Two Police Officers Killed In Palm Springs!
Bruce Fessier, a reporter for the Desert Sun, recalls concerts he has attended performed by Desert Trip headliners. (Sept. 29, 2016) Richard Lui/The Desert Sun
Paul McCartney performs at Desert Trip Music Festival in Indio, CA on Saturday October 8.(Photo: Jay Calderon/USA TODAY NETWORK)
The shooting that killed two Palm Springs police officers and injured anothercast a pall over the start of Desert Trip on Saturday. People shuttling to the second day of the three-day concert at Indio"s Empire Polo Club had their rides delayed by almost two hours as police conducted their manhunt. People at the polo club followed the news on their mobile devices and talked about how terrible the shooting was.
Fortunately for some, opening act Neil Young started his set more than 20 minutes late. By then, the Palm Springs coach riders were just filing into the polo club. Young, dressed in a dark T-shirt with the words Water is life, a black hat and dark jeans, sat at his piano and started singing the sublime, After the Gold Rush. The figurative clouds seemed to part and the emphasis was again back on the music.
At 9:45 p.m. (30 minutes after his scheduled start time), headliner Paul McCartney wandered on stage after a long, bombastic recorded multimedia sequence emphasizing his historical place in pop culture, and the place melted into pure joy. The former Beatle opened with "A Hard Day"s Night," sounding magnificent on the huge Goldenvoice sound system, and middle-aged women started jumping up and down. Smiles were abounded among young and old.
Fans watch Paul McCartney perform on the 2nd night of Desert Trip on Saturday, October 8, 2016 at the Empire Polo Club in Indio. (Photo: Richard Lui/USATODAY NETWORK)
He followed with a Wings song from the 1970s, "Jet," powered by his propulsive bass and happiness was restored as McCartney addressed the crowd as if they were at a festival that skewed much younger. "Good evening, Coachella!" he said, looking nattily attired in matching dark pants and coat with an open collared shirt. "Welcome to the desert!"
McCartney mixed Beatles songssuch as "Day Tripper," "Can"t Buy Me Love" and "I"ve Got A Feeling," with Wings andsolo hits and even the surprise of an instrumental version of Jimi Hendrix"s "Foxy Lady." There wasa slight rasp to his voice, but it really didn"t prevent him from selling his classic hits to the adoring audience.
McCartney and Young were further realizations of promoter Paul Tollett"s dream of bringing active, creative legends from the 1960s to a massive audience at the Empire Polo Club in Indio. Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones delivered on Friday, and Young and McCartney more than survived their legendary shadow.
READ MORE:Palm Springs shooting suspect wanted to kill police officers
While McCartney generated pure joy, Young brought a "60srelevance to the evening. Hissecond song was a solo acoustic guitar version of his biggest hit, Heart of Gold, satisfying a huge percentage of the sold-out crowd of 75,000 people. But then he got serious.
More so perhaps than even Bob Dylan, Young is the conscience of the baby-boomer generation and his repertoire reinforced the message from the news of the day that there are more important thingsthangoing to a concert and partying hard.
After his fourth song, Mother Earth (Natural Edition) -- performed solo on an antique pump organ and harmonica --a team of guys in radioactive-protective suits came out and sprayed the stage, as if to say the environment is toxic. Then Youngs backup band, the excellent Promise of the Real, joined him for a wide-ranging program of new, obscure and classic rock songs.
The recently introduced Show Me is about the battle for water, a theme further illustrated by tepees off stage that also said, Water is life. The new Hang Glider, referring to terrorist secret hang gliders, featuresthe lyrics, I think I know who to blame/All those people with funny names/Moving into our neighborhood/I cant tell if theyre bad or good.
Neil Young performs on the 2nd night of Desert Trip on Saturday, October 8, 2016 at the Empire Polo Club in Indio. (Photo: Richard Lui/USA TODAY NETWORK)
READ MORE:Officer killed in Palm Springs had just returned from maternity leave
Young brilliantly paced his show to end with the hard-rocking "Welfare Mothers," which he called a new theme song for Donald Trump, and the anthem that proved a perfect bookend to his opener, "Keep On Rockin" in the Free World."
Young fan Terry Craig of Scottsdale called it the "best opening act of all time."
"He does not want to be in the Stones" shadow after their set last night," he said. "He wants to show -- with the kids in the band -- he"s still got it, especially with this old catalog. On fire! Top of his game!"
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Last SlideNext SlideThe headlining act,McCartney, wasnt scheduled to begin his set until 9:15 p.m. and didn"t go on until about 9:45 p.m., but fans began taking positions at the front of the stage as soon as the gates opened at 2 p.m. Pete Ybarra of Dallas-Fort Worth was among the first to arrive in the standing pit for the opportunity to see McCartney for the seventh time. He brought his own chair and food and made plans to keep his spot until the show was scheduled to end at midnight.
Me and my wife go out separately, he said, because if you leave, someone will take your spots.
Its just so huge, Ybarra said of the concert. "Ive never been to something this big. The stage is so huge. Ive never seen anything like it."
Neil Young performs on the 2nd night of Desert Trip on Saturday, October 8, 2016 at the Empire Polo Club in Indio. (Photo: Richard Lui/USA TODAY NETWORK)
Paul and Tracey Manning came from Melbourne, Australia for Desert Trip. They regularly follow their favorite groups on concert tours last year, they followed both the Rolling Stones and U2 at the same time. But they said they hadnt seen anything like this.
Youll never see these performers together again, Paul Manning said. I think theyre all similar sort of artists, so its probably a bit of a reunion for them as well.
Almost halfway through the three-day Desert Trip celebration, the inaugural Goldenvoice event was getting rave reviews.
The quality of the bands is off the charts, said Jennifer Glendon of Boston. Last night, the Stones were amazing.
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Last SlideNext SlideDESERT TRIP
Keep up on all of the coverage from the first weekend of Desert Trip at www.DesertSun.com, including photo galleries, stories and reviews.
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Source: http://www.desertsun.com/story/life/entertainment/music/2016/10/08/desert-trip-copes-palm-springs-tragedy-moving-set-neil-young/91626048/
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