Jenny Lewis delivers mini Rilo Kiley-reunion, HAIM collab at Coachella

Longtime Jenny Lewis fans like myself had been waiting for what happened Sunday at Coachella’s Outdoor Theatre for a long time.

Fellow former Rilo Kiley member Blake Sennett showed up to play guitar on “Portions for Foxes,” as his new project Night Terrors of 1927 performed earlier in the day. Sennett gave a spirited effort, though his timing was a tad off having probably not performed the song in awhile since the band disbanded in 2007.

Lewis mixed in songs from her Rilo Kiley days and from her 2014 album The Voyager, as well as bringing out fellow Valley girls HAIM for a rendition of her new song “Girl on Girl” (which she debuted at the HAIM show at the Troubadour a few weeks earlier).

Singalong favorites from the Rilo Kiley archives got played, like “With Arms Outstretched” and “A Better Son/Daughter,” as Lewis couldn’t forget her roots at a festival she’s been a big part of.It was her sixth time as a performer (twice with RK, once with Postal Service, once with beau Johnathan Rice as Jenny & Johnny, and Sunday was her second solo appearance).

The badass Lewis set the stage nicely for fellow ginger Florence Welch of Florence + The Machine later as the women — who were vastly underrepresented on this year’s bill — were the story of Sunday.

Words: Mark E. Ortega

Photography: Monique Hernandez