COACHELLA 2004: PHOTOS BY JAY BLAKESBERG

Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival :: Saturday, May 1 & Sunday, May 2, 2004 :: Indio, California

Coachella was HOT! With temperatures reaching 100 degrees both days, the largest ever Coachella crowd (50,000+ on day 1) was treated to large doses of stellar music on five different stages. Both days featured the cream of the crop of indie bands playing on the "Outdoor Theatre Stage." Bands included The Stills, Trail of the Dead, Death Cab for Cutie, Bright Eyes, Broken Social Scene, and the sometimes super group put together by Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme, Desert Sessions. The smaller stages inside three tents felt more like saunas than places to hear music, and boasted impressive performances from more independent bands like The Thrills, Cooper Temple Clause, The Sleepy Jackson, to big name artists like Beck and Kraftwerk. But it was the main stage that attracted the largest crowds. The Pixies and Radiohead were at the top of their games and the smooth sounds of Air and Belle and Sebastian warmed the crowd up for a short (due to technical difficulties) but mind-blowing set by The Flaming Lips. The Lips set began with Wayne Coyne descending from outer space in a clear plastic bubble and walking across the top of the crowd out to the soundboard, and then back again before launching into a crowd pleasing "Race for the Prize." The two-day festival ended with everyone's favorite goth rockers The Cure, who debuted a few new songs along with many of their hits including "Love Song," "Just Like Heaven," and "Pictures of You." It was long, it was hot, and it rocked!