Coachella 2024: The critics have their say

Critics have delivered their verdicts on the opening weekend of Coachella 2024.

The Goldenvoice-promoted phenomenon made its return to the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, from 12-14 April, headlined by Lana Del Rey, Tyler, the Creator, Doja Cat and No Doubt.

The bill also features the likes of Blur, Peso Pluma, Lil Uzi Vert, Justice, Bizarrap, Deftones, ATEEZ, Everything Always, Peggy Gou, Ice Spice, Gesaffelstein, Sublime, Jungle, Dom Dolla, Bleachers, Grimes, Jon Batiste and Le Sserafim, J Balvin, Jhené Aiko, Khruangbing, Carin León, Anyma, John Summit, Lil Yachty and DJ Snake.

Innovations for this year include a new stage dedicated to dance music – the Quasar stage – which featured extended sets running for three to four hours on both weekends.

But the 125,000-cap festival had been hit by reports of slower than usual ticket sales in the run-up. Once known for selling out on the same day the lineup was released, this year it took considerably longer, leading the Los Angeles Times to question whether Coachella had “lost its shine”.

A Time article, meanwhile, investigated claims that the event had descended into the “Influencer Olympics”, given its popularity with online content creators.

Nevertheless, reviews of weekend one have been largely positive. Tyler, the Creator’s Saturday headline slot, which saw him call upon special guests Donald Glover, A$AP Rocky, Charlie Wilson and Kali Uchis, was hailed by the Guardian as “an exhilarating, high-stakes spectacle”.

The reunited No Doubt, who were joined on stage by Olivia Rodrigo, were similarly trumpeted for their “joyous, high-energy” performance by the publication, which declared the band’s singer Gwen Stefani as “MVP of Coachella so far”.

“There’s a whole generation of new stars waiting to be minted, and Coachella gives them the opportunity to make their case”

Lana Del Rey introduced Jon Batiste, Jack Antonoff and Billie Eilish on stage for her Friday night showing, duetting with the latter on Ocean Eyes and Video Games. Billboard summarised the set as “perplexing – and profound”.

Elsewhere, Uproxx described Sunday’s bill as “a bit thinner on must-see artists” but was full of praise for Doja Cat’s headline set, which featured guest appearances from A$AP Rocky, 21 Savage and Teezo Touchdown.

“Doja Cat, like Lana Del Rey, Tyler The Creator, J Balvin, and a slew of other artists to rock the stage, showed the potential still remaining to be wrought from the platform provided by Coachella,” it concludes.

“What she – and they – demonstrated was that it doesn’t take flashy streaming numbers or worldwide name recognition, so much as the imagination to prove that they belong. There’s a whole generation of new stars waiting to be minted, and Coachella gives them the opportunity to make their case.”

Other surprise guests included Shakira, who appeared during Bizarrap’s DJ set, Becky G, who guested with Peso Pluma, Paris Hilton, who joined last-minute additions Vampire Weekend, and Wizkid and Justin Bieber, who performed with Tems. There was also a Fugees reunion of sorts as Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean performed alongside Hill’s son YG Marley.

And in one of the festival’s more unexpected turns, reggaeton star J Balvin brought out Will Smith for a rendition of Smith’s 1997 smash Men In Black.

Meanwhile, a clip of Blur’s Damon Albarn went viral after large sections of the crowd apparently failed to follow his cues to sing along to the British group’s 1994 hit Girls & Boys. “You’re never seeing us again so you might as well fucking sing it,” complained the frontman.

Grimes also attracted attention for the wrong reasons after screaming into her microphone with frustration during her DJ set due to experiencing “major technical difficulties”.

“I want to apologise for the technical issues with the show tonight,” she later posted on X. “I wanted to come back [really] strong and usually I always handle every aspect of my show myself – to save time this was one of the first times I’ve outsourced essential things.”

Coachella 2024 concludes from 19-21 April.

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