Coachella 2018: Brockhampton Crushes the Stage, HAIM Warms Up For Beyonce and More Day Two Highlights

The 19th annual Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California continued on Saturday for its second day (Apr. 14) and a spread of artists, from the acoustic guitar experimentations of Post Malone to the triumphant, milestone-achieving headlining set from Beyoncé. Join us as we give you the timestamped play-by-play of our Day Two experience out in the desert.

1:28 p.m. Power trio-leading rocker Ron Gallo plays to an early-afternoon crowd of just a couple hundred people, but the charismatic frontman performs for the timeslot he wants, not the one he has. At one point during a spoken-word riff over what sounds like a reinterpretation of Black Sabbath’s “Black Sabbath,” Gallo proclaims “I drank a tall glass of water” — and then picks up a nearby cooler and starts guzzling, to scattered cheers throughout the audience. “I want to be the first person in history to drown onstage at Coachella,” he proclaims. — ANDREW UNTERBERGER

2:20 p.m.: After playing a montage of “pressure”-themed movie quotes from the likes of The Breakfast Club and The Shawshank Redemption, alternative radio favorites Sir Sly takes the stage, looking like a trio of resident tennis pros in all-white shirts and shorts, to perform a new song. The chiming synth-rock jam (based, appropriately, around a “Baby, I welcome the pressure” hook) sounds like a potential hit, which is good news for the band, who divulges their career ambitions while asking the audience to echo the song’s wordless hook: “We’d like to biggest band in the world,” says frontman Landon Jacobs. “So, if you could please sing along…” — A.U.

3:19 p.m. British singer-songwriter Declan McKenna wrapped a tireless set with a zapped rendition of his hit “Brazil,” ripping across the stage at the Mojave stage in a sparkling cape. Truly an effervescent time to help set off the day. — STEVEN J. HOROWITZ

4:02 p.m. Over at the main stage, Nile Rodgers and Chic are in mint condition during their afternoon set. They set it off by dialing it back to their first-ever single “Dance Dance Dance” and “I Want Your Love” before hitting off a train of classics. “This is a medley of my number one hits,” said Rodgers, asking attendees to sing the chorus. “Oh, we didn’t just write it, we also performed and sang it, too.” Songs that made the biggest mark: Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky,” Diana Ross’ “I’m Coming Out” and Sister Sledge’s “We Are Family.” — S.J.H.

4:15 p.m. Norwegian singer-songwriter Sigrid took the stage at Gobi, treating the crowd to singles including “Don’t Kill My Vibe” and new single “High Five.” — S.J.H.

5:36 p.m. With a smirk on her face, singer-songwriter Angel Olsen serenades the crowd at the Gobi Stage, including cuts from her critically-acclaimed 2016 album My Woman including “Shut Up Kiss Me,” “Never Be Mine” and “Give It Up.” — S.J.H.

5:37 p.m. A somewhat hidden gem on the relatively remote Sonora stage, riotous post-punks Priests perform a scorching rendition of the ominous Nothing Feels Natural highlight “Nicki” — which frontwoman Katie Alice Greer reveals is dedicated to Nicki Minaj. “We invited her to the show,” Greer explains. “But we have a feeling that she’s really busy.” — A.U.

6:20 p.m. Certainly one of the best performances of the day, let alone the entire weekend, came from contemporary and self-proclaimed “boyband” Brockhampton. Coming to the stage roughly 15 minutes late, the collective was high-energy and enrapturing, trading off verses (front man Kevin Abstract faced mic issues, but that didn’t stop them) from their most recent album Saturation III with backing from a string section. The set was so well-attended that security stopped patrons from entering the VIP pen quartered off between the stage and the general crowd. — S.J.H.

7:01 p.m. Danish pop singer MØ drew a healthy crowd for her main stage performance with a few friends in tow. In addition to holding down a solo rendition of “Cold Water” (which also featured Justin Bieber), she brought out Charli XCX for “Porsche” and had a dance-off with Diplo for his single “Get It Right,” parroting the moves from the music video. — S.J.H.

8:02 p.m. Tyler, The Creator followed a side stage performance from 2016 with one on the main stage this year, holding his own throughout the set. With leopard print hair, the former Odd Future leader mined from his Grammy-nominated fourth album Flower Boy as he paraded in front of a downed tree that was part of his set, including career-spanning songs like “IFHY,” Boredom” and the recently released “OKRA” that name-checks Timothee Chalamet, who watched from side stage. — S.J.H.

8:10 p.m. In the thick of a performance that’s already featured her on vocals, guitar, trumpet, bass and the drum machine — often several overlapping in the same song — brilliant one-woman band Tash Sultana unleashes her secret weapon: the pan flute. Played over an instrumental with a bit of a driving Celtic stomp to it, Sultana breaks in the action to command the audience, “GET THE FUCK UP!” — likely the first time in history a pan flute jam has merited such a directive. — A.U.

9:19 p.m. Sister trio HAIM packed it out during their lead-in to Beyoncé, consistently name-checking the headlining pop star while playing crisp ‘70s-influenced bops for the robust crowd. Este Haim took reprieve from the band running through a story about catching a Coachella headlining set from Prince after Kesha gave her a chocolate-covered mushroom, a light intermission between renditions of “The Wire” and “If I Could Change Your Mind.” – S.J.H.

9:29 p.m. Playing to a packed crowd of thousands, ascendant nu-R&B star Blackbear decides to unleash a new song for the occasion, the DVBBS-featuring “I Don’t Wanna Know.” “Nobody’s ever heard this before,” the singer-songwriter offers. “Next time you hear this it’s gonna be on a radio. I hope.” Based on the breezy, trop-influenced, eminently Top 40-friendly jam that follows, seems like a pretty good chance of that hope coming to fruition. — A.U.

10:53 p.m. Post Malone introduces his Hot 100-topping hit “Rockstar” as a song about “being with your best friends and breaking a bunch of shit” — and brings out buddy 21 Savage to perform his peerless feature verse on the smash, much to the audience’s delight. At the song’s end, Post decides it’s time for him to walk it like he talks it, smashing his acoustic guitar to pieces on the stage. — A.U.

12:30 a.m. Halfway through a career-defining set, headliner Beyoncè enlisted her superstar beau JAY-Z to perform “Déjà Vu” before jumping into “Run the World (Girls).” Bey thanked Coachella “for letting me be the first black woman to headline,” and reunited Destiny’s Child to perform a special medley including classics like “Lose My Breath,” “Say My Name” and “Soldier.” — CARL LAMARRE

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