Coachella 2010: Traffic and technical difficulties couldn’t stop Imogen Heap and Passion Pit incited wheelchair crowd surfing

Day One: April 16, 2010, in Indio, California

By Camille Ikalina Robles
Published: April 17th, 2010 | 7:00pm

Only in the time between sunset and early morning can Indio, CA be considered heaven on earth. It is then that the you can see the picturesque and serene desert valley bordered by gorgeous snowcapped mountains on two sides, and the next cooling breeze is only a few seconds away. But during the long hours in between, it’s fucking hotter than hell.

Luckily this year’s Coachella Festival takes place two weeks earlier than usual, so it’s not quite hell. But the good thing about the first day of a festival is that nobody cares. Littered with shirtless boys and string bikini–clad girls, the buzzing energy and excitement of just being on the grounds is enough for people to forget the heat—and forget to reapply sunscreen, too.

If any one was suffering, though, all was forgotten when She & Him took the stage. Young fan girls rushed the stage and hip boys watched doe eyed, obviously crushing on singer and indie movie starlette Zooey Deschanel. Her exuberant energy, jumping up and down in her blue vintage dress and shaking her tambourine, was enough to make any sunburned, heat exhausted fan smile. Similarly on stage, It was all smiles, swagger, and sashay as M. Ward backed up the singer with his raucous guitar style on “Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?”, “I Was Made For You,” and a rocking cover of Chuck Berry’s “Roll Over Beethoven.”

New to the festival circuit, Hockey channeled a mix of classic rock infused with indie style. Singer Benjamin Grubin’s voice channeled the likes of Tom Petty on the catchy “Song Away” and those of Cold War Kids’ Nathan Willett on track “Too Fake.” The island dance feel of “Work,” “Learn to Lose,” and new song “Rebels Marry Young” got the crowd moving, and drew the curiosity of main stage artist Jay-Z and wife Beyoncé to catch their set.

Passion Pit followed with what I consider to be the highlight of the day. It was just what the crowd needed to get the evening festivities started as the sun started to make its way down and sweet relief could be seen on everyone’s faces. When Passion Pit took the stage, it was the evening’s first light show spectacular and singer Michael Angelakos ran back and forth across the stage in a magical frenzy of gold, pink, and blue lights. He said, “I don’t think we’ve ever played in front of this many people before,” and invited newcomers to experience the show. Concertgoers answered the call for audience participation by raising their hands, dancing, singing along, and even crowd surfing a fan in his wheelchair across the front of the stage.

While the day’s rockers brought the beats, Brazilian artist Céu brought the heat. Dressed in a gorgeous white dress with sequins and swaying in the wind to the afro beats of her backup band, Céu’s Latin-infused music and soulful voice were calming forces to the island sounds of Vampire Weekend and the hip-hop sounds of Jay-Z on stages nearby. Her dramatic moves proved Céu was passionate about her music and, judging the by the looks of the people that came to catch her set, they were passionate about it too.

Imogen Heap’s set was marred by numerous technical difficulties, and a very frazzled Heap. Running late to her set because of traffic (a problem many encountered), she apologized for being flustered and expressed her love for the festival. Heap’s electronic equipment was placed elegantly around her while a clear, white piano housed her mixer and keyboard, and a nearby white, wooden tree was littered with percussion instruments and flashing, multi-colored lights.

One of the microphones at Heap’s wrists was not working, which made it difficult for her to loop and record the many little instruments that make up her delicate and richly layered compositions. But with a little audience participation (who recreated the three-part harmonies and bass line for “Just For Now”) and a bit of fast thinking improvisation from Heap, the set still managed to be quite magical. Though you could tell the Brit singer was quite disappointed with the performance (she asked people to come see her upcoming tour where she promised an amazing experience), as the crowd dispersed I could hear people expressing their awe of Heap’s music and her artistry—and her calm amid the chaos of a loud festival.

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For more photos from Coachella Day One, visit Venus Zine's Flickr page

Coachella 2010, Day Two: Forget $6 pizza, we had a picnic with Beach House and Beth Ditto gave a performance that made all the other acts bear a Heavy Cross

Coachella 2010, Day Three: Florence raged against the machine and Thom Yorke had everyone's attention, thanks to a volcano