Bruce Fessier

The Desert Sun

Guns N’ Roses is expected to take the main stage of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival at 10:30 p.m. Saturday, promoter Goldenvoice has announced, giving the notoriously tardy Los Angeles band two-and-a-half hours to finish before the City of Indio-imposed festival curfew.

That means the reunited band will have more than enough time to perform its full show, or just enough time to get on stage late and still perform longer than most bands at Coachella.

Goldenvoice said last week the iconic rock band led by vocalist Axl Rose and original members Slash on lead guitar and Duff McKagen on bass was expected to play from 10:30 p.m. until 12:50 a.m. They made their first appearance together in 23 years earlier this month at a show scheduled to start after 11 p.m. at the Troubadour nightclub in Hollywood. They actually started after midnight.

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Newly released set times also show the re-united LCD Soundsystem closing Friday’s show at 11:10 p.m. and fellow headliner Calvin Harris playing the Coachella Stage at 10:35 p.m. Sunday, when the Coachella curfew is midnight.

Goldenvoice also announced the addition of a Palm Desert band to the Coachella lineup. Brightener, which won the semifinals competition of the Tachevah Music Showcase on March 31 at Pappy and Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace, will perform at noon Saturday on the Outdoor Stage.

Band leader Will Sturgeon said he got the call while driving back from the Coachella site at the Empire Polo Club, where he was helping his friend, artist Phillip Smith, install his art structure for the festival. He said he was so excited, “My hands were shaking.

“Growing up in the desert, and attending the best festival in the world -- in my backyard -- for the past eight or so years, and being a songwriter... playing Coachella is the closest thing I have to a dream come true,” Sturgeon said. “We’re really excited and hoping we can just soak in the moment.”

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The first thing he did, he said, was call each of the members of the band to confirm that they were available to make the date. Then they started shaking, too, he said.

“Then I called my mom and stopped by my dad’s work to let them know,” he said. “But I pretty immediately went into scheduling mode because there's a lot to figure out between now and then. We got short notice that we are playing in five days, so we've got to rehearse a bit.”

Other bands with Coachella Valley ties getting their set times are La Quinta-based singer-guitarist Pete Yorn, playing at 4:50 p.m. Sunday in the mid-size Gobi tent, and the Silversun Pickups, featuring Indio native Joe Tyler on keyboards, at 9:25 p.m. Saturday in the Mojave tent.

The Lisbona Sisters, featuring DJs Laura and Ava Lisbona, the daughters of Palm Desert Mayor Pro Tem Jan Harnik and the late singer-pianist Frankie Randall, will perform in the Yuma tent at 11 a.m. Sunday. Strangers You Know, featuring Adam Haagen, the grandson of Empire Polo Club owner Alex Haagen III, will perform at 3:30 p.m. Saturday in the Mojave tent.

The Lisbona Sisters, along with Lee K on Saturday and Masha on Friday, have the only morning set times of the festival while several acts will play until just before the curfew. Lucent Dossier will start at 12:15 a.m. Friday in the Sahara tent. Purity Ring and Volbeat go on at midnight Friday in the Mojave and Gobi tents, respectively, while Shamir and RL Grime start at midnight Saturday in the Gobi and Sahara tents, respectively.

Goldenvoice also announced significant acts in the Heineken House with rapper Warren G headlining at 9:15 p.m. Saturday and EDM acts Diplo & Friends with 4B headlining at 9 p.m. Sunday.

The set times are expected to remain relatively the same for the second weekend of Coachella, April 22-24 at the Empire Polo Club. Both weekends are sold out to the general public, but passes for local residents will go on sale at 2 p.m. Wednesday at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden this week and next.

Festival information:Coachella.com

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