Coachella 2023: What You Didn’t See on the Livestream
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The post Coachella 2023: What You Didn’t See on the Livestream appeared first on Consequence.
There are great music festivals, there are spectacular music festivals, and then there’s Coachella.
Each year, Coachella offers a completely unique festival experience, and 2023 was stacked to the brim with unmissable talent. With surprises (Blink-182), global icons (Bad Bunny, BLACKPINK, Rosalía), indie favorites (boygenius, Gorillaz), and elusive rarities (Frank Ocean, Jai Paul), thousands packed into the California desert oasis for a weekend of incredible music.
Each major genre and each generation had ample representation. There were some classics from different eras, like Blondie, The Breeders, and Björk, amidst music’s future heroes, like Ethel Cain, Sudan Archives, and Magdalena Bay. What makes Coachella so special is that each artist typically plays their very best show — they’ll pull out all the bells and whistles. That includes bringing in tons of unexpected stars to appear on the festival’s seven stages; The Weeknd, Billie Eilish, Future, Post Malone, Nile Rogers, and Tyler, the Creator were just a few of many exciting guests throughout the weekend.
Overall, Coachella ran very smoothly — but as with any large-scale event, there were occasional hiccups. Frank Ocean’s set was certainly polarizing; he did show up, but it was an hour after his scheduled time, and he ended up having to cut off his set early due to curfew. A few audio issues arose (The Linda Lindas made due with microphone mishaps, and it took Jai Paul a couple songs before it all came together sonically), and certain performances underwhelmed: Gorillaz had some fun special guests, but their set wasn’t as gripping as it could have been, and a few of the electronic giants felt a little homogenous, while acts like Fisher + Chris Lake had some intriguing visuals but lacked a little showmanship.
But at Coachella, the good tends to outweigh the bad. Bad Bunny’s headlining set was a sight to behold, and his raucous opener — last year’s irresistible “Tití Me Preguntó” — was absolutely electrifying. Elsewhere throughout the weekend, EARTHGANG and Pusha-T performed some of the best hip-hop sets; Charli XCX, Rosalía, and BLACKPINK served some killer choreography; and Björk dazzled with a full orchestra behind her.
Thankfully, most sets were live streamed once again this year, so even if you had some FOMO — we don’t blame you! — at least you could enjoy Couchella. Here are some things you may have missed if you weren’t physically at Coachella 2023.
Festival of Headliners
Blink-182 at Coachella, photo via YouTube
When it comes to headliners, Coachella typically sticks to their guns and offers three significant names to wrap up the three days (as opposed to Lollapalooza, Outside Lands, and Austin City Limits’ six top-line artists). But this year was different — depending on how you look at it, Coachella 2023 had, well, 10 headliners.
Bad Bunny, BLACKPINK, and Frank Ocean all attracted lots of attention; Calvin Harris made a groovy return to the desert to close out Saturday night; and sub-headliners Gorillaz, Rosalía, and Björk — who were each given around 75 minutes this year — were arguably just as in-demand as the top-billed acts. That’s seven gigantic, gripping artists from a variety of different genres and backgrounds.
But news arrived with the set times that Blink-182, reunited with Tom DeLonge, would be playing a surprise set at Coachella’s packed, LED-heavy Sahara tent on Friday. Their return did not disappoint, even if their silly stage banter hasn’t exactly aged well (we did not need more than one joke about the Dalai Lama, Tom). But their 18-song set — which featured hit after hit, including “I Miss You,” “All the Small Things,” “Feeling This,” “First Date,” and “What’s My Age Again” — felt like a special and nostalgic moment in time. It may have gone down while the sun was just beginning to set, but it was without a doubt a headlining performance.
Not only that, fans were treated to a major performance from boygenius, who played their new album in full and dazzled with some beautifully orchestrated three-part harmonies. Their performance on Saturday night also felt like a headline set, especially considering the adjacent acts playing before directly before them: Snail Mail, Ethel Cain, and The Breeders were each incredible throughout the day, and made Saturday its own mini indie/alternative fest.
Lastly, Metro Boomin brought a humongous slew of guests for a greatest hits-style set; with The Weeknd, Future, 21 Savage, John Legend, Don Toliver, and more gracing the stage, Metro’s set was certainly headline caliber.
Frank Ocean Made This for His Brother, Not His Fans
Frank Ocean at Coacehella, photo via Instagram
Frank Ocean dedicated his long-awaited headline set to his late brother. Shortly after he played his first stretch of music since 2017, he paused and reminisced on a time at a previous Coachella seeing Rae Sremmurd with his brother beside him. It was clear how emotional of an evening it was for Frank: one part career-spanning return, one part a eulogy.
The energy of Ocean’s set suggested the latter, but it was utterly suspending. After a lengthy delay (of course), he rather modestly took the stage, facing away from the audience and towards his band. He chose to remain more controlled and insular, frequently removing himself from the stage and his own songs. His performance set up — an equipment-laden backdrop replicating a studio and featuring a line of dancers doing pedestrian choreography — was visually stunning, quiet but intriguing. Swirling video cameras captured Frank in often perpetual motion, catching him when you least expect it and finding room to let the activity of the set’s inhabitants take the lead.
His vocal prowess was on display, but his performance suggested that he was totally resistant to letting his ego in the driver’s seat. “It’s not always about me,” he informed the crowd after a brief mini-rave set halfway through the show in which he didn’t sing. It’s been a while since he’s performed, and he knew how much anticipation the crowd had for hearing these songs — making it all the more surprising to hear him execute brand new arrangements of his beloved tunes. “Pink and White” became a gorgeous ethereal acoustic ballad, “Solo” was sped up and treated like a late night club number, and “Self Control” bloomed patiently into focus.
It was far from perfect — Frank getting cut off for curfew was absolutely not the best way to close out the set, and it would have been ideal if he had started earlier (or generally on time!). There have been stories swimming around all day about why Frank’s set was so bizarre. Rolling Stone reported that an ankle injury forced him to drastically change the show’s production, and TMZ claimed an entire ice rink was set up, cancelled, and melted down before the set, causing the delay. He may have been seated for a good portion of the set, but he did pick a few moments to get up and dance — so if an injury did indeed take place, then he was performing through some pain.
But if anything, the performance felt like a very specific document of where Frank is at this moment. Since it is Coachella, many were expecting an energetic, hit-heavy set; and yet, it was foolish to have any expectations of what that set would be. Once I got past those expectations and really stood and took in this beautiful, meditative performance, I found a certain sense of peace. It’s very Frank to put on an anti-headlining set.
Glory of the Sonora
Ethel Cain, photo by Valerie Macon / Getty Images
Coachella added the air-conditioned Sonora Tent in 2017, and since then, it has hosted numerous rising rock bands and memorable sets. Some of the brightest acts of each day happened to be in the Sonora tent this year. Soul Glo, a former Consequence CoSign, kicked off Friday with an absolutely furious set. Their frenzied blend of hardcore punk set the tone for the weekend, and they solidified themselves as a band to meet the moment.
One of Saturday’s best sets came from Ethel Cain, whose powerhouse live vocals are entrancing and affecting. She ran through numerous cuts from her lauded 2022 debut, Preacher’s Daughter, and her uptempo anthems fit in perfectly with her moody, cathartic ballads. Also on Saturday were two generations of rocking women: The Linda Lindas and The Breeders. The Linda Lindas ended up joining the latter onstage for a guest appearance, singing harmonies on “Saints.”
Sunday was the hottest day of the festival, so it made sense that the refreshing Sonora felt a little more dense. Luckily, Momma and Alex G played excellent back-to-back sets in the tent, providing a memorable dose of indie rock to Coachella. Though the Sonora in the past has featured a larger variety of smaller artists, this year saw some pretty big draws — meaning the line to get in the tent would sometimes extend past other stages. Magdalena Bay and TV Girl in particular could have benefitted from different stage placements, as their lines were stretching farther than we’ve seen in recent Coachellas.
Multimedia
Coachella’s diverse selection of acts also means a diverse selection of accompanying projections, visuals, and productions. Several artists got extremely creative with the videos that play behind them during sets; Magdalena Bay built an entire universe of content that fits perfectly into the lore of their show.
In the electronic world, The Chemical Brothers and Eric Prydz both provided some hypnotic, dazzling visuals. In the former, there was a knowing embrace of the weird, uncanny, and outdated; combined with their percussive, sample-heavy jams, they made for a stimulating experience.
There were some strong trends in this department as well. Dozens of acts used grainy, saturated videos that provided a kind of Super 8, ’90s feel — a very common aesthetic at Coachella and in music at large. On the other hand, there were multiple acts (particularly electronic) that played spoken word poetry during or before drops; UMI featured some fantastical narration, and even Fisher + Chris Lake featured some intriguing passages in between thumping beats.
Coachella Core
Photo by Christina House / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Each year at Coachella, thousands of attendees dress in their best outfits and celebrate the festival’s unique fashion identity. This year, specific headliners resulted in fans dressing for the part. On Friday, dozens of attendees wore the same thick, rectangular sunglasses that Bad Bunny often dons, and Bad Bunny merch was well represented. There was even a guy walking around the festival with a supersized Benito head — it may have been slightly uncomfortable to him, but it was a comical look that everyone around him enjoyed.
Similarly, BLACKPINK fans assembled in, well, black and pink — each member of the K-Pop group has their own unique stylistic identity, and the fans mirrored those styles well. Elsewhere, the trends du jour were all over the grounds. I must have seen 15 different groups all wearing IKEA branded bucket hats, and cowboy hats and boots were frequently chosen. Neon-dyed hair in particular was everywhere this year.
As usual, the food selections at Coachella are on the next level. If you headed to the festival before 3pm, then you likely had your pick of the bunch for lunch options — but once the sun began to set, the lines for food broached unreasonable. So, many folks gravitated to wherever had the shortest lines, meaning there are multiple amazing food stalls that most people didn’t get a chance to try. If you’re headed to Weekend 2 or looking to attend the festival in the future, get that craveable entree for lunch — you might not get a chance to try it at dinner time.
Run, Run, Run!
As stated before, Coachella 2023 essentially had 10 headliners. While that makes for significant marquee performances, it does mean they come at the cost to seeing others. It happens every year, but this year’s set times conflicts were particularly brutal. There were short gaps between high-profile sets, so that meant that many attendees — this writer included — had to run from set to set with little time to waste in between.
Hip-hop fans had one of the toughest choices on Saturday with 070 Shake, Earthgang, Kenny Beats, Dinner Party, and Yung Lean all around the same time. Similarly, Sunday’s electronic lineup landed heavily in the daytime, with Porter Robinson, Big Wild, and Romy all conflicting.
One of the worst clashes of the entire weekend also took place on Saturday evening, with Jai Paul beginning his set only 10 minutes before boygenius went on at the other end of the festival; boygenius may be heading on tour this year, but they’re nonetheless a rare act, and one with just as much hype and anticipation as Jai Paul. Blink-182 being added to Friday also provided a bit of a shakeup, and all the acts ending right before or beginning immediately after them felt the waves of traffic.
In this sense, Coachella 2023 was more catered to the casual fan than usual. There was always something to see where you were, and the chance of something even more interesting a short walk away. With so many special guests and unmissable moments at Coachella, it can be rough having to sacrifice sets in favor of the unknown — but luckily, at Coachella, the joy is in discovery.
Editor’s note: Head here to find our complete coverage of Coachella 2023.
Coachella 2023: What You Didn’t See on the Livestream
Paolo Ragusa
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