Coachella 2014: MS MR Reward Early Arrivals With Electrifying Day 1 Performance

Coming out to the festival grounds before 3pm is, usually, for the Coachella virgins who don’t know better than to pop their cherries with their first leg of a long battle with the scorching sun – and the slim chance that one of the opening acts for the day will be worth the sunburn. Although this was their first time playing Coachella, New York duo MS MR hit the main stage with an electricity that was both captivating and contagious, enough even to distract from the desert sun.

Opening their set with “Bones,” the band made an impressive intro with a guitar solo that significantly added to an already abundant audience. Grouping MS MR in with the other “breakout” artists of Coachella is erroneous at best, as it’s clear that singer Lizzy Plapinger and Max Hershenow are no stranger to the stage, earning early followers from shows at Austin City Limits and the Berlin Fashion week last year. Their intensity even in the early afternoon made it impossible to turn away and by the third song, when Lizzy shed her leather jacket, the crowd knew they were just getting started.

The duo rocked a set list of their recent hits including “Fantasy” which locked in at number 1 on iTunes for a week last month and a striking cover of the Arctic Monkeys’ song “Do I Wanna Know?”. An interpretation that brought on a grinning dance party at times and somehow fluidly transitioned to an ethereal siren song at others, Lizzy brought a level of seduction to the track that had the crowd eating out of her hand. By the time the band ended with their hit, “Hurricane”, Ms. Mr. had drawn the entirety of the early day audience.

Playing both with energy of seasoned artists and the enthusiasm of an up and coming band, the duo cemented themselves deservedly as the official kick off to Coachella’s opening weekend.