Written by Kathryn Burke, Staff Writer
With smashing artists like Sabrina Carpenter and Justin Bieber, the annual festival has had an incredible first weeked.
Coachella is an annual music festival in Indio, California at the Empire Polo Club that lasts two weekends. Famous influencers and artists are invited to attend. Oftentimes there is a wide variety of music, ranging from rock to indie, showcasing all their talents, and putting on amazing performances. Coachella brings people together to appreciate music artists and meticulously coordinated outfits, allowing for everyone to form new connections and soak up the energetic environment.
On Friday, April 10, Sabrina Carpenter, pop artist, opened her setlist with “House Tour”, an extravagant start to the first weekend. Starting in a set appearing to be a drive-in movie theater, she then ditches her car, strutting down the stage where fans expressed their encouragement and amazement through screams. Her set was full of color, dimension, powerful lights and excellent background dancers, truly encapsulating the scenery. Throughout her performance, there was light satire, surprisingly fast quick-changes, as well as guest stars Susan Surandon and Will Ferrell, igniting a nostalgic feeling throughout the stadium. In addition, during her trending song “Juno”, there was a voice over from Samuel L. Jackson, grabbing the attention of older generations. Sabrina ended the night with “Tears”, being lifted into the air from on top of a water fountain, and finally making her exit in a vintage yellow car. Those who attended expressed no complaints about her performance, and instead praised her newest albums, Man’s Best Friend and Short ‘n Sweet, deeming this the performance of the year. Throughout the day leading up to Carpenter’s performance there were many more talented artists such as Ethel Cain, who blends southern goth with indie pop, KATSEYE, a global girl group, Central Cee, a UK rapper, and more
Saturday, the following day, Justin Bieber, a popular pop and R&B artist whose career peak hit around 2016, started the night off with “All I Can Take.” After performing a couple songs from his new hit album, Swag and the deluxe edition Swag II, he brought The Kid LAROI, a rapper, to sing “Stay” together. Throughout his show, Justin brought out multiple surprise performers: Tems, a widely known R&B artist, Wizkid, who mixes afrobeats with pop and R&B, Dijon, a blender of indie pop with folk, and Mk.gee, a bedroom pop artist. Justin played various songs that brought back summer-of-2016 vibes, like “Baby”, “Sorry”, and “Confident”. He then shocked the crowd by bringing his laptop on stage to watch classic videos with his loyal “beliebers”, bonding over his amazing breakthrough as a teen. However, many people thought this act was immature, and a waste of the money spent on tickets. Despite this, Justin left his fans with a sweet goodbye, admitting the love he has for spending time with them and performing. The rest of the day gave people the opportunity to see other talented artists like Giveon, a contemporary R&B artist, Sombr, singing alternative indie, The Strokes, a garage rock band, and others.
The last day of the weekend, Sunday, saw Karol G, a well known reggaeton artist, start the show with a fan favorite, “Latina Foreva.” Historic stone tiles were projected on screens, telling a story of a wild woman losing her voice, though overtime, regaining her freedom and finding herself. The story touched many people, filling the audience with satisfaction and excitement of being “Forever wild. Forever free. Latina forever.” Karol then emerged from a stone building, red lights shining down on her, with backup dancers filling every window or open spot within the building. In her later songs, she had surprise artists Becky G in “Mamii”, Wisin for “Rakata”, Mariah Angeliq with “El Makinon” and Greg Gonzalez singing“Después de Ti”.Everyone who watched Karol G’s performance expressed only great things, admiring the significance “Latina Forever”has in a time like this. Later through the day, artists like Young Thug, southern hip-hop singer, Laufey, a very popular jazz pop artist, and Gigi Perez, indie folk performer, performed for the crowds. The first weekend of Coachella was very inclusive and exciting. The second weekend is April 17-19, with everyone excited to see the artists’ second performances.