Indio is 130 miles from Los Angeles. On a festival Friday that is not a two-hour drive.
The bottleneck is the I-10
Everyone leaves LA in the same four-hour window, and the I-10 through the pass has nowhere to put them. Leaving Friday morning instead of Friday afternoon can halve the journey.
Go Thursday if you can
Thursday afternoon is a normal drive. Friday afternoon is not. If your accommodation allows it, this one decision saves more time than anything else.
The group answer
A van for six to fourteen people with the luggage, leaving together, is both cheaper per head and considerably less painful than three cars in convoy that lose each other at the first services. Festival weekends are exactly when there is one van and a lot of demand — book weeks out, and expect the date to be confirmed with you rather than promised instantly.
Coming back
Sunday night after the headliner is the worst traffic of the weekend. Monday morning is empty. If you can stay the extra night, do.