Thom Yorke and his band Atoms for Peace went through every song off of Yorke’s 2006 solo effort, “The Eraser,” in intense fashion during the band’s first Coachella appearance. Yorke and bassist Flea danced so hard we hope their backs are okay. Yorke knows his audience, and after going through the “Eraser” material, gave Radiohead fans their fix with acoustic versions of “Airbag” and “Everything in Its Right Place.” The biggest treat of the show really was watching Yorke enjoy himself so much – the guy smiled way more than he does during Radiohead gigs and danced his ass off.
Was it live? Or was it recorded? Hard to tell since Gorillaz relied on pre-recorded tracks from rappers like Snoop, Mos Def for support. What Gorillaz mastermind Damon Albarn did bring to the stage was world-class entertainment via cutting edge visuals and musical contributions from the Lebenese National Orchestra for Oriental Arabic Music, De La Soul, The Clash’s Mick Jones and Paul Simonon and crooner Bobby Womack. No one fuses hip-hop, electronica, exotic sounds, and dance floor grooves better than Gorillaz, and their updated versions of past hits like “Dirty Harry,” “Kids With Guns,” “Feel Good Inc.” proved it. New songs from the “Plastic Beach” album rocked too – standouts included “Glitter Freeze” and the anti-war “White Flag” – but nothing compared to the reaction to the revamped version of “Clint Eastwood”: pure pandemonium and joy.
Who needs pants when you’re Little Boots? That pesky Icelandic ash cloud that stranded several Coachella acts also kept the electropop singer’s garb stranded in the U.K., so she improvised on stage with a sequined top and what looked like black panties. Bonus points for the fog machine and trippy laser light show.
Sounding much livelier than when performing solo as Atlas Sound, Bradford Cox and Deerhunter churned out their peppy alt rock offerings to a receptive crowd. Cox was in good spirits despite the heat and having to, as he told the audience, wear a blazer in order to avoid a trip to the hospital. He gave a shoutout to Echo & the Bunnymen’s Ian McCulloch, who had played on the same stage the night before, and improvised during both technical difficulties and songs (during “It Never Stops,” Cox sang “It never stops, even in 90 degree heat.”)
It was greatest hits night for reunited ‘90s outfit Pavement, from opening tune “Silence Kid” to “Stereo,” “Two States,” “Range Life,” “Cut Your Hair,” “Shady Lane,” and “Summer Babe.” There were multiple references to the band’s lengthy hiatus – guitarist Scott Kannberg said, “We’re Pavement, back from the dead” – but the sometimes grumpy crew seemed in sync and actually enjoying their time under the main stage’s Christmas light decorations. Stephen Malkmus’ voice was as quirky as ever throughout the hour-plus performance that was a trip down memory lane for Gen-X’ers and a course in Indie Rock 101 for the uninitiated.
Sounding much livelier than when performing solo as Atlas Sound, Bradford Cox and Deerhunter churned out their peppy alt rock offerings to a receptive crowd. Cox was in good spirits despite the heat and having to, as he told the audience, wear a blazer in order to avoid a trip to the hospital. He gave a shoutout to Echo & the Bunnymen’s Ian McCulloch, who had played on the same stage the night before, and improvised during both technical difficulties and songs (during “It Never Stops,” Cox sang “It never stops, even in 90 degree heat.”)
