Photo-Illustration: Vulture; Photos: Getty Images (Kevin Mazur, Arturo Holmes)

Coachella has returned, with or without its icon Vanessa Hudgens. The festival, which began in 1999, has matured into both an in-person and an at-home experience with its livestreams as important as ever. A performance of “Good Luck, Babe!” is arguably what pushed Chappell Roan into the stratosphere in 2024. It’s fun to watch Coachella lean into its status as not just a corporeal spring music to-do but YouTube appointment viewing for fandoms at home across musical spectrums and cultures. This year, the Indio Valley festival — which also feels a little like the influencer Olympics — provided an incredible means of exposure for mainstream listeners to artists a smidge left of the dial, like singer-songwriter and guitarist Dijon, who was great on Friday, and a space for a multimedia thinker like Labrinth to serve ear and eye candy. It’s also a planetary megaphone for a pop star gaffe like Sabrina Carpenter’s.

With week two around the corner, there’s time for even more guest appearances, even more wind, and even more Youtube videos streamed onto the big stage.

HIGH: Katseye and Huntr/x give “Golden” a buff and a shine

On Friday night, the not-quite-K-pop maybe-quintet Katseye fought through controversy surrounding the alleged health hiatus of sixth member Manon Bannerman with a capable showcase of pop nuggets like “Gameboy” and “Touch.” The set’s most memorable moment, though everyone knew it was coming from Katseye rehearsal footage leaked earlier in the week, was the appearance of Ejae, Audrey Nuna, and Rei Ami, stars of Kpop Demon Hunters. The Huntr/x and Katseye rendition of the Netflix film’s “Golden” revitalizes a single that has made the rounds a few times across the planet already, as eight vocalists flesh out harmonies while washing out the official recording’s Katy Perry–esque production. For extra credit, the “Pinky Up” team and the “Golden” girls balanced splashes of pastel color and gothic monochrome in their respective outfits, serving vocals and a bit of pink house/black house meme on the side. We have yet to learn why Manon couldn’t join them.— Craig Jenkins

LOW: Controversy overshadows Sabrina Carpenter’s success

Sabrina Carpenter’s Friday set should have been a crowning moment of her career. After all, just two years ago she was premiering her song “Espresso” at Coachella, way down the billing. Now, she’s a headliner. But, unfortunately, the discourse overtook the performance.

During Carpenter’s set, an audience member ululated from the audience in between her songs — making a zaghrouta, which is a celebration of joy in Arabic countries. “I think I heard someone yodel,” Carpenter said in response. “Is that what you’re doing? I don’t like it.” “It’s my culture,” the fan said. “That’s your culture, is yodeling?” Carpenter asked. She went on to say it was “weird.” Fans online were offended by Carpenter’s seemingly callous brushing off of the zaghrouta. “my apologies i didn’t see this person with my eyes and couldn’t hear clearly. my reaction was pure confusion, sarcasm and not ill intended,” she later wrote on X. “could have handled it better! now i know what a Zaghrouta is! I welcome all cheers and yodels from here on out.” It’s too bad so many people are talking about this  entirely avoidable controversy. When someone says it’s their culture, just move on, Sabrina! — Jason P. Frank

WHOA: Sombr duets with Billy Corgan

20-year-old singer-songwriter Sombr, a Cali transplant, would have it all if he could dial the goofiness down and the craft way up. Until that happens it’s intermittent awkwardness and promise all the way down, which is what happened when he brought out the gothic alt-rock elder and noted studio taskmaster Billy Corgan. Their duet on the Smashing Pumpkins classic “1979” started with a scowl from Corgan after a fumbling attempt to get him a working mic. Sailing was smooth after the rough launch, and Sombr joined Yungblud in the fledgling fraternity of ascendant crooners honing their wail against one of rock’s signature tones. A Corgan lead is as allergic to a loud harmony as ever; it’s too wilfully coarse an instrument. But a new generation is discovering it now, and Sombr claims the clout milestone of proximity to it … and a cute duet. —C.J.

HIGH: ¥ØU$UK€ ¥UK1MAT$U waged war on the concept of genre

The journey of ¥ØU$UK€ ¥UK1MAT$U is nothing short of incredible: A decade ago, he was moonlighting in music while working in construction until, following brain-tumor surgeries and recovery, he reordered his priorities to focus on DJing and production. After a cameo in the 2024 earthquake drama Happyend and a notable set at Boiler Room: Tokyo last year, he brought broiling intensity and a puckishly twisting set to Coachella on Saturday. ¥UK1MAT$U came out swinging, zipping in a flash from Beastie Boys to Taylor Swift to Aphex Twin. After pulling the rug out from under “You Need to Calm Down” with diabolical drum and bass from “Come to Daddy” and losing his shirt in the transition, he appeared in the Sahara tent with other feats like back-to-back 100 Gecs and Norah Jones tunes and a visionary closing pairing of Bruce Springsteen’s cover of Suicide with a Sigur Ros jam. —C.J.

WHOA: Geese join the Bieberchella festivities with “Baby”

Brooklyn indie-rock quartet Geese have developed a playful habit of pairing the kinetic 3D Country banger “2122” with a bit of a cover the audience ought to be familiar with. Touring Europe, they’ve worked in bits of Pink Floyd, Can, Chumbawumba; at Tyler, the Creator’s Camp Flog Gnaw, they attempted a fakemink song. And on the afternoon of Bieberchella, Geese delivered an unseriously straitlaced “Baby” with front man Cameron Winter switching between a lounge singer’s croon and a Bieberly falsetto long enough to spark a giddy audience sing-along.—C.J.

HIGH: Addison Rae brings the “High Fashion”

TikTok superstar turned alt-pop favorite Addison Rae made her Coachella debut, bringing the same loopy glamour that she demonstrated at the Grammys to the music festival. Her voice gave her away at some points (modern classic “Headphones On” wasn’t all there), but the highlights came from her dance-heavy moments. During the psychedelic, Ray of Light–esque “Aquamarine,” she brought out Dance Moms star Maddie Ziegler to do a voguelike routine. Her best number was “High Fashion.” As her male dancers in suits looked on, she writhed on the floor with sharp, intense movements, wearing a sparkly red two-piece. She went into the splits, flipped up from the floor, then got dragged across the stage on one dancer’s back. She looked like a Sweet Charity dancer for the social-media age. The dance intensity was pop perfection. —J.P.F

HIGH: PinkPantheress put down the purse

PinkPantheress is not just a studio worm. The electronic-pop singer released one of 2025’s best albums, Fancy That, and currently has one of the top ten songs in America with her “Stateside” remix featuring Zara Larsson, but up until now, most of her fandom has centered around her producing skills. At Coachella, she put on a 360-degree performance, illustrating both why she won Producer of the Year at the 2026 BRIT Awards and why she’s a pop star in real life. Gone were the days when she would show up onstage with a purse and a dream. She brought out dancers and kept up with them during the marionettelike choreography, strutting across the stage like she owned it. Both she and the dancers looked smart in tartan, a reference to her oft-repeated British identity. She even cast herself a romantic interest, bringing out Reminders of Him star Tyriq Withers to sensually put a scarf around her beck. The choreo, the look, and the hunk sent a clear message: PinkPantheress is now a fully realized pop star. — J.P.F.

HIGH: Is Slayyyter a superstar?

You know what everybody needs to do right now? Scream. Slayyyter, the trashy, brash pop singer whose album WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA debuted this year to critical acclaim, made a splash with her Coachella debut. With just herself and a band onstage, she led the crowd through her aggressive, propulsive discography. Who else at Coachella could have gotten the crowd to chant along with the lyric “I get so gay off that tequila”? She was totally in command of the stage and the crowd. Watching her perform “CRANK” felt a bit like watching that beloved Chappell Roan performance of “Good Luck, Babe!” two years ago. It was the sight of someone totally ready to play for growing audiences, no matter how big they get. Slayyyter entered the performance as an exciting niche figure and emerged one of our most promising pop stars. — J.P.F.

WHOA: Justin Bieber hosts a multimillion-dollar music-video night

The internet couldn’t decide over the weekend whether Justin Bieber delivered one of the greatest or the worst Coachella-headlining sets in history. A tender and star-studded survey of his more recent work was interrupted by a laptop karaoke segment in whic h, at his first show in four years, Bieber pulled up YouTube videos of his old hits and covers to croon alongside earlier incarnations of himself. Many viewers took it as either an expression of contempt for recent ex-manager Scooter Braun or a quirk of his having sold his masters and publishing to the music-IP-rights collector Hipgnosis in 2022. He doesn’t need their approval to perform the songs; there’s money to be made off him playing them. It’s possible the snippet-medley delivery of Kidz Bop friendly early jams like “Baby,” “Beauty and a Beat,” and “Never Say Never” stems from the guy being sick-to-bastard death of songs tied to his very visible adolescence. But the purposeful whiff of unprofessionalism on his performances this year is trying to highlight a musician working and creating, as art happens. This expression of the idea was sillier than the stunning “Yukon” looper routine at the Grammys. And watching music videos with the singer on the computer did not carry the drama of watching mk.gee shred through “Daisies.” But the segment did do justice to the swept-under-the-table 2014 R&B album Journals and quietly push back against  the popular rumor that Bieber’s early career is a time he looks back on in torturous regret.—C.J.

WHOA: Manon is there … but not onstage

Global K-pop band Katseye made their Coachella debut down a member. Manon Bannerman is currently on hiatus from the group without a full explanation. While the five remaining Katseyes did a fabulous job, Manon wasn’t exactly MIA. She still attended the festival and was spotted hanging out with Chappell Roan while Sabrina Carpenter performed. Maybe she’ll move up to the stage for weekend two. —J.P.F.

WHOA: And so are Justin Trudeau and Katy Perry

Also just hanging out were the most iconic new couple of the past few years: former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and pop star Katy Perry. Since Perry soft-launched their relationship in October 2025,the two have been spotted all over the world together. What was particularly funny about this particular hang was just how … normal the two of them looked. Both wore white T-shirts, which Trudeau paired with jeans and sneakers, while Perry wore boots and a flannel around her waist. For two of the most famous people in the world, they kinda just looked like any normal happy couple. After a tumultuous few years for Perry, that’s a teenage dream. — J.P.F.

HIGH: Nine Inch Noize hosted goth couples karaoke

Trent Reznor has been leaving captivating show footage behind as long as this year’s headliner crop has breathed air. But there’s something looser about his present-day output, reflected in his Nine Inch Noize collaboration with producer Boys Noize on Saturday. Nails used to pride itself on being staffed by an army of maniacs and later a murderers’ row of rock/metal session whizzes. But nowadays, it feels like Trent’s using a family-and-friends concept to circle the pop ideas he rejected across the drug haze of the ’90s. Lightness pierced the misanthropy and rage of the back catalogue with Trent and his wife, Mariqueen Maandig Reznor, trading vocals on songs rendered all the more limber by Boys Noize beats. Together, they scoured the danger off the now surprisingly sensual “Heresy” and rescued the excellent “As Alive As You Need Me to Be” from its association with Tron: Ares. If this incarnation of his work conjures more bedrooms than slaughterhouses, trust that Reznor’s set design made it look like this beautiful marital vocal exchange took place in hell. —C.J.

LOW: Teddy Swims was out there dressed like a fighting-game character

The Hot 100 gently readjusted its rules to rinse out longtime holdouts like the growling “Lose Control” from Georgia singer-songwriter Teddy Swims late last year. Early this year, Swims is back with a fresh chart- and playlist-disrupting chimera in “Mr. Know It All,” a moody single plucking around the heyday of Foster the People and Gotye. Swims’s Coachella performance highlighted a peculiar place in mainstream music: He’s known for crunchy soul, but broader pop appeal is calling. This translated into appearances from Joe Jonas, Vanessa Carlton, and Van Halen’s David Lee Roth instead of guests from last January’s I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy (Part 2) like Muni Long, Coco Jones, and BigXThaPlug. Swims performed in what seems to be a new signature look, the baldie-and-a-beard of his soulman era replaced with the kind of mullet and handlebar mustache you might encounter in a Street Fighter game or at the Indio country festival Stagecoach. Swims drove off on a motorcycle in the end, as he looked like he was going to all along. Is Teddy about to Jelly Roll? —C.J.

HIGH: Karol G and Wisin teach reggaeton history

Karol G’s Sunday night main-stage performance marked the first time since its late-’90s debut that the festival has tapped a Latina closer. She carried herself with the weight of history, from the mythic tale of Latin women’s perseverance in her opening cinematic to the message of solidarity with “Latinos that have been struggling in this country” that wove through a set nodding to the cultures of Colombia, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and beyond. Her duetting with Becky G and a mariachi band was one of the night’s highlights, but the medley of aughts classics delivered by Puerto Rican reggaetonero Wisin reinforced just how long it took the rest of the world to get hip to Spanish-language hip-hop paving the way for Karol’s landmark run. Twenty years on, “Rakata,” “Pam Pam,” “Saoco,” and such are still matchstick records making crowds explode. —C.J.

LOW: The wind

Sometimes, the biggest villain of all is nature. DJ Anyma’s planned set was canceled on Saturday due to winds. “don’t have many words other than to say I’m truly devastated and deeply sorry to everyone who showed up to the main stage, and to those watching the livestream at home,” the disappointed artist wrote on X. “Having the opportunity to perform the new ÆDEN show and share all the new music and art means more to me than I can express. It’s incredibly painful, especially after working day and night for the past year, not just me, but my team and the @coachella crew, who poured everything into this.” During John Summit’s surprise set on Friday, the wind blew a light fixture off the stage, injuring a concertgoer. Hopefully, the wind abates by next weekend and leaves everybody free to party. — J.P.F.

Sign up for the Vulture Daily

An entertainment newsletter for the pop-culture obsessed.

Vox Media, LLC Terms and Privacy Notice

Related