Coachella 2016: Major acts, powerful winds and a strong sense of community

INDIO >> The second weekend of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is typically known for an abundance of die-hard fans, the kind who don’t leave sets early and who know the lyrics to every song.

Or, as one attendee put it, “Second weekend is for people who care.”

• Photos: Coachella 2016 bands, art, fashion and more

The retu go-round was lighter on the number of surprise special guests, but it still had some big ones. During Ice Cube’s set, Dr. Dre joined with his N.W.A bandmates after the songs “Straight Outta Compton” and “(expletive) Tha Police” to perform “Still D.R.E.” and his verse from “Califoia Love.” He left the stage with Yella and Ren saying “Rest in peace, Eazy-E” to cheers. Soon after, Compton hip-hop star Kendrick Lamar joined the party as he performed a few songs with Ice Cube.

A sense of community

While many came to experience the communal feel of the festival’s art and musical offerings, others found their own ways to coect. Weekend 2 coincided with the start of Passover, and at Shabbat Tent, the all-volunteer group held what it called Matzahchella, a series of 10-minute Seders from the sundown start of Passover until 10:30 p.m. Friday.

Similarly, Soberchella, a group that meets to help attendees maintain a drug- and alcohol-free lifestyle while there, had scheduled meetings throughout the weekend.

Over at the campground, fans were able to get everything from free braiding and curls at the Beauty Bar to a $4 toilet paper roll at the general store.

Love for Prince

The final festival weekend got off to a melancholy start following news of the unexpected death of music icon Prince. Fans built a shrine beneath a 2008 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival poster with purple and black roses and streamers, filling a flower bed nearby.

The Purple One had a history with the festival. In 2008, the enigmatic pop star created one of the festival’s defining moments with his compelling cover of Radiohead’s “Creep.” The video was shown just before the headlining set LCD Soundsystem on Friday night.

All weekend musical acts paid tribute, with one of the best performances coming from Sufjan Stevens, who brought out Gallant for a soulful rendition of “Purple Rain.” Performers from Ice Cube to Axl Rose, who dedicated Guns N’ Roses’ set to Prince, all shared the profound impact the legendary artist had on their careers.

Fighting the elements

While temperatures hovered in the 90s throughout the weekend, Friday night marked the retu of Windchella, gusts that were strong enough to send tents and flower crowns flying. It prompted festivalgoers to tie bandanas over their faces and LCD Soundsystem frontman James Murphy to confess that the dust-filled air had wreaked havoc on his throat. On Sunday afteoon, the winds kicked up again.

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More music, more musicians

Hip-hop group Run the Jewels brought out a mostly different group of guests Saturday from the previous weekend. They had Rage Against the Machine’s Zack de la Rocha, Blink 182’s Travis Barker and OutKast’s Big Boi (who performed solo and with his group Big Grams) as well as retu guests DJ Shadow, Gangsta Boo and Boots.

Other high-profile guests showed up during A$AP Rocky’s Friday night set like Tyler, the Creator, R&B star Miguel and Rocky’s fellow A$AP Mob crew member A$AP Ferg. And hip-hop superstar Lil Wayne performed verses from four songs on Friday night with Oakland hip-hop artist G-Eazy before leaving the stage saying, “R.I.P. Prince.”

Hip-hop artist Big Sean, who performed during Calvin Harris’ set last Sunday, showed up during DJ Mustard’s set, too.

Meanwhile, Guns N’ Roses had no guests this week during their Friday night set (unlike last week when they had AC/DC’s Angus Young), but their set was arguably much smoother with the first Coachella date behind them. While the group did not perform the song “Patience,” they did run through many of the other songs, including “Welcome To The Jungle,” “Sweet Child o’ Mine” and “November Rain.”

Disclosure did not have their high-profile guests like singers Lorde or Sam Smith but they did bring back San Dimas-bo and raised Brendan Reilly, AlunaGeorge, Kwabs and Lion Babe.

R & B superstar Usher came out during Major Lazer’s tribute to Prince and performed “I Would Die 4 U” after an intro for Prince’s “Lets Go Crazy.” MO also retued to sing her collaboration with Major Lazer titled “Lean On.”

Dre and Lamar made a second appearance Sunday night when Anderson .Paak brought out the mega starts to the delight of fans.

Staff Writer Liset Marquez contributed to this report.