|  By Bruce Fessier, Special for USA TODAY
Opening night headliner: Paul McCartney launched America's economically challenged destination music festival season on Friday with two-and-a-half hours of positive notes. The 66-year-old former Beatle played 45 minutes past the curfew, starting slowly with the Wings hit Jet and ending with a whirlwind of Beatles standards, culminating with Get Back and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band, which segued into The End.
Highlights of the multi-encore set were his most heartfelt songs. Friday was the 11th anniversary of Linda McCartney's death, and Paul sang an emotional My Love dedicated to her. He sang an imaginary dialogue with John Lennon in the 1982 song he wrote after Lennon's death, Here Today, and he sandwiched Lennon's Give Peace A Chance in between A Day in the Life and Let It Be. He played ukulele and sang Something in honor of his other fallen Beatle, George Harrison. The crowd joined in on a giant sing-along of Hey Jude.
Attractions: Promoter Paul Tollett said the 10th Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival exceeded expectations after Friday's opening day sold out more than two weeks in advance. The mildest weather for Coachella since 2003 also helped fill the fields for Day 2, featuring The Killers, Grammy winner M.I.A. and the highly touted TV on the Radio. The third night was headlined by The Cure, Public Enemy and Groove Armada.
The numbers: Last year's festival drew 151,666 people, and the crowds looked bigger this year. It was covered by 560 members of the media, including online, newspaper and magazine writers. One-third of the media was international, with origins ranging from Thailand to Slovenia.
Measure of success: Tollett knew the festival was a hit when he went to a Del Taco at 2 a.m. and saw it filled with people from Coachella. "They were having so much fun. The Del Taco in Palm Desert was just packed with people from other countries and other states."
Star power: Paris Hilton made her usual appearance. Hollywood couple Reese Witherspoon and Jake Gyllenhaal took the Outdoor Theater stage with Seattle harmony group Fleet Foxes, following in the footsteps of Scarlett Johansson on stage with the Jesus and Mary Chain in 2007. Zac Efron proved Coachella is a photographer-friendly place to promote being 17 Again.
Anne Hathaway, Drew Barrymore, Kirsten Dunst, Emile Hirsch, Twilight actor Robert Pattinson, Kate Bosworth and fashion model boyfriend James Rousseau, Big Love star Chloe Sevigny, Underworld star Scott Speedman and his former Felicity co-star Scott Foley also were spotted.
Jeff Lynne, a former member of the Traveling Wilburys with George Harrison, came out to see Harrison's son, Dhani, in his new band, thenewno2. Harrison's widow, Olivia, also was there, and Rosanna Arquette was spotted in the photographer's pit near veteran rock photographer John Rowlands, who photographed The Beatles more than 40 years ago.
Other non-performing musicians seen at Coachella were Stewart Copeland of the Police, Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and "Weird Al" Yankovic.
The vibe: The installation art in the center of the polo field created the feel of a lost village inspired by the hallucinogenic genius of Lewis Carroll. The most popular installations were probably the chomping, fire-breathing metal dragon, Serpent Mother from San Francisco, and the kinetic art of the Cauac Twins, back for its eighth year from Los Angeles.
Veteran stars: For the 10th anniversary, Coachella featured such veteran artists as Leonard Cohen, Public Enemy, Paul Weller from The Jam, Morrissey (turning 50 next month), L.A. punk pioneers X, and Booker T. Jones with his new band, Booker T & the DBTs. Jones' band, which will perform at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, has been playing together for less than two weeks, but they sounded well-honed on new material and classics such as Green Onions and Time Is Tight. Drummer Brad Morgan said when you're playing Time is Tight with Booker, "you have to be tight."
Rising stars: Buraka Som Sistema impressed with their Kuduro music, a mix of Angola rhythms and electronica. The Welsh indie band Los Campesinos, the politically charged Latino rockers Molotov, electronica vocalist Jenny Lewis and Fleet Foxes also stood out.
Scary moment: M.I.A., who said she didn't feel comfortable on the main stage, invited the crowd to join, and security guards had to throw people from the stage. But Tollett said, "It seemed to be under control."
A look ahead: The festival's success could carry over to the circuit that continues this weekend with the Stagecoach Country Music Festival, also in Indio, and the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.
Quint Davis, founder of the Jazz & Heritage fest, popped in for a half-day of Coachella before returning to New Orleans to set up his festival, which in past years had been held the same weekend as Coachella.
"Our show and his are earlier in the year than most festivals, so you may get a little sneak peek of what's to come in the market," said Tollett. "You can't judge it all by one show, but people plan ahead for these types of things." |
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