Pictured above: Holly Humberstone
Slayyyter
As we mentioned on Friday, Slayyyter's set was magnificent. By the end of the day, our early prediction was vindicated. Nobody--not headliner Sabrina Carpenter not anybody else--put in a better performance than Slayyyter. The buzz was palpable, and she will surely only go from strength to strength from here.
A day for the Girl Groups
Los Angeles-based Katseye is considered a "global girl group" with members from the Philippines, South Korea, Switzerland, and the United States. Getting anywhere near the Sahara stage proved an almighty task, such was the frenzy to catch their set. It was far easier to see Bini on the Mojave stage and, from what we saw, Filipino girl group Bini have the better songs. The buzz is Katseye's, but we can see Bini catching up soon.
Moby and Devo have still got it
With the Yuma stage full-to-bursting when Groove Armada played, halting our plans to see them, it was left to Moby to fill the "veteran electronic artist" spot in our day. Songs like the classic "Porcelain" and "When It's Cold I'd Like to Die" (the latter featuring vocalist Jacob Lusk) highlighted the man's longevity. Before that, Moby was spotted dancing to new wave icons Debo's set, and why wouldn't he. Devo were superb. "Whip It" and "Gates of Steel" would enhance any festival.
Holly Humberstone and CMAT skillfully rep Britain and Ireland
Both were wonderful. CMAT gleefully toyed with the crowd, pulling all manner of poses while blasting out tunes like "The Jamie Oliver Petrol Station." Meanwhile, Humberstone's vibe is more subtle, slightly gothic, but equally effective. Expect bigger things from both.
The food is part of it
Gone are the days of nothing but greasy food at music festivals. At Coachella, the food is very much a part of the experience. That said, we star6ted with grease, getting a Breakfast Wrap from Smoothies & Wraps on the campsite. It was great, bursting with egg, tots and bacon. Later, we had a salmon poke bowl that looked delicious but was quite terrible. Oh well, you can't win 'em all.
Diamond Dave
We were planning on watching The Two Lips, but Teddy Swims changed our plans by bringing out David Lee Roth to fire through the Van Halen classic "Jump." That felt like a historic Coachella moment.
Other guests
Joe Jonas of the Jonas Brothers also joined Swims, while Lizzo joined Sexyy Red, HUNTR/X (from Kpop Demon Hunters) joined Katseye, and Sabrina Carpenter pulled up Will Ferrell. There were more, but these made us happy.
The Radiohead thing
Like Groove Armada, the Radiohead exhibit in the Bunker proved too difficult to get into. We'll have to catch it later with the rest of you. The art elsewhere, though, was breathtaking.
Lykke Li
Swedish artist Lykke Li stark yet warm alt-pop was the first act we caught on either of the two big outdoor stages, and she was glorious. Songs like the opening "Hard Rain" and "No Rest for the Wicked" highlighted the fact that she's an enormous talent. Like Slayyyter, Humberstone and CMAT, we think the next year will be huge for Li.
Sabrina Carpenter
There's no doubt that Carpenter was a valid and worthy Coachella. She's a great performer with a strong voice, and a few killer tunes. "Please Please Please" and "Go Go Juice" were particularly impressive at Coachella. This didn't feel like it'd be classified as one of the great Coachella headline sets (there was a weird bit where Carpenter griped at the crowd a bit), but it was strong.
