Up Close at Coachella

This weekend's
Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in the Southern
California desert had a lineup that included almost every
letter in LGBT…and a healthy dose of same-sex hand-holding and
gender-bending.

At the indie-rock music
fest, Bob Mould and his band offered up a Saturday set as
blistering as the 100-degree weather. Openly gay for years, the
Washington, D.C.-based Mould attracted a healthy dose of
straight boys to his tent, and offered up songs from his two
previous bands, Hüsker Dü and Sugar, as well
as solo work.

One half of the Dresden
Dolls, bisexual Amanda Palmer, brought the house (or rather,
tent) down, when she performed her solo material not long after
Mould. Smashing her fingers, and chair, on her keyboard and
crowd-surfing into the audience, Palmer connected with her
enthusiastic fan base in a way that eluded other Coachella
artists.

Particularly
anti-audience was the gayish Morrissey, who participated in a
strange hour of music on Friday -- he sneered at the audience,
briefly walked offstage, and announced he could "smell
burning flesh," referring to vendors selling hamburgers and
chicken. He followed that up with, "And I hope to God
it's human."

On Sunday, Antony
Hegarty of Antony and the Johnsons stood apart from the rock
and electronica acts with a short set of orchestral pop. The
transgender artist, looking a bit like Mama Cass in a flowy top
with ribbons, played all-new material, which still managed to
please the discerning audience.

Look for interviews
with some of the gay Coachella artists -- and even some of the
straight ones -- on Advocate.com.

Click on next page for
more photos.