Coachella 2024: 5 things we hope are improved by Weekend 2

There were many highlights during the first weekend of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival — like the triumphant No Doubt reunion that gave us all the '90s feels, Kesha stepping out and changing the opening lyrics to her hit song "TiK ToK" and some unexpected guests and wacky moments from headliners Lana Del Rey, Tyler, the Creator and Doja Cat.

But, unfortunately, not everything was great. Luckily, Coachella will get a chance to do it all over again during Weekend 2, and we have some notes on what organizers, artists and attendees could work on.

1. No more Coachella set technical problems, please

Technical issues seem to be a trend during Weekend 1 of the festival. Some fans noted that there were sound issues during Lana Del Rey's headlining set, leading them to barely hear the singer at times. Nearly half of The Japanese Houses' Weekend 1 set was flummoxed by all sorts of technical issues, and even Bebe Rexha's mic cut out at one point during her Sunday set on the main Coachella Stage. Perhaps most notably for how public it became, Canadian singer Grimes had several equipment malfunctions during her set, and wrote in a lengthy apology posted on X that she plans to personally organize all the files for her Weekend 2 to avoid any issues. Hopefully that rings true for all the other acts playing as well — but Goldenvoice needs to do its part.

2. More energy, please, Coachella crowds

It's understandable that people lose energy each day of the festival. However, when a singer encourages people to sing along to their songs and get amped, the crowd should take note. Unfortunately, Blur frontman Damon Albarn was on the receiving end of some less-than-enthusiastic reactions during the band's Saturday night set. During the song "Girls & Boys," Albarn was hoping to get the crowd going in a loud and exciting call-and-response. Videos of the moment show him quite disappointed and saying, "You can do better than that." When things didn't seem to improve, he told the crowd, "You’re never seeing us again so you might as well f------ sing this." Please, Weekend 2 crowd, do Albarn and others proud by shouting their songs at the top of your lungs.

3. Fewer major Coachella set conflicts, please

When you have a lineup stacked with so much talent, there's bound to be set conflicts. Weekend 1 had Bebe Rexha and Victoria Monét, Brittany Howard and Tinashe, Blur and Jon Batiste, Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan and Faye Webster all overlapping with each other. We're anxiously hoping there will be major changes to the set times for Weekend 2.

4. Let's continue the killer Coachella surprise guests, please

This one might be a little hard to achieve because the surprise guests were pretty awesome during Weekend 1, but in the past several years, the star power has dimmed during Weekend 2, and we don't want that to happen again. Superstars like Shakira, Kesha, Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo, A$AP Rocky, Will Smith, Becky G, Busta Rhymes and a partial reunion of the Fugees with Ms. Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean all hopped on stage at some point last week, leading to cheers that could be heard all throughout the Empire Polo Club grounds. We challenge performers to blow attendees' minds even more this coming weekend. Maybe Taylor Swift, who was spotted on the grounds Saturday, or Beyoncé, whose "Cowboy Carter" sky banner flew above the festival, will come out, which would be the definition of epic.

5. Fewer influencers at Coachella, please

No offense to influencers, but we've had our fill for this festival. After traversing the grounds and photobombing every golden hour photoshoot and "day in the life" video, we're looking forward to a quieter, more toned-down experience during Weekend 2. Plus, some of you don't know how to have fun at a music festival — peep Albarn's comments — so we're excited to see real fans who care less about getting a picture-perfect selfie and more about celebrating their favorite artists.

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Desert Sun columnist Shad Powers contributed to this story.

Ema Sasic covers entertainment and health in the Coachella Valley. Reach her at ema.sasic@desertsun.com or on Twitter @ema_sasic.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Coachella 2024: 5 things we hope are improved by Weekend 2