Plugged into fast times

“Hey, buds, let’s party!” Sean Penn yelled out to the crowd on the last day of the Coachella music festival. And party they did. Not just on the ginormous carnival-like festival grounds but also at soirees around the desert. On April 26, the unofficial Prince pre-party took place at “Smurf Village,” where a mushroom-filled walkway led bikini-clad revelers into a mansion in nearby Rancho Mirage. 1. Joel Madden of Good Charlotte hyped poolside partyers, including his baby mama, Nicole Richie, and Taryn Manning, by spinning the Beastie Boys as well as, yep, the Artist. But it wasn’t all about the Purple One at the blue-themed party, where guests toasted the cartoon’s 50th anniversary with Hynotiq’s Smurf Candy cocktails with sticks of turquoise-hued sugar inside, and for the braver, azure-colored potato salad.

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Jenny Sundel

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Drawn to a beat that continues late, late into the desert night

Those without Prince tickets headed to the T-Mobile Sidekick Tone-Def party at a private airport hangar a few miles from the festival grounds, where they settled for the musical stylings of DJ MomJeans, a.k.a. Danny Masterson, who belted out Mr. Big’s “Next to Be With You” at the PlayStation SingStar Lounge outside in-between his sets. Also spinning: 2. DJ AM and 3. Steve Aoki, who gave a hand to the dancing masses, including fedora wearers Stacy Keibler and Benji Madden with girlfriend Paris Hilton. The party raged on till 4 a.m., much to the delight of festivalgoers Jared Leto and Sienna Miller, the latter of whom arrived with a parent and stepparent in tow just before they stopped serving burgers, tacos and ice cream. Thankfully, the weary did not have to go far to crash -- there were beds with Coachella posters hanging above them right by the bar.

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Makes your head spin

For some, two hours of Prince just wasn’t enough. After the show, Elijah Wood, band members from Vampire Weekend and Dave Annable hopped on the same shuttle to the GQ Lounge at the Viceroy in Palm Springs, where 4. DJ Rashida, who spun for Prince on his tour, played even more of his hits. Guests also got their groove on to ‘80s tunes and hip-hop in between sips of Patron margaritas.