1. The festival gates were scheduled to open at 11 a.m. Friday, with the first two acts—LA DJ Masha and Chicago DJ Synergy—set for 11 and 11:30 start times on their respective stages. But for whatever reason (last-minute precautions for the day’s gusty winds?) the crowds were not let in until a few minutes after noon, leaving those DJs, and then Philly rockers Sheer Mag and Congolese group Mbongwana Star (both on at noon), playing most if not all of their sets to no one, we presume. Also notable about the entry: 2016 marks the first appearance of walk-through metal detectors at the fest, now in its 17th year at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California.

2. Coachella celebrated Record Store Day 24 hours early, offering up some of RSD’s exclusive vinyl beginning on Friday. I felt lucky to score a copy of Lush’s lavish, new 5-LP box set, Origami, then briefly considered smashing it in disgust when, while still in the fest’s pop-up record shop, I received the day’s brutal news—Lush would not be performing during weekend one after all. Apparently, the reunited British shoegazers ran into a snag regarding their travel visa and were forced to postpone two other California shows and cancel Saturday’s Mojave Tent set here. (English rapper Skepta also canceled his Friday Coachella appearance for visa-related reasons, while Welsh DJ Sasha cited a “personal medical emergency” in canceling his Friday set). Lush, which hasn’t played on U.S. soil since 1996, was one of my top two draws for the weekend. Blech.

3. My other must-see act, Sufjan Stevens, loomed as a potential downer of a different sort for much of Friday. How would his quiet and cerebral folk music feel amid a night of joyous dancing to the likes of Underworld and LCD Soundsystem, and how would fans of the acts before and after him at the Outdoor Theatre—rapper A$AP Rocky and EDM duo Jack Ü (Skrillex and Diplo)—respond to a set best suited for pin-drop reverence? Turns out, Sufjan had other ideas. Smashing his banjo—literally, after utilizing it only for opener “Seven Swans”—the 40-year-old singer veered away from his usual setlist showcasing somber, stripped-down cuts from 2015 album Carrie & Lowell and instead went big, in sound and production. He cycled through wild costumes—angel wings, a shimmery cloak, a giant cluster of balloons—and focused not on his latest record but the one before that, plucking four songs from 2010’s avant-garde, electronic-steeped The Age of Adz. Bolstered by horns, synths and dancing vocalists, Stevens and his band romped through rousing versions of “Too Much” and “Vesuvius” before delivering the pièce de résistance, the mammoth, compositionally complex “Impossible Soul.” That much Adz material was unexpected but far from unwelcome, wrapping Stevens’ heartfelt words in radiant, orchestral splendor—smartly chosen for his first Coachella experience.

4. Frontman James Murphy dipped a lyrical toe into Guns N’ Roses’ “November Rain” while performing “New York, I Love You but You’re Bringing Me Down” during LCD Soundsystem’s Coachella Stage performance Friday night, and a few minutes later the band covered David Bowie’s “Heroes” in its entirety. The rest of the set? It went just as expected, which is to say Friday’s headliners reeled off all their biggest songs in festive fashion, as if six years had not gone by since LCD’s last Coachella appearance. “Us v Them” opened the set self-referentially (“The time has come, the time has come …”), “Daft Punk Is Playing at My House,” “Get Innocuous!” and “Tribulations” got bodies across the field moving and “Yeah” and “Losing My Edge” reminded us how far Murphy’s project has come, from those early half-serious singles to a clamored-for reunion more than a decade later. Judging by the group’s smallish (by headliner’s standards) crowd, one could question whether LCD Soundsystem has in fact come far enough to earn the top spot, but perhaps more than any band other than Arcade Fire, LCD Soundsystem feels born and raised by Coachella. It felt fitting that the band’s fourth performance at the festival—and first festival appearance anywhere since re-forming—be of the night-capping variety.