Live from Coachella - The Killers fizzle but the music, the scene, it's all in the Atmosphere

April 19, 3:54 PMPop Culture ExaminerDominic Patten

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Saturday was when the crush really seemed to start at this year's Coachella. The sheer number of bodies, as LA weekenders and others traveled out for the last two days of the festival, ensured almost every show and every tent was packed. Not that they didn't get their money's worth on Day Two of the festival's 10th anniversary

For a round-up of Day One of Coachella and Paul McCartney's hit headlining set, click here - plus check out our Coachella slideshow

For Dominic Patten's Top Picks for Day One of Coachella 2009, click here 

Then, for Dominic Patten's Top Picks for Day Two of Coachella 2009, click here 

And, one more time for Dominic Patten's Top Picks for Day Three of Coachella 2009, click here  

If you want to see the entire Coachella line-up plus set times, click here

If performances were packed, a fair number of them, from all genres, were top notch. The late great James Brown will always be the hardest working man in show biz, but for Day Two of Coachella 2009, the Drive-By Truckers were the hardest work band in the land. From their afternoon set on the secondary Outdoor Stage, which including a blistering version of Jim Carroll's "People Who Died," to their early evening stint lovingly backing up the truly legendary Booker T, the band that has taken ownership of Southern Rock waved the flag of guitar boogie and won over new fans and old. The same could be said of TV on the Radio. The critically beloved band had everyone dancing during their set as the baking sun started to go down. That sort of fervor was in Amanda Palmer's performance too. The former Dresden Doll didn't just take the stage, along with her band, the singer took the mixing riser too, playing in the middle of the crowd in the Gobi Tent. Saturday saw a few other surprises too with Jane's Addiction's Perry Farrell, whose performing solo Sunday, joining Thievery Corporation onstage

Band of Horses put on melodically magical set under the warm night sky. That is the little of it that you could hear. Thankfully, by the time the band got into the last portion with M.I.A. poring over from the main stage, that situation was remedied. Ending with a new tune called "Eat Me Head," which sounded like something My Morning Jacket could have put on their last album. By then Band of Horse sounded like their name, and, as Martha Stewart says, that was a good thing.

Kicking off with "All Our Friends Are Dead" from their Party Animals album from 2005, Turbonegro had their crowd chanting along with them from the first power chord. Looking like Pavarotti after an Oslo sex, drugs and rock'n'roll bender lead singer Hank von Helvete said that he and his band of black denimed sailor capped Norwegians were "here to bring it on." With a wall of Marshall amps behind them and a guest appearance by former Queens of the Stone Age bassist Nick Oliveri, that's exactly what they did.

You couldn't say that for Saturday's headliners The Killers. The chartoppers came out with their hometown Vegas glam and the sexless Duran Duran tribute that's been their trademark for the past few years and did exactly what you expected. No more and sometimes far less. The fact is, as much as jam packed crowd loved them at first, the Killers were boring and predictable. Within about six or seven songs, people started leaving and by the end the Killers were playing to less than a large theatre’s worth of fans. In contrast and playing at almost the same time as the Killers, Atmosphere over on the Outdoor stage, could get their fans to leave. Sure they had a significantly smaller crowd but Slug and DJ Ant, plus a back up singer, guitarist and keyboardist, played to their audience like they were both in a giant stadium and in an intimate club. In perhaps the truest testament to the Minneapolis duo's skills and their hardcore fans, after a wide ranging set of newer and older material, the band broke the barrier of their set time and came back for an encore to the baying fans. Not only were they, as far as I can tell, the only non-headlining band to even have an encore, but Slug's freestyle homage to Coachella, the other bands and the music of the day created truly a once in a lifetime experience - just like it should have.

Remember, there's more Coachella to come, with the Cure, My Bloody Valentine, X, the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs and many more....