Held annually in Indio, CA, Coachella often comes under fire for being too overrun by major corporate sponsors. While that may be true, what lies underneath is a rich offering of the top musical talent. From top to bottom, Coachella’s performers know how to bring a party to the desert. Take a look at some of the top musical moments from this year’s Coachella:

Night One ~ Friday, April 10th

1. Lil B

One of the first acts worth noting, rapper Lil B did not disappoint. It’s hard to say whether his whole act is a satire of the rap game and its misogynistic tendencies, or if he truly got “head in the sky” and turned into “a Martian.” Regardless of his truly bizarre lyrics, positivity was very apparent in his performance, asking the crowd to repeat “I love life” and other optimistic one-liners. Overall, a solid start to an incredible weekend.

2. Keys n Krates

What differentiates Keys n Krates from most other EDM acts is the nature of their performances. All of it is generated live, or as live as EDM can be, with sampling, track pads, and live percussion dispelling any whispers of a pre-recorded set. They had the crowd going wild to their main claim to fame, “Keep it 100.”

3. Raekwon & Ghostface Killah

These two Wu-Tang lifers put on a great show, with fans singing along to their raps. It was no surprise to see a slightly older, more dedicated crowd at the Outdoor Stage rocking with these two similarly to Wu-Tang’s appearance at the festival two years prior.

4. Alabama Shakes

Brittany Howard and the Alabama Shakes absolutely killed it on stage Friday night. What could be more of a perfect transition into the vibrant Indio night than the soulful, angelic voice of Howard accompanied by the band? Labeling Howard’s performance as “singing” almost seems like an understatement, as she had awesome enthusiasm and vocal range (especially throughout the band’s newest single, “Gimme All Your Love”). Not surprisingly, the Alabama Shakes sounded just as good live as recorded.

5. Steely Dan

The classic rock band dusted off a number of their radio hits for a great set in the desert. Check out the setlist below:

SETLIST: Steely Dan @ Coachella 4/10/2015
Bodhisattva
Black Friday
Aja
Daddy Don’t Live in That New York City No More
Hey Nineteen
Show Biz Kids
Josie
My Old School
Reelin’ in the Years
Kid Charlemagne

6. Tame Impala

These Aussie rockers put on a great rocking show, playing a righteous mix of older tunes and selections from their forthcoming album, Currents. The band played a longer set, keeping the crowd entertained with great music and spectacular visuals.

7. AC/DC

Angus Young was on a mission to melt the face of every dirt-covered fan in attendance, and by the end of his set, his knees were bleeding from sliding. He shredded on his guitar using only his left-hand. Also, a huge bell appeared out of nowhere for “Hell’s Bells,” on which Brian Johnson swung. Although their appearance in Indio might have been motivated by a desire for publicity for their upcoming album, it was a privilege to be in the same place as these legends.

Night Two ~ Saturday, April 11th

1. Bad Suns

This up and coming band put on a great show, playing to a clearly loyal audience knowing most of the words to most of the songs. Since it was pretty early in the day, only the dedicated made their way to the Mojave tent to see these long-haired twenty year-olds play their somewhat-angsty jams. Lead singer Christo Bowman’s unique vocals sounded just like they do on record, this is a band with a lot of potential. Watch footage from their pre-party set below:

2. Chet Faker

Chet Faker’s voice seems like it has healing powers. His electronic style and smooth vocals combined for a remarkable fifty minutes. Demonstrating the ability to play the keyboard before unleashing his lofty, soothing voice on the wanting crowd showed his ability as a true musician. He sang his vocals on Flume’s “Drop the Game,” prompting the crowd to sing along with him.

3. Alt-J

Alt-J’s indie sound is so unique, and their set was an absolute must-see. Opening with “Hunger of the Pine” off of their most recent album and playing a few hits and lesser-known songs from their 2012 release An Awesome Wave, the group’s twangy sound was enough to captivate the audience.

4. Deorro

After scaring fans with a string of Twitter confessions alluding to touring less, Deorro put on one of the best shows all weekend. His bouncey, high-energy style sat well with the sweaty, shirtless masses crowded together in the anarchy that was the Sahara tent. Bringing out Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker to debut their new song together was the cherry on top.+

5. Flosstradamus

The “Hoody Nation” duo had the crowd jumping up and down to all of their popular trap beats like “Soundclash” and “Mosh Pit” with trap elbows up the whole time. Asking the crowd to physically separate into left and right sides to then converge when the drop hits was just the right amount of aggressive to please the crowd without causing many injuries (hopefully).

6. The Weeknd

This performance was infinitely better than his a few years ago at Coachella. His R&B, slow, sexy style began with his hit single “High for This” from his first of three mixtapes that brought him fame, House of Balloons (2011). His melodic sound is among the most characteristic and distinct possibly in the whole music world, especially within the R&B genre.

7. Jack White

The renowned rocker brought Lazaretto and more to his headlining set at this year’s Coachella. Playing a set that ranged from his White Stripes and Raconteurs days, White had a few great moments during his performance, including covers of Otis Redding and Rage Against the Machine, as well as a heartfelt request for fans to put away their cell phones. Watch his set here:

Night Three ~ Sunday, April 12th

1. Mac DeMarco

When Mac DeMarco came out on stage with Heinekens in hand, the audience knew they were in for a show. His music, with its soft, summer vibes, was the perfect warm up for the day. His rendition of Bob Marley’s “Jammin” and his cigarette love song, “Ode to Viceroy,” were perfect, amongst others. Although bringing out the comedian Eric Andre with a dildo was funny, the comedic highlight of his set was bringing out a friend he called “Steve Aoki” to throw cookies (“cake”) into the audience. Clarification: it was not at all Steve Aoki.

2. What So Not

Despite having recently declared that What So Not would become Flume-less and consist of Emoh Instead only, What So Not (as Emoh Instead only) performed one of the best dance music sets of the weekend. The coolest moment of this set was when George Maple came out to sing her vocals in What So Not’s new song, “Gemini.”

3. Vance Joy

Singer James Keogh proved that Vance Joy is more than just the hit song, “Riptide.” Similar to Hozier, it seemed that whether fans attended his performance for his main song or not, his overall show was very impressive. Even so, the phones were most definitely out, snapchat story-ing “Riptide” as the set ended.

4. Kaskade

As Kaskade begins to change his style from mostly trance to somewhat future house, he seems to have absolutely nailed live performances. He commanded the main stage in its entirety with multiple “Kaskade” flags waving in the air. Opening with his new song “Never Sleep Alone” set the mood for sing-along set with trippy visuals.

5. David Guetta

Before he started performing, David Guetta shared his excitement with the crowd saying that he’s played many big shows, and “Coachella is one of those.” When he admitted how fast his heart was beating and how nervous he was in his accent and shaky English, the crowd was visibly excited. Guetta played all of his big hits, including “Bad” and “Shot Me Down.”

6. Gesaffelstein

Gesaffelstein did not disappoint. His characteristic style involving few words and lots of cigarettes, almost spooky-sounding music and dim lights had dedicated fans raging while not caring about missing out on big names like Fitz and the Tantrums, Odesza, and the end of David Guetta.

7. Florence + The Machine

Florence Welsh and co. led a supreme Sunday set at Coachella, bringing tunes new and old to the Indio crowd. The band is supporting their forthcoming album How Big How Blue How Beautiful, playing a handful of selections from the new music as well as old. Welsh is all-powerful, and her music shows it in a big way.

 

8. Drake

Coming off of a new album and already having an arsenal of hits, Drake’s set was sure to be a great time. Since Coachella is often famous for bringing out surprise guests, especially rap guests on Sundays (Coachella 2012 Day 3: Tupac hologram, Eminem, 50 Cent, etc), the crowd was optimistic. Instead of any number of A-List celebrities Drake collaborates with on songs, Madonna came out to briefly make out with the headliner. Besides the fanfare of this, unfortunately, Drake’s set was lackluster. After bragging that he has so many hits he can play all night, his total set time, accounting for his late entry, barely topped an hour. 

 

Overall, Coachella was an unforgettable weekend, showcasing the inspiring talent of our generation and generations past. This was only one person’s weekend – with dozens or artists, there are bound to be other tales from the festival. Who did you enjoy the most at Coachella?