The Scene *

There were two different music festivals staged here Saturday on the vast, verdant 78-acre lawns of the Empire Polo Field, and it’s unlikely any of the 20,000 fans who attended would confuse the two. In fact, they were night and day.

The Coachella Music & Arts Festival, an attempt to create a user-friendly, European-style regional music festival in Southern California, spent its first six hours of life in a furnace, as triple-digit temperatures sent fans scurrying for shade. The hardy ones still danced and trekked between two stages and three dance tents (which, with winking candor, were named Gobi, Sahara and Mojave by organizers), but a lethargy dominated.

But then at dusk, a welcome curtain of darkness fell, and the surrounding mountains lit up with amber and lavender hues. The day’s heat gave way to a balmy night, and rejuvenated fans, along with a steady stream of new arrivals, danced in shirt sleeves or less, right through headliner Beck’s show-closing set.

“It’s almost worth that kind of day, to get this kind of night,” said the site’s general manager, Bob Puetz, who had spent much of the afternoon worrying about the heat’s impact on the event, which aspires to become a tradition.

The first day of the two-day festival’s stage performances was highlighted by Beck, the Chemical Brothers, Morrissey, Spiritualized, Perry Farrell and Underworld, while celebrated figures on the DJ culture scene, such as Richie Hawtin and Derrick May, were featured in tents.

The festival grounds were also dotted with art exhibits, such as murals and bizarre mechanical sculptures, including some ominous-looking contraptions that gobbled up shopping carts. The main attractions, however, were thin strips of shade created by fences, tents, garbage cans and speakers.

A high-pressure system lingering over the Four Corners area was the culprit behind the heat, which hovered near 100 degrees much of the day, a good 10 degrees above the mid-October average, according to WeatherData, which provides forecasts for The Times.

The heat was the primary cause of more than 40 visits to the first-aid tents, along with cuts, scrapes and a few drug-related treatments, but no one was hospitalized, medical reports show. There were three arrests, a remarkably small number considering the size of the audience and 10-hour-plus duration of the show.

The commercial success of the two-day concert, modeled on overseas events such as Britain’s Glastonbury Festival, won’t be known until promoters calculate final costs and vending grosses.

But by early estimates, Saturday’s crowd was “a little light,” according to Paul Tollett, a partner in Goldenvoice, the event’s Los Angeles-based promoter. A sellout would have been 35,000.

“We don’t know where we are financially right now, to be honest,” Tollett said Saturday night. “But we’re really happy with the day. There’s been so much positive response, more than usual.”

Tollett and company have bucked conventional industry thinking with their Coachella experiment, other promoters and observers say. And indeed, there was a positive response on Saturday from artists and audience alike.

Organizers purposely avoided assembling an all-star show of album-sellers that would resemble the cavalcades sponsored by major radio stations. They plowed a large chunk of their budget into creature comforts, from trailer-home restrooms to cooling-mist tents. They put cleaning crews on all-day patrol and gave away bottled water at the gate.

“The amenities at a festival are crucial,” said Karl Hyde of Underworld, a British electronic act that is a veteran of U.K. festivals. “We’ve been at loggerheads with promoters in the past over it. . . . Today it seems the crowd is delighted with the way they’ve been treated, and that permeates the spirit of the event, which does wonders for us on stage.”

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The Coachella festival marks the second major concert event at the Empire Polo Field, which hosted a Pearl Jam show in 1993. That show was memorable to many not just for the music but for the traffic snarls it created in this small desert city. On Saturday, a far more elaborate traffic plan and the elimination of parking fee collection led to a much smoother ride, fans and police reported.

Coming on the heels of Woodstock 99--now infamous for its arson, looting and rape reports--the festival caused some unease, prompting local community meetings and a significant hike in the event’s insurance costs.

But singer Perry Farrell, noting the emphasis on electronic and dance acts, said Coachella has a far different sound and vibe than Woodstock. He also found it to be far different from the touring Lollapalooza festival, which he co-founded earlier in the decade to showcase cutting-edge acts.

“Musically, this is taking a leap,” said Farrell, whose eye-catching set included several exotically dressed dancers, tribal imagery and pieces of Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love.” “[Lollapalooza] was rock bands, guitars, but this also has the deejay culture . . . electronic and organic together, and it’s wonderful.”

A larger crowd was expected Sunday with harder-edged acts Rage Against the Machine and Tool bringing in strong fan followings. Indio police Lt. Lance Mueller said the agency had a different mind-set for the second day, where a rowdier tone is anticipated as those acts take over the main stage after nightfall. The two days may present another case of night and day, he said.

“Our attitude toward people will be a little different, knowing the type of bands and energy of the show,” Mueller said. “That’s not to say we’re going to be ruder or anything. . . . In fact, sometimes it means stepping back more. If there was a mosh pit [Saturday], for instance, we’d be worried; it’d mean something strange was happening. But Sunday it’d feel weird if it didn’t occur. It’s like we’re having two completely different concerts.”