Coachella 2015: A Sunday of transformation, revelation and, finally, stupefaction

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[We now begin posting our final batch of Coachella mini-reviews from Weekend 1 — hopefully, if you’re going to the desert his weekend, these will give you an idea of what to expect:]

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You suspected the third day of Coachella on Sunday might be special the moment you arrived on the grounds of the Empire Polo Club — the large caterpillar (“Papilio Merraculous,” by the art collective Poetic Kinetics) that roamed the grounds the first two days had changed into a large butterfly, affording attendees a Lepidopteran backdrop for their selfies.

(Thought: This won’t be much of a surprise if it happens again Weekend 2, right?)

Sunday’s strong early sets brought out plenty of people who didn’t sleep in, and an even stronger evening lineup made brisk walks between stages the norm. Among the best were the nighttime 1-2-3-4 punch of Jenny Lewis, Marina and the Diamonds, St. Vincent and Florence + the Machine … and, hey, wasn’t Coachella taking some flak on social media not long ago about not having enough female artists repped?

It was also a strong day for L.A. artists, starting with back-to-back-to-back sets by Night Terrors of 1927, Chicano Batman and Saint Motel, and then Lewis and Fitz & the Tantrums later. And it ended with Drake, erratic and cringeworthy even before Madonna’s WTF moment, driving hordes of his huge crowd away every time he yelled “make some noise, Coachella!”

Following are our mini-reviews from Sunday sets by Kevin Bronson, Seraphina Lotkhamnga and Ben McShane.

More Coachella mini-reviews

Photos by Bronson