Coachella 2011: Ellie Goulding & Foster the People, for your dancing or relaxing pleasure

 

Foster the People don't even have a full-length album out yet, but it's safe to say that the world has caught on. The band was about 20 minutes late to its date at Coachella's Gobi tent, the smallest of the three covered stages, and no one was budging. There were a few boos, of course, and fans started looking at their Coachella schedules, knowing that Duran Duran would be starting over on the main stage just a few minutes after the technicality difficulties were solved.

Yet once the act, now a five-piece in its live incarnation and centered around lead singer/keyboardist Mark Foster, finally took the stage, they pulled a gutsy move. Straight into a known song -- a track from an earlier released EP, perhaps -- it was not, as instead the band went direct to something atmospheric.

Foster the People are skilled in the art of the slow build. The act unveiled one of its new songs, which fans have been calling "Got to Get Away," and keyboards led to a torrent of tom-tom drumming and all of it comes and goes thought the song. It's a rock 'n' dance song as a grand tease.

\ The Coachella set may not have been the band's strongest, as there were some sound issues that seemed to cut in and out when not expected, but one couldn't help feel that the band has arrived.

After all, few acts without an album out can say, "This song needs no introduction," and get a roar of applause and a crowd singing every word of "Pumped Up Kicks." Oh, and no one left for Duran Duran, as Foster's tent stayed packed to the hilt.

Coachella 2011 in photos: The acts and scene | 360° Panoramas | The faces

Earlier, Ellie Goulding presented a different take on how to meld electronics, laid-back grooves and the occasional flirt with something more aggressive. I saw Goulding last month at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, and was impressed, but the Goulding at Coachella at times seemed like a different artist.

In Austin, Goulding was flanked only by two keyboardists and one drummer. Here, she had a similar set-up, but also took out an acoustic guitar ("Guns and Horses") and went all theatrical in covering Elton John's "Your Song." Vocally, Goulding's sweet, refined and a pro -- her John cover felt like it could have been a Grammy tribute to the artist, with Goulding kneeling or holding her hand to the heavens at all the right spots.

Yet listen to Goulding's hit singles, and one will hear a more digitally-affected artist. Such was the side she strutted at SXSW, taking moments away from dancing only to pound a bass drum. Here, it was more Madonna's "Bedtime Story," at least until she launched into "Starry Eyed" and morphed into a should-be dance-pop star.

Coachella 2011: Spiritualized as the new spa treatment?

Coachella 2011: Kanye West, with a dash of creme fraiche

Coachella 2011: Jimmy Eat World throws a bro-down

--Todd Martens

Photo: Ellie Goulding performs on Sunday at Coachella. Credit: Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Tim]

The photo is not of Foster the People (appears to be Tiny Tempah, the act on stage prior to FTP). T0dd--you may want to mention that FTP was NOT 20 minutes late to their set, they only started 20 minutes late because the act before them went OVER by more than 20 minutes! Let's be sure we're telling the full story here!

[Scott K.]

Shoddy reporting on Foster the People. The band was not 20 minutes late of their own doing. I arrived to watch them play their set at around 6:40, and they were set to go on at 6:50, following a 6:00-6:30 run by Tinie Tempah. I don't know what exactly was the cause, but they/he played until about 6:52, a full two minutes into the time Foster the People were SUPPOSED to be on. The boos and hisses from the audience were misguided anger from a crowd too oblivious to reality, and too impatient or stupid to realize the difference between a tech crew and a band, and a sound check and the beginning of a song.

I'm sure Foster the People would have loved to play on time, someone else decided for them that they wouldn't.

[David S]

I disagree, FTP blew it up with the delay big time. There were not only boos but a LOT of walkouts before and during their set. I was there with a group of 20 and I was the only one that stayed. People were buzzing, perfect sunset setting, packed tent and they were late at a place where time matters (you are competing with plenty of other incredible acts). You don't get those chances as an artist many times. Really sad for them.