April 21, 2023
Emily P.
The first of the two-weekend music festival, Coachella, took place this past weekend from April 14th to the 16th. The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, annually held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, brings in a multitude of artists, in varying genres and career stages, to perform continuously across several stages on the grounds of the festival, over the course of two consecutive weekends. This year, Coachella brought in a highly anticipated list of headliners and performers, including Bad Bunny, BLACKPINK, and Frank Ocean, amongst a multitude of others. The first weekend of the festival had both its highs and lows, but ultimately kept the buzz surrounding the festival high.
On Friday, Bad Bunny took the center stage and made history as the first ever solo Latino artist to headline the festival. In his immersive, 2-hour set, he performed fan favorites such as “Tití Mi Preguntó,” “I Like It,” and “Si Veo A Tu Mamá.” He also brought a few surprise guests onto the stage during his set, including Post Malone, Jhayco, and Ñengo Flow. Also taking the main Coachella Stage on Friday were Gorillaz, Burna Boy, Becky G, Pusha T, and Doechii. At the Outdoor Theatre, another stage on the festival grounds, another good handful of artists performed, including Kaytranada, SG Lewis, and The Chemical Brothers, among others. Simultaneously, at the multiple tents (Sonora, Gobi, Mojave, Sahara, and Yuma), artists including TV Girl, Magdalena Bay, Ashnikko, Yves Tumor, BENEE, Wet Leg, Metro Boomin, and Kyle Watson hit the stages, amongst a multitude of others.
On Saturday, BLACKPINK took center stage and also made history as the first ever K-Pop group to headline the festival. The members of the group, Jisoo, Rosé, Jennie, and Lisa, joined the ranks of the few female headliners in the festival’s history, including Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande, and Billie Eilish. In their exciting and heavily choreographed set, the group performed fan favorites such as “Pink Venom,” “How You Like That,” “Kill This Love,” “Pretty Savage,” and “Boombayah.” Also taking the main stage on Saturday were Rosalía, Charlie XCX, and 070 Shake. At the Outdoor Theatre, artists such as boygenius, EARTHGANG, and SOFI TUKKER excited the crowd, among others. Simultaneously, at the multiple tents, artists including Ethel Cain, Destroy Boys, UMI, Dinner Party, Labrinth, Remi Wolf, $uicideboy$, and Flo Milli, and Monaleo hit the stages, amongst a multitude of others.
Closing out the first week of the festival on Sunday, Frank Ocean took the center stage, performing live for the first time in six years. This set, however, closed out the first week of the festival on a somewhat sour note, as fans were left extremely disappointed with the performance. First, Ocean’s set was excluded from the official YouTube livestream of the festival, which meant that fans that weren’t able to attend the festival in person were now unable to even see the performance in high quality online, and would have to resort to the recordings posted online from people in the crowd. Second, Ocean was about an hour late to his set, which was supposed to be a two-hour set, and thus had to abruptly cut his performance short due to the strict curfew in place at the festival. Thirdly, fans also complained that Ocean was essentially barely there for his performance, as he was hardly visible standing towards the back of the stage, he reportedly up and left the stage a few times throughout the set, and for a good handful of the songs played, Ocean lip-synced and just vibed around on stage. The lackluster performance had fans feeling as though they had attended a listening party instead of an actual performance. Frank Ocean has now dropped out of performing at weekend two, and instead Blink-182 will perform in his stead. However, some more upbeat, exciting, and enthusiastic performances were given on Sunday by various artists, including Kali Uchis, Björk, GloRilla, Rae Sremmurd, Fousheé, Latto, Noname, Weyes Blood, WILLOW, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, and Pi’erre Bourne, among many others.
See the full festival lineup below, and read more about week one of the festival here!
