R. Kelly joined Phoenix onstage at Coachella over the weekend.
Many fans who were in attendance on Saturday evening believed that Daft Punk would join the French indie band onstage during their set at the music festival. Much to their surprise, R&B singer R. Kelly took the stage to sing a few songs with the group.
Phoenix performed the tunes “Entertainment” and “The Real Thing” from their new album Bankrupt as well as a selection of songs from their previous efforts.
R. Kelly joined the band onstage for a performance that blended his song “Ignition” with Phoenix’s ditty “1901.”
Phoenix, which is comprised of Thomas Mars, Deck d’Arcy, Laurent Brancowitz, and Christian Mazzalai, has played the Coachella festival several times in the past. However, this is the first time the band has been chosen to headline the event.
“Our vision of Coachella is that you can never be medium. It’s either fantastic or a big catastrophe, we don’t like medium things. For us, it’s always been an extreme experience,” Mazzalai explained to Reuters prior to performing their set with R. Kelly.
He added, “The first time we played was our worst show ever, and the second time was one of our best shows ever, it’s either a huge failure or success.”
R. Kelly and Phoenix weren’t the only ones scheduled to perform at the music festival over the weekend. Those in attendance were also able to catch The Wombats, Talk Talk, New Order, and Franz Ferdinand. The Postal Service and Violent Femmes also took the stage during the event.
Sunday’s lineup included such notable acts as Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds, Vampire Weekend, James Blake, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The musical festivities are scheduled to continue next weekend.
