Coachella 2013: Weekend 2, Day 2
We all remember our first time.
Whether it was the first time having sex, your first year in college, experiencing your first kiss, having your first child, or remembering your beloved first love, first time experiences typically shape our lives for the better, or for some individuals, the worse.
If you’re a music lover like I, you probably remember the very first concert you attended or the first time you saw your favorite artist in concert.
Recounting the joy and anticipation of seeing your favorite rapper, singer, artist, or rocker brings blissful memories of sheer pleasure.
For many, the world famous Coachella Music Festival seems like a mythical music desire that millions of music lovers will never experience, but luckily, I made my journey to the mecca of music festivals- the Coachella Valley.
Day one was hot, but day two was on another level of hellish torture.
The heat was something close to an inferno, but because it was everyone’s favorite herbal holiday, 4/20, the sun wasn’t the only thing that was going to be blazing at Coachella on day two.
As 100 degree heat radiants down on the 100,000 plus Coachella goers, there was a new revived energy that day one lacked.
Day one was eventful, but day two was more colorful and vibrant.
As weed smoke filtered through the air, my first stop was the Outdoor Theatre to watch Detroit rapper Danny Brown perform.
Dressed in all black in the sweltering heat, Danny was energetically explicit with his drug and women-inspired rhymes.
The Mojave Tent was up next to see the oh-so different truth-speaking rapper 2 Chainz.
The tent filled up quickly as people began filing in before Savages’ 2:55-3:35 p.m. performance was even over.
It was interesting to see a few thousand people waiting patiently to see 2 Chainz, a rapper they “kind of” know.
I made an observation that Coachella goers are “kind of” familiar with many of the artists at the festival, not necessarily fans of their music or the artist per se.
I didn’t realize this was the festival norm until I was scouting out potential contestants for a 2 Chainz trivia game I wanted to film.
As I forged my way through the crowd, I spotted an inviting concert goer looking like he was ready to rage at any given moment.
“Are you a huge 2 Chainz fan?” I asked.
“Hell yeah!” he responded.
“Okay, great! Do you want to play a game?” I countered.
“Yeah, sure. What do I have to do?” he questioned.
“I’m going to recite a rap lyric and you have to tell me if it’s a 2 Chainz lyric or a lyric from another rapper,” I explained.
“Oh, I don’t know 2 Chainz THAT well,” he said.
Interesting, I thought.
Despite his fans not being familiar with his musical collection, 2 Chainz still had an incredible show, and surprisingly, it was very different from the other three times I’ve seen 2 Chainz in concert.
2 Chainz’s performance was accompanied by a live band, which gave the performance a more sophisticated, “rappers have live bands too” feeling.
In the middle of his set, 2 Chainz cut the music to declare that he’s single-handedly saving not only hip-hop, but rock as well.
The crowd cheered on the declaration, and 2 Chainz’ new rock friends Fall Out Boy came out on stage. The crowd went wild .
Soon after 2 Chainz’ set was over we headed over to catch famed EDM DJ/Producer Benny Benassi and his extravagant light show in the Sahara tent.
What can I say, Benny Benassi’s set was mesmerizing and euphoric.
As soon as the bass dropped thousands of EDM lovers began dancing in a frenzy, but when the oxygen levels in the Sahara tent began to diminish, I quickly exited.
Up next was Pusha T’s performance in the much smaller Gobi tent typically reserved for rappers and artists who haven’t crossed over.
Pusha was unforgiveably late, well, at least according to Coachella standards.
Out of the dozens of shows we’ve watched, every artist appeared on stage to the second of their scheduled set time, literally.
It’s actually quite amazing that Coachella’s organizers have wrangled in “the unmanageable artist” with strict performance times, but G.O.O.D Music rapper Pusha T didn’t get the memo.
After 10 minutes of waiting, the crowd grew restless.
Fans repeatedly chanted “Pusha T, Pusha T,” clapped uncontrollably, and even booed the rapper before he arrived on stage 17 minutes after his scheduled set time.
The “Trust You” rapper nonchalantly appeared on stage and sarcastically asked the crowd to “forgive my delay,” and then kicked off his set with an old school fan favorite “Grindin’.”
From “Mercy” to “Blocka,” and countless tracks off his Fear Of God project, Pusha attempted to squeeze in as many tracks as possible.
It was about 25 minutes into his set, when Pusha yelled, “They tryna cut my music off! One more song, I got one more.”
Pusha quickly cut his “Millions” performance short and cued the DJ to drop “Mercy.”
Unfortunately for Pusha, the Coachella organizers quickly cut the sound.
Pissed, Pusha stormed off stage shaking his head.
We finished up with Pusha’s set and ran over to Coachella’s mainstage to catch the last few minutes of The xx’s performance.
It was only a couple of years ago that they were playing in the smaller tents, and now, they finally arrived, front and center.
As The xx’s performance wrapped up, no one moved.
Everyone was waiting on the arrival of French rock band Phoenix to take the stage.
Thomas Mars performed hit after hit including fan favorites like “1901” and “Lisztomania.”
Thomas even took the time out thank his fans, and surprisingly, he admitted that Coachella was the biggest audience they’ve ever performed for.
The fans cheered and the show commenced, but unfortunately, there was no surprise collaborative performance with R.Kelly this time around.
Phoenix and the R&B king made headlines last weekend for their brilliant mashups, but this time around, fans received the undivided attention of Phoenix, and only, Phoenix.
Day one was new and exciting, day two proved to possess a refreshing energy, but with the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Wu-Tang Clan set to perform, day three will seemingly be reserved for the best.
Brittany Lewis is the Music Editor at GlobalGrind and a Howard University Alumna. Brittany considers herself seasoned on all the pop culture ish that matters. Follow her on Twitter @Buttercup_B.
