvas of humans in distorted shapes and positions, Yeezy treated the audience with a powerfully raw spectacle.
Filled with fireworks, ballerinas, the vocals of Bon Iver and one appearance by Pusha T during “Runaway,” much of the concert
consisted of themes and images that have appeared since West released his latest album, “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.”
West entered not from behind the stage, but in the middle of the audience on a raised crane, which lowered over the crowd as he performed “Dark Fantasy,” the first track off his new album. From then on West seamlessly transitioned from one song to the next, sometimes not even completing the entire song, sometimes forgetting the lyrics (“The Good Life”) and sometimes with an overbearing bass backdrop.
Nonetheless, the performance was all Kanye West, all the time, which, when one thinks about it, should not have been surprising to fans at all. If Mr. West had brought someone he collaborated with, like Jay-Z or Rihanna, to join him onstage, the talk of the performance would be centered on that appearance, rather than the collective performance West gave, which, given his antics and much-publicized narcissism, should have been an unfathomable thought to fans from the very beginning.
However, critics and fans shouldn’t write off Kanye West’s first
Coachella performance as self-indulgent. In between singing “Say You
Will” and “Heartless,” both from his criticized album “808s &
Heartbreaks,” West explained how Coachella was the most important show to him since his mom passed away, and went on to describe his
gratitude to his fans who still allowed his CDs to go platinum.
In that moment, Kanye West finally shed the hubris and egotism,
expressing something genuine and almost cathartic. For once, Kanye
West showed appreciation and humility, and once again, we were
reminded by why we love him and his music in the first place.
Separated by three acts, West performed essentially every popular
song, including “Power,” “Jesus Walks,” “Monster,” “Flashing Lights”
and even songs such as “E.T”, “Swagga Like Us” and “Run This Town.”
Closing with the outro “Hey Mama,” it was an appropriate end to a
concert that allowed Kanye West to show that he and he alone could
captivate his audience and pay respect to his mom, his fans, his
demons and his beautiful dark twisted fantasies we’ve all been lucky
to experience.
-Michael Palumbo