Exploring Indio: Day Two at Coachella, the surprise guest is… R.Kelly?
Coachella’s Saturday lineup presented a new host of conflicts, while the Sahara and Yuma tents remained stacked with impressive talent, elsewhere in the festival some of most remixed indie bands in dance music were also performing. The Sahara Tent hosted Baauer, Kill The Noise, Bingo Players, Fedde Le Grand, Moby, while Yuma created refuge for fans of 2 Bears and Julio Bashmore. Rather than stay confined to the two dance music tents as promised, we explored the Polo grounds.
Starting out our day at Baauer’s Sahara set (long lines caused us to miss Birdy Nam Nam), we were delighted to set a fuse to kickstart our afternoon. Opening with his Just Blaze collab “Higher” Baauer set the stage for the most frantic set of the day, working in Flume‘s remix of “Hyper Paradise” and obviously ending with a full tent “Harlem Shake.” Kill the Noise brought forth an hour of unrelenting dubby electro that shook and rattled the Sahara, while the Bingo Players stole the show with their impressive stage and infectious big room presence that left everyone with a “duck face.” 
Although Moby occupied the second to last slot in the Sahara Tent on Day 2, he most certainly played like a headliner. More so than many of the other DJs gracing the Sahara Tent this weekend, he put on his rave cap and played a set full of hard hitting electro, euphoric breaks, and high energy from start to finish. Fans of the Moby of yesteryear were treated with “Porcelain” while he also played novelty hits like Guru Josh Project’s “Infinity 2008” and Fukkk Off’s “Rave Is King.”
Meanwhile in the Yuma Tent, Julio Bashmore was a clear standout in the lineup for Day Two of Indio’s very own desert nightclub. Playing a set that touched on his biggest successes like “Au Seve,” “Battle For Middle You,” and “Husk” as well as a a good deal of squelching acid house, the Bristolian proved he can cut his teeth not only in grungy warehouses but also primetime festival tents.
The Do Lab is a little weird, but awesome. That is all.
Hot Chip toed the line between live instrumentation and electronic synthesis in their evening Main Stage set. Joe Goddard and crew ushered in the sunset with mainstays like “Flutes,” “One Life Stand,” and “I Feel Better.” For both lovers of indie rock and the fairer side of dance music, the band’s set was a clear joy.
Major Lazer outshined even 2Chainz for the most packed and rowdy set of the day, bringing their UMF antics to Southern California.
Although Richie Hawtin was scheduled to close out the Yuma Tent, reported hard drive (and back up hard drive) failures prevented him from performing his headlining set on Saturday. Cassy, however, coming off her own 105 minute set was able to fill in with her bombastic techno bass lines.
At the Coachella Stage, The Postal Service reminded us of our roots, representing what most of us could consider our first tastes of electronic music. Ben Gibbard and DNTEL sound just as incredible live as they do digitally, delivering a memorable and nostalgic set for anyone whose formative years were defined by the group’s melancholic electronica.
After months of rumors and speculation, Phoenix would close out the mainstage — a performance that led many to believe that this would be the grand reunion of Daft Punk. After putting on an impeccable performance, including a climb up the sound stage and the longest crowd surf in history, Phoenix front man Thomas Mars was accompanied on stage by R. Kelly who performed a rousing rendition of “Ignition” – peeing on the Daft Punk dreams of a crowd of thousands.
Categories: Music