Stagecoach 2013: Goodbye, Coachella; hello, country music

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Zac Brown of the headlining act Zac Brown Band performs on the Mane Stage on the final day of the Stagecoach Country Music Festival at the Empire Polo Club in Indio on Sunday. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Fans are silhouetted by a big screen projecting live video of Zac Brown of the headlining act Zac Brown Band performing on the Mane Stage. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Keifer Thompson of Thompson Square throws a guitar pick to a young fan as he performs on the Mane Stage. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Randy Jackson introduces Charley Pride on the Palomino Stage. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Charlie Daniels of the Charlie Daniels Band plays the fiddle during his performance on the Palomino Stage. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Katey Sagal and the Forest Rangers perform on the Mustang Stage. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Thompson Square performs on the Mane Stage. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Fred LaBour, a.k.a. “Too Slim” of the Riders in the Sky band, performs by playfully playing his cheeks on the Mustang Stage. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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John Reilly and Friends performs on the Mustang Stage. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Kids race their stick horses in the Half-Pint Hootenanny entertainment tent for kids. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Connor Virjee and Kassie Rosales hold an American flag while listening to Thompson Square perform on the Mane Stage. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Florida Georgia Line singers Brian Kelley, left, and Tyler Hubbard, right, get up close to the crowd as they perform on the Mane Stage on the final day of the Stagecoach Country Music Festival at the Empire Polo Club in Indio on Sunday. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Charley Pride performs on the Palomino Stage. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Kenny Loggins performs with the Blue Sky Riders on the Palomino Stage. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Darius Rucker, shown performing in 2013 at the Stagecoach country music festival in Indio, has found a career in country music after achieving mainstream rock success in the ‘90s with Hootie & the Blowfish. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Becky Stark performs on the Palomino Stage. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Actor Ashton Kutcher watches John Reilly and Friends perform on the Mustang Stage on the final day of the Stagecoach Country Music Festival at the Empire Polo Club in Indio on Sunday. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Lady Antebellum members Charles Kelley, lead vocals, left, Hillary Scott, lead vocalist, and Dave Haywood, guitar and piano, and Chris Tyrell, drums, perform on the Mane Stage on the second day of the Stagecoach Country Music Festival at the Empire Polo Club in Indio on Saturday. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Charles Kelley and Hillary Scott of Lady Antebellum. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Fans sing along with Dierks Bentley. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Dierks Bentley performs the song “Home.” (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Dierks Bentley performs on the Mane Stage. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Dierks Bentley gives his autographed guitar to Jenna Bonker, 11, of Costa Mesa, after his performance on the Mane Stage. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Fans cheer as Dierks Bentley performs. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Fans are silhouetted at sunset as they cheer for Dwight Yoakam’s performance on the Palomino Stage. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Country music fans pose for photos while Phil Vassar performs on the Mane Stage. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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During her third year attending Stagecoach Music Festival, Ryan Bancroft, 3, of Seal Beach, dances as Rodney Atkins performs on the Mane Stage. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Jay Raymer, of Huntington Beach, pulls his kids Aidan Rayber, 7 and Jillian Raymer, 9, on a wagon ride to see Nick 13 play on the Palomino Stage. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Country music fans cool off in front of misting fans in between musical acts. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Country music fans walk through a shadown pattern cast by the La Grande Wheel ferris wheel. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Leslie Perkins, of Ontario, tries on sunglasses after purchasing a hat on the second day of the Stagecoach Country Music Festival at the Empire Polo Club in Indio on Saturday. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Marty Stuart performs on the Mustang Stage. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Dwight Yoakam performs on the Palomino Stage. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Nick 13 performs on the Palomino Stage. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Jana Kramer performs on the Mane Stage. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Rodney Atkins performs on the Mane Stage on the second day of the Stagecoach Country Music Festival at the Empire Polo Club in Indio on Saturday. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Phil Vassar performs on the Mane Stage. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Megan Kirpatrick, of San Diego, dances to the music of Phil Vassar on Saturday. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Country music fans Nila Dempsey of Corona, Cynthia Scott, of Huntington Beach, from left, Dianne Hulsebus, standing, of Huntington Beach, Tara Petrina, of Laguna Beach, in pink hat, and Carol Westerman, of Huntington Beach, cool off in a swimming pool while squirting the ice delivery guys in the RV Resort. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Amid high heat, country music fans Kelly Ray of Murrieta, left, Vanessa and Mike Douty of Riverside, and Nicole Satcher, bottom right, of Riverside, cool off in a swimming pool before listening to live country acts in the RV Resort area on the second day of the Stagecoach Country Music Festival at the Indio Polo Fields. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Music fans rally around a drinking game in the RV Resort before listening to live acts on Saturday. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Music fans rally as the losers of a drinking game do pushups in the RV Resort area on Saturday. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Amie Ryan, of San Diego, lays on Bruce Braun, of El Centro, doing pushups after losing a drinking game in the RV Resort area. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Toby Keith performs on the Mane Stage at the Stagecoach Country Music Festival in Indio on Friday. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Fans cheer as Toby Keith performs. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Couples hold each other while watching Toby Keith perform. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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A fan is silhouetted by stage lights as she cheers for Toby Keith. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Toby Keith pays tribute to the late George Jones during his performance on the Mane Stage. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Hank Williams Jr. performs on the Mane Stage. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Hank Williams Jr. performs on the Mane Stage. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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A woman is silhouetted by the Ferris wheel while watching Hank Williams Jr. perform at the Stagecoach Country Music Festival. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Jeff Bridges and the Abiders play on the Palomino Stage. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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A fan’s hand waves to the beat as Jeff Bridges and the Abiders perform on the Palomino Stage. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Allison Homestead, left, and Shannon Moy, both of Santa Barbara, dance at sunset while Jeff Bridges and the Abiders play on the Palomino Stage on Friday. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Line dancers scoot their boots in the Toyota World of Wonders tent on Friday. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Joe Nichols performs on the Mane Stage. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Terry Sanders of Huntington Beach cheers in the front row as Joe Nichols performs. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Trace Adkins performs on the Mane Stage. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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A couple use their hats for privacy while listening to Trace Adkins perform on the Mane Stage. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Shadows fall on a fence as a couple are silhouetted by the evening sun as they watch Trace Adkins perform. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Old Crow Medicine Show performs on the Mustang Stage. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Country music fans arrive on the first day of the Stagecoach Country Music Festival in Indio on Friday. Some 55,000 fans are expected to attend the festival, which includes performances by 48 acts. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Lavonne Lipscomb, left, of Redlands; Stella Centeno, middle, of Buena Park; and Debbie Carrion of Moreno Valley sit on a straw bale amid their country decor at the RV Resort area. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Stella Centeno of Buena Park, who has attended all seven Stagecoach festivals, has a drink at her homemade cowboy bar in the RV Resort area. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Cody Warren, left, and Megan Famulener, both of San Francisco, tan atop an RV that also serves as a dance floor as they welcome others to join them for a drink on the first day of the Stagecoach Country Music Festival in Indio. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Country music fans Rich Johnson, from left, Chad Reams, Melissa Cuccio, Katie Strben, Canaan Cherry and Jamie Moore raise their cups by a 1963 Chevy pickup bed that Reams converted into a bar. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Country music fans. from left, Santi Pena, Ashlee Knight, John Gruttadaurio, Nicole Canterbury, Steven Worell and Kimbo Katsuda show off their popular “John Beere beer bong tractor” before listening to bands on the first day of the Stagecoach Country Music Festival at the Empire Polo Club in Indio. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Charlie and Shawna Harvey of Victorville wrote a tribute to the late country music icon George Jones on their camper window. Jones, whose anguished vocals on the 1980 single “He Stopped Loving Her Today” lifted it to the top of polls for the greatest country music song of all time. The once hard-living Jones died at 81. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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The Budweiser Clydesdales parade through the RV Resort on the first day of Stagecoach. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Jenn Leon, left, and Cat Machuca, both of Lancaster, show their festival spirit. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Country music fans make their way past wind farms along the 10 Freeway as they head to the Stagecoach Country Music Festival in Indio. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Saugus resident Jim Bloomfield hangs up flags between RVs at Stagecoach. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Darrel Sutton, who traveled to Indio from his home in Long Beach, is reflected in his rear window as he unloads a cooler at the Stagecoach Country Music Festival. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

By Mikael Wood

April 26, 2013 5:15 PM PT

INDIO -- It didn’t take long Friday for Stagecoach -- the three-day country-music jamboree set to run through Sunday night at the Empire Polo Club -- to differentiate itself from the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, which took over the same sun-scorched setting for two weekends earlier this month.

“I kind of think of this next one as if Rachel Maddow and Ann Coulter went on a blind date -- with an open bar,” said Hayes Carll, introducing his song “Another Like You.” The wry Texas-based singer-songwriter was only a few tunes into his early-afternoon set on the Palomino Stage, but already he was injecting a shot of politics that Coachella, with its entitled-hippie vibe, seemed to lack this year.

Stagecoach is likely to feature more cultural commentary in the hours to come: Friday night’s headliners are Toby Keith and Hank Williams Jr., neither of whom is known to shy away from speaking his mind.

FULL COVERAGE: Coachella 2013

The festival is also certain to reflect the country community’s loss Friday morning of George Jones, whose influence looms large over virtually every act scheduled to play this weekend.

“He was so important to the music going on here -- to the foundation of all this,” said one Stagecoach attendee, Rose Alsup of Palm Springs.

Other differences between Coachella and Stagecoach were emerging Friday, including the much heavier presence of corporate branding -- it’s hard to miss the Toyota World of Wonders -- and the switch in official festival beer from Heineken to Bud Light. The crowd here is smaller, as well, with a capacity of 55,000. (While Coachella sold out quickly, general-admission Stagecoach tickets for the full weekend were still available Friday afternoon at $239 a pop.)

TIMELINE: Coachella and Stagecoach

Still, the dry desert heat remains essentially the same, as does the sight of many, many half-dressed young people sauntering across the polo field.

And, of course, there’s a similarly stacked bill, which in addition to Friday’s performers includes Lady Antebellum, Dwight Yoakam, Darius Rucker, Marty Stuart, the Zac Brown Band, Charley Pride and dozens more.

Pop & Hiss will be here for it all. Stay with us, won’t you?

ALSO:

George Jones, country music icon, dies at 81

The music community reacts to the death of George Jones

Jeff Bridges gets his twang going for Stagecoach, El Rey shows

Follow Mikael Wood on Twitter: @mikaelwood