Coachella: The Cure, MBV, the Kills, the Horrors

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As night (and, mercifully, temperatures) fell on on the final day of Coachella, it was time for a festival-ending sampler platter. Since I’d seen My Bloody Valentine on Thursday at the El Rey Theatre, I ducked into the Mojave Tent, where U.K. four-piece the Horrors were doing their own take on gloomy, overarching shoegazer rock.

coachella09-horrorsThe Horrors’ searing “Do You Remember,” off their new album “Primary Colours,” is fantastic, sort of MBV as done by the Silversun Pickups, but the rest of their distortion-filled punk came off as a little heavy-handed. Plus, it didn’t look like they were having one iota of fun. So it was back on to the massive polo fields, amid the heat-weary masses and their MBV-issued earplugs, just in time for the shoegazers’ “Only Shallow.”

It was impossible not to marvel at the attendees’ reactions. Many probably were stationed on the expanse for the Cure’s set, and Kevin Shields and mates were likely little more than a curiosity to most. But the light from the stage, the festival spotlights and the art installations made for a cosmic experience, even from a distance. The blaring white noise that ends “You Made Me Realise” went on for some 20 minutes – the set ran a little long, and the sound bled over to the Outdoor Theatre, where Public Enemy was thrilling a big crowd by performing their “Nation of Millions” album front to back.

coachella09-thekillsThen I darted quickly back to the eastern nether regions, where the Kills were charming the bejesus out of a half-full Mojave Tent. Four songs later, it was back to the main stage, where the Cure were easing slowly into their hit-filled set, adulation showering them like dust from the evening desert breeze. “Pictures of You” seemed to float through the palms; “Just Like Heaven” was just like that.

“Can you imagine the Killers doing this in 20 years?” I asked a friend who was taking it in with me.

“I can’t imagine them doing it last night,” he deadpanned.

The Cure didn’t want to stop, and the crowd didn’t want them to stop. But, with the set running past curfew (and with the risk of incurring fines for the infraction), Coachella officials unplugged the band. Robert Smith and crew then did “Boys Don’t Cry” and “Jumping Someone Else’s Train” through the P.A. system. As fans streamed out, many sang Cure songs – a nice echo of Coachella, even if, musically, they weren’t taking home anything they didn’t already have.