Coachella 2014: In a Nutshell

"By FIONA MORIARTY-MCLAUGHLINAfter waking up in my hotel room, taking a moment to tan, and picking out the perfect Coachella outfit for my day I headed to weekend one of the festival that almost every music fanatic in Southern California has been waiting for.Friday afternoon started out with Haim, an upcoming rock band of three sisters who grew up just miles away from the festival. Opening up with their hit "Falling" from their 2013 album, "Days Are Gone" really started the crowd at the Outdoor Theatre. They spilled that they used to hop the fence in order to attend Coachella as teenagers. Many critics gave them the title, "Rookie of the Year."The Scottish electronic group CHVRCHES blew in during the Saturday afternoon winds. They started up with their hit single, "Recover" while their audience rocked on. "It was a pretty special moment for all of us," synth player and backing vocalist, Martin Doherty, said about the band's set at the iconic festival.Kid Cudi launched the party at the Coachella main stage on Saturday afternoon. He sported a controversial red crop top, cutoff denim capris and kicks. His outfit was all everyone was talking about after his set. He was one of the few artists whose acts included backdrops, a unique factor since the sets at Coachella move so fast. While most people know him for "Day 'n' Nite" his hit single, "Pursuit of Happiness" was the highlight of the performance.New Zealand singer-songwriter Lorde was the youngest performer at Coachella and wowed the crowd. The audience buzzed with excitement when she opened with "Glory and Gore" then moved onto "Ribs," talking about how she wrote the song after she threw a house party in high school. She also confessed her fear of growing older but how performing and her fans helped her overcome it. She also performed her other hits from "Pure Heroine," including "Royals" and "Tennis Court." Lorde reached new heights at Coachella.Saturday included a sooty, thick sandstorm which kicked off in the mid-afternoon. Pharrell could barely sing since the dust had invaded his throat. I found myself wearing sunglasses in the darkness and a scarf over my mouth during his performance. This was not what I was looking forward to, but luckily his set was phenomenal. People were lining up since the morning to see him and the crowd didn’t let up since Lorde and Sleigh Bells preceded him. He ended with "Happy" and also played "Get Lucky."I began my third day of Coachella at a pool party in Palm Springs. Unfortunately, I missed Chance the Rapper, one of the acts I was looking forward to, because of the extensive security and walk from the parking lot to the actual festival, but luckily I was able to catch the recording online after the festival. Justin Bieber made a surprise appearance with Chance singing their single "Confident" while sporting a black t-shirt and bandana, along with a white bucket hat, while Chance wore overalls and an "LA" snapback.Calvin Harris, meanwhile, attracted the second biggest crowd in Coachella history. He started out with his hit single "Feel So Close" and the crowd began multiplying. I was near the stage in about the tenth row of people but I also wanted to see Lana Del Rey, so my friends and I made our way out of the never-ending Calvin Harris mob. The audience from the Coachella stage had stretched all the way almost hitting the Lightweaver, which is an art piece about 1000 feet away (3 city blocks) from the main stage. That’s the problem with Coachella: all the popular artists overlap. Coachella does this on purpose to keep the crowds low.The crowd at Lana was just building up at the Outdoor Theatre. We pushed our way up and got pretty close to the stage, which was thrilling. She debuted her new single, "West Coast" as well as "Born to Die" and "Summertime Sadness." I was a part of the masses of feverish teenage girls who spent the night pressed against barricades with tears flowing down our faces, flowers in our hands chanting, "Lana, Lana, Lana!" Her appearance was a kick-off for her U.S. tour and in her short crimson dress she said, "I hope you’ve been having the time of your lives. I’ve been talking to a lot of people as they’ve been coming into the festival and I know some of you came for just this show and I want to let you know that that means so much and I’m not going to forget that." Her performance was truly unforgettable.The most challenging part of Coachella for me was maintaining my cell phone battery life. Even though my friends, some festivalgoers and I all had mophie’s, portable charging cases, they weren’t enough. So I found myself walking the lengthy walk to the overly congested charging station, not my favorite part of the day. I was forced to stand at this station with my phone plugged in, all while trying to occupy myself without electronics for once by making awkward small talk with complete strangers. On the other hand, the mounds of people at the Gobi tent consumed my friends all while watching Solange, Beyoncé’s little sister. And just to my luck, Jay-Z and Beyoncé made an appearance while I was standing at the charging station in the sandstorm with total strangers while my phone was on life support.The thing about Coachella is that so many people just go for the scene and to be seen, but I go for the music and the experience. They try to be hipsters but in the long run those people aren’t the ones who actually enjoy the festival. I, on the other hand, was so exhausted from beelining from one stage to the next trying to catch my favorite artists and land a good spot.At Coachella people experience things they will never experience anywhere else on the planet. The absence of responsibility, continual social interaction, scarcity of cellular service and all the downtime lead to self-revelation. This Coachella I learned I can survive in 100 degree weather, while being crushed by 90,000 other people, go without cell phone service and social media for three days, lose the group of friends I came with and miss the artists I had planned on seeing all while having a good time. Even though it was a challenge I honed my survival skills and wouldn't have given it up for anything. Coachella is like an episode of "Survivor" but with trendy bands, humid weather and funny people.