It had been three years since live music played at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts festival, so to get things started early Friday afternoon, we raced to catch Meute, a German marching band that plays live covers of techno hits.

No, seriously, it was perfect: a little bit weird, a whole lot of fun, and the kind of unexpected joy that comes with discovering something delightfully new at Coachella.

Harry Styles and Phoebe Bridgers and a surprise performance by Arcade Fire were still hours off in the future. But Coachella is back, baby, and fans and bands were thrilled to be there.

Meute is an 11-piece band from Hamburg, Germany, and the early birds in Mojave were digging them from the start of their early set.

Dressed in matching marching band jackets decorated with shoulder braids and a wild variety of patches — Wu Tung Clan, Ghostbusters and Elvis Presley among them — they played terrific renditions of techno hits in their admittedly offbeat instrumentation.

Three drummers set the beat. A sousaphone, and bass and baritone saxes filled out the bottom end. And two trumpets, a tenor sax, a trombone and marimbas took turns on the melody lines.

Next door in Sonora, Giselle Woo and the Night Owls entertained a small crowd with a Latin-tinged set of bluesy psychedelic rock. The band hails from the Coachella Valley and had been slated to play here in 2020. On songs such as “Everything” and the aptly themed “Coachella Gold,” they showed why they’d earned their spot on the bill.

Two weeks ago, Pakistani singer Arooj Aftab won a Grammy for best global music performance on a night when she was also nominated for best new artist. In Gobi, she and her band, which included violin and harp, played a set that mixed traditional Pakistani sounds with jazz and other genres. The result was a moving, meditative brew that let listeners catch their breath and maybe give thanks to be back here.

That kind of eclectic world music was reflected in the Hu on the Outdoor Stage.

The 8-piece Mongolian folk metal band – that a minute to let that settle in – mixed classic heavy metal postures with traditional instruments such as the Morin khuur, a bowed string instrument also known as a horsehead fiddle. Vocals are a mix of Mongolian throat singing and death metal growls, which in any language had fans throwing up those heavy metal hand signs in the heat of the afternoon.

Back in Gobi, the Los Angeles-based rock band the Regrettes had a lively crowd dancing and singing along with frontwoman Lydia Night.

A friend declared the Regrettes to be “punk rock Taylor Swift,” a compliment to both the band and Swift.

As the afternoon shuffled toward evening, bigger names started to arrive on stage.

The singer-songwriter Omar Apollo arrived on the Outdoor stage just after 5 p.m. resplendent in an oversized fuchsia suit.

Raised in Ohio to parents originally from Mexico, Apollo, who is gay, welcomed visitors via a billboard on the freeway to Coachella that touted him as “the cure for heterosexuality.”

His soulful voice, undeniable charisma, and cross-cultural connections clearly have him poised for breakout success.

Carly Rae Jepsen, meanwhile; remains one the truly great dance-pop artists. Packed set in Mojave had fans singing along to songs such as “Runaway With Me” and “Julian” as Jepsen beamed happily as she bounced around the stage.

When her band kicked off the music to “Call Me Maybe,” her breakthrough and signature song, the fans singing along were almost loud enough to match her amplified vocals and unbridled joy.

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