Notes from the desert

Wrapping up last week’s Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio:

Desert drive-in: The most intriguing news circulating backstage was that Goldenvoice’s Paul Tollett says a Coachella film is “nearly done, it’s been edited and everything, we were just waiting for this weekend to get the final footage.” The project has been a quiet subplot dating to the first show in 1999 and now, with five festivals of material, Tollett hopes to have a throwback-sounding finished project -- a multiact concert film for limited theatrical release.

Crews with high-definition, 48-track equipment have logged the stage time of Rage Against the Machine, Beck, the White Stripes and many other touchstone sets at the festival, but Tollett needs clearance from artists before he can get into the specific lineup of the film. “The hardest problem I expect, really, is what to leave out,” he said.

Lip service: Among the weekend’s few glitches were technical problems that cut short the set by the Flaming Lips on Sunday night. The wait was worth it by most fan accounts as Lips leader Wayne Coyne delivered a memorable performance as, literally, a boy in a bubble atop the crowd. The truncated set didn’t include their two biggest hits, “Do You Realize??” and “Vaseline,” but Coyne made the call to close the set with “Happy Birthday,” a song in honor of former tour mate Beck’s soon-to-be new life role as father.

Car pool: The dark, dusty chaos of the parking lot had hundreds of fans stumbling in search of their cars, but Tollett said the venue has limited options for improving it. “The best thing is to really pay attention on the way in,” he offered.

Saddest moment this year? That had to be the young girl who kept calling for her lost boyfriend -- “Marco!” -- only to receive giggling choruses of “Polo!” from other fans.