AraabMUZIK performs Sunday, April 15 during Coachella 2012 in Indio. (Michael Buckner, Getty Images)
Fans applaud as OMD performs in the Gobi tent during the second weekend of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio,CA, Sunday, April 21, 2013. (Michael Snyder/The Desert Sun)
Festival producer Goldenvoice announced an attendance figure for its Coachella and Stagecoach music festivals this month that is larger than the population of Coachella Valley.
Arrests dropping during all three festival weekends for Coachella and Stagecoach.
Police made a total of 171 arrests over two Coachella weekends, down from 235 last year. They made 124 arrests during Stagecoach, down from 174 last year. During all three weekends, the majority on alcohol- and drug-related charges — and, most popularly, underage drinking.
More than 80,000 people paid for entrance into the sold-out Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival each weekend. An estimated 45,000 people paid to get into Stagecoach Festival at the Empire Polo Club in Indio.
Law enforcement from across Southern California are tapped to be on the grounds — including the four police departments in the valley (Cathedral City, Desert Hot Springs, Indio and Palm Springs) and the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.
Here’s the recap of arrest numbers, from Indio police:
The Rolling Stones play a surprise gig Saturday at Echoplex in Los Angeles. (Luis Soto, The Rolling Stones via AP)
Yep, you read that right. Echoplex. Continue Reading
Zac Brown Band performs Sunday night at Stagecoach. Marilyn Chung/The Desert Sun
The Atlanta Georgia-based Zac Brown Band closed out the 2013 edition of Stagecoach Sunday night with their 2008 chart-topping hit, “Chicken Fried,” a fun loving, down-homesy tune about the simple pleasures of Southern living.
The group’s captivating hour and forty minute set served up some tantalizing string work by fiddling phenom Jimmy De Martini.
De Martini just killed it, especially on “Devil Went Down to Georgia,” a song the band dedicated to Charley Daniels, who performed Sunday afternoon at Stagecoach.
The Charlie Daniels Band performs during Stagecoach California's Country Music Festival in Indio,CA, Sunday, April 28, 2013. (Michael Snyder/The Desert Sun)
The Charlie Daniels Band opened to a very appreciative and energetic crowd Sunday night in the Palomino tent.
It was filled to the brim with fans dancing in the crowd and on hay bales. A beach ball was even being thrown around.
For 76-years-old, Charlie Daniels can still fiddle like crazy.
Even before John C. Reilly got on stage, the crowd was yelling various quotes, titles and characters from some of his more memorable movies.
“Shake n Bake!” (From Talladega Night: The Legend of Ricky Bobby)
“Boat’s n Ho’s!” (The title of a song he sang with Will Farrell in Stepbrothers)
“Dewey Cox!” (His title character from Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story)
Maria Becerra of Coachella directs a festival-goer during Toby Keith's performance at Stagecoach. Denise Goolsby/The Desert Sun
Maria Becerra is working hard for her money during a month-long stint as a security officer at Stagecoach and Coachella Music and Arts Festival.
Becerra, 31, of Coachella – who had been unemployed – jumped at the chance to to work at the festivals, even though it was temporary employment.
She started April 7. Her final day is scheduled for May 10.
“The past two weeks I’ve worked 180 hours,” she said. “I work 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. – 16 hours a day. Some people work 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.”
A festival-goer stocks up on water, with a side of ice.
With the temperatures soaring to record highs on Saturday and Sunday at Stagecoach, drink vendors – of the non-alcoholic persuasion – were seeing huge increases in sales.
By about 5:30 p.m. Sunday, Best Beverage Catering had sold, “A whole pallet of water,” said employee Nancy Escamilla.
There’s 1,872 bottles in a pallet. That’s double the amount they sold each day on Friday and Saturday, she said.
John C. Reilly, who plays serious and comic roles in the movies, played it straight at Stagecoach.
Despite requests for material from his film parody, “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story,” and overwhelming chants for “Boats ‘N Hoes,” a routine he did with Will Ferrell, Reilly sang an hour of folk songs, ending with a pretty blues harmony tune, “Blues, Stay Away From Me.”
Dan Bern, who wrote many of the songs from “Walk Hard” and accompanied Reilly on his set in the Mustang Tent, said he didn’t know for sure if Reilly had considered doing some of their parody tunes.
“You can’t bring your whole back of tricks,” he said after their show, “but I’m always happy to talk to a fan of Mr. Cox.”
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