The 2024 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival may have started out rocky with its slow-selling tickets upon dropping its initial lineup including headliners Lana Del Rey, Tyler, the Creator and Doja Cat. However, weekend one proved to be a massive hit with special guests such as Olivia Rodrigo during No Doubt’s reunion and Sky Ferreira opening for Kevin Abstract, an endless sampler of unforgettable sets from Bleachers to Tinashe as well as the introduction of the newest stage in the desert, Quasar. 

As weekend two rolls in, the anticipation for more surprises and excitement is setting in for festival goers. From the new art installations across the festival grounds, the late addition of Kid Cudi to weekend two, and everything in between. The first day of Coachella weekend two included sets from The Beths, Chappell Roan, Deftones, Justice, Lana Del Rey and many more! 

Narrow Head

Dallas-based rock band, Narrow Head set the vibes early in the Sonora stage with their dynamic performance. On the air-conditioned stage with a DJ spinning vinyls, the Sonora stage provides festival goers with a rather chill environment to enjoy some unique sets. With a “nh” graphic spinning around on the screen behind the band in the vein of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater logo, Narrow Head popped off with a 90’s inspired rock set featuring crunchy guitars giving off heavy Nirvana vibes. There were a handful of slick guitar solos, making it an easy set to head bang to. Narrow Head played tracks including “The Real,” “Sunday,” and closed the set with “Gearhead.” 

Kokoroko

In addition to having a very fun band name to say, the London-based Kokoroko had an equally as fun set at the Gobi stage with their funky, jazz, afrobeat fusion of tunes. The eight-piece group led by Sheila Maurice-Grey, are effortlessly cool and blend extremely well together with the fatty bass sounds and tingly horn section, all while the drummer was absolutely locked in his pocket to the extent that one almost needs to make a stank face hearing the beats he was laying down. 

Late night drive home 

Indie/alternative band late night drive home put on a wildly fun show in the Sonora tent. The band sounds like a group one would see at a house show in a suburban cul-de-sac neighborhood. With their surf-rock, upbeat jams, the Austin-based band channeled their best Strokes impression via songs like “Over the Garden” and “Stress Relief.” For the last song, “Euphoria,” the band told the crowd to get as low as they can and wait till the beat dropped and go crazy. The crowd obliged as everyone jumped up and down and flailed around to the beat. 

The Japanese House 

With technical difficulties during weekend one, The Japanese House needed a redeeming set during weekend two, and that is exactly what they got. The Amber Bain-led indie rock group began the day with an incredibly dreamy set to open the festival. Starting the set was the upbeat and extremely catchy, “Sad to Breathe” from their 2023 album, In the End It Always Does. Amber’s vocals are heavenly, dipped in a dash of reverb, the guitar tones are slick and the drums punch straight to the heart. The songwriting is utterly heartbreaking, making this the perfect set to dance around and cry your eyes out to. 

The Beths

At the Sonora stage, the New Zealand rockers, The Beths tore the roof completely off with their performance. There was a giant inflatable fish tucked in the corner of the stage, similar to the one on the cover of their 2022 record, Expert In a Dying Field. The Beths brought their fast-paced, gritty indie tunes to the air-conditioned room at Coachella and festival-goers loved every second of it. The guitars had plenty of bite, their melodies were stickier than glue and the band’s stage presence was colorful and wholesome. One of the best parts of the set was when the band introduced each other individually on stage, showing their appreciation for each other on stage. Some of the most memorable moments during the set included the tracks “When You Know You Know” and “Jump Rope Gazers.”

L’Impératrice

The French pop band, L’Impératrice, brought plenty of grooves and moves to the Outdoor Theatre on Friday afternoon in the desert. Wearing futuristic looking matching outfits, the band played some of the smoothest tunes to move your hips to with funky basslines and warbly synths. Even if you don’t know French, their music scratches the dance itch so easily. With tracks like “Peur des filles” and “Matahari,” L’Impératrice managed to create both a nostalgic-inducing yet futuristic dance party under the Coachella sun. 

Faye Webster 

(Contributed reporting by Bronx)

In the Mojave tent was Atlanta-based singer-songwriter Faye Webster. She came out on stage to graphics of Minions dressed in her signature blue clothing on the screen. The stage design included a handful of racks of blue t-shirts and a couple of washing machines meant to reminisce the cover art for her latest album. With her soft vocals encountering and exploring existential dread and unrequited love, Faye’s set was perfect to sway along, lay down on the grass, and take a breather from all the excitement happening at the festival. 

The setlist consisted majorly of tracks from her newest record, Underdressed at the Symphony including “Feeling Good Today.” The crowd that showed up to Faye Webster sang word for word. A video game graphic took up the screen, with Faye and Lil Yatchy’s names at either corner. Yachty came out performing “Lego Ring,” and the crowd erupted. She also played a few fan favorites as well such as “Kingston” and “Right Side of My Neck.” Faye’s set was soothing, sort of like a soft kiss on the forehead. It was not too intrusive, but was more of a gentle reminder to drink plenty of water and take it easy. 

Chappell Roan

One of the most anticipated sets of the weekend belonged to pop artist, Chappell Roan. With her incredible breakout record from last year, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, Chappell Roan has been turning heads with her incredibly bold, and sugary-sweet pop music. Not only does she have infectiously catchy tunes, her lyrics are deeply honest, relatable and tug on heartstrings in unexpected ways. And it is evident that her music has struck a chord with so many people seeing all of the fans oozing out of the Gobi tent with their glittery makeup and pink cowboy hats. Looking out into the crowd, Chappell has the power to attract all walks of life from different cultures, ages, and sexualities all looking to have a rootin’-tootin’ good time. 

Chappell’s set proved to be an impressive feat and demonstrated that she is more than just a TikTok artist. Her youthful energy and connection to the crowd showed that she is already worthy of a main stage slot, even with being so fresh into her music career. She came out on stage dressed in a pink butterfly costume, dancing around as the wings flapped to and fro. Her backing band was very tight and added plenty of umph to the already spunky tunes, especially during her newest release, “Good Luck, Babe!” Tracks like “Casual” and “Red Wine Supernova” highlight her powerful vocals, and songs like “Femininomenon” and “HOT TO GO!” showed that fun pop music is alive and thriving with artists such as Chappell carrying the torch. 

Sabrina Carpenter 

(Contributed reporting by Bronx)

On the main stage, the hit-making pop machine, Sabrina Carpenter presented fans with a fabulous and absurdly fun performance. The stage design consisted of an all-over baby-blue painted motel with a car crashed into the side of it, making the scene all the more cinematic. From watching her dance around on stage, it is evident that Carpenter is no stranger to performing in front of big crowds which can most likely be attributed to her countless opening days for Taylor Swift on the ever popular Eras Tour. 

The backing band elevated the bubblegum pop music with brighter and bigger production. Carpenter, along with her backup dancers, were an absolute treat to watch. Sabrina Carpenter’s songs are very radio ready and catchy. The background dancers are on point and the sound quality was pristine. ADA security danced and clapped along. Norah Jones even joined Carpenter on stage to sing “Don’t Know Why” together. The aural and visual experience was akin to eating a warm slice of apple pie with a mountain of sugary whip cream on top. There was plenty of flavor with tracks from her record emails i can’t send like “because i liked a boy” and the massive hit “Nonsense” with a custom Coachella outro, “I’m so glad you came for me, Coachella.” 

Deftones

Probably one of the heaviest sets of the weekend goes to the Sacramento-based alternative metal group, Deftones. A collective of the most black t-shirts in the crowd and on stage, the crowd during Deftones was ready to headbang and mosh during this sunsetting Coachella set. With blaring guitars, blasting drums and Chino Moreno’s iconic, prominent vocals, this Deftones set solidified heavy music still holds a significant place in the desert festival. There were even some kids on their parents shoulders enjoying the blisteringly intense Deftones set. 

The band played a solid 12-song set including tracks from a handful of records from Diamond Eyes, Around the Fur, and of course, White Pony. During weekend one’s performance, the band played “Combat” from the record Saturday Night Wrist for the first time since 2011. For weekend two, they began their set with the song and it proved to be a particularly powerful opener. A few other differences from weekend one included “Sextape,” “Royal” and “Rosemary.” Towards the end of the set, they covered The Smiths “Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want” in a medley with “Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away)” in the most Deftones way possible with their chunky and abrasive wall of sound.

Lil Uzi Vert 

(Contributed reporting by Bronx)

Back at the main stage, Lil Uzi Vert performed. “Just Wanna Rock”  galvanized Coachella Valley. Even the lesser known songs included on the set were still enigmatic, undoubtedly entertaining the crowd. One doesn’t have to know all of Uzi’s songs to be able to dance to them, they each have a distinct energy about them which make them irresistible. On screen, two index fingers almost touch each other, which was emblematic of Judeo-Christian imagery. Red flames flaring from the set upheld Uzi’s dark-angelic-vibe. Their set was deeply evocative. Quite a few in the crowd began breaking into Uzi’s popular TikTok dance, smiling smugly in acknowledgement before closing out. The crowd was loving every second of Uzi’s high energy, nonstop bangers including “XO TOUR Llif3,” “Just Wanna Rock” and “Neon Guts.” With their cutesy charisma, Uzi shared that they “love Coachella” as they were beaming from cheek to cheek and their eyes sparkling from the stage lights.

Rüfüs Du Sol

At the brand new set of the Coachella festival, Quasar, the electronic duo from Sydney, Rüfüs Du Sol, performed a long-form DJ set with gigantic visuals flying across the background feeling like a set one would see at Electric Daisy Carnival. This Rüfüs set was a nonstop dance party that pulled in a huge crowd ready to dance until the sun went down. While experiencing this stage in person, one can easily get lost in the trippy visuals feeling like they’re flying in the sky along with the pulsating, mind-melting music blasting through the speakers. 

Yoasobi 

The J-pop duo Yoasobi consisting of vocalist, Vocaloid and producer, Ayase performed a colorful and incredibly fun set at the Mojave stage. The duo touched on a variety of genres from hyperpop and rock, but through and through, their set was a blast and felt like playing an intense game of Dance Dance Revolution. Vocaloid channeled her adorable and bubbly personality while the backing band turned up every song to the max with slick guitars and booming drums. Overall, Yoasobi was extremely wholesome and after every song, Vocaloid said, “Arigatō!” 

Clown Core 

Clown Core’s set at the Sonora stage was probably the most bizarre, disorienting and head-scratching performance of the entire weekend. Even if one were to do their research on the group before watching them, there’s no way of truly preparing for this unusual set. At its core, Clown Core is a duo consisting of two unidentified musicians, a drummer and a saxophonist, hiding behind clown masks. It is speculated that the members are multi-instrumentalist and singer/songwriter, Louis Cole and a frequent collaborator of Cole’s and saxophonist, Sam Gendel. 

On stage, the duo was rather elusive and kept the crowd interactions to a minimum, but the music itself is face-melting with lush jazz embellishments blending in elements of hardcore, and a dash of circus sounding music all meshed together giving whiplash to everyone who dared enter the Sonora tent. The drummer had a very simple set with only a hi-hat, a juicy-sounding snare and a kick, yet he was able to utilize it extremely well.

At times, it was hard to tell how much of the performance was a joke or how much was genuine, but that’s the beautiful part of what Clown Core is doing. It is evident that the duo is immensely talented, and their performance was refreshing and undoubtedly unique to anything else happening at Coachella. 

Justice 

Closing out the Outdoor Theatre stage for Friday night was the legendary French electronic duo, Justice. This set was an intense, nonstop dance party with flashing lights, intricate remixes of classic Justice songs and pulsating synths hitting directly to the heart. The moving lights floating above the stage were trippy and synced up perfectly with the duo’s deep, resonating electronic music, creating a massive wall of sound that was hard to escape. 

This performance was a daring and bold triumph for electronic music demonstrating what the future holds for the genre. Justice have always been a group that have pushed electronic music to the edge and have always tried to experiment with new sounds and new ways of challenging the genre. And this Coachella set proved why Justice continues to be a group held in such high regard. 

This set was dynamic as every track flowed so effortlessly together. Every crevice and minor detail of each song was heightened from the tingling hi-hats, the hefty bass and gut-busting drums. Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay looked unequivocally cool in their suits on stage, nonchalantly performing one of the greatest DJ sets Coachella has ever seen since Daft Punk’s 2006 set. Some stand out moments during the setlist include “Stress,” the new songs from upcoming record, Hyperdrama, and the unbeatable finale mashup of “D.A.N.C.E. / On to the Next One / Safe and Sound / Neverender.” 

Lana Del Rey 

The Friday night headliner was the incomparable singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey. Riding off an incredible run of albums including Chemtrails over the Country Club, Norman Fucking Rockwell! and her 2023 release, Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd, the stage design was grand and rather theatrical, reminiscent of Moulin Rouge or The Great Gatsby with an elegant balcony covered in hanging vines, alluring lighting, and mesmerizing backup dancers giving the illusion of taking a glimpse of a mansion party thrown by Lana herself. 

The moment Lana appeared on stage, it felt like watching a siren singing in the desert. With every note Lana sang, it was impossible to look away and not be stunned with her beautiful aura and instantly recognizable voice. Her voice is tender, sweet and timeless. Based on this performance alone, it is evident why Lana was asked to headline the first night of Coachella; she has such a strong command of her voice, her lyrics pierce through the heart like a sharpened arrow and her discography contains more hits than one would expect. From “Summertime Sadness” to “Video Games,” and “Born to Die,” Lana Del Rey’s catalog is stacked to the brim with tracks that take one back to the good old Tumblr-scrolling days. 

Although Lana’s music is slower than one would expect for a headlining set, the backing band took care to enhance every slow-burning track with beefy live drums, crunchy guitars and somber-sounding piano. Lana Del Rey’s songs are typically barebone and instrumentally simple, but the live band added plenty of magic to every single song, making them intricate and powerful. There might not have been a lot of dancing around or moshing during this set as in others, but the crowd was swaying, singing every lyric or bawling their eyes out. 

During weekend one, in true Coachella fashion, Lana brought out a few special guests to her set. The first guest was Jon Batiste to play piano on “Candy Necklace.” Longtime collaborator Jack Antonoff also hopped on stage to play piano on “Hope Is A Dangerous Thing For A Woman Like Me To Have” while a hologram of Lana spun around in a glass case that looked like Beauty and the Beast rose encased in delicate glass. While the hologram portion didn’t happen for weekend two, both Jon Batiste and Jack Antonoff returned for her set again to help play the piano on the same songs as weekend one. The biggest surprise during weekend one was when Billie Eilish joined Lana on stage to sing her track “ocean eyes” and then Lana’s hit, “Video Games.” 

For weekend two, there was definitely speculation about who Lana would bring out during her set, and although this week’s attendees did not get Eilish, weekend two goers witnessed Camila Cabello performing her newest single “I LUV IT.” Although a small detour from the tone of Lana’s typical music, it did provide for a fun, upbeat interlude during her set.  

The last song of the night was “Young and Beautiful” from the 2013 film adaptation of The Great Gatsby. It was a rather fitting ending with the aesthetics of the stage design and outfits. Lana’s grand exit after singing was on a motorcycle riding through the crowd in a sort of Coachella victory lap. There were undeniably many skeptics in regards to Lana’s headlining placement for the festival this year, but with the fireworks flying in the desert sky as the crowd cheered, it is safe to say Lana Del Rey really stuck the landing. 

Lana Del Rey Coachella Weekend Two Headlining Setlist

1. Without You
2. West Coast
3. Doin’ Time
4. Summertime Sadness
5. Cherry
6. Pretty When You Cry
7. Ride
8. Born To Die
9. I Luv It (w/Camila Cabello)
10. Bartender
11. Chemtrails Over The Country Club
12. The Grants
13. Did You Know There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd
14. Norman Fucking Rockwell
15. Arcadia
16. Candy Necklace (w/Jon Batiste)
17. Hope Is A Dangerous Thing For A Woman Like Me To Have (w/Jack Antonoff)
18. A&W
19. Young And Beautiful

Featured Image Photo Credit: Sharon Alagna