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"Killing In The Name" was particularly insane; you haven't lived until you've yelled "Fuck you I won't do what you tell me," pumping fists with 60,000 sunburned kids in the desert.

The audience expected, and received, the most politically-charged set of the weekend. That the band was compelled to reunite amid this unprecedented partisan climate made the performance more significant than Rage's last Coachella show in '99. And lest there was any confusion, Zack de la Rocha let his thoughts on the current administration be known with these words:

"[The current administration] needs to be tried, hung and shot. We need to treat them like the war criminals they are. But the challenges we face go beyond the current administration … It’s a system we have to tear down, generation after generation."

The moshers seemed to understand.

Superlatives get tired quick, but here goes ... Saturday may have been the greatest single day festival experience we've had yet. Staving off the 106º temps and sun with a mix of sunscreen and adrenaline, we marched across the Coachella grounds fueled by the excellence of every act we saw. Nobody missed the mark, and as the sun set and Arcade Fire played "Wake Up," "Tunnels," "Ocean Of Noise," et al to their expectedly massive audience, pretty sure everyone around had one of those shared "this is the shit" moments.

Earlier in the day, we took in the ever-polarizing Kings Of Leon at the Coachella Stage, playing one of the fest's most acclaimed sets. The Followill boys were tight as always, opening with "Black Thumbnail," killing "On Call," and generally enjoying their moment in the mainstage sun. The Decemberists were well worth the walk to the Outdoor Theater, with Colin bedecked in a stylish seersucker suit, opening with "Crane Wife 3," shifting into the entirety of "The Island," and the Colbert Nation taunting "O! Valencia." Meloy instigated another dance contest. Also, there was a whale costume.

Much later, not-a-DJ Girl Talk did what he does best: make the stage a giant dance party, by spinning mostly Coachella artists (Spank Rock Vs. Peter Bjorn & John!) and inviting the likes of Paris Hilton on stage. Our night ended with avant-pop deconstructionist Cornelius, who absolutely scorched the Gobi Tent with playful jabs at prog, thrash, electro, and dreamy day balladry. He has a stateside tour coming (first in five years), so do what you can to be there.

After !!!, we had no choice but to seek out the dance. And, inadvertently, we stumbled into the craziest "scene" we've seen all weekend. The lineup at the Sahara Tent Saturday night featured French electro duo Justice, LCD Soundsystem, and the Rapture, each taking turns turning-out the tent and putting bodies in motion. And the Scenester's Guide To Coachella must have had this particular string of sets flagged; turn to the left and see Kelly Osbourne, on your right was Steve Aoki, look side-stage and catch a mostly miserable (save the moment we snapped her) Lily Allen.

We bumped into party-starter Spank Rock milling about, too, and talked awhile about the recent rash of effusive praise for YoYoYoYoYoYo from the likes of Björk to Yorke. Said Naeem:

You forgot Drew Barrymore. [Laughs] No, I am just so honored. Really, I can't believe it.

We didn't get to talk about his hilarious track "Lindsay Lohan's Revenge" -- but who do you think was holding court a few feet away?

If you ask your Indio-bound buddies which band delivered The Set Of Saturday and they answer with anyone other than !!!, we can explain: They weren't at the Mojave tent at approximately 6:40PM, when the dance-punk octet brought fire to the desert. Nic Offer's impossibly short shorts in full effect, the manic frontman-of-the-year stretched and smirked, snarling "Oh you guys have been waiting for THIS, haven't you?" -- met with the tent's deafening assent. Nodding to the noise, Offer offered: "Yeah, us too." With that, the raunchy rocker launched into his arm-flailing convulsions and patented pelvic thrusts as the band cranked a relentless "All My Heroes Are Weirdos."

We haven't checked Chk Chk Chk since last summer's Øya Festivalen in Oslo, prior to the release of their return-to-form funk-slammer Myth Takes. But the classics are still just that; "Pardon My Freedom" was second on deck, Nic acting out each "Like I give a fuck" as disparate characters (defiant punk terrorist with one pass, effeminately obstinate Valley girl the next). "Heart Of Hearts" brought a treat for the myth takers with vocalist Shannon Funchess reprising her studio vocal for the craziest crowd we've seen yet.

"Yadnus," "Must Be The Moon," non-stop, straight killer. We ran into our old friend Naeem Juwan (a.k.a. Spank Rock) later in the night, and he concurred with the crowd: "I've watched 'em a lot lately, and that was the best !!! show I've ever seen." (More from our night with Spank Rock TK.) Between hopelessly imitating Nic's moves (not a pretty sight), we took around 300 pictures, the best of which you'll find after the jump.

We interrupt our regularly scheduled posts about Saturday's across-the-board awesome performances with a slew of shots to show you what you'd see on your hot walks from the Coachella Stage to the Sahara Tent. It's a mix of costumed fans, performance artists, sculptures and, below, Demetri Martin's worst nightmare. Enjoy!

After the ubiquity of "Young Folks," a comprehensive sweep of NYC shows, and the indefatigable insistence of the Asian Riff, we sorta figured we'd had our fill of PB&J. But yesterday's set at the Mohave tent was simply irresistible, the Swedes pleasing the cramped crowd with Writer's Block faves "Amsterdam" (Bjorn remembered the lyrics this time), the heart-warming sing along "Paris 2004," and a jaunty romp through "Let's Call It Off." No secret which tune the young folks were waiting for all set long, of course, and the tent erupted in welcome of the Shout Out Louds’ Bebban Stenborg who pinch-hit for Concretes' Victoria Bergsman.

After maneuvering the Coachella grounds and getting ourselves situated, Stereogum's Day Two began at the Outdoor Theater, taking in the New Pornographer's spin on that Canadian indie rock of which we're all so fond. But the minute Carl Newman's mic went live, he dashed our hopes for a preview of material from the forthcoming Challenger: "So we have a new album coming out, and we're not playing anything from it!" A quick stage scan revealed no Bejar nor Neko, and though the Pornos pyrotechnic pop is always a treat, we felt a quick sulk in the sun coming on.

"But..." continued Carl, "what you see behind you IS the new album's artwork!" Yay, something to blog about! Challenger's cover was designed by the absent Neko Case, displayed on a bright, color lightboard behind the Canadian supergroup. Have a gander...

maybe this is just amazing cause im intoxicated.

“Check this out - it’s totally retarded!!! hahaha”
-Dez(Crossover)

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Today's fun in the sun didn't get going in earnest until around 4PM, when Regina Spektor and Hot Chip faced off in a battle for our affections -- but it's a nonstop tour de dehydration from there out. Think we've all seen and heard enough about Peter Bjorn & John for a couple of months, so we're gonna check in with Carl Newman and whichever New Pornographers made the trek to Indio (and hope for some new tunes to write home about). The other stacked-up face-off comes at 6:15PM, when Kings Of Leon, the Decemberists, and Andrew Bird simultaneously sweat (it's 150º, btw). Whatever we decide there, the rest of the night is looking like !!!, Arcade Fire, Justice, LCD, and Cornelius. Stream it in the comfort of your own air-conditioning here.

Not that Coachella's a competition ... but of course it is. Who's gonna turn in the show to set tongues wagging (à la Daft Punk)? It's only been a day, we know, and there's so much left to see. But it's tough to think anything could top last night's sensational set under the stars from Icelandic icon Björk. For the none of you who don't know her, allow Patton Oswalt's Aunt Ori (a.k.a. Patton Oswalt, at Coachella with his Comedians Of Comedy show) fill you in (via FILTER):

Björk, besides naming herself after this adorable notions shelf I bought at IKEA ... sings songs that makes you think she lives in a wee seashell on a magic groundhog's adventure belt.

Something like that. True to Aunt Ori's depiction, Björk hit the stage with a heart-patterned, scarf-slung headdress and a rainbow-Hawaiian-cavewoman getup, bouncing and wailing through "Earth Intruders." We know this would've been great fodder for PhotoShop, but so it goes.

The desert air was still and cool, feeding an amped audience of hardcore Björk fans' lunatic gesticulations to an extraordinary, emotional performance. Eye candy abound: Flags; lasers; illuminated, touchscreen synths; and a futuristic sonic croupier (see the pics below) decked the set, with the woman of honor's barefoot bounding throughout.