Unlike last year, FasterLouder didn’t have a man on the ground at Coachella in Indio, California over the weekend, but we’ve been watching the news updates with keen interest. Here’s what we’ve learned about the scorching party in the desert.

While topping Prince’s epic 2008 headline set would’ve been a hard slog, Paul McCartney went all out with a two-and-a-half-hour set on Friday. Dedicating Long and Winding Road and My Love Does It Good to his late wife Linda seems left many a reviewer teary.

That tempestuous troubadour Morrissey was in fine voice, but somewhat distracted by a troubling odour. “I can smell burning flesh, and I hope to god it’s human,” the outspoken vegetarian informed the crowd. Despite later adding, “The smell of burning animals is making me sick,” Moz valiantly forged through a set of solo material and Smiths classics.

At 74 years old, Leonard Cohen was the class act of the Outdoor Theatre on Friday. But really, who’s surprised? His sunset set was tied off with the ever-stirring Hallelujah.

Unassuming folk dudes Fleet Foxes were an expected standout, says the Los Angeles Times. Their Outdoor Theatre slot began with Robin Pecknold admitting the band “doesn’t feel super comfortable at these things”, but they gradually began to work their charm in the roasting heat.

According to Entertainment Weekly, Franz Ferdinand pulled “a miniscule crowd”, causing the writer to ponder what happened to all the fans who propelled the band to almost-headliner at Coachella 2006.

NME deities Glasvegas were forced to cancel their debut Coachella appearance, with frontman James Allan “suffering from exhaustion and dehydration”. That Californian desert can be unforgiving.

M.I.A. (who was announced as replacement for the frequently MIA Amy Winehouse) and TV On The Radio both pulled massive crowds to their mainstage sets on Saturday. According to Billboard, M.I.A. “brought bass, bravado, an army of dancers and staggering amounts of energy” to her performance.

According to the Los Angeles Times, My Bloody Valentine’s aural assault “tested the endurance and patience of many a Coachella attendee”. With the benefit of earplugs, the band’s unrelenting wall of guitars was something to behold.

The rest of Sunday was filled out (if so flippant a term can be used) by Karen O in glittering gold (“a triumphant set that found the Yeah Yeah Yeahs able to control an unruly festival crowd with a kiss,” says the LA Times ), Fucked Up and Brian Jonestown Massacre raising hell on the Mojave Stage and Public Enemy tearing through It Takes a Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back.

True to their reputation, The Cure closed Coachella with a set that stretched almost three hours (take that, Paul McCartney). The band ignored demands to wrap up their performance after the midnight curfew. As reported by NME, when the onstage power was pulled and the field lights turned on, Robert Smith and co. decided to go – œunplugged’. We’re not sure how easy it would’ve been to hear them with the gulf between crowd and stage, but it goes to show why this band rules.

As a final note, Coachella’s only Australian reps The Presets went head-to-head with the headlining Beatle on Friday night. As you can see from the footage below, plenty of punters chose My People over Hey Jude. “I heard [McCartney] was trying to change his time,” drummer Kim Moyes joked to Associated Press. “He’ll be trying to do ballads and then everyone will be at our stage like – œYeah!’”