Recapping the First Weekend of Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival!

Coachella 2014:

Weekend 1 Recap

The first weekend of Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival headlined some of the greatest performers from around the world. Originating in 1999, approximately 10,000 people journeyed to Southern California for the momentous Music and Arts Festival. Although absent of many Electronic Dance Music producers, Coachella featured some of the best musicians prior to the turn of the century: The Chemical Brothers, Modest Mouse, Rage Against the Machine, Ben Harper, Moby, BT, Mixmaster Mike, and many others who defined the festival we love today. Fifteen years, and fourteen festivals later, Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is set to raise the bar for multi-faceted festivals on a global scale.

 Perhaps, one of the most anticipated performances of this year was the reunion of OutKast. After more than 21 musical-production years, spending the last seven pursuing solo careers, OutKast is launching a full-out return in 2014. Closing the Coachella Stage on Friday (Weekends 1 & 2), OutKast gave us a little bit of everything we were looking for. They performed some of their originals, “Hey Ya,” “Miss Jackson,” and “Bowtie,” ensuring to highlight some of what we are to expect this year. They also hosted guest performances from Atlanta artists—Janelle Monae and Future.

Respecting our most endeared Electronic Dance Music expectations, Friday’s first weekend of Coachella included some of the best producers in the business. For those lucky ones in attendance, there was the availability to witness the geniuses of: Mako, DJ Falcon, Deorro, Gareth Emery, Carnage, the Glitch Mob, Martin Garrix, and Zedd—on the Sahara Stage; with Chromeo and Ellie Goulding—on the Coachella Stage. Not the most prolific names in EDM, Chromeo’s David Macklovitch and Patrick Gemayel, put on one of the most talked about sets of the festival—thus far. They made sure to highlight one of their new releases, “Jealous (I Ain’t With It),” and did not disappoint those in attendance. As to Chromeo’s preceding headliner—Ellie Goulding—there need no mention of how her set was beyond-tremendous. Two of the youngest and most successful crossover producers in EDM—Martin Garrix and Zedd—performed to their crowds for Friday of Weekend 1. Garrix played “Animals,” and Zedd, “Stay the Night,” all without sarcastic/ironic tweets or public dissatisfaction. Notably, Garrix played a bootlegged version of the Nirvana track, “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”

Saturday’s Weekend 1 headliners continued the perfection of this year’s Coachella Festival. Highlighting artists such as: Kid Cudi, MGMT, Foster the People, Capital Cities, Lorde, Pharrell Williams, and Nas (assisted with guest-performances from Jay-Z and Diddy)—the Coachella Stage and Outdoor Theatre attracted thousands of genre-diffused music-lovers. The up-and-coming EDM duo—Galantis—showcased their skills Saturday night on the Gobi Stage. Their newly-released, self-titled, EP album features tracks played by nearly-every DJ around the world, in the short months since their distribution. Linus Elkow, alongside Christian Karlsson, have formed a unique sound that is paving the road to their success. Elkow, in addition to his success with Galantis, has previously collaborated with Icona Pop, co-writing their banger, “I Love It;” and Karlsson—collaborating with Britney Spears, producing her chart-topper—“Toxic.”

Featured on the unofficially-designated EDM Sahara Stage for Saturday of Weekend 1, and coming off of an unbelievable set from Ultra Miami, MAKJ, showed us why the World’s Number One DJ—Hardwell— took him under his wing. Following his mid-afternoon set, EDM beasts Headhunterz, TJR, GTA, Dillon Francis, Empire of the Sun, brought the fire; with the closing set by the one-and-only—Skrillex.

Concluding Sunday’s Weekend 1 of Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, Grammy-winning producer—Calvin Harris—performed on the Coachella Stage, warming-up closers: Beck and Arcade Fire. Other notable mentions of Sunday’s—Outdoor Theatre, Gobi, Mojave, and Yuma Stages include: 1975, Lana Del Rey, Disclosure, Rudimental, Flosstradamus, Art Department, Maceo Plex, and Laurent Garnier. There has been slight controversy over whose set was superior—Calvin Harris or Arcade Fire. While I represent everything EDM, it is necessary to show appreciation for Arcade Fire, who earned the honor of closing Weekend 1 on the Coachella Stage. Fused in 2001, Grammy-winning—Arcade Fire—has produced four albums, Reflektor, being their most recent (2013).

 As for the controversial ‘Weekend 1 Closing Performer,’ the controversy stemmed from the mass of Ravers for Calvin Harris’ set, outnumbering those of Arcade Fire’s. Additionally, EDM reigned supreme in attendance throughout the day; featuring huge names on the Sahara Stage. Showtek exhibited how “We Like to Party,” followed by Krewella’s “Legacy,” while Alesso demonstrated Coachella’s Indio, CA. as the “City of Dreams.” Preparing the crowd for Duck Sauce’s Weekend 1 Closing Set, Big Gigantic and Adventure Club brought all of Coachella’s Ravers together for an epic day of raging.

This year’s Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival has been absurdly impressive. Its two-weekend lineup of the biggest names in the music industry, from across all genres, has drawn much attention to EDM, specifically, through their vast inclusion of preeminent producers. Additionally, similar to UMF TV, Coachella offers live-streaming of their festival, alternating between stages for a multifarious experience. Check back next week for Coachella’s Second Weekend Recap!