With the first weekend of Coachella in the books, there were plenty of memorable moments to look back on moving into weekend two. Weekend one of the Coachella Valley Music Festival brought the surprise reunion of pop-punk legends, Blink-182 with the original lineup playing together for the first time in nine years, The Weeknd performed a string of hits during Metro Boomin’s set including “Creepin’” and “Heartless,” and headlining sets from the biggest names in music such as Bad Bunny, BLACKPINK, and a rather elusive performance by Frank Ocean.
Since its conception, weekend two of Coachella has become notoriously known for weeding out all the influencers and celebrities in attendance during weekend one and gathering more die-hard fans to truly appreciate the music. Although all the grass has been kicked up from all the Blinks (Blackpink fans) dancing around leaving behind a thin layer of dust to breathe in, there are plenty of upsides to attending weekend two. For one, everything, in general, seems to be running a lot more smoothly with all the kinks including technical difficulties, scheduling conflicts, and crowd control being handled better than on weekend one. From walking around, it’s apparent that the festival-goers were feeling less anxious and more easygoing knowing what to expect from watching everything go down during the first weekend.
Jupiter & Okwess
The first set of the day is the band from Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Jupiter & Okwess. With the very first set of the Gobi stage, they came out to party for weekend two bringing the funk and getting the crowd to sidestep during their performance. Every member of the band was smiling from ear to ear and just so excited to be playing in front of the Coachella crowd. Even with a language barrier, the crowd had no trouble catching the rhythm listening to their silky guitar riffs, groovy bass, and smashing drums. The drummer wore a Lucha mask which the crowd loved, the guitarist played a colorful custom-painted Les Paul, and the bassist had an interesting acoustic/electric bass. During one of the songs toward the end of the set repeated the sentiment “we can do better” and this refrain helped start day one of this festival on the right foot.
¿Téo?
The next set at the Gobi stage was Mateo Arias, AKA ¿Téo?. A Colombian-American artist brought a great mix of hip-hop, rock, and Latin-infused tracks during his set. He hopped onto the stage looking fresh in an all-white outfit, licking his lips and feeling himself a little too much for some people’s taste but nonetheless was a fun performance. The bass was banging, the drummer was constantly in his pocket, and the mix of English and Spanish bars was a good preview of what the Bad Bunny set could be like later in the night. Expressing his gratitude for the crowd coming out so early to his set, he claimed that “the Gobi tent might be the sexiest stage.” Toward the end of his set, Jaden Smith came out to perform his verse on “Uno Dos” and the crowd went nuts. He was wearing a suit with his brand MSFTS on the back, regardless of the hot weather because he was looking cool. Jaden said how proud he was of his friend and said “you inspire me, bro.” All in all, it was a solid set and the Latin representation was a cherry on top.
The Comet is Coming
At the Outdoor Theatre was London-based electronic band, The Comet is Coming. Their set was absolutely explosive and felt like an entire improvised set with constant saxophone solos, jazz drum passages, and intrinsic piano chords over fast-paced instrumentals. There were even some elements of hardcore with a few people in the crowd head banging and having a blast.
Domi & JD Beck
Walking by the Mojave stage again was the immensely talented jazz duo, Domi & JD Beck. Their stage set up was relatively simple with JD’s drums facing Domi’s keyboard as they essentially performed for and to each other while a crowd of people observed. The duo makes digestible jazz music for a modern audience while dipping their toes into more technical aspects of the genre. Their set was chill, and even had a few surprise guests such as bass extraordinaire Thundercat who wore a Freddy Krueger looking sweater and a blinged out Sonic the Hedgehog chain as well as Anderson .Paak to sing “Take a Chance.” This might have been the first time in a while where he wasn’t wearing a wig like his Silk Sonic stage persona.
Gabriels
Back at the Gobi stage, British-American three piece band, the Gabriels hit the stage. Consisting of Jacob Lusk, Ryan Hope, and Ari Balouzian. They are a fusion of soul, R&B, and gospel. Their Gobi stage was a church service with Lusk belting the entire time, hitting high notes, and looking smooth while doing it in his silky robe and golden microphone. There were some technical difficulties which caused a delay starting a song, but Lusk played it off like a pro and started singing some Whitney Houston to bide the time. The rest of the set was extremely tight and the instrumentals nestled nicely, elevating Lusk’s vocals so well.
Pusha T
Terrence LeVarr Thornton, AKA Pusha T took to the stage a little late and experienced some technical difficulties, but he still powered through like the pro that he is. His stage decor consisted of a giant snow globe on stage with a freeway sign saying “Welcome to Cokechella” and fake snow all over. His entire “Cokechella” performance proves that he is undeniably one of the best MC’s in the game and deserves his legendary status and main stage placement. He performed mostly tracks from his new album, It’s Almost Dry and ended his performance with a handful of bangers from “I Don’t Like” and “Mercy” although he didn’t get to perform his full set due to starting a little late.
Vintage Culture
The Sahara stage held Brazilian DJ Vintage Culture’s explosive set that included remixes of Kid Cudi’s “Day and Night” with vocoder vocals and a trip hop remix to “Seven Nation Army.” You can tell this was a fun sunset DJ performance from all the cat ears, shuffling shoes, and fist pumping going on in the crowd.
MUNA
Yet again, the Mojave stage held another fantastic set by queer indie pop group, MUNA. This was straight up just fun, pulsating, grooving pop bangers after another. Essentially, MUNA transformed the Mojave tent into a WeHo nightclub for the entirety of their set. There were plenty of fun elements such as blow up horses being thrown into the crowd, intense sexual energy with all the band members on stage, and a quick appearance by the entirety of boygenius during the finale, “Silk Chiffon.”
Tobe Nwigwe
Another set that was caught in passing was at the Gobi stage for Tobe Nwigwe. But it could not have been better timing because Tobe brought the legendary singer Cee Lo Green to perform “Catfish Blackened w/ Grits.” The crowd went nuts when he walked on stage wearing the matching outfits as the rest of the band. After this track, Tobe let Cee Lo have the spotlight and sang the Gnarls Barkley hit “Crazy.” Coachella surprise guests are always a special thing to witness, but this one was historic. The rest of his set was incredibly soul cleansing, very much an artistic masterpiece with the sun setting, bleeding into the stage tent.
Wet Leg
To no surprise, Mojave stage had another rocking set with British indie rock band, Wet Leg. From the first track, it is apparent that they sound just like or even better than their recordings. From their solid debut album last year, to touring to Harry Styles, to landing a Coachella performance, Wet Leg is only on an up and up trajectory with much more success. Especially with this set, and watching the crowd groove and participate during the cathartic scream during “Ur Mum,” it’s apparent this band is going to do big things in the future. One of the highlights from the set was hearing a crowd at Coachella sing at the top of their lungs “I got the big D” during “Chaise Longue.”
Yves Tumor
At the Gobi stage, Yves Tumor came out to perform their experimental pop music for the festival. With their spiked hair and leather outfit, Yves Tumor was truly channeling their inner rock and roll star alongside punchy guitars, heavy bass, and distorted vocals. This was definitely a head banging set with one of the best songs of the day being “Gospel For a New Country.”
Blondie
As far as legendary acts at Coachella goes, Blondie is up there. The pioneering group of rock and new wave had much success in the 70’s and 80’s, and this Coachella performance proves that they still got it. Debbie Harry is just as energetic and fierce as she was when she first started in the band. A lot of the audience was older demographic but they were moving and grooving. They began the set with “One Way or Another.” “Call Me” and “Heart of Glass” were other obvious highlights from the set list. They were channeling the energy of a punk rock show on Sunset Blvd.
KAYTRANADA
One of the most fun sets of the entire day was Kaytranada at the Outdoor Theatre. He put on a nonstop dance party with plenty of pizzazz and plenty of special guests. With a giant silver head behind him on stage, Kaytranada spun the 1s and 2s playing a string of songs he’s produced over the years. Last week, Kaytranada brought out Kali Uchis and Aminé. This week, Grammy award winning singer/songwriter H.E.R. joined Kay on stage to perform “Intimidated.” After H.E.R., Tinashe hopped on the mic to sing “The Worst in Me.” The final guest that made an appearance was Anderson .Paak to perform “Glowed Up” and the crowd went nuts. There was not a single soul at Kay’s set standing still.
Gorillaz
Another highly anticipated set for the weekend was the animated band fronted by Damon Albarn, Gorillaz. At their weekend one performance, they brought a handful of guests including slowthai, De La Soul, and Thundercat. And as predicted, Gorillaz brought even more collaborators this weekend. The set opened with “M1A1” as an ominous voice pleads “hello?” for someone to hear him. From here, it was a revolving door of guests with colorful animations playing in the background. Grammy award winner Beck popped out to perform “The Valley of the Pagans.” Thundercat hopped over to the Coachella stage, again wearing his Freddy Krueger sweater, to perform “Cracker Island.” Probably the biggest difference for this weekend’s set was Friday headliner Bad Bunny coming out to perform “Tormenta” together for the first time. A real treat for weekend two goers which even had Albarn claiming “I’m sorry but week two is better than week one.”
More guests that made it out to weekend two included Mos Def, Little Simz, Moonchild Sanelly, Del the Funky Homosapien, De La Soul,and Bootie Brown. This performance was a mix of all different eras of Gorillaz and felt like the closest thing we would see to a Gorillaz headlining set. The backing band was amazing too and it was fun to see Albarn play every instrument he could get his hands on. One of the best parts of a Gorillaz set is seeing that Albarn allows the space for his guests to have the spotlight and thrive on stage.
Metro Boomin’
Another revolving door of guests on stage was the Metro Boomin’ and friends set at the Sahara stage. The set opened with an epic comic book monologue with narration by the one and only Morgan Freeman. Once Metro ascended into the booth, the first song led by John Legend and a choir got “Trochella” started. Last weekend, Metro brought out surprise guest The Weeknd, and weekend two was no different. The Weeknd came out again but at the top of the set instead of the end. He performed a few tracks including the massive hit “Creepin’” and “Heartless.” Being a hip hop producer for many heavy hitting artists such as Drake and Future, more friends were bound to show up. Future showed up again this weekend and performed a handful of songs including “Thought It Was a Drought” and “Mask Off.” Don Toliver also made an appearance with Offset closing out the set with “Bad & Boujee” and “Ric Flair Drip.” This set felt like a headlining set but without the proper viewing for everyone. There were people oozing out of the Sahara stage area while some festival goers watched the show from the top of a food truck.
Bad Bunny
After Metro Boomin’s epic weekend two set, it was time to head back over to the main stage to catch Bad Bunny perform. Even for those not familiar with his music, it is undeniable Bad Bunny’s impact on music and pop culture in the last few years. In fact, with this headlining spot, Bad Bunny has become the first Latin artist to ever headline the festival.
The Puerto Rican superstar came out performing on a gas station lookalike for his massive summer hit, “Tití me preguntó.” Every single person went absolutely insane, singing every word. The energy in the crowd was vibrant and rather freaky with people getting down and ready to party with Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio. From the jump, this performance felt like a true headlining set with colorful visuals, backup dancers, and incredible showmanship. For those in the crowd that don’t understand Spanish were still able to have a good time vibing out to the summery tunes from Un verano sin ti or the Latin trap bangers on YHQMDLG.
Throughout the set, there were small interludes on the screen with a history of Latin music such as Salsa, Cumbia, Reggaeton, and the origins of each genre up until the modern Latin music of today. This set felt like a celebration of Latin culture and the significance that Bad Bunny and other similar artists have on the musical landscape. Especially for such a landmark moment in the festival’s history, this Bad Bunny performance spotlighted plenty of Latin voices that all audiences can appreciate.
During his first weekend performance, Bad Bunny brought out a few friends to perform a couple songs such as Jhayco and Post Malone. Jhayco came out to perform “DÁKITI” and “Tarot,” and Malone brought an acoustic guitar by a campfire to play “La canción” and “Yonaguni.” However, there were some technical difficulties getting his guitar to work, Post Malone had a big smile on his face and was just happy to be there.
Weekend two, Bad Bunny brought some more friends such as Arcángel for “La Jumpa,” Grupo Frontera had the spotlight for a few songs and they performed “un x100to” for the first time with Bad Bunny, José Feliciano played a couple acoustic songs, and Jhayco returned for weekend two.
The theatrics for this performance were nonstop with Bad Bunny riding on a jet ski, a SUV with a banging sound system drove up on stage, and the show ended with a colorful and Latin inspired dance battle between all the backup dancers. All in all, this performance was a historical moment cementing Coachella’s cultural reach expanding outside of American musicians and celebrating artists around the world.
Saturday is destined to have more memorable sets from headliners BLACKPINK, supergroup, boygenius, punk outfit, The Linda Lindas, world renown DJ, Calvin Harris, and much more!
Photo credit: Marv Watson
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