Coachella: It’s Sunday brunch with Phosphorescent

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Who: Phosphorescent in the Mojave Tent
In 3 or Fewer Words: Luminescent Americana.
I’ll Remember This Forever Because: Phosphorescent’s quick-and-dirty 30-minute just after noon Sunday proves that there’s always a reason to hit Coachella early, even if it is the final day of the fest and the burning star in the sky and pains in your feet seem to have increased tenfold. A series of bearded Americana and blue-jeans indie folk, Phosphorescent’s (aka singer-songwriter Matthew Houck and Co.) set kicked out the shitkicker jams with the riffy, piano-pounded alt-country of “It’s Hard To Be Humble (When You’re From Alabama)” and took it from there with set that sprinted from the pedal steel powerhouse of the insistent “Nothing Was Stolen (Love Me Foolishly)” to the starkly gorgeous and brokenhearted farewell elegy, “The Mermaid Parade (Dead Oceans).” It was a set that culled together such influences as Townes Van Zandt and Willie Nelson and let loose with a series of whiskey-buzzed and heart-bruised country-rock gems, and if there was a better way to unfurl the final day of Coachella ’11, I’d like to hear about it.
What I’d Tell My Friends Who Slept In And Missed The Set: You caught up on your sleep; I gained a new favorite band.
– Travis Woods
Photo by Scott Dudelson