As we gear up for Coachella's second weekend, we wanted to take a look back at some of the performances that made weekend one so memorable. Thanks to the festival's decision to stream archived sets and performances via their YouTube channel, we were able to relive some of the weekend's highlight moments, and put together this list of our ten favorites. Call it reminiscing, call it prepping for what to expect this weekend, or just call it entertainment -- it's all yours for the viewing. Let us know which performances were your favorite, and to stay in-the-know on Coachella and other future festivals, check out PV's newly launched Festival Hub.
The Hives:
Ah, nothing like brit-rock and talk of explosive to amp up your Coachella festivities. Seriously, though, frontman Howlin' Pelle Almqvist knows how to work an audience. And let's not forget, dude spit out an impressive french accent in that intro.
tUnE-yArDs:
Our friends over at Idolator deemed this band "The Most Coachella-iest Band at Coachella", and we're going to have to agree. They effortlessly blend creativity, artistry, oddity, style, and flair in their instrumentation and performance, and we're completely captivated by it.
Laura Marling:
For somebody so delicate, Laura Marling knows how to churn out folk rock with a deep sound and a dark vibe. It's a quality that resonates especially well when seen live. We're also betting this jam provoked some serious swaying/head-nodding/hippie-dancing from the crowd.
Childish Gambino:
We won't soon be over how awesome this jazz-forward back-up band sounds accompanying CB, aka Donald Glover's, rap stylings. It appears as though the crowd shared our sentiments as well.
Feist:
There are a lot of people on that stage, and some really cool lighting affects going on, but Feist still dominates all. It could be that she went all out, considering her stint at Coachella is also the kick-start of her own tour, but we're just going to chalk it up to her keen ability to entrance an audience.
Band of Skulls:
These guys make performing to thousands look like an easy task. It's impressive to see a band that can rock out this hard, while maintaining a relatively relaxed demeanor, and for that we had to include it.
Oberhofer:
How much energy can one band have? Apparently a lot, if you're Oberhofer. They're barely a minute into their set before the hand-clapping begins and frontman Brad Oberhofer starts climbing up the equipment like it's a jungle gym. Add to that his running through the crowd, a spin-sesh that makes us a little dizzy, and a hella lot more jumping, and this performance has hit gold before they even get into the meat of it.
Manchester Orchestra:
Every good song should be intro'd by a warm up-turned-jam session, so MO earn major brownie points for that. Not like they needed them, though. They have that sort of raw sound quality that only enhances when it's played live, and we think this performance highlights that.
Bon Iver:
Like we'd compose a list that didn't include Justin Vernon and/or Bon Iver in some format? All biases aside, this performance of "Beth/Rest" is ethereal and captivating. Watching this band play is always such a treat -- even if you're experiencing it through a screen.
Tupac's Hologram:
How do you manage to up-stage the combined forces of Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Wiz Khalifa, and Warren G? Throw a life-like hologram of the late Tupac into the mix. Possibly the most epic thing to happen to Coachella? With a noted production cost of over $100K, and a possibility the hologram will join Dre and Snoop on tour, we don't see how it couldn't be.