Holly Alvarado

1 week ago | pasadenastarnews.com | Charlie Vargas |Holly Alvarado |Peter Larsen |Carolyn Burt

When the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival ends, there's a bittersweet feeling similar to the emotions of saying goodbye to friends at a high school graduation. Fans at the festival's first weekend at the Empire Polo Club got to see major headliners such as Lady Gaga, who for sure would've been a theater kid; the alt-punk rockers Green Day, who would hang out under the bleachers; and Post Malone, the guy who always knew where the parties were.

1 week ago | pasadenastarnews.com | Peter Larsen |Holly Alvarado |Charlie Vargas

Sunday afternoons at the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival have a special vibe all their own. Everyone's feeling the effects of the first two days in the desert. "Is that your hangover walk?" a festival staffer teased as fans straggled slowly from the parking lot to the gates just before 3 p.m. Sunday. Hmm. Maybe a bit of the old punk rock is what you need to put a little pep in your step.

1 week ago | pasadenastarnews.com | Charlie Vargas |Holly Alvarado |Emily St. Martin |Peter Larsen

The first weekend of the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival sold out, drawing an estimated 125,000 people to the Empire Polo Club in Indio. There were often lines of fans to order food, use the bathrooms, get in and out of the festivals, and, of course, the clusters in between crowds trying to catch the best sets. Here's everything we overheard from fans during the weekend one of Coachella.

1 week ago | pasadenastarnews.com | Holly Alvarado

A full moon hung over the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival grounds on Saturday night, but the real lunacy was on stage with headliner Green Day. Fireworks cracked in the distance, black beach balls flew through the air, and a man in a bunny suit had already revved the crowd right at the beginning into a frenzy by the time Billie Joe Armstrong asked, "How many of you are on mental health medication?" Welcome to the world of Green Day - part punk circus, part group therapy, and all heart.

1 week ago | pasadenastarnews.com | Holly Alvarado

By the time Charli XCX stormed the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival main stage on Saturday evening at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, the sea of neon green and black outfits in the crowd had already said enough: this was Bratchella. Opening with the hard-hitting "365 (Party Girl Remix)" and flowing seamlessly into "360," Charli arrived in her signature all-black party ensemble, red solo cup in hand, with the word PARTY flashing behind her in stark black and white visuals.