Coachella ‘16 Highlights
The dust has finally settled in the Coachella Valley. The milky buns were a hit and chokers are officially the new flower crowns – oh, and some of the nearly 100k on hand even heard some music, our inside man Zach Hinden reports. As a music lover who’s been going to The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival almost as long as Paris Hilton, he’s seen the evolving festival become more commercialized and cater ever-more to a new generation of wayward concertgoers whose appetite for #EDM is bigger than for #GnFnR and their heralded reunion.
“Some of what I presumed to be smaller electronic acts had these enormous crowds, while LCD Soundsystem’s reunion had a smaller draw than I would have expected,” Zach said.
Nonetheless, presented with a week one lineup of 100+ artists from around the world, he also said there was plenty of music to satisfy generations across the board – from the silent to the post-millennial.
“I must admit, when the lineup was originally announced, I was underwhelmed. But what I’ve learned over the years is, you always discover hidden gems, and catching them is a fun aspect of Coachella. Because no matter how much you try to plan to see everyone you want, it just won’t happen. You just have the ride the wave and go where it takes you.”
Here are Zach’s 10 fav’s from Week One at Coachella. You can hear them all on his specially curated Spotify playlist.
“An absolutely KILLER SET with great visuals and an epic dance party as the sun was setting behind the main stage. It seemed like every single person at Coachella was in the crowd for this one.”
“This may have been the surprise of the weekend for me. Electro-swing music… just as weird and cool as it sounds.
“He put on an incredible, one-man show with FOUR drum kits, midi controllers, lots of wireless remotes and who knows what else.”
“Honestly, I’m not the biggest N.W.A fan, but this performance was epic: huge crowd, high energy and surprise guests.”
“Super weird and Bjork-esque, but a great performance and incredible crowd energy.”
“An act I’ve seen several times, but they were fantastic Sunday night. They had the entire tent dancing and singing along.
“This chick has PIPES, my God… I had no idea she was such an amazing singer.”
“Electro-pop and super catchy lyrics accented by great stage presence. He kind of looked like a young Elton John in his outfit.”
“This Aussie trio has a Disclosure-like sound, but at a little slower tempo. They put on a fun set at magic hour on Saturday night.”
HONORABLE MENTION
“A truly fantastic musician. He’d be on the official list had I not missed almost the entire set because I was watching the Rangers game before heading to the festival. That doesn’t change how amazing this guy is. I’ve seen him several times and he never disappoints.”