Ah, Coachella. It’s the marker for the beginning of festival season; who cares that it’s in April? It’s basically summer already! Flower crowns and fringe galore, this year’s Coachella was an exciting one.
Here’s a recap of what you might have missed at weekend 1.
1. LCD Soundsystem reunited
It was only 6 years ago when this group disbanded. They left with a little bit of our souls. But their headlining Coachella performance on Friday (day 1) was their big event to show the public that they are back and better than ever.
They not only played their well-known classics such as “Daft Punk is Playing at My House”, “All My Friends”, and “Dance Yrself Clean”, but they also played a tribute to David Bowie with a cover of “Heroes”. LCD was the perfect way to end the night with their wonderful and signature interpretations of electronic music that made the crowd unable to stop dancing.
2. Kanye West surprised us all
A$AP Rocky is great enough on his own. But during his set on Friday night, “Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1” by Kanye West began to play, and behold, the man himself came out and rapped with A$AP Rocky. There was just one problem…his microphone was not working. Despite this, the crowd was still hyped and excited about Kanye’s presence.
Later that night, Kanye and Tyler, the Creator had an impromptu track meet. As you do.
3. The 1975 emerged, in all their pink glory
Marking the beginning of the U.S. leg of their tour, The 1975 gave a wonderful performance at Coachella on Sunday, certainly much better than their last one in 2014 when they had technical difficulties. They played their most popular songs like “Girls” and “Chocolate”, but also some from their new album I Like It When You Sleep…, such as “If I Believe You” and “The Sound”.
4. Guns N Roses return
As one of the most iconic bands of the past few decades, Guns N Roses were expected to have a great comeback performance as they reunite. Angus Young of AC/DC joined them to play songs like “November Rain”, “Welcome to the Jungle”, and of course, “Sweet Child O’ Mine”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tW7wwIRm-9E
5. Rihanna joins Calvin Harris
Although she wasn’t scheduled to perform at Coachella as she is currently doing her own world tour for her new album ANTi, Rihanna came out and surprised all of us on Sunday night when she joined Calvin Harris for a performance of their iconic hit “We Found Love”. It was an ethereal moment and one surely to be remembered.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9XWpVrsuGA
6. Lorde joins Disclosure
Was this a weekend for surprise appearances or what? While enjoying the festival on her own time, Lorde also managed to join Disclosure to sing for their collaboration “Magnets”. Let’s take this moment to pray for Lorde’s new album and hope that it comes out eventually.
7. Kesha performs for the first time since her legal hearing
In the midst of her legal battle against her former producer Dr. Luke, Kesha returns to the stage with Zedd in the most confident we’ve seen her since it began. She’s clearly ready to make a true comeback once her judge (hopefully) rules in her favor and free from her abuser. The two performed Zedd’s song “True Colors”.
Thank goodness Coachella is a 2-weekend festival — check back here next week to see what happened during weekend 2!
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