Indio, Calif. – If performers are going to come all the way out here, they might as well experience the desert lifestyle, which in this part of California often involves spending time in an RV. Coachella approximates this experience by stowing its artists in a sort of upscale trailer park tucked away on one side of the polo grounds. Virtually every performer, from the co-headlining Red Hot Chili Peppers on down, spends time here, idling between the rows of trailers (they are spruced up with white picket fences and little lawn tables for entertaining guests).


above: Red Hot Chili Peppers at Coachella

A tent housing a masseuse sits at the end of one row, and in the center of the encampment is a shaded lounge stocked with sofas. Coachella regular Cameron Diaz sat on the grass sharing a drink with three companions, while Courtney Love sat at a table inside CSS’s fence and seemed intent on making a point about what she described as two of the best albums of the 1990’s (unclear on which ones she meant).


above:Francis Healy of the band Travis

Artists who walk out toward the VIP area pass by the tent of Andrew Haagen, the festival’s resident photographer. Mr. Haagen, who briefly emerged the other day holding two sticks of incense, spends most of his time shooting portraits inside. He displayed some of his handiwork, including pictures of Flea and Lady Sovereign, on the grass outside.


above: The Rapture

Of course, the later in the day it gets – and the closer to the performances of the headliners – the more the camp resembles the Hollywood club circuit. Lindsay Lohan, wearing a thrashed T-shirt and carrying a packet of cigarettes, rolled in Sunday around 9:30 p.m. – about an hour before the reunited Rage Against the Machine took the stage.


Above:Revelers cool off in a "mist tent."

Coachella, take heed: you just went mainstream.


...and from the SF Chronicle:

Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, Scarlett Johansson, Jessica Alba, Jason Statham and Adam Brody gave the three-day Coachella Festival some real star power, as they headed out to the California desert to catch acts like Bjork, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and the reunited Jesus & Mary Chain.

Diaz joined Barrymore and Alba backstage on Friday but appeared to be solo as she wandered around the VIP area before the Red Hot Chili Peppers' performance Saturday night.

Wearing all white and a pair of beige knee-length boots, Diaz spent 15 minutes trying to avoid the star spotters backstage, while frantically texting friends.

Johansson actually took to the stage -- she performed "Just Like Honey" with the Jesus & Mary Chain on Friday night. The song appeared on the soundtrack to the actress' hit film "Lost In Translation."

"The Transporter" star Statham rocked out to the Red Hot Chili Peppers, while former "The O.C." actor Adam Brody chilled out with friends backstage.

Among the other movie stars spotted at Coachella were Danny De Vito, who was at the festival for the second year in a row, porn star Ron Jeremy, who introduced controversial rocker Peaches on Friday night, and Scottish actress Kelly MacDonald, who joined husband Dougie Payne and his band Travis backstage on Saturday night.


Above: A NON-celebrity enjoys the event.