As has become customary at Coachella, this year’s fest offered a reunion of a beloved band from the not-too-distant past. On Friday, it was The Verve (from Wigan, U.K.), who broke up in 1999, after scoring a hit with “Bittersweet Symphony.” While they mostly stuck to old, familiar tunes (“Sonnet, ”Space and Time”), the quartet’s front man Richard Ashcroft (who doesn’t appear to have aged a day in their time away from the limelight), made sure the audience knew that they weren’t only in it for the money. “Most bands, when they reform, don’t make new music,” he said, “but that’s what this band is about.” They then played the brand new cut “Sit and Wonder,” a solid song that nonethelesss wouldn’t have sounded out of place on any of their ‘90s albums. Despite their well-oiled condition, too many of the songs in the set were mid-tempo ballads that killed the pace. Things were redeemed by a smoking take on the crowd-pleasing “Bittersweet.” The song’s infectious violin part was a sample. It might not be worth bringing an entire string section over for one song, but it would’ve been pretty cool.

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Posted by David Lewis.