Cars packed with music loving revelers snaked their way through the craggy beauty of the Sierra Nevada mountain valleys on Saturday. Across the continent, on tumbleweed blown highways, to converge on the car lots of the Empire Polo Fields of Indio, spilling from their Mustangs, Prias, Chevvys, and Hondas for a journey into a festival renown as one of the hottest events of the music calendar.
Palm trees lined the fringes of the site, dotted with strange and sensuous art sculptures.
A large opulent dragon hovered by the Sahara stage (the tent for lovers of house and electronica).
A multi-coloured canvas tunnel wound inwards, looping upon itself like a giant snake, reducing to a height of around a foot at its end, forcing us to crawl on hands and knees into an intimate wooden camp where hippies sat cross legged, smoking and braiding hair in the sun.
The momentous line-up saw rock legends the Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Kings of Leon touching shoulders with UK indie darlings from Travis to Pop Levi.
While the hottest names in indie and dance showcased from the Arcade Fire, and DJ Mehdi to superstar DJ holding the mantle for trance.
Highlights for this roving reporter during the fiery daytime heat included an incredible set by , who belted out tracks from their new album The Looks, including the biggest rhino-hide-tough track of the year, Neon Knights, - as well as interpreting classics from Gotta Have House Music, to Pump Up The Jam and House of Pain s Jump Around. It rewarded them with an electric atmosphere and the biggest roar of the festival.
The Red Hot Chilli Peppers convulsed onstage like animals consumed by the raw music their instruments unleashed. Raging electric guitar blasts, throwing a crazed hysteria over the band and awe over the crowd, who throbbed as one.
The scene unfolded under a spectacular laser vortex shooting up from the periphery of the festival to meet directly above the main stage, creating a cathedral-like ceiling that each and every one of Coachella s 60,000 inhabitants were held within.
Two members of played an amazing impromptu DJ set as the stage was prepared between LCD Soundsystem s cool set and their own. They opened with s heavy new track The Whistler, moving between minimal bleeping house, into deeper lyrical beauty like s and the string-filled harmony of Discopolis that heralded the entry of the band on stage.
Needless to say they rocked it, Coachella rocked it, and this was one very happy British export, caught up in the biggest mash up of musical magic in the world.
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