Madonna Heats Up at Coachella Music Festival

The Southern California desert managed to get a little bit hotter last night when Madonna took to the stage at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. Indio, California was playing host to the seventh installment of Coachella, which is seen by many as the nation's most influential alternative music festival.

Roughly 120,000 fans made their way to the two-day festival, breaking attendance records for Coachella. The fans were treated to 95 acts, ranging from Tool to Kanye West, from Madonna to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Though the final act of the night was billed as Tool, many of the fans had their sights set on the Material Girl (now Material Mom).

The mainstream Material Girl started off her set at the alternative music festival with "Hung Up" after her and her back-up dancers came out of massive disco ball that split in two. The show had a couple of highlight points, as USA Today reported. "At one point, she yelled for the crowd to stop throwing water in her face; at another, she told them to check out her back side."

Not everybody was excited to see a mainstream act like Madonna at Coachella. ABC News quoted Brazilian model Alessandra Ambrosio as saying "I'm here for anything but Madonna. Madonna is too pop to be here."

Coachella started off on Saturday with some big name acts to get the 50,000 plus crowd moving. Bands like Depeche Mode, Franz Ferdinand, Sigur Ros, Atmosphere and Daft Punk had the crowd moving in the desert. Sunday's bill held even more promise, with Tool, Massive Attack, Madonna, the Yeah Yeah Yeah's, James Blunt and Paul Oakenfold. The late addition of Kanye West only served to add to the attraction of the audience.

A few of the most well-received indie bands included the husband and wife duo of Mates of State received a helping of praise. The Walkmen got a rise out of the crowd when they performed "We've Been Had", which was featured in a Saturn car commercial. Josh Groban did quite the number earlier on, as did the Matisyahu. Though, one of the biggest crowds was reserved for James Blunt, though hardly an indie name. His tracks of "You're Beautiful" and "Back to Bedlam" were widespread crowd pleasers.

As for Madonna, she will be kicking off her Confessions of a Dance Floor World Tour on May 21st (See Madonna Announces "Confessions" World Tour). The North American Leg of the tour starts off in Los Angeles on May 21st and concludes in Miami on July 22nd.

[Additional Sources: USA Today, ABC News]

- Doug Pendrell