I’ll admit, I laughed when I saw Hans Zimmer on the Coachella lineup. Not in a demeaning way, of course. Zimmer is one of the most accomplished composers on this planet, but how would his set play at a music festival?

As it turns out, it was a home run hit to the surface of Mars. 

As you’ll see from this video of the opening number taken from Inception, Zimmer’s set is a complete sensory assault as his huge ensemble takes some of the most iconic film scores from the last two decades and weaves in and out of them with incredible precision. It’s equal parts psychedelic and far more danceable than anyone would’ve guessed. 

Throughout, Zimmer touches on films like Gladiator, The Dark Knight, The Lion King and Pirates of the Caribbean along with the aforementioned dream-bending Christopher Nolan film and the presentation along with the music feels like you’re right in the middle of his next film score. 

In a year where many music festivals look alike, Coachella deserves a ton of credit for taking a bold flyer on Zimmer to present something entirely different than [Insert Indie Band Here] for 16 hours a day. For a festival that catches a lot of flack for simply catering to the lowest common denominator, this was one for the hardcore collector and I can’t wait to see more of it.