There's some cloud cover today in Indio, so it's not as hot at Empire Polo Club. But the people attending the Stagecoach Music Festival are not as fresh as they were on Friday afternoon.

The people who were first at the gate Sunday morning had fallen into a routine. They had their camp chairs. They had their bottled water. They had their paper fans, and were working them furiously.

Still, when the staff that let people in arrived in their yellow shirts, eveybody got up, closed their chairs and closed the gaps. Simon says.

Lines were longer, but initially there were fewer of them. At 11:30 a.m. the staff opened a couple of extra lanes. People in the back of the crowd surged forward, causing flashes of anger among the people who had been waiting longest. A few minutes later, a couple more lanes opened.

The staff began letting people in at 11:48 a.m. Many began dashing toward the headliner stage. Guards yelled not to run. The warning worked for a few seconds.

No performers are scheduled to go on before 2 p.m. But by noon the grass in front of the Mane Stage was filling up with blankets and chairs. Loud speakers popped on with Patsy Cline, "Walking After Midnight."

Fielding Buck
fbuck@pe.com

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