Charli xcx, Travis Scott, Inexperienced Day & Extra

“It took me 20 years to get to this stage,” T-Ache mirrored to the ocean of followers from Coachella’s primary stage. An indication of his longevity and hitmaking skill, the Florida native delivered one of many weekend’s most enjoyable units, which stored the viewers guessing at each flip. 

Whether or not it was his dancing, cowl of Journey’s “Don’t Cease Believing” or mixing Travis Scott’s “FE!N” together with his “Kiss Kiss” anthem, there was one thing for everybody to take pleasure in throughout his joyful hour set. With hits like “Purchase U a Drank” to “I’m N Luv” or his memorable assists on Lil Wayne’s “Bought Cash” and Ye’s “Good Life,” T-Ache’s set proved he’s by no means going out of favor. — MICHAEL SAPANORA

The Vampires have landed within the desert. Enhyped made historical past with their Coachella debut because the quicker Okay-pop act to go from its first launch to a Coachella pageant stage. Draped in denim suits, the boy band ran by hits like “Stroll the Line,” “Paranormal,” “XO,” “No Doubt” and “Candy Venom” whereas maintaining the group engaged at each flip. The act’s set introduced followers on a journey because the stage set advanced from a burning metropolis to the serenity of the clouds. The boys have come a good distance from I-Land. — M.S

A years-in-the-making reserving introduced famed conductor Gustavo Dudamel and the sprawling 75-ish particular person orchestra (the “journey sized” model of the Los Angeles Philharmonic) to the Out of doors Stage for golden hour. The query forward of time was if the group would discover any connective tissue with the remainder of the lineup or really feel extra like an anomaly, and the reply was in the end each, in one of the simplest ways. The present started with Wagner’s “Journey of the Valkyries,” and from there on kind of traded off between such classical bangers and extra fashionable materials co-performed with a number of friends. Laufey appeared to carry out “From The Begin” and her latest music “Silver Lining,” with the Phil then doing Vivaldi’s “Spring 1” earlier than Maren Morris and a gospel choir carried out “My Church.” Subsequent friends included Becky G, Ca7riel and Paco Amoroso, (the latter two artists additionally from Dudamel’s personal native nation of Venezuela), Zedd, the digital producer who himself is classically educated and co-performed his 2012 smash “Readability” and LL Cool J, who carried out a medley of hits together with “Mama Mentioned Knock You Out,” “I Want Love” and “Murdergram.” All of it was sandwiched betwixt picks from John Williams, Beethoven and Bach, creating what was arguably essentially the most weekend’s most traditionally wealthy throwback set. — Okay.B.

The lengthy tail of Brat is seen to the bare eye at Coachella 2025, the place this weekend a not insignificant portion of the group was dressed within the type of asymmetrical ruffled skirts, wraparound sun shades and black knee excessive boots that Charli XCX has popularized throughout her culture-shaking marathon run across the album, which got here out two months after final 12 months’s Coachella. On condition that we’ve all been dwelling by the various seasons of Brat ever since, it felt becoming that Charli stored her Saturday night time efficiency virtually solely album-centric, utilizing the slot on the Coachella primary stage — the place she final appeared in 2023 — to highlight the LP’s music, collaborators, aesthetic and angle. The present’s particular friends solely helped Charli ship one other peak second for the mission. — Okay.B.

After internet hosting a “Preventing Oligarchy” rally in Los Angeles — alongside Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Neil Younger, Maggie Rogers and Joan Baez — Sanders’ day didn’t finish there. The senator managed to get himself out to the desert in document time to convey his message to a brand new viewers: Coachella. Sanders appeared not solely to introduce Clairo, however to applaud her for her personal efforts in making this world a greater one. “I’m right here as a result of Clairo has used her prominence to combat for girls’s rights, to attempt to finish the horrible, brutal battle in Gaza, the place hundreds of girls and youngsters are being killed,” stated Sanders. “So I wish to thank Clairo, not just for being in a fantastic band, however for the good work she is doing.” — LYNDSEY HAVENS

“Coachella 2025, are you prepared?!” requested Billie Joe Armstrong whereas ferociously enjoying the riff to “American Fool,” which opened the band’s headlining set. And the factor was, within the 12 months 2025, the group had by no means been extra prepared for this second. As a result of at a time like this, an act like Inexperienced Day is precisely what so many want. (Together with Flava Flav and Cara Delevingne, who took selfies and danced collectively throughout the present.) All through its high-energy, hits-filled set, Inexperienced Day gave the group permission to be offended in regards to the present state of affairs. In “American Fool” the band continued its custom of adjusting a selected lyric, selecting Coachella to declare: “I’m not a part of the MAGA agenda” (the unique line is: “I’m not part of the redneck agenda). And later, towards the top of the practically two-hour-long set, the band made one other lyrical swap; on “Jesus of Suburbia,” Armstrong sang, “Runnin’ away from ache, like the children from Palestine (the unique line is: “Runnin’ away from ache once you’ve been victimized”). In any other case, Armstrong didn’t say a lot outdoors of the music – although he did repeat, “Coachella!” upwards of 20 instances. And that’s what Inexperienced Day’s set was actually all about – the truth that a punk-rock band shaped within the late ‘80s was headlining Coachella practically 40 years later with a catalog that felt simply as, if not extra related than ever earlier than is an unbelievable feat. At one level, a small blimp studying “dangerous information” floated throughout the group – and whereas that will really feel true of the world, tonight Inexperienced Day made certain to ship one thing nice. — L.H.

The 2024 Brat ascendency didn’t simply in the end end result in Charli xcx’s Saturday night time slot on the mainstage, however her associates from the album getting alternative Coachella billing within the wake of their very own Brat-adjoining come-up. After A.G. Cook dinner’s Friday night time set within the Gobi, fellow album producer The Dare performed an 11 p.m. present within the Mojave. However whereas Cook dinner overtly wove within the materials from Brat alongside together with his personal productions, The Dare channeled the album extra in angle, bringing its similar spirit of blasé cool to a efficiency that included music from throughout his 2024 album What’s Improper With New York, with the efficiency additionally serving as a reminder that indie sleaze (or indie sleaze 2.0, on this case) is commonly simply higher and extra visceral within the stay format. — Okay.B.

Punk rock is foundational to the Coachella story, because the occasion’s producer Goldenvoice was initially a punk promoter in L.A. and Orange County. And so it felt proper not solely that The Misfits obtained the extraordinarily uncommon reward of getting its well-known font on the pageant lineup, but in addition a alternative slot of a closing set on the Out of doors Stage. Wearing spiked jackets and, within the case of guitarist Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein, white face paint, the band performed classics together with 1981’s “Vampira,” 1979’s “The place Eagles Dare” and 1986’s “Hollywood Babylon.” The group included older followers, younger children watching from their dad and mom shoulders, a frenetic mosh pit and Inexperienced Day’s Tré Cool, recent off headlining the principle stage. — Okay.B.

Travis Scott has all the time wished to headline Coachella — he even rapped in regards to the embellished pageant on ASTROWORLD’s “SKELETONS.” Scott earned his likelihood on Saturday as La Flame continued to push the envelope together with his modern world constructing in a efficiency that’s merely unmatched in hip-hop for the time being. For his first shock, Scott enlisted Florida A&M College and Jackson State’s marching bands to convey a cinematic texture to songs songs previous and new. Fireworks — musically and actually — had been aplenty with Scott hopping from the principle stage to his raised round construction in the midst of the overall admission raging crowd. After touring the globe behind UTOPIA for a majority of 2023 and 2024, Scott launched a brand new musical period whereas previewing a pair of songs which can be tentatively titled “She Goin Dumb” and “On Jacques.” It’s unclear in the event that they’ll ultimately land on his subsequent solo effort or the JACKBOYS 2 label compilation. The Houston rager all the time brings some kind of theatrical aspect to his exhibits testing the bounds of what’s bodily doable and tonight was no totally different with dancers floating by the sky throughout “Stargazing” or Scott rappelling down the stage stanchion whereas performing “Skyfall.” Being a department on the Kanye West inventive household tree, having a mannequin strut down the catwalk because the muse for “90210”  felt like one thing out of Ye’s “Runaway” playbook. Scott threw a brand new coat of paint on basic bangers like “SICKO MODE” and a number of renditions of “FE!N” alongside together with his “TELEKINESIS” nearer due to the marching band’s brass instrumentation mixing together with his AutoTune-laced vocals. An altered model of the “Fashionable Jam” and Drake’s “NOKIA” mash-up that went viral on X was even integrated into the set.  Whereas Scott has known as arenas house for almost all of his previous two U.S. treks, La Flame’s creativity thrives when the stakes are highest and venues are largest. — M.S.