{"id":286546,"date":"2026-04-26T06:49:30","date_gmt":"2026-04-26T06:49:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/286546\/"},"modified":"2026-04-26T06:49:30","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T06:49:30","slug":"stagecoach-2026-cody-johnson-the-best-and-worst-of-day-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/286546\/","title":{"rendered":"Stagecoach 2026: Cody Johnson, the best and worst of Day 1"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

After a brief reprieve following the end of Coachella, we find ourselves in the desert again for Stagecoach \u2014 hot, dusty and eager to be amused. The first day of the weekend offered plenty of top-tier country performances including Cody Johnson, Ella Langley, and Bailey Zimmerman along with a dose of nostalgia courtesy of \u201890s stars Counting Crows and Emo Nite featuring Ashlee Simpson. Let\u2019s also not forget that Stagecoach is a place to catch celebrity cameos\u2014we\u2019re looking at you, Sydney Sweeney. Here\u2019s our recap of all the fun we experienced on Day 1 of the festival.<\/p>\n

\"Woman <\/p>\n

Jessie Erickson, of Anchorage, Alaska, sings \u201cmore than my home town\u201d by Morgan Wallen at the SYRN Saloon during the Stagecoach Country Music Festival at Empire Polo Club, in Indio, CA on April 24, 2026. <\/p>\n

(Allen J. Schaben\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

I found a karaoke bar at Stagecoach \u2014 but it was Sydney Sweeney\u2019s lingerie pop-up<\/p>\n

En route to the press tent this sunny Friday, I saw a spot with saloon doors boasting karaoke. It didn\u2019t click that the air-conditioned pop-up was a bar connected to Sydney Sweeney\u2019s Syrn brand until I was inside and saw the lingerie hanging from the bar.<\/p>\n

It was early in the day, so not much karaoke was happening, but you could scan a QR code and sign up via a Karafun link. I contemplated doing \u201cA Long December\u201d from the Counting Crows since they\u2019re playing the Mustang Stage this evening, but thought it would No.1 bring down the mood and No.2, not really fit in with the Coyote Ugly vibes.<\/p>\n

However, I saw dartboards on the wall and a sign to ask the \u201cbrand ambassador\u201d about darts and I immediately thought \u2014 the hard drinkin\u2019 Stagecoach crowd should probably not have sharp objects. They don\u2019t. I found a \u201cbrand ambassador\u201d and he showed off the darts, which were magnetic. It still might not be the best idea to let people throw projectiles as the night goes on, though. (Vanessa Franko)<\/p>\n

\" <\/p>\n

Emo nite featuring Ashlee Simpson performs at Diplo\u2019s Honkytonk during the Stagecoach Country Music Festival at Empire Polo Club, in Indio, CA on April 24, 2026. <\/p>\n

(Allen J. Schaben\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

Emo Nite with Ashlee Simpson and 3OH!3 made Stagecoach dance with their feelings<\/p>\n

I said that it felt like I went to Warped Tour<\/a> two weeks ago when I saw ska\/punk band Less Than Jake perform at Coachella\u2019s Heineken House<\/a> and this weekend I found the Stagecoach version of Warped Tour on Day 1!<\/p>\n

How is the giant country festival channeling the SoCal-born traveling punk festival, you ask? The popular Emo Nite DJ set was booked at Diplo\u2019s Honky Tonk. (Emo Nite is no stranger to the Goldenvoice desert fests, by the way. They played the Sahara Tent at Coachella a few years back, too<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

Emo Nite\u2019s Morgan Reed and T.J. Petracca opened up with Fall Out Boy\u2019s \u201cSugar We\u2019re Goin Down\u201d to set the sing-a-long tone before blistering through a set of remixes to songs by beloved emo and pop-punk artists such as Panic! At the Disco, Paramore, All-American Rejects and My Chemical Romance. They also played some emo-adjacent and not-so-emo-adjacent tracks, such as the Killers\u2019 \u201cMr. Brightside,\u201d System of a Down\u2019s \u201cChop Suey\u201d and Justin Bieber\u2019s \u201cBaby.\u201d (Bieberchella lives even at Stagecoach!<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\"Actress <\/p>\n

Actress Sydney Sweeney takes photos with fans during the Stagecoach.<\/p>\n

(Evan Schaben\/For The Times)<\/p>\n

Sydney Sweeney takes pictures with fans at Stagecoach<\/p>\n

Actress Sydney Sweeney snapped photos with fans during BigXThaPlug\u2019s set at the Mustang Stage Friday at Stagecoach. Sweeney also has a pop-up bar promoting her lingerie line Syrn at the festival. (Evan Schaben)<\/p>\n

\"Ella <\/p>\n

Ella Langley performs on the Mane Stage during the Stagecoach Country Music Festival at Empire Polo Club, in Indio, CA on April 24, 2026. <\/p>\n

(Evan Schaben\/For The Times)<\/p>\n

Ella Langley takes a victory lap<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m gonna go ahead and burst your bubble,\u201d Ella Langley said about halfway through her main-stage set Friday night. She\u2019d just teed up her brand-new single, \u201cI Can\u2019t Love You Anymore,\u201d a shimmering roots-soul duet with country\u2019s biggest star, Morgan Wallen. \u201cMorgan is not here,\u201d she continued. \u201cHe\u2019s on dad duty this weekend. Can\u2019t blame a man for being a good dad.\u201d<\/p>\n

And you can\u2019t blame Langley for managing expectations. But she didn\u2019t need Wallen (or anybody else) to show why she\u2019s the biggest thing in country music right now: This was an effortlessly cool performance by a deeply vibey singer and songwriter who\u2019s absorbed more than Stevie Nicks\u2019 predilection for lightweight shawls. (\u201cBroken\u201d was extremely Fleetwood Mac-coded.)<\/p>\n

Langley did bring out a special guest: the podcaster Theo Von, who did Riley Green\u2019s part in \u201cYou Look Like You Love Me\u201d for some reason. (Big podcaster energy is what I\u2019ll say.) She played \u201cChoosin\u2019 Texas\u201d \u2014 her dreamy pop-country smash that\u2019s currently at No. 1 on Billboard\u2019s Hot 100 \u2014 not last but next to last, leaving \u201cWeren\u2019t for the Wind\u201d as her closer. Baller move. (Mikael Wood)<\/p>\n

\"Counting <\/p>\n

Counting Crows will perform on Sept. 3 at the Rady Shell at Jacobs Park.<\/p>\n

(Courtesy of the San Diego Symphony)<\/p>\n

Counting Crows and the perfect Stagecoach sunset<\/p>\n

I am very into the \u201890s alt acts playing Stagecoach 2026 (I see you, Third Eye Blind<\/a>) and Counting Crows got things off to a sublime start as the sun set Friday.<\/p>\n

While the band played its breakout hit, \u201cMr. Jones,\u201d early in the set, singer Adam Duritz let the crowd take the lead and almost did some spoken word in the second verse.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow was your first day at country Coachella? They only call it Stagecoach because Count-chella doesn\u2019t sound good,\u201d the singer asked the crowd before the band launched into the \u201cShrek 2\u201d ditty \u201cAccidentally in Love.\u201d<\/p>\n

The hits kept coming, including \u201cRound Here\u201d and \u201cRain King.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the perfect moment under cotton candy skies happened during the band\u2019s penultimate song, \u201cA Long December\u201d off 1996\u2019s \u201cRecovering the Satellites.\u201d With the crowd singing along, the sun setting behind the mountains and good feelings all around, it was nothing if not a vibe. (VF)<\/p>\n

\"Bailey <\/p>\n

Bailey Zimmerman performs on the Mane Stage during the Stagecoach Country Music Festival at Empire Polo Club, in Indio, CA on April 24, 2026. <\/p>\n

(Evan Schaben\/For The Times)<\/p>\n

Bailey Zimmerman with an encouraging word<\/p>\n

Bailey Zimmerman<\/a> brought his puppy-ish energy \u2014 and an encouraging self-help message \u2014 to Stagecoach\u2019s main stage Friday night ahead of Cody Johnson\u2019s headlining set. \u201cI grew up with nothing, and I worked my ass off to be where I am,\u201d he bellowed before ripping off his shirt to punctuate the point. (MW)<\/p>\n

\"Cody <\/p>\n

Cody Johnson performs on the Mane Stage during the Stagecoach Country Music Festival at Empire Polo Club, in Indio, CA on April 24, 2026. <\/p>\n

(Allen J. Schaben\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

Cody Johnson closes Night 1 with Boyz II Men<\/p>\n

Cody Johnson opened his headlining set Friday night by promising to \u201cbring a little Texas to California if that\u2019s all right with y\u2019all.\u201d Yet the most surprising moment of his 90-minute show actually brought a bit of Philadelphia to Stagecoach when Boyz II Men dropped in to join Johnson for a rendition of the veteran R&B crew\u2019s \u201cOn Bended Knee.\u201d<\/p>\n

If we\u2019re being honest, the vocal mix was … not the evening\u2019s finest. But the selection was appealingly unexpected from a down-the-middle country star like Johnson, who spent much of the rest of his set recounting his long music-industry come-up and urging folks to see past their differences in the name of unity.<\/p>\n

He also lamented the three months he had to take off the road after busting his eardrum last year \u2014 \u201cI was depressed about it,\u201d he said \u2014 before acknowledging that the unanticipated break meant he got to be home for the birth of his youngest child. (MW)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After a brief reprieve following the end of Coachella, we find ourselves in the desert again for Stagecoach…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":286547,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[122463,15017,21495,122810,217,122812,122813,1404,48,52,51,47,50,49,10728,6196,10390,122447,122811,32769,2695],"class_list":{"0":"post-286546","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-bailey-zimmerman","9":"tag-bar","10":"tag-coachella","11":"tag-cody-johnson","12":"tag-day","13":"tag-ella-langley","14":"tag-emo-nite","15":"tag-festival","16":"tag-la","17":"tag-la-headlines","18":"tag-la-news","19":"tag-los-angeles","20":"tag-los-angeles-headlines","21":"tag-los-angeles-news","22":"tag-punk-band","23":"tag-set","24":"tag-song","25":"tag-stagecoach","26":"tag-stagecoach-crowd","27":"tag-sydney-sweeney","28":"tag-weekend"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286546","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=286546"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286546\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/286547"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=286546"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=286546"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=286546"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}