Helicopter rides, U.K. royals, hotel takeovers, invasion of L.A. nightclubs 1Oak and Bootsy Bellows, and the best invites drafting off the desert music festival
Welcome to the jungle … of the Coachella side-party scene.
The choicest place to be on the weekends of April 15-17 and 22-24 is the festival itself.
However, thousands of people who never made it past the online ticket waiting room before wristbands sold out, and even some with access to Guns N’ Roses, LCD Soundsystem, Calvin Harris, Sia, Ice Cube, Chainsmokers, Jack U, Halsey, James Bay and most excitingly — new real bathrooms — still can’t resist the allure of massive mansions, cool pool parties and open bars littered with social media stars and varying levels of celebrity clout spreading east from Palm Springs, California.
Festival weekend regulars Katy Perry, Mia Moretti and friends (Michael Bezjian/Getty Images)
An array of fashion, nightclub, spirit and media brands will make the most of the mass influx of musicians, gatekeepers, tastemakers and celebrity fans partake in the swanky brand-sponsored scene against an idyllic desert backdrop near Indio.
Here’s the best of the social scene in the desert for the first milestone weekends of the 2016 summer season.
Getting to the Festival … in First Class
Whoever is the first to “disrupt” the Coachella departure procedure with a high-priced rescue helicopter extraction direct from the festival grounds will win. So far, nobody is doing it. Instead, all but a few elites face a multi-hour march through fencing to Ubers or dusty parking lots. Here’s who’s coming the closest to the smoothest exit (and entrance). Unfortunately, from “let’s go home” to “getting out of the grounds” has taken this writer up to two hours in the past. So far, there is no service to airlift guests in or out of the polo grounds.
(Fraser Harrison/Getty Images for Coachella)
Blade Helicopters
The so-called “Uber for Helicopters” has joined forces with the actual Uber to offer a chopper ride from the Van Nuys Airport near Los Angeles to a landing zone near the festival. For a group of six, it’s running at $4,170, or $695 per person. They are promoting it as “L.A. to the festival in under one hour.”
Also Read: Neon Carnival at Coachella: The Inside Story Behind Hollywood's Biggest Party
Surf Air
The eight-seat, monthly-membership air service popular with Silicon Beach and Silicon Valley commuters adds routes for the first festival weekend. It’s a 25-minute flight from Hawthorne to Palm Springs, a day-saver during rush hours but suboptimal on both ends otherwise.
Also Read: SXSW Party Report: Jake Gyllenhaal, Lil Wayne, Kate Bosworth Join Barack Obama in Austin (Photos)
Parties:
Soho House’s pop up party in 2015. (Michael Bezjian/Getty Images)
There are no official “Coachella parties.” The only officially-sanctioned event out there is the festival itself.
Overall, the array of side parties shrinks for the second consecutive year, from a high in 2014. For an example of the shift to the festival itself, in the past two years official festival partner H&M has gone from hosting a private David Beckham-attended concert with Major Lazer off-site to investing instead in their pop-up shop at the grounds touting their official branded Coachella clothing line. Elsewhere in fashion, the once multi-thousand person Lacoste series of pool parties discontinued two years ago. The gator brand is now sponsoring things like a live theater event on a tennis court at the Sheets Goldstein mansion in L.A. earlier in April.
After a few years running a pop-up of Soho House, the private membership club is not coming back this year either. Of all those who soldier on, here are the smart, social and industry-friendly events that will be inducing guest-list anxiety over the next few weeks.
The Glamour Invites
Jeremy Scott’s Party
Saturday night, April 16
“Beautiful Big Spot” Near Indio
Jeremy Scott and Fergie at the 2015 bash. (Angela Weiss/Getty Images)
After years at the Sinatra mansion in Palm Springs, the fashion star is moving his A-list party “closer to the festival than I’ve ever done,” he recently told The Party Report.
“I got tired of the police coming and turning down the music and having to keep it on the low side,” Scott continued. “So now I can kind of do a full on rock concert basically until 6 in the morning. Which is what it’s all about. It’s about the music. So I hate to hide my light under a bushel.”
Diplo and Skrillex tailgating at Scott’s 2015 party (Tommaso Boddi/WireImage)
Invites are hard to come by and even then, there will be a throng outside the door, trying to schmooze late night with the likes of Diplo and Skrillex (above).
Nearly a month before his bash, the Jack U duo “already know [all the details],” Scott assured the Party Report.
*Shhh…Do Not Disturb* – The Retreat
Friday-Sunday
Korakia Pensione, Palm Springs
The Retreat at Korakia Pensione (Instagram/Korakia)
This is not a retreat. It’s an all out quit on festival madness, fit for a princess. (Queen Elizabeth II’s granddaughter Princess Eugenie accepted a room at the Retreat last year.)
This Moroccan boutique hideaway has drawn superlative pull quotes like “sexiest hotel,” with pools, fire pits, and hushed scenes like those above to back it up. A group of big media brands are taking over the entire property for the weekend this year, dialing back the decibels to chill mode for a hand-picked group to roam the 28-room property.
HAIM at last year’s Retreat (Tyler Curtis)
Organizers are handing out rooms to a few actors and musicians. Inside, there’s a Vanity Fair portrait studio, Amazon-branded screenings, and facials and massages alongside music performances. For those celebs and royals who want to hide so far — literally and figuratively — from the festival scene in this cozy enclave, I’m not sure why they wouldn’t do this in mid-February (Valentine’s Day) rather than mid-April (Coachella).
*Social Media Sleepaway Camp* The Foray Desert Getaway
Thursday-Sunday
Bougainvillea Estate
The approach to the Foray (Mikey Glazer)
Kaitlynn Carter (founder of the blogger collective “The Foray”) packs the house that was the subject of a 2015 New York Times festival profile with top fashion social media personalities, going for social influence over celebrities.
Many are bunking up in the mansion, bringing a reach equal to primetime network TV (6.74 million) under one roof. Houseguests include @Jessimalay, @rocky_barnes, @blank_itinerary, @evelina, @littleblackboots, and @aldensteimle. Major Lazer’s Jilionaire will spin one of the parties.
Also Read: Kanye West Gets Ripped by Deadmau5 for Using Piracy Sites
Industry-Heavy Big Bashes
Nylon Magazine’s Midnight Garden
Friday night, April 15
Bermuda Dunes
Last year, Chris Brown misunderstood that nobody wants to see Bieber 2.0 get punched (Chelsea Lauren/Getty Images for NYLON)
The fashion monthly throws more intimate dinner and cocktail parties in L.A. But at Coachella, they take over a hangar.
Revolve Desert House
Saturday April 16, Sunday April 17
Estate Near the Polo Grounds
Last year, online fashion retailer Revolve took Amazon steroids to offer same-day clothing delivery throughout the Coachella Valley. This year, they’re flexing again. Their two-day pool party and food truck jamboree near the festival will have a guestlist in the four figures. Veterans will recognize the grounds from previous daytime festivities, but invitees won’t get the address to plug into their Uber apps until the day before.
Levi’s and Re/Done Present Neon Carnival
Saturday night, April 16
Tradition Aviation, Thermal, CA
For full details on Brent Bolthouse’s glowing oasis in the middle of nowhere, click here.
Also Read: Neon Carnival Sets Date for 2016 (Exclusive)
Palm Springs Events
The scene at the BMF Music Lounge at Ingleside Inn (BFA Agency)
Within L.A., people dread crossing the 405, extracting themselves from Venice to go for drinks downtown. These same people have desert amnesia. Party-hopping between Palm Springs and the festival, bridging 26 miles of potentially apocalyptic traffic, somehow seems palatable.
POPSUGAR Cabana Club 2016
Friday-Saturday, First Weekend
In a few years, Hannah Bronfman has evolved from NYC social scene dazzler to nationally televised sneaker pitchwoman. She has a year-long deal with Lisa Sugar’s site that includes the docufollow video series “Hannahgram,” so spinning their kick-off party — Emily Ratajkowski is a “host” — is a home game for her. They will be back at it again on Saturday with their second CFDA brunch honoring Vogue Fashion Fund winner Jonathan Simkhai.
BMF Music Lounge
Friday-Sunday
Ingleside Inn, Palm Springs
Katy Perry at a previous incarnation of the Music Lounge
The music festival guys are planning a weekend full of events from Friday night through Sunday. Up for “biggest hustle” of the weekend, the aforementioned Bronfman will DJ here Saturday afternoon. Their parties continue during Sunday afternoon.
The L.A. Nightclubs
1Oak and Up&Down
Friday, April 15 and Saturday, April 16
Bermuda Dunes
On a recent Thursday night under the direction of designer Cedric Benaroch and Shane Powers, this columnist counted a 37-to-1 male ratio at the “club club” on Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood. They will export that to the desert on opening weekend.
Bootsy Bellows Estate
Saturday, April 16, 2-6 p.m.
Rancho Mirage
The logical John Terzian and h.wood group do smart things like mailing out wristbands to invitees in advance. They also have long coattails in the talent world, which means you party next to guests (like Leo) who were not paid to be there. For several years in a row, they continue to win the “odd bedfellows” award with a throng of beautiful people at a pool party paid for (in part) by McDonalds.
Ticket or Open to the Public Parties
Day Club Palm Springs (Both Weekends)
Hilton Hotel in Palm Springs
For those without tickets to the main event or cash, this is the best deal. $50 weekend passes to the Goldenvoice sanctioned event include some of the same performers playing the polo grounds. Skrillex is the biggest act to play the six-day series, playing an “OWLSA Pool Party” on the Saturday of the second weekend. Female L.A.-based producer Tokimonsta plays the actual festival and this party on Friday, April 15. Other highlights include Pete Tong, Dirty South and Cash Cash.
Pandora Indio Invasion
Saturday, April 16, 1-4pm.
Cree Estate (67698 Carey Road, Cathedral City)
Open bar, Open RSVP. Just RSVP.
If you’re 100 percent No-Chella (no tickets, no list hookups, no plan), head here to listen to a Walk the Moon DJ set. This is like a paperless post invite to your neighbor’s house party, albeit if it was sponsored by a phone company and a music service that just deleted its CEO from all playlists.
Also Read: Struggling Pandora Restores Founder Tim Westergren as CEO
More details on the big musical weekends in the desert to come …
Please send additional event info, bookings, and invites to TheWrap’s Party Report columnist Mikey Glazer here.
Hollywood Hits Coachella: Justin Bieber, Chris Brown, Paul McCartney, Adam Levine (Updating Photos)
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Coachella's Weekend 1 drew all flavors of celebrity: Screen icons mixing with metal pioneers, "Voice" judges with Beatles, trouble magnets, and some actual great music at the Polo Grounds.
Getty Images
Leonardo DiCaprio came in to Saturday night's Neon Carnival fired up and early: dancing, flexing, and kissing his bicep. He took a table on the front row right on the dancefloor.
Jesse Grant/Getty ImagesJustin Bieber came too, but Kendall Jenner (underage) could not.
Kellan's got a new job: Fox's "Fear Factor" derivative "Bullseye."
Ringmaster Brent Bolthouse (who produces and owns the Neon Carnival concept/party/marketing platform) with Alessandra Ambrosio. He had a lot of VIP guests. Here's some of them...
The most mildly behaving Jenner at Coachella, Brody, with "Western Wild" blogger Kaitlynn Carter.
Brody, your little sister is wagging a finger.
A regular: Julianne Hough
Michael Kovac captured this perfectly contemporary portrait at Neon Carnival: "Justin Bieber, Lit by Cell Phone."
Neon regulars Bryan Greenberg and Jamie Chung. Chung's new series "Resident Advisors" just premiered on Thursday.
From the forthcoming "Dope," star Chanel Iman had the special on-stage wristband.
Open Road's Sundance breakout also made their presence with astronaut twins.
Bolthouse's big tent brings out both high, low, and uncategorizable Hollywood. Exhibit A: Scene fixture Simon Rex.
2011 Coachella headliner Jared Followill (Kings of Leon) got an early ride on the bumper cars just after 10:30 p.m.
Metallica's Lars Ulrich in the quintessential rockstar pose: inside a private hangar with a model girlfriend. (The hangar was the production office for Neon Carnival)
Jeffrey Best built a new layout, with matching three level platforms housing vastly expanded VIP booths, 35 in total.
But the most choice table at the party was Don Julio's secret "chefs table" inside their airstream, where they poured 1942.
Of the 35 VIP tables set up, insiders correctly predicted Ms. Hilton would want one of the 3 isolated ones directly in front of the stage.
Scott Eastwood came to the PacSun sponsored event, a few years after his dad Clint turned heads with a "WTF?" appearance.
DJ Ruckus' refreshing open format set rose above amongst the multiple club DJ's who played. He has a new residency at Omnia in Vegas...
Not to take away from Brit DJ Kayper, who made a return to the carnival.
After a crush of blue-wristbanded wrists (and some naked wrists unsuccessfully trying to slip cash to security), guests could exhale at reaching the arrivals chute.
Exhibit B: Tara Reid with a guy whose profile continues to rise globally, street artist Alec Monopoly. Appropriate for both Reid and Monopoly, Paper Magazine partnered on the party.
Meanwhile over at Jeremy Scott's event in Bermuda Dunes, Alexander Wang had a full car.
Super group and super friends Diplo (who played Alexander Wang's party on this night last year) with JackU mate Skrillex.
The crown wears Scott well. Fergie hung with the designer at the DeLeon Tequila hosted event.
Scott (center) had a relatively small entourage, yet the door still got shut down early.
Earlier at the concerts, Axwell & Ingrosso had the challenge of playing their EDM set on an outdoor set instead of a tent, which allows for less visual production.
Nonetheless, 2/3 of Swedish House Mafia still had more firepower than many small nations in their arsenal.
It was not nearly cold enough in the desert on Saturday to require Rihanna's purple coat.
Obligatory cutaway/reaction shot: Backstage, Chris Brown looked unencumbered.
Chris Brown roughhouses Justin Bieber at Nylon's Midnight Garden party in Bermuda Dunes on Friday night.
Don't worry Justin. He was just pretending to punch you.
In the front of house, Father John Misty put on a typically weird set.
Clint Eastwood, a surprisingly Coachella regular now, with Metallica's Lars Ulrich.
The big surprise in Hozier's sunset set (on the main stage) was Este Haim joining him for his penultimate song: a cover of "Jungle Love".
- Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
Two guys at the top of their games: Hozier and Aaron Paul.
FKA Twigs lit up the Gobi tent on Saturday night.
Personifying the cross-industry interest in Coachella, The Hoff hung backstage on Saturday.
"Orange is the New Black's" Taryn Manning ducked in to the Samsung Galaxy Owners Lounge, an oasis in the desert.
Tyler the Creator performed on the Outdoor stage in the same yellow shorts he was wearing 24 hours earlier in the Rose Garden VIP.
Earlier on Saturday, Mac De Marco had designated "backup drinkers" during his acoustic set at the Soho Desert House. Spotify put him on as part of their active Coachella presence.
On Sunday, Katy Perry costume designer/stylist and DJ Johnny Wujek chilled out at the Soho Desert House, taking in the Merv Griffin Estate lake.
After Saturday night's Neon Carnival, Paper Magazine's Karim Abay hosted a "recovery brunch" at Soho. Sarah Hyland sat in at the long table. Grey Goose, and then BMWs for rides, helped the Soho festivities flow.
Fergie strolled through the main VIP on Friday afternoon, camouflaged by all the similar fashion.
Lots of "Out Of Offices" on Friday. I'm guessing all of these people have finished their taxes already.
Paris and Nicky Hilton walking hand-in-hand was a common sighting on Friday.
Adam Levine and Behati Prisloo backstage.
Prinsloo also did as all other celebs did, hung with 1000s of others in VIP (including Tara Lipinski and "Catfish's" Nev Schulman), grabbing one cup of the millions of gallons of Heineken.
Christina Milian (right) is going for an early J. Lo look at the Nylon Midnight Garden. Between her and Brown's hair, Karrueche Tran (left) comes out looking really good here.
Paul McCartney and Adam Levine backstage on Friday night.
Speaking of Beatles...Sean Lennon (with Charlotte Kemp Muhl) performed with his band The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger.
Katy Perry (center) was the most conservatively wardrobed member of her group at the Soho Desert House on Saturday afternoon after a Harper's brunch that ran well in to the afternoon.
PopSugar founder Lisa Sugar, Zoe Kravitz, and Mara Hoffman were headliners at the PopSugar's Council Of Fashion Designers Of America (CFDA) Brunch, also in Palm Springs.
Andrew McMahon gets the high fives during his Saturday afternoon performance.
Also on Saturday, Joe Jonas DJ'd 1OAK's party with Tinder.
#CoachellaWedding. (It was planned, not impromptu).
- Getty Images
Gramatik filled the Sahara tent mid-afternoon on Saturday
DJ Leigh Lezark, host Rachel Zoe, and Emily Ratajkowski at The Zoe Report brunch in Palm Springs on Saturday afternoon
ACDC was technically the headliner on Friday, but finished before the throbbing spaceship of the Sahara tent. Tough to compete with this...
Ryan Tedder joined Alesso's closing set for 3 songs, scaling the staging.
Hip hop is not dead. Ghostface Killah and Raekwon prepared to take the stage on Friday afternoon.
The astronaut of years past is gone. Now, the appropriately slow moving caterpillar is the marquee festival art for 2015.
The astronaut is back in smaller form, as an attendee's +1.
Brittany Howard (Alabama Shakes) doing Brittany Howard things.
The two "statement" art pieces pass each other. The "Corporate Headquarters" piece is stationary.
Buddies Blake Anderson (from Comedy Central) and Tyler the Creator hanging on the rail. The two became chummy at the Roseanne Barr roast a few years ago.
Charles Bradley, who began his career as a James Brown impersonator, is having a career peak in his late 60s.
The glowing desert fields.
On the day their new GS6 launched, Samsung also showed off their VR technology and upgraded lucky fans to VIP status.
Ryan Tedder with Alesso. Full disclosure: I'm proud of this shot I took while demo'ing a loaner Galaxy S 6.
Cody Simpson is not a poser. He has been rocking the hat look since early in awards season. He did pose for a shot inside H&M's festival HQ.
Gigi Hadid and Sarah Hyland at the officially sanctioned "H&M Loves Coachella" cocktail party at the Parker on Friday afternoon.
This is not a mistake photo. There was a runway fashion show in Palm Springs, thrown by frequent Hollywood event sponsor Pandora jewelry.
Natural extension of Coachella's fashion vibe or ridiculous leap off brand? Doesn't matter. Jamie Chung and Victoria Justice prove the concept by attending.
The word on the street is that designer Jeremy Scott has not one, but two parties on Saturday night. The Moschino one, and then his own private after hours that is "the real one". He hopped on this bike and sipped Lucky Buddha Beer at The Retreat in Palm Springs.
Kiesza had a moment on Friday. Her show drew so many people that fans could not even get a glimpse inside the Mojave tent. I smell an upgrade to a bigger stage for Weekend 2.
Kiesza also had photog Bryant Eslava trailing her all weekend capturing her top Coachella moments, part of American Express' "Journey Never Stops" campaign.
Patrick Schwarzenegger went king kong in the H&M tent on the grounds.
Paris Hilton still turns heads and draws crowds, even when traveling without any security in a small group.
Meanwhile at the chill Soho House satellite Soho Desert House, Rosie Huntington-Whitely and Kate Bosworth were ready for a luncheon.
Singer Bonnie Mckee gives us the rare celebrity actually-dressed-for-a-pool-party shot at the H&M cocktails.
The relaxed vibe at Soho Desert House outside...
...and the usual rush for mixology inside.
Cars began arriving in to the camping areas at 9 a.m. on Thursday morning.
This group of ladies from San Luis Obispo were five of hundreds raiding a Ralph/CVS complex for essentials on Thursday morning.
This hub closest to the campgrounds looked like a college football tailgate on a Thursday morning.
The calm before. This is what the polo fields looked like 24 hours before the concerts began.
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The 2015 gallery of the scene in and around Indio from Wrap Party Report’s Mikey Glazer
Coachella's Weekend 1 drew all flavors of celebrity: Screen icons mixing with metal pioneers, "Voice" judges with Beatles, trouble magnets, and some actual great music at the Polo Grounds.
