Coachella 2012: Radiohead’s Yorke DJs ‘til dawn at the Parker Hotel
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What is one to do after playing your heart out for tens of thousands of people at one of America’s biggest music festivals? If you’re Radiohead’s Thom Yorke, you don’t grab well-deserved shuteye. Early Sunday morning, York unleashed one of his epic DJ sets for an intimate crowd of friends and in-the-know types at the uber-trendy Parker Hotel in Palm Springs, taking the decks a little after 4 a.m. and keeping the crowd shaking ‘til dawn.
When word about artist-thrown after-parties starts to spread around the desert during Coachella, it can lead to chaos and confusion wherever the gathering ends up. But the Radiohead party managed to stay very much under the radar, and since it didn’t start until late (1 a.m.), only diehards (on a short list) ultimately made it in.
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The funky, somewhat subversive décor inside the Parker (courtesy of designer Jonathan Adler) was the perfect setting for a soiree thrown by the revered rockers. Held on the back patio of the hotel, with an adjacent dance room, the affair was a chill yet fabulous mix of music and imbibing.
DJ Ana Calderon started the evening with her signature mix of rock, soul and retro nuggets, with Yorke continuing the genre-blend as the night wore on and moving in a decidedly funkier direction, meshing electronic grooves, hip-hop (Snoop Dogg!), Motown (Diana Ross) and James Brown, during which he left the decks and let loose on the floor with killer moves of his own.
Yorke also spun earlier at the Ace Hotel with Flying Lotus and Gaslamp Killer (whom he notoriously joined at the club Low End Theory in L.A. last year) for a Brainfeeder event, video of which can be found all over the Web. But his own party mix and set, far more magical, was enjoyed by a rapt few, all of whom were more interested in absorbing the vibe and his brilliant selections in the moment, rather than capturing it for a computer, OK?
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— Lina Lecaro