What do you call two days, 78 acres, 81 bands, 100 degrees and 100,000 people? Coachella [ tickets ] 2004.

Sold out for the first time in its five years of existence, the annual festival offered a weekend lined with top-flight acts from Air to !!!. ... and all deserved exclamation marks. Well, almost all ...

SATURDAY, MAY 1
Day 1 Photo Gallery

Radiohead [ tickets ]
On day one, Radiohead singer Thom Yorke soldiered through a four-day throat infection for a stellar set. Armed with a raspy voice and a wicked grin, Yorke sounded more poignant because of his ills, particularly on "Sit Down, Stand Up." As he wailed away at the song's final mantra, "The rain drops," Jonny Greenwood spiraled echoing guitar riffs into Phil Selway's crashing drums. Behind the band, a rectangular display of red lights danced to each electric measure.

"Idioteque" was a buzz saw. "Karma Police," a slashing acoustic epic. Radiohead even dusted off its '93 smash "Creep" for a good, old-fashioned, festival sing-along. But as soon as the band ended its set, fans sprinted toward the colossal Sahara tent for Kraftwerk.

Kraftwerk
In the huge plastic pavilion, the German icons of modern rock were programming timeless electronica into their keyboards. They were an odd sight: here were four middle-aged men in sharp suits, each standing in front of his laptop--and one of them wasn't even tapping his toes. Behind them, an array of black-and-white film and '80s-style computer images, which evolved and then devolved to the music.

"Computer World" was simple and simply marvelous, while "Boing Boom Tschak" was like an episode of the '60s "Batman" TV show come strangely to life. Zam!

Pixies [ tickets ]
In 1993, on the heels of breaking up the Pixies, lead-singer Black Francis told journalist David Kushner, "If someone wants to hear me wax nostalgic about my records, talk to me in 10 years. At the moment, I'm just f---ing sick of them." Eleven years on, nostalgia reigned supreme at Coachella.

Led by Francis (current stage name: Frank Black) and Kim Deal, the Pixies hit the Coachella stage just as the day-one sun was going down. Opening with "Bone Machine," the influential Boston band that never really made it big was suddenly playing a greatest-hits reunion show at an American festival. It was a satisfying, if somewhat surreal, 45-minute set.

The old pros gave the fans exactly what they came to hear. A "Wave of Mutilation" here. A little "Debaser" there. Of course, "Here Comes Your Man" made the grade too. Later, sexy guitar lines and a bass-heavy instrumental bridge spiked "Hey," another track off "Doolittle." Kim Deal's "Gigantic" featured fat, wrought-iron chords. Then the band reached deep for the quirky pair of "Caribou" and "Nimrod's Son," the latter unveiled just as the sky turned a deep blue.

The Rapture
Across the way, on Coachella's smaller outdoor stage, several lesser-known acts staked their claim to rock's future. Among them, The Rapture, a four-piece from New York City. The group's brand of funk punk and disco beats thrilled the audience. The jaw-dropping set, which included "House of Jealous Lovers," "Killing" and "Sister Savior," ended with singer/guitarist Luke Jenner holding his cream-colored ax like a rifle, aiming it into the crowd.

Desert Sessions
Josh Homme, singer/guitarist from Queens of the Stone Age, pulled out his long-running, often-changing side project, Desert Sessions, for its first-ever live show. This edition saw the musical union of Homme, Dean Ween, members of Eleven, and others.

Set before a backdrop of palm trees, Homme and his rag-tag group of a dozen musicians played tracks from last year's "Desert Sessions, Volume 9-10," including "In My Head ... or Something," "Dead in Love," and "Hanging Tree." As the group rocked behind him, Homme swayed his hips as he stared down at his guitar, drawing out sinewy lines that echoed across the field. Ween, meanwhile, raged across the stage from time to time, leaping through the air clutching vibrating high notes.

Death Cab for Cutie and Beck
With the sun beaming onto the Empire Polo Fields, the daytime posed its own challenges. After playing "Title and Registration" three songs into his band's set, Death Cab for Cutie singer Ben Gibbard complained about his sweat-proof sunblock. "It's bulls---," he said. "Get the regular one and save 50 cents." The group, smartly decked out in white chinos and white polo shirts, then played "Expo '86," with the lines, "I am waiting for something to go wrong. I am waiting for familiar resolve."

Beck, a last-minute addition to the Coachella lineup, played a stripped-down, acoustic set that dipped into his recent "Sea Change" album. Unfortunately, the singer was playing the smallest of the three tents, and there were too many fans and not enough space.

SUNDAY, MAY 2
Day 2 Photo Gallery

The Cure [ tickets ]
Day two featured a lineup filled with emotional boys. Acts like Thursday, Cursive and Bright Eyes made the girls swoon with passionate, visceral music. So it only seemed proper for The Cure, the mother of all emo bands, to headline the main stage Sunday night. Though 20 minutes late, the group was greeted with wild applause. Robert Smith, in his standard-issue black-pajama uniform and Paul Mitchell hair, opened the set with a new tune called "Lost."

While the obtuse band suffered through a couple of broken strings and occasional sound trouble, it managed to warm up by mid set. Early highlights included "Fascination Street," swollen with its extended intro of shimmering guitars and lunging bass line. Then the warm opening notes of "Love Song" set off a wave of shrieks.

The Flaming Lips [ tickets ]
Before The Cure, The Flaming Lips delivered an utterly unforgettable performance. The Lips took the stage after a brief delay. Guitarist Steven Drozd wore a pink elephant costume while bassist Michael Ivins was a Zebra for the night. Frontman Wayne Coyne, dressed in his customary white suit, apologized for the wait and then announced that the band was going to try something different. Stagehands rolled out a giant bubble, and Coyne gladly climbed inside. He was then rolled out onto the audience as his mates jammed out to some distorted chords.

When he was finally rolled back onto stage Coyne explained, "About three weeks ago, I dreamt that I descended on Coachella in a giant bubble from outer space. Thank you guys. I'm sorry if I crushed your heads." Fans were only too happy to oblige.

Then, after a memorable, cinematic introduction, the group launched into "Race for the Prize" as balloons, smoke and spotlights filled the night air. The Lips played "Fight Test," a massive version of "The Gash," and the title track off "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots."

If there's a complaint it's that Coyne went on about the war in Iraq and the poor presidency of George W. Bush so long that it ate into the band's music time. Instead, the set closed with the audience singing "Happy Birthday" to Beck and his wife in honor of their coming child. Oh well. At least Coyne poured some fake blood onto his head for the occasion.

Air
France's Air, a duo whose members look like George Harrison circa 1964, played the main stage before The Flaming Lips. Sounding a lot like their name, the pair keyed their way through a bunch of songs off their albums, "Moon Safari" and "Talkie Walkie."

Air sound as if they heard the first half of Pink Floyd's "Shine on You Crazy Diamond" and then stopped listening. Needless to say, the group provided a perfect evening respite, especially for Coachella fans holding the two-day pass. Plus, the stoners loved every mellow moment Air could conjure.

Bright Eyes
Earlier in the day, emo-icon Connor Oberst and his group, Bright Eyes, were greeted with adoring applause. Strapped to an acoustic guitar and sporting dark, wraparound sunglasses, the 24-year-old was backed by two drummers, a horn player, a bassist and a second guitarist. For the next 45 minutes, they explored modern Americana.

Beginning with "Don't Know When but a Day is Gonna Come," Oberst was all fire-breathing attitude. He spit a venomous allusion to the Bush family, "God saves Texas family fortunes." Between the opener and the show's finale, Oberst choked his guitar and strummed incessantly while his punctured voice did the rest. He even tickled the ivories on the stark "Neely O'Hara." On "Bowl of Oranges" Bright Eyes was joined by a cellist.

Besides the main stages, there was action in the tents too.

The Thrills
The Thrills, an Irish band enamored with Gram Parsons and Neil Young, played in a brimming Mojave tent. As the quartet offered songs off their debut, "So Much for the City," they seemed to be winning fans over quickly. Offering up their most popular tunes, "Big Sur," "One Horse Town" and "Santa Cruz (You're Not that Far)," The Thrills' mix of piano, drums, guitar and bass was perfect for a Sunday in the sun.

Sage Francis
Underground hip-hop poet and spoken-word master Sage Francis attracted a curious crowd to the Gobi tent. Maybe it was the gold-colored mask he wore through half of his performance--or maybe it was just his charismatic flow.

Rapping to pre-recorded backing tracks played on a portable CD player, Francis is a rhyme slayer of the first order. He joked, he told stories, and he interacted with the mesmerized crowd. Hitting up "Crack Pipes," Francis sprung up and down on his knees while his arms pointed in and out. The a-capella "Hopeless" showed off his spoken-word skills.

Up until this year, the Coachella festival had never sold-out--not one day, and certainly not both. This year, both days sold out. That's because Coachella's creators finally struck upon the magic combination: take alterna-legends like Kraftwerk, The Pixies and The Cure, add some artists with insanely loyal fans (Radiohead and The Flaming Lips), then surround them all with a palette of modern music's brightest up-and-coming stars, acts like Phantom Planet, Hieroglyphics, Stereolab, Atmosphere, Mogwai and Kool Keith.

Sure, it wasn't a perfect event. Getting in required a body search, the food was overpriced and parking was a nightmare. But for all that music and for all that rocked, it was a pretty satisfying couple of days. But, really, can't something be done about the 100-degree days?

Editor's note: The this story was edited on 5/24/04 to reflect The Thrills' correct native country.