The Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival has always had a politically progressive presence, from moderate to extreme left-wing reprsentation. But it all came to a head this year–a full boil and then explosion really–with the festival’s final night appearance by a reunited Rage Against the Machine.

Rage wasn’t the only band on Sunday to target the Bush Administration’s domestic and foreign policies and to decry the war in Iraq, but it without a doubt delivered the literally loudest of battle crys. Lashing out with “Testify”, the brutal assault pushed frontman rapper Zack De La Rocha to even greater indigation during the band’s first show in seven years.

Though Rage never had a wide musical vocabulary (guitarist Tom Morello has been far more expansive in Audioslave), the band’s songs recorded in the mid-to-late ’90s still resonate with fury and are far more relevant in today’s volatile, polarized political climate than during the generally prosperous Clinton years.

From the band’s version of Afrika Bambaataa’s “Renegades of Funk” to the scathing “Wake Up”, led off by one of his most heated Bush-bash tirades, and “Killing in the Name Of”, dating back to the Rodney King’s LAPD beating of 15 years ago, Rage was fearsome and commanding, no joy in Machineville, no love songs here. Oh no.

The band’s power could not be denied–a natural hurricane force demanding dramatic change. Unfortunately, too many Rage fans who turned up for the set were of the boneheaded Ozzfest idiot variety–some rude, some drunk and even plain nasty to other peformers, having no patience for any other kind of music other than their precious Rage. What jackasses. And there was plenty of wondrous diversity on Sunday defining what Coachella is really supposed to be about.

Preceeding Rage on the main stage was Manu Chao, which also spoke out against Bush and immigration…but the group is anything but musically heavy handed, playing Latin Rock with a world music spirit of spry rhythms and passionate vocals. Another reunited outfit, Kiwi pop craftman Crowded House, also performed though seemed off their game on ever-tuneful ’80s songs like “World Where You Live” and “Fall At Your Feet”. Perhaps some solid roadwork is in order because the material’s certainly there.

Celebrating his 74th birthday on Sunday, American music legend Willie Nelson drives a tour bus that runs on bio-diesel fuel and couldn’t have been more supportive of this year’s greater recycling drive at the festival. The Willie and Family band kicked with–just like every show for years and years–”Whiskey River”, and then he went on to treat the receptive crowd to some fine Texas storytelling with Townes Van Zandt’s “Pancho and Lefty” and had alt-music folks of all ages singing along to “Mama, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys”. Willie’s the oldest major artist to ever appear at Coachella and, y’know, likely the coolest one of all too.

Just before Willie again illustrated the eclectic factor at fine work were The Roots, the band’s hip-hop-soul-funk excursions filled with wild covers that ranged from Kool & the Gang’s “Jungle Boogie” to a dead-serious version of Dylan’s “Master of War”, combined with a “Star Spangled Banner”-based lead-in.

Other main stage notables included the atmospheric sonic architecture of Explosions in the Sky–a little meandering but very Sunday-in-the-park to matched slightly more moderate temps instead of Friday and Saturday’s too-blazing desert heat. The giddy pop of The Feeling included a cover of the Buggles’ “Video Killed the Radio Star”.

Over on the Outdoor Theatre Stage, yet another reunited band, The Lemonheads, reminded people that not all from the grunge era were dour, playing bittersweet pop songs. The melancholy Damien Rice moaned over pains of the heart and also howled, wild with discontent, while France’s Air drew a giant crowd, picking up the Pink Floyd mantle, attempting to take it to new wide open spaces.

A double shot of skillful Brit-rock came from the probing Placebo and the rowdier (and looser) Kaiser Chiefs, who had the crowd bouncing to their UK hit, “Ruby”, and wild for “I Predict a Riot”.

Of the performance tents, the Mojave featured most of the stand-out sets, mostly from UK acts too. Sassy ska-pop princesss Lilly Allen, too-cute in sunglasses and a white summer dress, was all-play, while London Nu Rave heroes The Klaxons delivered big dancey beats in a rough ‘n tumble punky swirl, and The Kooks out of Brighton showed a knack for catchy garage rockin’.

The Gobi Tent’s most stirring performance came in the later afternoon, with Rodrigo y Gabriela, whose scorch-and-caress dueling flamenco-rock acoustic guitars should be tapped for the next Zorro film (obvious, yes, but so true), and an instrumental cover of Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here” with the audience singing lyrics capped the twosome’s sheer brilliance.

Also in the Gobi was bluesy singer-songwriter Amos Lee and the novelty, nutty Teddybears–a bunch of guys in bear hands playing silly yet ridiculously friendly pop rock while running parodies of well-known films like “Spinal Tap” and “Easy Rider”, where the bear-headed boys take some of the major roles. Fair to Midland, which opened this day in the tent, were joined by their label boss, Serj Tankian of System of a Down.

Nighttime in the dance-oriented Sahara tent saw the reunited Happy Mondays resurrecting the Manchester scene sound of the early ’90s (a little funky, a little poppy, but never that great live really), and trancers at mega bmps Infected Mushroom, as well as DJ-artist-producer Paul van Dyk.

All in all, this third day of an amazing new expanded festival offered a real world of variety…and that’s what Coachella is at its best: It’s the musical equivalent of a taste of Chicago, a taste of Italy–events like that. So savor the musical flavors: hot, sour, spicy and sweet.

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