Andrew Veeder on April 14th, 2018

0

Veeder’s Day 1: The Weeknd, SZA, St. Vincent, Belly, The War on Drugs, Vince Staples, The Regrettes, Kali Uchis, Kelela, Slow Magic, Benjamin Clementine, Smiles Davis

Coachella 2018 kicked off in typical fashion: a lengthy delay before admission began, a bevy of guest appearances ranging from superstars (Kendrick Lamar) to super memes (Yodel Boy?) and a diverse lineup of food and music that featured a little something for everyone. During a day largely dominated by male acts, it was the women who stole the show, with St. Vincent, Kelela and the Regrettes delivering some of the strongest performances of the day.

Headliner the Weeknd, née Abel Tesfaye, led us into the weekend, kicking off his set to tens of thousands with “Pray For Me,” one of three “Black Panther” soundtrack cuts to make an appearance throughout the day, and loading its first half with his boldest and poppiest songs, including “Starboy,” “Reminder,” “House of Balloons/Glass Table Girls,” “Secrets” into “Can’t Feel My Face,” and “I Feel It Coming.” This, the third time at Coachella for Tesfaye, seemed to be the charm, with him dancing around with more energy and presence than the last two outings combined, owning the main stage more than expected, and showing how much fun emotional despair can be. The second half of his set, however, veered more into blatant pilled-out sorrow, featuring early song “The Morning” and “Wicked Games,” as well as new songs “Hurt You” and “I Was Never There” from the new and appropriately titled project “My Dear Melancholy.” “Call Out My Name” and “Privilege” capped the set and provided a comedown to an action-packed day, or a wistful walk back to the parking lot.

As the day saw another special guest known as Tha First Blister, here’s how it unfolded:

11:53 a.m. — Don’t ever go to Coachella early. Despite advertising that “Gates open at 11 a.m.,” the early birds had to squirm as gates did not open until 1pm. It’s conceivable that Late Night Laggers, Francesca Harding and Jim Smith all played sets to empty tents.

12:36 p.m. — An “off the record” email comes through with a hot tip that “Yodel Boy” will make a cameo during producer Whethan’s set that afternoon. Ah, 2018: when both dreams and memes become reality within a fortnight.

1:13 p.m. — Hindered by the gate delay, Smiles Davis finishes her set in the Mohave tent to approximately 4 people.

1:36 p.m. — Flanked by a bassist, drummer and multi-instrumentalist on staggered platforms in the Gobi tent, UK’s Benjamin Clementine sings lean-seated on a high stool before his piano, sounding reminiscent of a young Nina Simone, like a Niño Simone. His measured intensity and cadence recall the soul legend as he plays songs culled from his 2014 debut “At Least For Now” and last year’s “I Tell A Fly,” including “Phantom of Aleppoville,” “Winston Churchill’s Boy,” “Condolence,” and “Ave Dreamer.” Standing amid the band are half a dozen inanimate mannequins, one of which is draped by an American flag. During “One Awkward Fish,” he picks up a childlike figure and carries it around after its right arm fell off. Late in his set, he asks, “You drunk already?” The crowd replies with yells enough for him to exclaim, “Okay, Americans, okay…”

2:35 p.m. — Multi-colored, animal-masked electronic artist Slow Magic stands behind a laptop setup and two clear tom-toms, live drumming to enhance the sound of his synth-heavy productions, including material from an EP released just today. By the second song, it smells like marijuana really is recreational in California. The crowd ranges from run-dancing in place and pumping your fists, to shoulder swaying in small groups, to those few seated and rather motionless. By the last song, those clear drums look like they can barely take another hit.

3:23 p.m. — Over at the DoLab, future bass and electronic artist DROELOE is giving them the bleeps, the sweeps, and the creeps. He drops a remix of Kanye West’s “All Of The Lights” anchored by an onslaught of synthy robotic flatulence. Pro tip: pop into the DoLab mid-afternoon to feel the mister array on your face.

3:41 p.m. — Two planes circle above the polo grounds, and in what appears to now be Coachella tradition, one of them is towing a Trojan BareSkin condom banner. (Editor’s note: damn, that plane stayed up a long time.) The other drags a banner for Greenrush.com, touting itself as “the fastest way to buy weed.” Now we know, and knowing’s half the battle.

3:55 p.m. — Starting about 10 minutes late, Kelela saunters onstage in the Mohave tent, situated between two backup singers as they sing “LMK” and all move fluidly and effortlessly through choreography. “Blue Light” and “Frontline” follow, and when its beat drops, so does the crowd. Rocking a perfectly coutured grey dress with a big white belt, boots, cuffs that droop like flowers, and a wide-brimmed hat that shrouds her face, Kelela tells everyone before the second verse, “If they didn’t take my weed from me, I’d be lighting a joint right now.” Her shortened set makes a strong case for later placement in the day.

4:27 p.m. — Shout out to Afters ice cream for their double scoop of Cookie Butter and Cookie Monster in the afternoon sun. Not a plug, just a glowing recommendation.

5:12 p.m. — “For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Kali Uchis,” the 25-year-old singer tells the stacked lawn of the outdoor theatre, before continuing, “And those of you who know me but never knew how to pronounce my name, I’m Kali Uchis [Kah-lee Ooo-chees].” Over her 45-minute set, she plays a mix of songs from her 2015 debut EP “Por Vida” and her week-old debut album, “Isolation,” including “Nuestro Planeta,” “Dead To Me,” and the infectiously delightful pop ditty “In My Dreams.” She was joined by BIA for their collaboration “Miami,” as well as Tyler, the Creator for “After The Storm.”

5:27 p.m. — A bruh exits the porta-potty in front of me as he wipes his mouth with the back of his hand and says, “Careful, someone threw up in there.” Looking at you, bruh.

6:25 p.m. — Four songs into their Sonora tent set, lead singer Lydia Night notes, “We’re the Regrettes. I don’t know if I said that yet, but that’s who we are.” The LA foursome, whose combined age barely clocks in at 80, if that, tears through a blistering 45 minute set of poppy garage rock, beginning with the cheeky “I Don’t Like You,” followed by “Hey Now,” “Seashore,” “Come Through,” and a bangarang cover of “Ballroom Blitz.” Their set feels like they’re crashing a party in a high school gymnasium, if it took the form of an all-white, air-conditioned tent with painted pastel art covering the floor and walls.

7:16 p.m. — Leave it to Long Beach rapper Vince Staples to enter the main stage wearing a faux-bulletproof vest and launch into his latest song “Get the F*ck Off My Dick,” the result of a recent anti-trolling campaign touting early retirement and public silence if his haters raised $2 million. He follows it with “Opps,” his contribution to the “Black Panther” soundtrack, and a slew of Staples’ staples including “Señorita,” “Lift Me Up,” “BagBak,” “Blue Suede” and “Norf Norf.” He closes with “Yeah Right” off of last year’s “Big Fish Theory,” and brings out Kendrick Lamar to rap his guest spot in the flesh.

7:30 p.m. — Rock n’ roll may be down in recent Coachella iterations, especially this year’s, but the War on Drugs prove that it’s not out, picking up the torch and burning through eight epic songs in roughly an hour. “In Chains” and “Nothing To Find” fire at a good clip as most of the set does, while the six-piece well-oiled machine really explore the nuance of making a guitar cry during “Pain.”

7:57 p.m. — As the War on Drugs fires on all cylinders through the end of “Strangest Thing,” a drone army quietly rises from behind the beer garden to perform a light show that looks like the “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” aliens doing jellyfish impressions, with hundreds of hovering blue lights morphing through the color spectrum as they swirl around and down. It was coincidentally the strangest thing of the evening. The War on Drugs close with “Red Eyes” and “Under the Pressure” from 2014’s “Lost in the Dream.”

8:40 p.m. — Palestinian-Jordanian-Canadian rapper Belly draws a sizable crowd against Kygo’s housey main stage bounce and St. Vincent’s art-rock bleeding across the polo field. He performs “Trap Phone,” “Might Not” featuring the Weeknd (but sans the Weeknd), his “Freestyle With The LA Leakers,” and “P.O.P.,” which stands for the “power of pussy,” for those playing at home.

9:01 p.m. — The goddess Annie Clark, aka St. Vincent, appears to have switched up her live show from last fall’s Fear The Future tour, now incorporating a three-piece backing band clad in skin tone jumpers and obscured with face masks, lined up in front like chic Kraftwerk. She sandwiches choice early hits “Cruel,” “Cheerleader,” “Digital Witness,” and “Rattlesnake” between tracks from her latest and greatest album, “MASSEDUCTION,” beginning with a stretch of six including “Sugarboy,” “Los Ageless,” and “Pills.” The visuals are all hyper-stylized images of her face, be it singing, whipping hair around, or amassing dozens of clones to sing backup, and they are mesmerizing. St. Vincent also shreds the sickest guitar solos of the day, and perhaps the whole weekend.

10:04 p.m. — Critical and commercial darling SZA begins her main stage set with “Supermodel,” sitting in a denim jumper on a swing hanging from two trees as the packed field sings back all of the words. As she goes into “Go Gina,” she sheds the jumper to reveal a ruffled pink dress, and dances around. “Drew Barrymore” followed, as did a montage of Drew Barrymore footage from the 80s and 90s, after explaining the song came from going to a party for a guy, discovering he brought another girl and was ignoring her, and smoking an ounce of weed that night. SZA brings out Isaiah Rashad for their song “Pretty Little Birds,” but then cedes a wasted few minutes to also bring out Trippie Redd to perform “Dark Knight Gummo,” instead of singing, oh, “Prom” or “Anything.”

10:39 p.m. — Kendrick Lamar once again makes an appearance, this time joining SZA for his verse on “Doves In The Wind,” then they close with their “Black Panther” collaboration “All The Lights,” as most of them shined.