Chlöe Talks Solo Coachella 2024 Debut and Reveals Why She Didn’t Invite Surprise Guests
Julian Dakdouk
Purple is the color of royalty. For her debut solo performance at Coachella 2024, Chlöe was a vision in wisteria, a queen of the stage primed to reign over the desert for 45 minutes straight.
The first time Chlöe ever performed at Coachella was back in 2018 (during Beychella) alongside her sister Halle Bailey on the Mojave Stage, as the duo Chloe x Halle. Six years later, Chlöe is holding her own at the Gobi Stage right next door.
Throughout her set of deep cuts, mashups, and certified hits — “Have Mercy,” “Cheatback,” “Body Do" and Doechii and SZA's “Persuasive,” “Surprise” and Adina Howard's “Freak Like Me,” her new singles “FYS” and “Boy Bye,” the latter sprinkled with an interpolation of Outkast's "Hey Ya!" — the singer displayed a level of technical skill and raw talent that was akin in rarity to, say, an asteroid impact. You don't see popstars like this every day.
Ahead of her Weekend 2 performance, Chlöe (or "Miss Bailey if you're nasty") gave Teen Vogue an inside look at her debut solo performance at Coachella, breaking down her Weekend One — from cheering on her pal Victoria Monét, flights back and forth between Atlanta and Palm Springs, and performing the second single from her upcoming sophomore solo album, which she says is the ultimate “summer vibes album.”
Teen Vogue: Let's talk Chlö-chella. What were your days like leading up to your set?
Chlöe: I just finished this television show called Fight Night, and it's been so amazing being on set with Samuel L. Jackson, Taraji P. Henson, Kevin Hart, Terrence Howard, Don Cheadle, the list goes on and on. In between Coachella rehearsals, I've been flying back and forth to Atlanta so that I can fulfill my duties as Lena — which is the role I play — and also my duties as Chlöe, so I could give a killer set. I worked with my choreographer, Aisha Francis, these six incredible dancers, as well as my music director, Derek Dixie, and we got the job done. It was very hectic, not much sleep on my end, but it was all worth it and I can't wait to do it again in a day and a half.
TV: How is building a Coachella or festival set different from building your tour set list? How did you want to set this performance apart?
C: The good thing is that not too many people have seen my tour's show. So musically and sonically I wanted it to elevate. I never like to do the same thing twice. I always want to switch it up somehow. [Another] difference is I got to perform my two new singles “FYS” and “Boy Bye” during the Coachella set. So I was like, "Okay, how can I make this show feel special and different but also [make it] for the people who missed my two legs of the In Pieces Tour? What can they get a taste of?"
90% of the choreography is different, so visually it looks different. Sonically, Derek Dixie and I, we worked close together to upgrade the music and also keep the music at the core because there are some people who haven't been introduced to me or been introduced to In Pieces, so I didn't want to change the music around too much so that they can't grasp what it is. It was a little bit of everything.
TV: Your set was amazing, by the way. I was very close to the front, and the crowd was just feeding off of your energy. Did you feel that energy from the stage?
C: I did. It truly went by like a blur. It was the best feeling, and I'm really happy I get to do it again.
TV: Do you want to do anything differently?
C: I definitely want to perfect all the dance steps like we did the last show and, since I know what it feels like now, give a little bit more. I gave my all on the stage that night, so we'll definitely see what happens this time.
TV: This was your first time performing at Coachella solo. Did you revisit your performance from 2018 when you performed with your sister, or did you want to avoid comparing different versions of yourself and your artistry?
C: We wanted to represent a different version of myself for this performance, and that was one of the reasons why I made it a point to not have any featured guests with me on stage, [something] that people do so amazingly at Coachella. I just felt that it's the time for people to see what I truly can do. I'm underestimated a lot, which is fun. I actually like the challenge and the push. I just wanted people to see, hey, I'm a great performer and I love putting my heart and soul out on the stage. That was really my method for this.
TV: How did you start your Friday once you got to the Coachella grounds? What did you eat? What was most important for you to do on your set day?
C: I got into town Thursday evening of last week and I had soundcheck, and then I went home, had a good meal for dinner, and tried my best to sleep. I was so nervous, so it took me a second to finally fall asleep. But the next day I started glam a little bit early.
Then I did an IV drip, which was great. I had a liter of vitamins in my IV drip, and my body consumed it in less than 30 minutes. I think my body was probably exhausted and dehydrated from all of the flying. So that was definitely essential and vital to how great I felt on stage, to be honest. I'm definitely doing that again this go-around. Right after that, I got dressed in my press look, I headed over to the Coachella grounds, did a couple press outlets, and then it was time to get ready for the show.
TV: What were you thinking about before you went on stage? How do you ground yourself before facing a rowdy festival audience?
C: Well, I always have to pray before I do anything, and I had to stretch because I don't want to pull any muscles. I always stretch my body because when I'm onstage I don't really know what is going to come out. I always push myself past what I do in rehearsal, even though I give 100% in rehearsal. So, just in case, I just do extra stretching.
I warmed up my vocals, and I just had to do a lot of breathing exercises because my nerves get really, really, really bad. Even the morning of, on Friday morning, it was bad from the time I woke up. I had to do breathing exercises and yoga just to calm down. I was so nervous.
TV: Did the nerves evaporate as soon as you went on stage, or were you just tunnel-visioned and fighting through it?
C: They evaporated about right when I got to the side of the stage. The second I stepped onto the stage they evaporated, and I was like, "It's go time."
TV: I love that picture of you stretching backstage. That really does speak to the intensity of your choreography. You went hard. When your earring fell off, did you notice it immediately or did it take some time?
C: I did notice it. It's not a heavy earring, but I really love the aesthetic of it, so when it fell off — I believe it was when I did the chair choreo for “Worried” or right before — I was like, "Okay… Let me pick it up so me or none of the dancers trip on it." That was my main concern. I picked it up, and my photographer and my manager grabbed it for me from the front of the stage. So by the time that I went backstage while the dancers had their dance break, I was able to put it right back on. I really love how it completed the look. It gave the athletic wear a cool editorial vibe.
TV: Your dancers are so committed, so talented. Whose idea was it for one of your dancers to do that flip during the dance break? Because the crowd went nuts for that.
C: Yes! It was incredible. I have the sexiest, most beautiful, most technically incredible dancers, and I'm so happy that they're with me on that stage. It was so important for all of them to be hot and sexy in their own right! To be honest, she freestyled that flip on the stage. That just is a huge testament to how the adrenaline hits when you're onstage. You don't know what could happen when you're up there.
TV: So… are you going to do a flip on Friday?
C: Oh, probably not. That I know. [Laughs]
TV: Congratulations on “Boy Bye.” I feel like you made that song for me. Did you always intend to release that single before the festival and perform it live for the first time there, or did it just kind of happen?
C: I think it definitely just happened. I knew that song would be on the record, and I knew it'd come out. As time geared up for it to be the second single, I was like, "I want to do it at Coachella." I was really set on, "Okay, I want this out before Coachella so that I don't miss that fun opportunity to perform a new song there."
TV: Did you like having your set on Friday so that you could relax and enjoy the rest of the weekend?
C: I did. To be honest, I was grateful to just be at a night slot so that people could really see the lights and the visuals in its best way. I feel like during the day [it would] get washed out a bit by the natural sunlight. I was really happy. We're in the desert, so it's really hot during the day and cooler at night, and when my adrenaline is going and I'm dancing, I start sweating on the stage, hence the fans that I have. So I'm happy I wasn't in the heat.
TV: How did you spend the rest of the weekend? Who else did you really want to see perform and whose sets did you catch?
C: I really wanted to see Tinashe's and Victoria Monét's and Doja Cat's [sets]. Unfortunately, I had to go straight back to set in Atlanta, so I watched theirs virtually — and let me just tell you, they killed it. I am so proud of my ladies. Tyler, The Creator, he did an amazing job. I'm just really, really proud to be a Victoria Monét fan. Man, she ate it down.
TV: Your set was also one of the most talked about of the entire first weekend online. Did the reception overwhelm you? Were you pleased or are you anxious to deliver again on Friday?
C: I was so happy, and when the dancers and I looked at some of the clips from the stage, I didn't know it would look that cool. We just work on making sure our lines are clean, and I just work on giving the best performance. So to know that it was received so well and read well [onstage] truly made me happy, and I can't wait to do it again because it was honestly the best feeling being on stage. I was so happy. To get that high and happiness and joy again, that's what I'm looking forward to.
TV: Your best friend Halle was front and center in the audience.
C: Yes, she was.
TV: When she's present, do you focus on her to ground yourself?
C: It's all like a blur, to be honest with you, but I was so happy to see her and Shermay, my godmom and manager, up there supporting me. When I look down and see them, it just gives me the support and the extra push that I need to keep going. When I have their look of assurance and approval, I'm like, "Okay, I'm doing good. I'm doing good."
TV: I met your sister earlier that day with some friends and we told her that we were going to your set, and she was so excited. She was like, "I have to send her a video of you guys. I can't wait to see her." She really is your biggest fan.
C: I truly love that girl, and I'm hers.
TV: Would you ever want to return to the Coachella stage with her?
C: Absolutely! Abso-freaking-lutely.
TV: It would break the internet, I think. Let's talk a little bit about this rollout. You already have two singles out, which is so exciting. What could you say to your fans to prepare them for this next album era? Because I know more is coming.
C: Oh, yes. More is definitely coming. It's summertime, and when it's summer it's time to say goodbye to those toxic situationships, maybe open up your heart for a summer fling, going back and forth. It's just time to have fun and be with your girls and get a little extra loving here and there. It's definitely a summer vibes album, and I can't wait for people to enjoy it.
Chlöe is set to perform again during Coachella Weekend Two, which kicks off on Friday, April 19, 2024.
Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue
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