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INDIO, California — Coachella continued into day three on Sunday with more of what the weekend has been about, a few high points sprinkled in with a lot of disappointment. (Check out recaps of Friday and Saturday as well.)



In the sprit of optimism, let's start with My Morning Jacket, who showed within the first 10 minutes of their near-flawless set why they are being called saviors of rocks. After sitting through so many rock bands that dance or groove or chill, it was a warm welcome to see a rock band that rocks. And I mean guitars-flying, drummer-sweating, crowd-screaming kind of rock.

What makes MMJ even more compelling is singer Jim James, whose unique voice (with almost natural reverb) brings you into the emotions in his songs, even if you're not exactly sure what he's singing about.

Another highlight was Does It Offend You, Yeah?, the only new band to truly blew the proverbial roof off the small Gobi Tent. The British act's blend of big guitar riffs and even bigger dance beats recalled a few years ago, when Bloc Party, The Bravery and dance bands were the talk of the festival. And fittingly, their best song is called "We Are Rockstars."

In the larger Mojave Tent, Duffy lived up to the hype, recalling a bit of Amy Winehouse with her jazzy pop vocal stylings. As a performer, though, the two are nothing alike, as the Welch Duffy is light and upbeat, even joking when her microphone didn't work for the first half of her first song. "Let's start again and we'll just call that the intro," she said with a charming smile.

"This was my first festival experience ever," Duffy told Buzznet backstage. "I really loved the crowd. I will be surprised if all festival audiences are this amazing."

On the main stage, the Shout Out Louds made the most of their 3 p.m. slot, forging new fans with their infectious Cure-inspired rock. Donning flower crowns and shorts, the bands looked like they got lost on their way to a luau and singer Adam Olenius even joked during a strummy bridge, "This kinda feels like Jack Johnson."

As far as the disappointments, it wasn't so much certain acts as it was the lineup as a whole. In a Coachella first for me, there were several times where none of the five stages had something I wanted to check out. And I overheard others saying the same thing.

So I ended up checking out a lot of veteran acts that never interested me, like Spiritualized and Stars, whose albums I would probably enjoy listening to as I write this in the middle of the night, but whose live sets don't get me excited.

And then there was Roger Waters. The Pink Floyd bassist certainly packed the largest crowd of the day, and they stuck around for his lengthy set, but it was hard to tell if people liked it or knew they were supposed to like it.

That's not to say Waters and his band (and orchestra) didn't sound every bit as epic as I'd imagined they would, it just didn't feel like Coachella the same way Rage Against the Machine did a year ago.

Waters certainly got the award for the coolest prop since the Flaming Lips' Wayne-in-a-bubble, with a giant inflatable pig that floated above the crowd as the band played "Pigs." The pig was spray-painted with messages like "Fear builds walls," but the one that stood out was "Obama" next to a box with a check in it. "That's my pig," Waters joked as pyrotechnics broke the strings and it floated off.

(By the way, second place for coolest prop goes to I'm From Barcelona for their red balloons and graffiti!)

At least Waters brought out an older audience to experience Coachella, which is cool. And speaking of, I forgot to note Saturday that Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler was the big celebrity spotting, as he was seen all over the festival, watching music with the VIPs and the regular people too.

Sure beats today's coolest celeb: Corey Feldman.

-Adam Deroy

Didn't make it to Coachella? Don't worry – Buzznet did. Keep checking back for interviews with red-hot artists, get an eyeful of our countless pictures and feast on more coverage right here. And don't forget to upload your own content to the Coachella group page.

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