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There's always chitter chatter surrounding weekend two of Coachella's annual music festival about how it compares to the first weekend. It's supposed to be a less celebrity-heavy affair (although with the same lineup and supposedly similar surprise musical guests) and have a chiller vibe. But what weekend two does allow is the chance for artists to have a second chance to step up their game—like how The Replacements and Outkast did on Friday.
The Replacements played weekend one's set with some negative reviews. LAist's Emma Gallegos attended that show and noted how frontman Paul Westerberg played to a small crowd and was visibly upset when the crowd (with some millennials who are unfamiliar with the band's oeuvre) didn't sing along loud enough to their tracks.
However, as Westerberg promised in weekend one, his band's next Coachella set would be different. And it was—The Replacements had Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong (in his khaki and plaid two-piece suit) head on stage early on as a surprise guest and play throughout the show. Westerberg, who threw out his back, pretty much sat on a couch (really!) during most of the performance and performed from there. Bizarre, for sure, but it worked. And there seemed to be a larger crowd than the week before.
It probably wasn't hard for Armstrong to play along (and almost completely act as the frontman) to beloved tracks like "Can't Hardly Wait" and "Color Me Impressed." After all, Armstrong has been known to talk about how much The Replacements influenced his music. In an interview with Armstrong and Westerberg in a 2010 Spin story, Armstrong said:
My kid's 15 now; Replacements albums are the first things he reaches for. And my sister brought me to see you at the Fillmore, I think in 1987. You guys were wearing all plaid....
Here's a video of last night's performance.
It wasn't only The Replacements making things right this second time around. Outkast took it a notch up from weekend one's rather lackluster reviews. They obviously read all those bad reviews and made an effort to appease their fans for their much-anticipated reunion tour. Even a Coachella camper who was at the festival early on Thursday said he had no choice but to listen to the duo do a six-hour sound check. They really were trying hard—and it paid off.
Andre 3000 and Big Boi of Outkast perform on stage during weekend two of Coachella (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for Coachella)
Last weekend, there were problems with the pair's overly long set that ran overtime; even Sleepy Brown and Killer Mike were cut off while they were performing "The Whole World." Fans complained that there was a lull in the middle of the set with long rap solos and an out-of-place three-song performance by rapper Future. This time, Andre 3000 and Big Boi spent time outside of their huge cube centerpiece, making their reunion less awkward and connecting more with the audience with hits like "Ms. Jackson" and "Hey Ya." They rearranged their set, shortened their solos, and Sleepy Brown and Killer Mike got to finish their track. Even Andre 3000 went for a costume change from his overalls in weekend one to a black-and-white one-piece pantsuit. They were tighter and more comfortable on stage. Dare we say, "So Fresh, So Clean"?
