Day 1 of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival got underway in Indio, CA yesterday where thousands of people flocked to the desert to watch live concert performances by artists like Morrissey, The Ting Tings, Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band and more. But, Coachella Day 1 was really all about Sir Paul McCartney who headlined the fest last night and officially got the 3-day party started:

Energized by the desert air and memory of his late wife, a playful and passionate Paul McCartney riffed on “Foxy Lady,” led an after-midnight “Hey Jude” singalong and dedicated songs to his former bandmates at the Coachella music festival that kicked off Friday. McCartney took off his black jacket five songs in and didn’t put it back on for the next 29, strutting the stage in boots, black pants, a white shirt and suspenders that he tugged at wryly. “It’s going to be a good weekend, dear,” he told the crowd of thousands gathered for the three-day festival, which erupted in cheers with the first chords of Beatles tunes like “Eleanor Rigby.” It was McCartney’s first appearance at a U.S. festival as a solo artist. In the 2 1/2-hour set, including two encores, McCartney dedicated “Long and Winding Road” and “My Love Does It Good” to his late wife Linda, who died at the couple’s ranch at Tucson, Ariz., 11 years earlier to the day. “It’s an emotional day for me. That’s good, that’s OK,” he said, pounding his chest. “Lot of heart, lot of emotion.” Before a moving performance of “Blackbird,” he noted that it had been written in response to the 60s civil rights movement. “Now you’ve got President Obama. Yeah, you know we’ve come a long way.” Switching from serious to cheerily self-aware, he led call-and-response chants only to wave them off quickly as “messing around,” and dismissed signs held by front-row fans — including one that asked for his guitar pick. “No! It’s mine!” McCartney said. “Anyway, if I make a mistake, I can blame the signs.” There were mistakes. McCartney was proficient but sometimes out-of-sync with the four-man band backing him. But he clearly enjoyed himself, plowing through songs from his “Fireman” album, “Band on the Run” from the Wings, and Fab Four favorites like “Back in the USSR,” “Paperback Writer” and, for the finale, “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.” McCartney launched brightly into “Something” with only his voice and a ukulele he said was given to him by George Harrison, before his band mates and the crowd joined in. The first day of the festival also featured Morrissey, Leonard Cohen, the Hold Steady, Franz Ferdinand and the Ting Tings. It drew a number of young Hollywood stars to this desert city southeast of Palm Springs. Anne Hathaway was spotted in the VIP area wearing patterned harem pants and a cardigan, while Morrissey’s set drew the attention of “Twilight” actor Robert Pattinson, wearing skinny cut-off jeans, and Kirsten Dunst in a short-sleeve mini-dress. Kate Bosworth, “Weird Al” Yankovic, Chloe Sevigny and Zoe Kravitz were also spotted in the VIP area. Las Vegas-based The Killers and M.I.A., a replacement for Amy Winehouse, headline a more youthful Saturday lineup. My Bloody Valentine and The Cure cap off Sunday night. The recession has forced music festivals nationwide to lower prices or downsize, and three-day, $269 tickets to Coachella were available on a layaway plan. Single-day tickets were $120 at the door.

Wow, sounds incredible. I was unaware that it was the anniversary of Linda McCartney’s death … and I simply cannot believe she passed away 11 years ago! Has it really been that long? I have to say, altho I’m not a fan at all of day-long festival concerts (especially in the California desert) it sounds like yesterday might’ve been worth the desert trek. I would’ve happily paid $120 just to see Sir Paul play a 2 1/2 hour concert all by himself. I understand that Morrissey wasn’t too happy yesterday. He complained from the stage saying, “The smell of burning flesh is more than I can bear … and I hope to God it’s human” (via Amanda Palmer’s Twitter). See, it’s hard to tell if Moz was really pissy or if he was just being his usual charming/bitchy self. In any event, 90+ degree weather notwithstanding, it sounds like Day 1 of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival for 2009 was a good one … let’s see how Day 2 goes today.

[Photo credit: Wireimage; Source]