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By Rebecca Gayle
Contributing Writer

There is one word that inspires music obsessives like myself to drop everything in order to spend one weekend sweltering on barren polo fields in the desert heat: Coachella. This year’s Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, held this past weekend in Indio, Calif., marked the annual festival’s tenth anniversary of providing music lovers with multiple days of solid lineups with performers of epic proportions.

What started as a two-day celebration of music and art in 1999 has since exploded into a three-day extravaganza that attracts fans from across the globe and acts as an initiation into stardom for many up-and-coming indie rock groups. Since 1999, Coachella has booked artists of epic proportions – artists like Prince, Madonna, Beck, Roger Waters, Radiohead and the Pixies – that have inspired vast changes in the landscapes of their respective genres and the entire history of rock music. This year marked yet another impressive assembly of incredibly influential artists, most notably Paul McCartney and the Cure, that certainly solidifies Coachella as an unparalleled event that all music fanatics should endeavor to attend at least once in their lifetime.

After attending Coachella for the first time last year and seeing Roger Waters of Pink Floyd fame and Prince of single-name-and-symbol-recognition fame, I was not so sure that Coachella’s Goldenvoice promoters could top things this year. To everyone’s delight, they once again managed to top the incredible lineups of previous years by booking Paul McCartney, the Killers and the Cure as headliners, not to mention other highly regarded musicians like Morrissey (lead singer of the Smiths), Leonard Cohen (of “Hallelujah” fame), Franz Ferdinand and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, as well as up-and-coming groups that have been garnering widespread acclaim from the music press, such as the Black Keys, Silversun Pickups, Girl Talk, TV on the Radio and Fleet Foxes.

This year’s festival also reinforced the observation that impressed me the most about Coachella: All the bands that make up the entire three-day lineup shine with talent and can, without a doubt, be classified as “good,” high-quality music, making Coachella a prime place not only to see rock legends in the flesh, but also to scope out bands that are quickly coming out of the underground woodwork and making a name for themselves. Even the bands whose genre or sound I did not particularly care for had a clear passion and talent for their art, which is entertaining and truly inspiring, especially for a music fan like myself.

As for the highlights of the weekend, there were far too many to name. With over 110 bands placed in five tents at set times ranging from noon to 1:30 the next morning, transcribing every memorable part of the weekend would be impossible to do, especially because multiple acts overlap. I will attempt to share my personal highlights of the weekend in this limited space, but, to truly appreciate their magnitude, you just have to check Coachella out yourself.

It is no mystery that the highlight of Friday and the entire weekend was the man who, along with the rest of the Beatles, changed the face of rock forever: Paul McCartney. The mere sight of Paul McCartney in the flesh on Friday night was a highlight – dare I say religious experience – for many Coachella-goers. McCartney’s set alone, all fame aside, certainly solidified why he and the Beatles have so profoundly affected the world of music and why he continues to attract an enormous fan base. During his set, McCartney performed a mix of his own solo work and his work with the Beatles – including “Hey Jude,” “Eleanor Rigby,” “Let It Be,” “I Got a Feeling,” “Back in the USSR,” John Lennon’s “Give Peace a Chance” and closing with my personal favorite, “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.” McCartney’s endlessly entertaining performance – complete with two encores – and incredible talent did not fail to capture the heart of all his listeners and prove why the 66-year-old is – and will continue to be – the reigning king of rock ’n’ roll.

Preceding McCartney on the main Coachella Stage was Morrissey, who could have sold out Friday passes even without the Beatle’s help. Morrissey performed several songs he collaborated on with the Smiths, including “Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others,” “Girlfriend in a Coma” and “How Soon Is Now”, alongside his solo work. During his set, Morrissey not only managed to strip off his button-up shirt and toss it to the crowd, but he also made his stance on animal rights clear when he walked off set and returned, complaining about the barbecue tent by declaring, “The smell of burning animals is making me sick. I just couldn’t bear it.”

Saturday marked another highly entertaining day of music that featured highly acclaimed Fleet Foxes and TV on the Radio before showcasing the main headliners, the Killers. Fleet Foxes and TV on the Radio did not fail to showcase their distinct sounds during their sets, making it clear why they have been receiving much attention from music critics across the nation. The Killers took the main stage at 10:25 p.m. and performed an immensely entertaining set that had lead singer Brandon Flowers dramatically fist-pumping his microphone stand into the air, standing atop amps, and welcoming crowd participation during songs including “Mr. Brightside,” “Somebody Told Me,” “Sam’s Town,” “All These Things I’ve Done” and “Human.” Although the Killers were not as big-name headliners as Paul McCartney and the Cure, their showmanship and musicianship certainly proved why Flowers believes he can get away with unabashedly bragging about how epically influential he and his band are.

Closing the music-filled weekend was a strong line-up on the main Coachella Stage, consisting of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, followed by My Bloody Valentine and the Cure. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs put on an amazing performance, which featured a gold sequined Karen O entertaining the crowd with her infectious enthusiasm for performing, which took the form of high-energy, jump-inspired dancing, dramatic gesturing, and microphone lassoing. The band’s stage props, which consisted of a giant eyeball surrounded by glittering concentric rings and beach balls designed to be smaller eyes that were thrown to the crowd, accentuated Karen O’s ability to captivate her audience and really tie the entire performance – props and all – together. As for My Bloody Valentine, the quartet managed to capture the entire Sunday crowd’s attention with an impressive, 15-minute-long noise bath of suspended notes and reverberations that explained why the festival offered free earplugs to Sunday’s concertgoers. Finally, wrapping up Sunday’s lineup was the Cure, who played an impressive, rocking set that solidified their presence in the rock Hall of Fame while still managing to freak people out with their Goth-inspired appearance.

Overall, this year’s lineup made it clear that the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival has not survived ten years without reason. Furthermore, Coachella proved why it could still draw a sold-out Friday crowd, as well as attract a high turnout for both Saturday and Sunday, even in the midst of the current economy. My two Coachella experiences have made me increasingly reluctant to depart the polo fields of Indio and return to a post-Coachella world, but increasingly hopeful that I can be in attendance each year to witness the rock legends of the past and the indie rock legends of the future.

Rebecca Gayle is a first-year pharmacy student.