By Kai McMillian
As weekend 2 of Coachella is right around the corner, we have already seen so many amazing performances in just the first weekend. It definitely set the tone for this year’s Coachella. Many great artists were invited such as Lana Del Rey, Ice Spice, Sabrina Carpenter, Tyler, The Creator, and more. In this article, I will list my six most favorite performances, including an honorable mention as this specific artist is not your usual artist and is quite special.
- Sabrina Carpenter
From being a Disney star, to a record breaking and award winning artist within a few years, Sabrina Carpenter rose to fame at an exponential rate. She went from performing at small venues, to selling out her own tours, attracting huge crowds at Coachella’s Main Stage, and even touring around the world, rocking massive stadiums with Taylor Swift on the “Eras Tour.” Her silky smooth voice mixed with her great ballad and pop melodies caused her fame to skyrocket. The set consisted of amazing songs like Feather, Already Over, All Because I Liked A Boy, Nonsense, which of course she kept the tradition of creating funny, raunchy outros for this song, and even performing her new song, Espresso, which I personally love so much. The stage design was the front of an interactive blue motel named “Sabrina’s Motel”. It was used for outfit changes and for Sabrina and her dancers to perform on. Her stunning visuals, stage presence, amazing vocals, and humor as she interacted with the crowd, cracking jokes and talking to the audience, guaranteed a great show. From what we have seen in the past, we know that Sabrina has the ability to make sure a crowd keeps jumping.
- Tyler, The Creator
Tyler, The Creator is a major perfectionist, which is obvious as his performances are always perfection. His energy is always unmatched on stage and his energy seems like it never runs out no matter how much he jumps, sings, raps, yells, or dances. You can tell that he genuinely puts his all into every show he does even if it’s just his own concerts, or huge festivals. His set design contains a camp sight aesthetic overlooking a mountain valley. No matter what song he’s performing, it is obvious that he has so much fun on stage. He performed some of his biggest songs like I Think, See You Again, New Magic Wand, DogTooth, and many more. He even had some big artists come out on stage with him such as Childish Gambino, A$AP Rocky, Charlie Wilson, and finally Kali Uchis. Tyler always makes sure to tell small stories about his life and past experiences during his performance, making sure to incorporate humor in these stories, making his live shows feel more intimate and personal. Tyler has been an artist I’ve always dreamed about seeing live as he never disappoints with a show, and this set proved that point right again.
- Doja Cat
When it comes to Doja Cat, one thing that she knows how to do perfectly is to make a truly unforgettable show due to her unbeatable stage presence, breathtaking stage designs, choreography, and concepts. Coachella made the perfect choice choosing her to headline both Sundays of the two Coachella weekends. Her set started off with the song “ACKNOWLEDGE ME” off her “Scarlet” Deluxe album. She then went to perform her major songs like Demons, Tia Tamera, Need To Know, Agora Hills, Paint The Town Red, and more. Doja had some guests artist share the stage with her also like A$AP Rocky for the song “URRRGE!!!!!!!!!!”, 21 Savage for the song “n.h.i.e”, and Teezo Touchdown for the song “MASC”. The end of the show was the most memorable to me as her performance for the song “W.V.” (acronyms as the title contains suggestive language, song is linked) included her and some backup dancers performing in a shallow mud/clay pool. This stood out to me because it was very unique and never seen before at Coachella. This performance was definitely one that left me in awe.
- Lana Del Rey
The queen of indie pop and the americana aesthetic, Lana Del Rey hits the stage with a surreal and beautiful performance. Her iconic voice and her stunning set designs, this performance is what you see when you enter the gates of heaven. Her beautiful voice, choreography, stage props, and visuals made this performance remarkable. Lana Del Rey is known for her gorgeous vocals, enrapturing anyone listening to and hearing her live has the ability to bring you to tears. Some songs that Lana performed are West Coast, Summertime Sadness, Ride, Born to die, and more iconic songs. During this show, she brought out guests Jon Batiste and Billie Eilish. The elegant dancing from the backup dancers combined with the beauty of Lana, the stage design, and the music, was perfect and Coachella made the perfect choice to choose her to headline the festival. She entered and left the show on the back of a motorcycle, riding through the crowd, making sure to engage and say hello to her fans. The whole vibe of her show felt very vintage and nostalgic which is signature Lana. When you talk about talent, don’t forget to bring up Lana Del Rey as she has proved to us time and time again that she delivers nothing but the best when it comes to her vocals, set design, and creative direction.
- Ateez
Ateez can be described in one word: Explosive. Any stage they get on, no matter the size, location, or event, their performances are always top tier with 100% energy when it comes to their singing, rapping, dancing, and stage presence. Members San, Mingi, Wooyoung, Jongho, Yunho, Yeosang, Seonghwa and Hongjoong are a perfect team because all of their talents perfectly compliment each other. Jongho’s powerhouse vocals, Mingi and Hongjoong’s amazing rapping skills, Wooyoung, Seonghwa, Yunho, San and Yeosang’s perfect singing, and the whole group’s otherworldly dancing abilities makes sure that nobody eaves a performance with the slightest amount of disappointment. They know for sure how to make a crowd scream louder than an explosion. Bringing their biggest songs to the stage like Say My Name, Bouncy, Crazy Form, Hala Hala, and Wonderland, the crowd was left in awe due to their everlasting energy on stage. When I said that they can make a crowd scream louder than an explosion, I mean it. While they were performing Guerrilla, it’s a tradition for the audience to scream “Break the wall” during the last chorus. During this, the audience was so loud, you were able to hear them throughout the whole festival sight. “Ateez Guerrilla Fanchant Can Be Heard All Across The Festival Ground”. Ateez always puts on unforgettable shows so of course they had to leave their mark at coachella.
- Le Sserafim
Le Sserafim is known for their performances on big stages, whether that be in Korea, The USA, or any other place. They are also the third K-Pop girl group to perform at Coachella right next to Aespa in 2022 and Blackpink in 2019 and 2023. For new fans, old fans, or people who are just there to see a show, the group’s energy, dancing, and stage presence definitely left a great impression on everyone watching. From left to right, members Kazuha, Eunchae, Yunjin, Sakura, and Chaewon, rocked the Sahara stage and proved that they are definitely Coachella worthy. Despite their career being new as they debuted only two years ago, they have reached extreme heights. Performing their hits like Antifragile, Fearless, Unforgiven, Smart, Eve, Psyche & the Bluebeard’s wife, and even debuting a new, unreleased song, 1-800-Hot-N-Fun, the group kept everyone jumping. They even had the iconic Nile Rodgers come out on stage and perform with them on the song Unforgiven, which Nile produced for the group. Yunjin also went viral for her line while performing Smart by saying, “Coachella! Are you ready to shake some f**king a**?”. This performance did come with some backlash as the group’s vocals were a bit shaky at some points but let’s be real here, since this is their first huge and major performance outside of Asia and into the eyes of America at one of the largest and most popular music festivals, of course they will experience some level nervousness, mixed with fatigue from their energetic choreography, it’s hard to be 100% stable for an hour straight. For their first performance at an American music festival, this definitely exceeded my expectations.
- (Honorable mention) Hatsune Miku
Although this specific performance is not necessarily my favorite, I found it very interesting as Hatsune Miku is a virtual J-Pop idol, also known as a “Vocaloid,” that is known for not being a real person, but a hologram. She is actually a voice synthesizer program where people can buy her digital voice pack and make music out of it. She is a major idol in Japan and she is an (unofficial) mascot for Japan. She is also surprisingly the voice behind the ultra viral song, “Nyan Cat”. She made her mark around the world, embarking on many world tours, as a hologram performing on stage that is reflected on a large glass pane through a projector. This performance was just like any other performances but instead of Miku being reflected on glass, she was projected on a digital screen, which made many fans upset as that was what made her concerts very unique and made her gain so many fans and popularity. The show was quite entertaining as it was way different from everyone else performing at this festival. She performed her biggest songs Miku, World Is Mine, Tell Your World, Highlight, and more. This show definitely stood out the most in terms of how unique it was. It’s definitely something I see people, fans or not, enjoy a lot as it is very different and special.
Coachella day 1 already lived up to my expectations and did not let me down. Out of all the great performers, I would say my most favorite performance was definitely Doja Cat’s set as I am always in love with her creativity when it comes to every aspect of her shows. With so many great artists, stage designs, performances, and a great line up, we knew this Coachella would not disappoint. Can’t wait to see what’s in store for weekend 2!
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