Cold War Kids Play Soundtrack to Sunset at Coachella 2011

Coachella 2011 marked a return to the festival for several bands that haven't played there in years. The last time Friday's (April 15) headliners Kings of Leon and Interpol played the festival was four years ago in 2007. For polished garage rockers Cold War Kids it was 2008. The Long Beach quartet played the sundown set on the Outdoor stage Friday evening -- a time slot that offers bands the best views of the Coachella Valley desert sunset from the stage, with them rarely not taking a moment to point it out.

"This is such a beautiful thing right now, with the sun just going down ..." announced Cold War Kids frontman Nathan Willett in awe. "We played Coachella before, and we played this song, and it seemed to go over pretty well," he continued. The band then launched into their biggest hit to date, 'Hang Me Up to Dry,' where Willett wailed, clenching the mic stand like an indie rock version of Bono and guitars echoed with 'Joshua Tree' reverb.

Willett showed off his brilliant voice again playing the keys on another one of the band's early hits 'Hospital Beds,' off their 2006 debut 'Robbers & Cowards.' Since then, the group have released two other albums -- 2008's 'Loyalty to Loyalty' and 2011's 'Mine Is Yours.'

"This is another of our new songs called 'Bulldozer," Willett told the crowd after already sampling the new efforts title track and 'Louder Than Ever.' "It's one of my favorites." A bit more operatic than anything Cold War Kids have done in the past, the group relied on the crowd's handclapping to segue into the second part of the track. Before closing things out, Cold War Kids would go gospel playing their debut's hidden track 'Sermons vs. the Gospel' and closing out the set with the White Stripe-y swag of 'Saint John.'

"Go watch the Black Keys," Willet told the crowd afterwards. "Go have blast. We'll be right there with you."