Coachella 2016: Zedd Brings Out Kesha, Bernie Sanders Introduces Run the Jewels & More Day 2 Highlights
After Coachella 2016 kicked off Friday night (April 15) with a predictably star-studded showing, the fest’s second day upped the ante even more. Again, A-list guest appearances got the masses talking. But beyond all the buzzworthy surprises, there was plenty for music fans in Indio, Cali. to get excited about. Below, join Billboard’s on-the-ground team for a trip through Saturday’s memorable moments.
2:00 p.m. Road tripping from Tijuana, Mexico, Mint Field couldn’t wait until Sunday to step foot on Coachella grounds! The trio composed of three 20-year olds, who perform tomorrow, soaked it all in a day before jumping onstage for their Coachella debut. “We still can’t believe we’re sharing with these bands and artists we idolize,” the band told Billboard. – Griselda Flores
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2:11 p.m. Wearing a gray beanie despite the warm weather, Vanic officially g0t things started at Sahara tent. The Canadian artist pleased the stage’s first significant crowd of the day with a slew of well received remixes, including Rihanna’s “Work,” Justin Bieber’s “Love Yourself” and Major Lazer’s “Be Together.”
“You guys are looking beautiful, thank you so much for coming,” he yelled before a jagged synth-driven drop. – Matt Medved
2:57 p.m. Mr Carmack was up next at Sahara, and the Soulection favorite could be seen chilling backstage wearing a khaki camo jacket beside a winged visual performer. The eye-catching artist later appeared onstage to entertain the early afternoon crowd alongside Carmack’s broken beats. – Matt Medved
3:48 p.m. The Despacio tent at Coachella was kind of a mystery when it was announced, but it turns out it’s a custom sound-system in 360 degrees, designed in part by LCD Soundsystem mastermind James Murphy, who was there DJing and high-fiving fans while playing 70s-sounding soul grooves on vinyl. It looked like he may have spent the whole day there: when we returned around 8:30, Murphy was still going strong. – Jeff Miller
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?4:15 p.m. It was a mixed crowd at the Gary Clark Jr. Coachella stage performance. The desert heat got everyone in chill-mode, most of them laying on the grass taking in the guitarist’s jazz and blues music that was the perfect for the atmosphere. – Griselda Flores
4:45 p.m. Zella Day brought the spirit of the ’70s to life on the Outdoor Theater stage, busting out her expansive cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Rhiannon,” to the delight of the many fans who dubbed it Zellacoachella on Twitter. Couple that with the debut of a new song and hits like “Hypnotic” and you had a stellar Zella debut. – Steve Baltin
4:52 p.m. It was clear from the sea of cell phones recording a singalong of the hit “Let It Go” that there’s a particularly bohemian subset of Coachella’s female audience that wishes James Bay’s last name was spelled B-A-E; for the entirety of his set, the tent was overflowing with 20-something girls who will undoubtedly end up on a fashion photoset sometime this weekend. – Jeff Miller
4:55 p.m. Run the Jewels were introduced on the main stage by none other than Bernie Sanders… via this video message:
5:01 p.m. Since April 16 was Record Store Day, it was only fitting to make a stop in Coachella’s pop-up record shop. While crate digging in your local store usually means flipping through dozens of beaten-to-hell LPs and justly forgotten misfires from big name artists, the Coachella record store is carefully curated. According to an employee at the shop, various scouts spend the year collecting deeper-cut classic albums and hard-to-find bootlegs to populate the store — and they’re always in good shape. – Joe Lynch
Kesha Joins Zedd at Coachella For Surprise Appearance
6:01 p.m. Matoma delivers the Sahara tent’s first marquee guests of the day by bringing out Ja Rule to perform his breakthrough “Old Thing Back” remix and Sean Paul for their new “Paradise” collab – Matt Medved
6:30 p.m. Wearing glittery silver makeup around both eyes, Chvrches frontwoman Lauren Mayberry backed up the ethereal rock star look with a strut around the stage on tracks like “The Mother We Share.” The large crowd bounced along to Mayberry’s rock and roll saunter. – Steve Baltin
6:58 p.m. As with any festival, there’s a strict policy at Coachella that you can’t bring in any liquids. And as with any festival, people still find a way to get around it. During AlunaGeorge’s show, someone was drinking out of a hairbrush flask. Nearby, another girl sipped from a sun tan lotion bottle filled with vodka. Hey, you gotta respect that hustle. – Joe Lynch
7:14 p.m. Just a few songs into the Arcs’ set, it became clear why Dan Auerbach is hitting festivals with his side project instead of his better-paying main gig. While the Black Keys have played the festival scene over and over, Auerbach sounded rejuvenated with the Arcs, smiling and reveling in the fresh, soulful material. – Joe Lynch
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7:32 p.m. Although you wouldn’t know it from her casual demeanor (she complimented a fan’s makeup in between songs) and her effortlessly cool dance moves (she high kicked and popped like a professional dancer), SZA admitted she was “so fucking nervous” during her set. “This was a bucket list life thing for me,” she said. “Thank you for being part of my bucket list.” – Joe Lynch
7:38 p.m. Over on the main stage, the pulverizing beat of “White Noise” introduced Disclosure to the crowd. But it wasn’t just the Lawrence brothers; the duo was joined by AlunaGeorge vocalist Aluna Francis, who sang her part on the 2013 single. – Chris Payne
7:47 p.m. Howard and Guy Lawrence continued to bring out fancy guests. This time it was Lorde, who emerged to sing their 2015 song “Magnets.” – Chris Payne
8:23 p.m. Disclosure’s main stage set was about to end, but before the final curtain fell, one more famous friend said hello. Sam Smith appeared (to a predictably rousing response) to close the set with “Latch.” – Chris Payne
8:33 p.m. A glowing drone whizzed over Halsey’s set, eerily hovering in front of her stage. Fittingly, it was while she played “Ghost” — it was if someone not quite there was watching from another place. (Incidentally, Portlandia totally called the whole drones-at-music fests trend.) – Joe Lynch
8:48 p.m. At the tail end of her commanding set, Halsey brought out a surprise guest to duet on her generational anthem “New Americana.” “When I was young there was one band that changed my fucking life!” she emphatically stated as Panic! at the Disco frontman Brendon Urie took the stage. After duetting on her hit, they traded vocals on Panic’s “I Write Sins Not Tragedies,” presumably fulfilling one of her teenage dreams. – Joe Lynch
9:04 p.m. As the Damned closed out their 50-minute set in the Gobi Tent, lead vocalist Dave Vanian declared “Punk’s not dead.” It’s definitely not, as they proved with the punk attitude of Vanian wearing sunglasses indoors at night, and the ferocity of “Smash It Up.” – Steve Baltin
9:35 p.m. The Sahara stage faithful erupt in excitement as Skrillex bounds onstage to join fellow OWSLA artist SNAILS for a rousing rendition of Yogi’s “Burial.”
“Make some noise for my brother Skrillex!” SNAILS booms on the mic. Pure joy could be seen etched in the French-Canadian’s face. – Matt Medved
9:50 p.m. After an already guest-riddled performance, Ice Cube (with the help of a tricycle that emerged on the second floor of his set) welcomed Snoop Dogg to the stage, which got an even more rapturous response than an earlier-in-the-set guest spot from N.W.A’s DJ Yella and MC Ren. Snoop went on to sing two songs with Cube — “Go To Church” and Snoop and Dr. Dre’s “The Next Episode.” – Jeff Miller
10:05 p.m. As Ice Cube brought his set to a close, the massive crowd he pulled in split in opposite directions. The under-30 set migrated toward Zedd, while the 30-plus crowd moved closer to the stage for Guns N’ Roses, with one dad gleefully remarking that at least for this one night, he didn’t have kids to look after. – Joe Lynch
10:24 p.m. After days of talk that Kesha would make a surprise appearance during Zedd’s Outdoor Theater set, the artist emerged during the final minutes of the performance. A massive crowd turned out to see the Free Kesha movement hit Coachella, and she emerged triumphant, singing her Zedd collaboration “True Colors.” – Chris Payne
10:31 p.m. The unthinkable happens. Guns N’ Roses take the stage on time. (Kidding aside, they killed it, as recapped here.) – Joe Lynch
11:26 p.m. A little while after Janelle Monáe came out to perform her Grimes collab “Venus Fly,” another guest made an appearance, albeit via the Mojave Stage’s big screen. An animated image of Bernie Sanders with the tagline “TOGETHER” got a swell of cheers from the fans on hand. – Chris Payne
11:31 p.m. After debuting his forthcoming album’s title track “Generation Why,” anonymous artist ZHU brought down the Sahara stage house with “Hold Up, Wait A Minute” in tandem with Bone Thugs N-Harmony. – Matt Medved
11:55 p.m. When GnR brought “Sweet Child O’ Mine” to a close, one woman demonstratively lit up a cigarette in post coital satisfaction. – Joe Lynch
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12:12 a.m. Not long before Guns N’ Roses took the stage at Coachella on Saturday night, AC/DC confirmed Axl Rose would tour with them as their vocalist in 2016. But no one expected that GnR would bring out Angus Young during the band’s Coachella set to rip through not one but two AC/DC songs, “Whole Lotta Rosie” and “Riff Raff.” Incidentally, Young — who hit the stage in full schoolboy uniform — is more active on stage than rockers a third his age. – Joe Lynch
1:00 a.m. Fireworks erupted as Guns N’ Roses ended a lengthy set with the final notes of “Paradise City.” Day two of Coachella 2016 was in the books. -Chris Payne
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