Coachella continues - M.I.A. played (some pics), day 3 today

“M.I.A. gave the main stage at Coachella her best shot. It just didn’t work out.

After a strong start, a few hiccups, and a somewhat listless finale, the Grammy-nominated new mom declared at the end of her hour-long set in the desert that “next time I’m back in the tent.”

“I want to be in the sweat,” she said.

M.I.A. had performed twice in smaller tents at the music festival, in its tenth year and one of the nation’s most prestigious.

She noted earlier, “I really don’t know how to bring it on the main stage.” And her live show staples–climbing on speakers, dancing body-to-body with the crowd–didn’t quite fit the new digs. When she tried to bring some of the audience onstage Saturday night, security guards thwarted most fans.

M.I.A. ended up on a platform above the crowd performing “Bird Flu,” and asked when it was over: “Can we get some order in the place? My baby’s waiting.” She gave birth to a son in February, a few days after the Grammys.” [Times Standard]

Plenty of fans did get on stage too – security was definitely not happy about it though. M.I.A. was playing in Amy Winehouse‘s place last night. The show didn’t seem as bad (on the stream) as the above review makes it sound. Then came the Killers (still streaming as I type this actually) and Day Two of the three-day festival was over. Earlier in the day Glasvegas cancelled their set. What I saw of Beirut‘s performance on the stream sounded great.

Friday night Paul McCartney played “a two-and-a-half-hour performance of solo hits from the ’70s, new songs released by his alter-ego the Fireman, plus 20 Beatles classics”. Morrissey and Leonard Cohen played the same day.

Sunday is my favorite day. We’ll have lots of pictures soon. In the meantime, below are more stills from the M.I.A. stream…