Coachella, an arts and music festival, is a popular event at which numerous artists perform on a variety of stages over the span of two weekends. The weekends for this years’ festival were April 11-13 and 18-20. The event took place in the middle of the desert, at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California.
Artists of all genres showcased their talents, but among the most noteworthy include Lady Gaga, Travis Scott, Benson Boone, Charli XCX, Post Malone, and ENHYPEN. On April 11, Lady Gaga kicked off her performance with a “Bloody Mary,” “Abracadabra,” and “Judas” mashup, later leading into famous hits such as “Shallow” and “Bad Romance.”
During “Paparazzi,” Gaga used crutches as a reference to the song’s music video, one of many other Easter eggs hidden throughout the show. Her unforgettable performance ended with an extravagant final rendition of “Poker Face” on a chess set with unconventional choreography and stunning stage effects.
With flashing lights and pounding music, Travis Scott changed the mood of the main stage entirely while performing two of his most popular songs, “FE!N,” and “Sicko Mode.” To escalate it further, he walked down an almost vertical wall during his performance of “Skyfall.” Scott’s performance exceeded the curfew by a few minutes, resulting in a $20,000 fine due to the festival’s agreement with the city of Indio. Although the occurrence wasn’t the first of its kind, it was the only one that happened at this year’s Coachella.
On a different note, Benson Boone wowed the audience with his vocal abilities and back-flipping prowess. He began with a bang when he covered “Bohemian Rhapsody” with Brian May, the original guitarist of Queen. Continuing with May, the two performed one of Boone’s most well-known songs, “Beautiful Things.” Many rock fans appreciated this, singling him out from the other artists.
“I especially liked Benson Boone’s performance since he brought out Brian May. They’re both very talented artists, Benson vocally and Brian with his guitar,” said freshman Claire Min.
Afterwards, he revealed the upcoming release of his second album, American Heart, and debuted the title song. A few more hit songs ensued, and Boone ended a performance that rocketed his young career even higher.
British electro-pop star Charli XCX started her time on stage with guest star Billie Eilish where they sang a rendition of their song, “Guess.” Eilish wasn’t the only guest artist in Charli’s set: Lorde, Troye Sivan, and Addison Rae all showed up for their featured songs as well. After an energetic and authentic performance, the singer hinted at the start of the new era beyond brat by displaying “Maybe it’s time for a different kind of summer?” on the screen behind her.
Post Malone, now a multi-genre artist, brought in Ed Sheeran and Jelly Roll, with Jelly and Post collaborating on “Losers,” while Ed Sheeran sang Swae Lee’s lines on “Sunflower,” Malone’s song featured in the film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Post Malone performed other well known hits such as “I Had Some Help,” and “Circles,” both showcasing his unique mix of hip hop, pop, R&B, and country.
ENHYPEN, a South Korean boy band, performed songs from their latest album, Romance: Untold (Daydream). In addition to their great stage presence, entrancing vocals, and catchy songs, they all wore matching denim outfits from their partnership with Prada.