Eric Lynch Archives — San Francisco Bay Guardian Archive 1966

All photos by Eric Lynch

If Friday was about the weather and a few stellar performances, Saturday was all about the music. Larger, happier crowds with pants rolled higher and enthusiasm to match.

Azealia Banks broke it down 1980s style for what she said was her largest crowd ever. Love the nails Azelia!

Annie Clark, aka St. Vincent, belted it out soon after the sun went down and managed to change guitars four times.

There were so many Radiofans camped out at the Coachella Stage during the Shins I wondered if SBTRKT could host a nice crew. But the Gobi Tent was bursting with amped Gen Zeders ready for one of the funner performances of the day.

And then Radiohead‘s polished master stroke hypnotized the willing. I couldn’t get over Thom’s wall of recycled plastic bottles reinvented as a 30-foot-high light wall.

All photos by Eric Lynch

I guess the story of the first day was the weather. Everyone checking their iPhones for what time the rain would begin. And it eventually came, not SF rain, but a startling event none the less for Coachella.

Intermittent showers and sprinkles throughout the day (after 4:30 ish). Fans got creative using garbage bags or just ignored it altogether, in their hipster finery. By the end of the day there were shivering shirtless Coachella bros everywhere.

M83 was astounding. They were a definite crowd favorite.

I almost peed my pants leaning on the speakers in front of Amon Tobin ISAM.

There were a lot of crabby people for Mazzy Star (too quiet, no lights, plus rain equals crabby twenty somethings who have no idea really who Hope Sandoval is and seemed unwilling to give her a chance.)

While I think Pulp is old news, Jarvis Cocker really brought out the camp and strutted the stage like he meant it.

WU LYF: simple clean and unpretentious as one can be with an affected voice like that.

Girls are not very photogenic but the crowd was wild for them. The three background singers brought it up a notch.

Eric Lynch

Coachella Day 2: All about Azealia (and Radiohead)

Coachella Day 1: Girls, EMA, WU LYF, Mazzy Star, Pulp, more