Coachella weekend one, the most anticipated weekend in music has been and gone.
I’m going to be honest with you, it was nothing special in comparison to the experience that was Beychella last year but in saying that, there were many moments that stood out.
So, to start off my wrap up for weekend one I’m going to tell you all of the best performances and then later I’ll get to the worst. I don’t usually like to get negative but there were some things that definitely need to be spoken about….
Let us begin.
CHILDISH GAMBINO
The only reason Coachella 2019 has not been a total flop is because of this man.
Not only did he bring a soulful and energetic performance to the festivals opening day but he also blessed us with ‘Guava Island’, a film starring Rihanna and Black Panther star Letitia Wright. From day one it felt to me like Glover dominated Coachella, his artistic influence was scattered all over the festival with an on site theatre for Guava Island, personal merch pop up and Brighter In The Dark immersive experience with Google Pixel. On top of this, he also used the festival to release his signature shoe with Adidas. He sent Airdrop images to people at the festival and if it was accepted you got a free pair of the unreleased sneakers. It’s a tiny bit worrying security wise but I’ll allow if because it’s clever marketing.
This weekend has proved Glover is one of the most electrifying live acts around right now with an ability to captivate audiences through many different mediums. He is an artist in every sense of the word and has utilised his platform at Coachella to its fullest.
I can’t wait to see what happens when he arrives in Australia in July.
BLACKPINK
Coachella has been my first experience with BLACKPINK and now I finally understand the hype. This K Pop group is a well oiled machine of pop superstars. These girls are true to their genre with impeccable choreographed routines, catchy songs and high energy performances. They know exactly what they are about and boy are they good at it. With K Pop being a somewhat new addition to a Coachella line up they were given a huge platform to win American crowds over and they nailed it. Their set was really fun to watch and to be honest, I thought that their set was more like what I thought Ariana Grande’s should have been. It’s also notable to mention one of the members Rose was born in New Zealand (yay!) and another member, Jennie grew up in New Zealand before returning to her homeland Korea for high school. I’m extremely proud to call these girls Kiwi’s and for the mean time I am enjoying having their music stuck in my head all day long. Hit you with that Ddu du ddu du….
J.BALVIN
I appreciate the way Coachella really worked hard to maintain a diverse group of artists to successfully reflect the current climate of popular music. There is no doubt that Latin music is a cornerstone of American culture and in my opinion J.Balvin is the king. I came to know the Colombian Reggaeton star through his 2018 album Vibras, which was one of my favourites of the year, so I was very much looking forward to his set. It was a glorious celebration of Reggaeton music and performed on one of the most colourful and eye catching stage stage set ups I have seen at Coachella. Created in collaboration with the arts collective FriendsWithYou, Balvin performed surrounded by brightly coloured cartoon teddy bears, cloud people dancers (I don’t know what else to call them), a giant duck and caricature style costumes of his fellow ‘I Like It’ collaborators Cardi B and Bad Bunny. He performed his hits, brought out Spanish sensation Rosalia and also paid homage to artists that came before him in a master class of Latin music. His set was as exciting and colourful as his music and the genre it is influenced by, truely schooling Coachella audiences on how to entertain a crowd.
YG
I have been listening to YG for a looooonng time. Like I’m taking when I was a teenager, so I like to think I’m quite familiar with his music. Well, his set took me back to my years in high school, it was just old school banger after banger after banger. YG has a reputation for being quite staunch and unafraid to say what he’s thinking and during his set he did just that. He managed to bring out a Trump impersonator who started the set with a weird speech flaunting Trumps very public lewd acts and talks about the wall followed by popular diss track ‘Fuck Donald Trump’ which immediately got the crowd going. Interestingly, he also displayed an image of currently incarcerated rapper, Tekashi 6ix 9ine next to a sign that subtly asked him to “Stop Snitching” while he performed his new song of the same name. I have no doubt that YG has got some friends in prison so I’d be a little concerned if I were 6ix 9ine. Despite his staunchness, YG got the crowd turnt all the way up by playing all of his hits old and new and even bringing out friends Big Sean, DJ Mustard and 2 Chainz for the song ‘Big Bank’. He also dedicated his entire set to his dear friend Nipsey Hussle who passed away recently and even called him a Black Jesus, which after hearing about his work in the community is not a stretch by any means. YG’s set was super entertaining to watch and made me extremely jealous I was on the couch and not at Coachella going crazy with the crowd.
KID CUDI
It’s no secret that I am a huge Kanye fan and one of Kanye’s closest friends and most common collaborators is Kid Cudi. Not only do I love everything that he has done with Kanye but I am also a huge fan of his own music, spanning back to his classic 2009 album Man on the Moon. Cudi has a vulnerability within his music that really connects him to his audience and his set at Coachella showcased that raw and real emotion his fans have come to love. Not only was it extremely therapeutic but also a fun and upbeat experience with Cudder playing some of his older party anthems such as Pursuit of Happiness (which might be one of my favourite songs of all time) and Day N Nite. To be honest, I was holding my breath waiting for Kanye or Travis Scott to jump on stage with him and even though that moment never came, Cudi proved he was perfect on his own. All I need in life is air, water and some Cudi humming to get me by.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS:
Janelle Monae, Ariana Grande’s flawless vocals, Billie Eilish on her levitating bed, Jaden Smith on a flying Tesla, Weezer for bringing out TLC’s Chilli and Tame Impala for holding their own on the Main Stage.
Thanks for reading my best of Coachella Weekend One, make sure to check out my worst of the weekend coming up next!
If you’re an Ariana Grande of Billie Eilish fan, you might not enjoy it…..
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