10 Best Moments of Coachella: Day 1
It's the moment we've been waiting for: Coachella is here! Okay, okay, I know last weekend was the first installment of the recently expanded desert festival, and that this weekend is a repeat of the same lineup. But there's still plenty of action going down that didn't happen last week. First and foremost: The sun! Last Friday was drenched in a rare rainstorm. Not today. Oh no: It's 103 degrees! Wahoo! I hit the ground running the first day -- check out my 10 favorite moments from Friday below!
1. Arctic Monkeys Frontman Alex Turner's Stage Presence: Frontman Alex Turner hit the stage all gussied up like a greaser in tight jeans, black leather boots and a black t-shirt (dude has clearly been hanging with Queens of the Stone Age’s resident badass Josh Homme, who produced the Monkeys’ last album). It was a sure sign of the rowdy show to come. He high kicked, ran the stage, mounted the drum riser and generally played heartthrob to the throng of twenty-something girls with their arms in the air. The quartet really delivered on the chattering dance-punk oldie “I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor” and the heavier newbie “Don't Sit Down 'Cause I've Moved Your Chair,” which showed just how far their sound has evolved since they were hailed at Britain's Next Big Thing at just 19 years old. Both sounds, however, showed the Monkeys' key asset -- their ability to weave rhythm changes like a muscle car in the Hollywood Hills.
2. Yuck's Ability to Make the Best of the Situation: The skin-torching hot day opened with one of my favorite songs of 2011, the guitar grinder "Rubber" by London's Yuck. In a white-wash denim cut-off jacket and matching jeans, tall and lanky singer-guitarist Daniel Blumberg just looked awkward in the early-afternoon sun. But he managed by slowly lunging back and forth from the rear of the stage (and the protection of the shade) to the front, where he’d hang his emotionally evocative, '90s-nostalgia-inducing lyrics over guitar drones. It was graceful, even in a setting far from their preferred rocking grounds—small, dark clubs. “Rubber” was the first song I heard from the band’s self-titled release, which is one of the best debuts of last year. Buy it now. Also: Yuck are recording the follow-up now, so heads up.
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