Fringe jackets, macrame, flower crowns: these are some of the integral fashion trends of Coachella, arguably the most famous music festival in the US. Although its first festival in 1999 ended up losing money, it has grown into a cultural phenomenon. Tickets start at 500 dollars and often quickly sell out, with A-List celebrities like Katy Perry, the Kardashians and even Taylor Swift attending.
Coachella is one of the most famous annual music festivals. This year, the headliners included Lana Del Rey, Tyler the Creator, Doja Cat and surprisingly, No Doubt. Coachella was the first time in ten years that legacy band No Doubt performed together. But there were also many exciting surprises in store for all the other headliners.
This year, one of the major highlights of the festival was Lana Del Rey. Although she had previously performed at Coachella in 2014, her 2020 performance was canceled due to concerns about COVID-19. This means that her most recent performance marks exactly ten years since her Coachella debut, it’s a historic moment for a celebrity who has grown from incredibly unpopular to universally loved.
Del Rey started off her performance strong, arriving with her dancers on a band of bikers. She performed “Without You,” a love letter to her fans to open the show. Despite the hard work of Del Rey, her band, and dancers, her performance was rife with technical issues. Del Rey’s microphone was broken throughout the show and never replaced, as well as the keyboard of her band. This made it difficult for her to give the performance her all.
But towards the end of her set, Del Rey shocked the audience when she brought out longtime fan Billie Eilish to perform a duet together. The duo performed “Ocean Eyes” and “Video Games.” It was a beautiful performance bridging two generations of artists together.
But Eilish and Del Rey weren’t the only surprise collaborations. Pop star Olivia Rodrigo joined rock band No Doubt on Saturday to perform “Bathwater.” This led to the song exploding in popularity. It was nice to see Rodrigo with No Doubt, as she has expressed that they are one of her significant inspirations. Renee Rapp also brought Kesha out during her set where they performed “TiK ToK.”
Despite all these happy reunions, technical issues permeated the festival. Grimes arrived at Coachella on a giant mechanical spider. Although it seemed that her performance was set to wow the audience, she also experienced countless technical issues. She didn’t actually sing, and was instead set to DJ. But the equipment broke and she couldn’t control the BPMs of the songs.
But Coachella isn’t just about the performers, it is also about the attendees. Famous celebrities like Paris Hilton and Taylor Swift attended this year. Swift brought her popular longtime boyfriend, athlete Travis Kelce. She was wearing his podcast merchandise. Fans were surprised to see Kelce lift Swift up during a few performances. TikTok sensation Charli D’Amelio made an appearance in an outfit many thought to be controversial.
Many newer performers also did amazing jobs. Sabrina Carpenter debuted her new song “Espresso” but many were more shocked by her new relationship with “Saltburn” star Barry Keoghan. Chappell Roan, who just released her debut album: “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess” did an impressive set for someone who was relatively unknown before.
Coachella is split into two weekends, with the first running from April 12 to 14, and the second running from the 19 to 21. This means there are still many more exciting performances to come. Although majority of the performers will be the same, hopefully many of the technical issues will be resolved so that both festival-goers and those who watch the performances online will be happy.
