Coachella 2014: The Year of Special Guests

Ellie Goulding 6:40 pm – Speaking of ferocious, Ellie Goulding! Dang, girl! #FIERCE in a banded black top and little booty shorts (with a gold zipper running belly to….) Ellie laid it out on the stage as if it was the last show she would ever perform. Spinning up the hits including “Starry Eyed” and the Calvin Harris track “I Need Your Love” the crowd was dancing their hearts out and throwing the love back up on stage to Ms. Goulding.

Woodkid 8:15 pm – Moody French producer/director/composer put together a solid set list from his debut album Golden Age. With self-produced and directed video accompaniment on stage, watching Woodkid makes me think if there was ever a breakup between Danny Elfman and Tim Burton (God forbid!) he would be the only person worth filling those enormous shoes.

Martin Garrix 8:45 pm – If his Coachella debut is an indicator of what’s to come for the 17-year-old Dutch DJ, watch out world! Martin Garrix is about to BLOW UP. The tent, and surrounding area was so intensely packed one had to be living it up on a higher level to completely understand the magnitude of what was really going down. #woahdude

The Knife 10:30 pm – Holy toledo! Highlight of the evening, Swedish bro/sis duo The Knife came out of hiding after a seven year absence for a recent tour of Shaking the Habitual, and they did NOT disappoint (if you don’t trust me read this Hollywood Reporter review). With what looked like eight space aliens in shiny hazmat suits, the whole crew performed tracks throughout their catalogue and started a dance party in the desert that wasn’t part of the candy-filled bonanza in the Sahara tent.

Outkast 11:30 pm – 20 years after the birth of Outkast, Andrew 3000 and Big Boi took the Coachella headlining set like the veterans that they are. Busting out the gate with hits “B.O.B.” and “Rosa Parks” the entire field was bouncing like it was the only place to be. Guest highlights included Future and the fierce and incomparable Janelle Monaé. Let’s just say the entire set was “So Fresh and so Clean Clean”.

Warpaint 6:15 pm – The women of Warpaint brought the psych to the desert. My important revelation during this set:Warpaint would have been the perfect house party band in the 90s cult classic The Craft. 

Future Islands 7:05 pm – One thing you hardly see, a highly anticipated act coming on stage 10 minutes early to do their own soundcheck. Leaving all pretense at the edge of the stage, Future Islands commanded the eager crowd who were hanging on every word by frontman Samuel T. Herring. Future Islands performance was completely unmatched by any of their contemporaries and must, must see. Let’s just say there is so much dancing (Samuel’s moves are out of this world) and so many #feelz.

Lorde 7:55 pm – Biggest cluster f**k of the night, Lorde took the stage to an overwhelming crowd. Half way through her set, Lorde took a moment to reflect on the last year of whirlwind travels and unexpected success. Only problem was, as one festival goer put it “less talk, more rock!” Perhaps the people had a little bit of a point…

Solange 8:25 pm – Guess what guys?! Did you know that Solange has an insanely famous sister named Beyoncé?! Yes, that’s right! And who showed up as Solange’s special guest? Yep, you guessed it. Queen Bey! #drool

Pixies 8:50 pm – Look who we have here! Late additions to Coachella, the legendary Pixies took over the Mojave tent with thousands of people who were ready for a sing-a-long session. Busting out the pseudo-hits including “Bone Machine” and “Where is my mind?” kept this gal very, very happy.

Pharrell Williams 10:35 pm – I mean, come on. This set was so jam packed with special guests someone would have thought this was an episode of VH1’s Behind The Music. Gwen Stefani, Busta Rhymes, Nelly, Snoop Dogg, P. Diddy, Tyler The Creator all came out to join the Grammy Award-winner on stage for walk down memory lane. This made a whole lot of people very “Happy”.