After back-to-back Coachella weekends, there's barely any grass left on the grounds of the Empire Polo Club. But that hasn't stopped tens of thousands of country fans from venturing here to see Stagecoach, which began Friday afternoon and continues Sunday night with headliners Eric Church, Miranda Lambert and Morgan Wallen. The Times' Mikael Wood and Vanessa Franko are at the festival, notebooks in hand and tissues in place. Here's a summary of the highlights and lowlights from Day 1.
Eric Church performs on the Mane Stage on the first day of the Stagecoach Country Music Festival at the Empire Polo Club in Indio.
(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
Eric Church lives up to his name
Church used his fifth headlining appearance at Stagecoach as a chance to try something different: instead of leading his robust touring band through a string of hits that have made him something of an artist's big brother figure like Wallen and Luke Combs, Church converted the so-called Mane Stage into an open-air chapel (with stained glass windows) for a stripped-down acoustic performance in which he was backed by a 16-member gospel choir.
The set mixed originals like “Mistress Named Music” and “Like Jesus Does” with distant covers: “Amazing Grace,” “I'll Fly Away,” “Take Me to the River” and “Gin and Juice.” His goal seemed to be to showcase the music that shaped him as a child in a small town in North Carolina and to draw attention, in this year of Beyoncé's “Cowboy Carter,” to the black roots of country music. (The performance also shared some DNA with Church's solo acoustic residency at Chief's, his new Nashville bar, where Wallen was arrested this month for throwing a chair from the ceiling.)
Energy-wise, it was a risky choice at the end of a day many spent drinking in the sun: About half an hour after Church opened with Leonard Cohen's “Hallelujah,” it's probably not a song anyone should keep playing, if we want. I'm being honest: a guy near me yelled, “This is Friday night, not Sunday morning!” However, as they advanced, Church and his companions gained momentum. — mikael wood
Dwight Yoakam and the Fabulous Flying Fringe
If you're going to wear a Canadian tuxedo, make it memorable.
While top-to-bottom denim is a perennial look for Yoakam, on Friday the troubadour paired it with his standard cowboy hat and boots, but the highlight was the jacket covered in white fringe on the front and back.
Yoakam, whose The name was misspelled on the official Stagecoach timetable sign. off the Palomino stage (as Nickelback's was), it began about 10 minutes after its scheduled start at 7:20 p.m.
Back on the sidelines, it was almost hypnotic to watch him bounce and sway as Yoakam moved and shuffled around the stage as he and his band (also smartly dressed in sparkles, no fringe) played songs like “Little Sister,” “Streets of Bakersfield ”. ” and a cover of Queen’s “Crazy Little Thing Called Love.”
Since Yoakam didn't allow the press to photograph his set, the best you can get from us is a stick–draw figures I did…unfortunately art is not my strong suit and I couldn't really do the sideline justice.
Aside from a couple of feedback squeaks on the microphone, Yoakam and his band played a very tight set. The crowd began filtering out to walk to the Mane Stage to see Jelly Roll, which was a shame because Yoakam continued to improve with “Honky Tonk Man” and “Guitars, Cadillacs” in the second half of the set. — vanessa franco
Jelly Roll, right, performs with special guest Ernest on the Mane Stage on the first day of the Stagecoach Country Music Festival at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California.
(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
Best multiTasker: Jelly Roll
No one made more of his time at Stagecoach than Jelly Roll, who, before his Mane Stage performance, showed up for a cooking demonstration with Guy Fieri and then headed to the Palomino to join Nickelback on “Rockstar.”
His headline performance was a condensed version of the road show he's been touring for the past few years, featuring bruised but muscular country hits like “Son of a Sinner” and “Save Me” alongside a medley of hip-hop classics. (including Eminem's “Lose Yourself” and Biz Markie's “Just a Friend”) that inspired him to become a rapper before turning to singing.
He brought out Maddie & Tae to do a new song, “Liar,” which he said he would include on his next album if the public liked it (and he wouldn't if they didn't); she also brought out T-Pain, who did “All I Do Is Win” and helped Jelly Roll pay tribute to the late Toby Keith with a cover of Keith's “Should've Been a Cowboy.”
After “Need a Favor,” Jelly Roll led his wife and daughter on stage (he took his daughter out of school for the day and flew her to California, he happily noted) and thanked the audience for changing the trajectory of their lives. He then went on a spiel about proving the naysayers wrong and culminated in listing how many People's Choice Awards he had won. Iconic, obviously. — megawatt
The worst surprise guest: the wind.
Jelly Roll brought out T-Pain. Mother Nature brought such strong winds that if you drove to the festival on Highway 10 it was hard to see the mountains because of the dust.
While the worst of the wind was to the west of the festival site (some gusts reached 60 and 70 mph in the Coachella Valley, according to the National Weather Service), the South Coast Air Quality Management District issued a windblown dust advisory through Friday night. And if you were in the field, you could feel all that windblown dust hitting you.
It did make for some interesting people watching though, as many cowboy hats were chased across the countryside. — V.F.
A return visit from a Coachella headliner
A week after headlining Coachella, and with an album on the way called “Lasso” to promote, Lana Del Rey appeared on Stagecoach to sing the Righteous Brothers’ “Unchained Melody” with Paul Cauthen, an up-and-comer with a booming baritone and the sense in the fashion of a televangelist. I have no idea what kind of relationship these two might share in real life, but together on stage they brought a touch of slightly spooky glamor to the desert. — megawatt
A fan sits high up and is silhouetted against a pyrotechnic display as Jelly Roll performs on the Mane Stage on the first day of the Stagecoach Country Music Festival.
(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
Inside the secret places that make you feel like you're not at a country festival
Heading into the weekend, George Michael, INXS and Human League were among the artists I least expected to hear at Stagecoach.
But if you head to the password-protected Sonny's, Attaboy's cool '80s speakeasy with a light-up dance floor and tropical-print wallpaper that could have been ripped from the bedroom of one of the Golden Girls, it's less honkytonk. and more new wave.
Surrounding Sonny's is PDT's outdoor tiki-inspired speakeasy Tropicale, but the same '80s tunes can still be heard coming from inside Sonny's. You can find the secret bars near the courtyard on Golden Road towards Diplo's Honkytonk.
The third speakeasy, the Basement, also returns for Stagecoach. It still has Cheech & Chong blacklight posters and neon artwork of an alien with bedroom vibes, but it's where you'll hear alternative rock and mainstream '90s hip-hop. When I walked by, I was greeted with a chant. sublime from other customers followed by Cypress Hill and Eminem. You can access it through chef Aaron May's Porky's BBQ pop-up near the Rainbow Spectra tower. — V.F.
one to watch
Is it too early to anoint the next Zach Bryan? Wyatt Flores, a 22-year-old singer-songwriter from Bryan's home state of Oklahoma, seemed to be looking for the job in an impressive set on the Palomino stage that had the venue screaming at the top of its lungs, like people do with Bryan at his famous concerts. noisy With a raspy voice and a pained expression on his face, Flores sang jagged but cathartic emo-country songs about emotionally hitting rock bottom; He also added Fray to the list of 1990s and 2000s rock groups that shaped the sound of modern Nashville with a punk rendition of that band's “How to Save a Life.” — megawatt
Elle King performs on the Mane Stage on opening day of the Stagecoach Country Music Festival at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California.
(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
A difference of opinion
His father, comedian Rob Schneider, has lately reoriented his career to criticize what he calls “woke tone…”. But Elle King introduced her cover of Tyler Childers’ “Jersey Giant” with a set of instructions I heard all day: “Find someone you know. If not, ask permission.” — megawatt
The best country singer dressed for her performance as European milkmaid: Hailey Whitters
Hailey Whitters performs on Stagecoach's Mane Stage on Friday.
(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
The true energy of the Swiss lady. — megawatt
The most elegant cowboy hat worn by the artist who also performed at Coachella: Carin León
The rooted but polished Mexican singer-songwriter was the first Spanish-language act to play a full set at Stagecoach, a sign of both his popularity and the regional Mexican music that also brought him (and Mexico's Peso Pluma) to Coachella this month. . — megawatt
Carin León performs on Friday on the Palomino Stage.
(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
Right where they belong
“It's very strange playing a country festival,” Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger said shortly after the band's late-night set, but it really wasn't: Nashville has been absorbing Nickelback's cave-rock lessons for years, as Kroeger reminded us when he brought out Hardy (whom he shares with longtime Nickelback producer Joey Moi) to shout out his knuckle-happy “Sold Out.” — megawatt
