Coachella 2016: 15 highlights from inside festival's opening weekend

INDIO >> The opening weekend of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Club in Indio may have set a new record for the number of guest stars.

• Photos: Best of Coachella 2016 Weekend One

If you watched the festival online from the couch or have plans to go to next week’s sold-out encore, here’s what went down, from Calvin Harris’ dance party to Sufjan Stevens’ weird stage decorations.

1. Best dance party: Calvin Harris

With Coachella’s wild wrap-around screens on the main stage, Harris’ incredibly packed Sunday night headlining set tued the field into an open-air Sahara Tent. Then he got some help from superstar singer Rihaa and hip-hop star Big Sean.

See photos from Calvin Harris’ set.

2. Biggest shock: Guns N’ Roses’ start time

A rock band notorious for being hours late, the Saturday night headliner took the stage 7 minutes after its scheduled start time of 10:30 p.m. The second biggest surprise from the band came in the form of a guest spot from AC/DC guitarist Angus Young, clad in a schoolboy outfit, joining the band for “Whole Lotta Rosie.”

See photos of Guns N’ Roses.

3. Biggest no-show: Dr. Dre

Everyone expected Ice Cube to get N.W.A. back together on the heels of the group’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but while MC Ren and DJ Yella joined Cube for a number of the group’s tracks, Dr. Dre was conspicuously absent.

And speaking of Cube, who knew that the flower crown-wearing upper middle class white millenials in the audience related to N.W.A.’s most infamous song about law enforcement?

Another no show was Justin Bieber, who missed Friday night’s Jack U set.

See photos of Ice Cube.

4. Biggest trend: Guest stars

Even without Dr. Dre, everybody seemed to have a guest star at opening weekend of Coachella. Some of the highlights included Kesha at Zedd; Lorde and Sam Smith at Disclosure; Common and Snoop Dogg at Ice Cube; classic rock guitarists Joe Walsh and Gle Schwartz at The Arcs; Sean Paul at Major Lazer; Brendon Urie at Halsey; Seal at Gallant. Need we go on?

See photos of all the musical performances at Coachella.

5. Best cover: LCD Soundsystem

LCD Soundsystem, the dance-rock band from New York City, played a powerful set on Friday that had smiling fans dancing beneath the glittering shards of light reflected off the massive mirror ball that hung over the stage. They added a cover of the late David Bowie’s “Heroes” that was transcendent both for the powerfully emotional performance and the grief many fans still feel for the loss of Bowie in January.

See photos of LCD Soundsystem.

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6. Most highbrow performance: Sia

Sia’s Sunday night set featured the singer’s striking, visual style and many, many clones. The result was a piece of mode dance expertly choreographed to contemporary music with Sia’s pitch-perfect vocals. Oh, and actors Kristen Wiig and Paul Dano were involved, too.

See photos of Sia.

7. Weirdest stage props: Sufjan Stevens

The sensitive songwriter discarded the sadness for joyful dances and neon costumes throughout his band. However, the strangest part of the whole set was the use of those inflatables you see at car dealerships.

See photos of Sufjan Stevens.

8. Best place to send Grandma a postcard: Coachella post office

The on-site intermediary between festival-goers and the real post office will let you write a drunken letter to Grandma, but just don’t try to mail your taxes there.

Find out more about Camp Coachella.

9. The Coachella fashion that won’t die: Flower crowns

After Coachella 2015, we read somewhere that the sorority outfit might be in its death throes, but the look has retained a loyal following in the desert.

See photos of fashion at Coachella.

10. Most coveted Record Store Day find at Coachella: Justin Bieber picture disc

There were fewer than 10 copies of the $22 item and they sold out on the first day.

11. Best amateur photographer: Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros

At one point lead singer Alex Ebert took a GoPro from a fan and snapped photos of the crowd during the band’s Sunday night Outdoor Theatre set. He then jumped down and walked along the rails.

See photos of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros.

12: Worst time management: A$AP Rocky

On Friday night, the rapper started his set about 15 minutes late. After bringing out Kanye West for a song, Rocky called the Chicago performer a “legend” and as Rocky attempted to perform his next song, organizers cut the sound because he reached his allotted time.

Rocky ended up angrily throwing his microphone over the DJ stand and walking off stage as fans chanted his name, as well as West’s.

First-timers Bob Moses also leaed the hard way about Coachella’s strict time limits after their late afteoon set went two minutes over and had the plug pulled during their last song, “Touch and Go.”

See photos of A$AP Rocky.

13. Missed reunion: Lush

The English four-piece, best-known for its hit “Ladykillers,” recently reunited after nearly 20 years apart but were forced to cancel their first weekend Coachella performance and reschedule some other U.S. dates due to a visa snafu. The group plans to perform for next weekend’s crowd.

14. Most political: Run the Jewels

Run the Jewels hit the main stage Saturday afteoon -- introduced via video by Democratic presidential candidate Beie Sanders, a pal of RTJ rapper Killer Mike. A surge of energy flowed through the crowd, which grew larger and larger as Run The Jewels brought out one guest performer after another: DJ Shadow, rapper Nas, blues guitarist and singer Gary Clark Jr. among them.

See photos of Run the Jewels.

15. Best Instagram fodder: “Besame Mucho”

There may not have been a “Helix Poeticus” (a.k.a Coachella Snail) this year, but the art was more political, if not as whimsical. Either way, the wall of 100,000 silk flowers seems to be the go-to “I was at Coachella 2016” image.

See photos of all of the art at Coachella 2016.

Staff Writers Jason Henry, Peter Larsen, Liset Marquez, Patrick O’Neill and Wes Woods contributed to this report.