Every April, within the thirteen peaks of the San Jacinto mountain chain, over half a million people set up camp atop the large swathes of desert and greenery that make up the Coachella Valley. It’s sunny, it’s dry, and it’s hot. So, when a rustic, wood-panelled bar cropped up, its arrival was hard to miss. The Old Phone pub, decked in leather booths and dark green walls, came as the second pop-up bar from English singer-songwriter-serenader Ed Sheeran, named after his upcoming single “Old Phone” (the first, launched in Ipswich, Massachusetts, and will double as the set for the song’s music video). 

Festooned with sports memorabilia and equipped with troughs of Guinness on tap, The Old Phone was a welcome respite from the glaring elements of the infamous valley, and Sheeran, poised with a polaroid and a guitar, gave VMAN an inside look at the pop-up.

Check it out below!

“The phone box that leads to the pub.”

“The old phone, and then gaelic of that.”

“Lyrics from the song, and the old phone.”

“I guess that’s why they call us the blues.”

“Obvz excited.”

“My first ever Coachella show.”

“More of the show.”

“Testing ma mic.”

“Me and alex singing in the pub.”

“Sunny ol day, get the sunscreen on.”

“Palm tree gang.”

“With beoga in the pub, theyre amazing.”

“High fives.”