Kevin Bronson on April 15th, 2014

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Who: Beck on the main stage
In 3 or fewer words: “Loser?” Sure, baby.
Memorable because: Beck was the then-much-smaller Coachella festival’s first-ever headliner (in 1999!) and his proper return to the fest’s largest stage after a few pop-up performances over the years found him hitting the stage on the heels of his critically acclaimed, mellowed-out collection “Morning Phase.” But we thankfully didn’t get acoustic sad Beck – just one song from the new album found its way into the setlist – we got amped-up electric Beck, who blasted through “Devil’s Haircut” and “Debra” (DEBRA!) with his classic band, including Justin Meldal-Johnson, Smokey Hormel and Robert Manning Jr. It’s been a long time since Beck’s gotten his dance moves on onstage, but there he was, sliding back and forth (next to his son!) as he closed the set with “Where It’s At,” running up against time, yet somehow still managing to stay completely timeless.
What I’d Tell My Friend Who Was At Disclosure: Beck left “Morning Phase” for home-listening and brought the thunder instead. In other words, you’re the loser, baby.
– Jeff Miller (Concert photography by Scott Dudelson)