Some things about Coachella are obvious. The headliners deliver, and this year they’re particularly pro: rap’s Warren Buffett, Jay-Z, and stadium rock saviors Muse, pictured, plus the multimedia blitz of Gorillaz. The bill’s middle is packed with great stuff that you will miss because you’re standing in line to recycle your water bottles. One night, you will happen upon a mostly empty tent and from it will pour music that changes your life. As for specifics, here are five on this year’s thick lineup that I wouldn’t miss.
[For the record:An earlier version of this online gallery included singer Janelle Monae as one of the acts not to miss. Monae, however, is not part of this year’s Coachella lineup. Read more at the Pop & Hiss blog. ] (Anna Webber / Getty Images)
Gossip: If you know this band only from singer-provocateur Beth Ditto’s many sexy European magazine covers, then you don’t know Gossip. Born in Arkansas, nurtured in the Pacific Northwest home of Riot Grrrl, Gossip is as punk as dance-pop gets, and its live shows feel like the Church of the Liberated Female, with Ditto as its voluptuously sweaty, libidinous, defiantly joyful high priestess. (AFP/Getty Images)
Gil Scott-Heron: Sly Stone may get more attention for his Coachella appearance, but Heron might well deliver a better set. The jazz-blues poet’s genius cant just be reduced to the catch-phrase “godfather of rap”; what he’s doing now, after many years of hard knocks, is more akin to Ralph Ellison than Rakim. His new material hits like a cold snap, another “Winter in America.” (Young, Marilynn / Los Angeles Times)
Faith No More: Of course, the Pavement reunion is going to rock. Let’s also give whats due to this other landmark band from the golden era of shaggy guitar swagger. Faith No More may be associated with the dubious subgenre of rap-rock, but the group is far more eclectic, crazy and fun than that sad label implies. And psychedelic. And funny! (Mark Metcalfe / Getty Images)