Country

Dasha brought out a packed crowd to the Mane stage during her 3:20 pm set Saturday afternoon, with pop-fused, danceable songs like “Not at This Party.” Making her inaugural performance on the huge stage, she didn’t try to contain her excitement — and came ready to make a memorable performance. 

“I played the Mane Stage at Stagecoach!,” she yelled to the crowd, jumping up and down and then launching into “Didn’t I.” Flanked by dancers and a guy commandeering a lasso, she shimmied around the stage, joined her dancers with brightly choreographed dances, and got a hearty portion of the massive crowd dancing and grooving along. 

She took up a guitar on “Way Too Drunk,” recalling a night of alcohol-induced decisions that later made for a good story. She then amped up the crowd with a rendition of Gretchen Wilson’s “Here For the Party,” before wrapping with an extended version of “Austin.” As members of the audience launched into the song’s dance — made so popular on social media — Dasha jumped into the crowd, singing along with the audience. — JESSICA NICHOLSON

Nearly 60 years after it first became a hit — and now also nearly 40 years since Billy Idol too it to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 with his cover version — it would be fair to wonder whether Tommy James and the Shondells’ “Mony Mony” still had the party-igniting spark it once did. As the climax to James & Co.’s mid-afternoon set, however, the answer to that question was a resounding yes: hundreds in attendance at the Palomino stage were more than happy to answer James’ “Yeah!“s with “Yeah!“s of their own, and to contribute to the “Ooh, I love you Mo….” section when he stuck the microphone out to them. And yes, in case you were still wondering — plenty of folks still do the proto-viral “get laid, get f–ked” chant on the verses too. — ANDREW UNTERBERGER

Over on the Palomino Stage, Texas native Dylan Gossett drew a packed crowd for his set that started just before 5:00 p.m. — the same stage Zach Bryan similarly packed out three years ago before his career surged to stadium headliner status. For Gossett, the audience overflowed at the Palomino stage to hear the singer-songwriter offer up versions of “If I Had a Lover” and “To Be Free.” They especially hung onto every word when he launched into “Beneath Oak Trees,” a song inspired by his marriage a couple years earlier.

He displayed the breadth of talents of his band, too, as his set built from more acoustic-based songs into songs like the blistering “Hangin’ On,” then into a revved-up version of Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues.” Throughout it all, Gossett charmed the crowd with his easygoing-yet-charismatic performance style. — J.N.

If anyone was grateful to see how far they’d come since the last time he played Stagecoach, it was Shaboozey, who estimated there were about 1,000 people to see him when he rocked the Bud Light Stage in 2024. (“A whole lot more than a thousand people here,” he commented, still underselling the gargantuan size of his late-afternoon turnout.) He celebrated the level-up by debuting a never-before-performed cover of what he called one of his favorite songs of all time: Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door,” always a winning festival singalong. From there, Shaboozey cleverly segued into his new song “Amen,” which contains a reference to the dying-of-the-light staple — though both laments sounded positively triumphant as delivered by a beaming, victory-lapping ‘Boozey. — A.U.

Wetzel brought his high-octane, crude-when-needed and unapologetically more-grit-than-polish brand of music to thunderous applause from Stagecoach goers who were packed around the Palomino stage early Saturday evening. He sailed through rocking songs like “Sweet Dreams” and “Damn Near Normal,” and the fan-favorite ballad “Drunk Driving.” “We ain’t got nothing to do tomorrow,” he told the crowd, encouraging them to take full advantage of the day’s slate of music artists.  “God bless redneck music,” he added.  

He saved his big surprise for the close of his set, welcoming Jessie Murph for their five-week Billboard Country Airplay No. 1 “High Road,” as she returned the favor for Wetzel’s appearance at her own Coachella set on the same festival grounds two weekends earlier. Though Murph’s voice seemed muffled at moments, it was a sterling conclusion to Wetzel’s strong set. — J.N.

Though some of the non-country artists appearing at Stagecoach this year might’ve earned some quizzical looks from fans when the lineup was announced, nobody likely looked askance at Nelly: Not only was his debut album (and breakout hit) literally titled Country Grammar, he’s got the collaborative bonafides to more than earn his place in the country arena.

On Saturday, he performed perhaps his most famous and esteemed such worse: “Cruise,” his remix team up with the now-split Florida Georgia Line, which became a game-changing top five hit on the Hot 100 and one of the best-selling country songs of the iTunes era. But he also was wise to remind fans that he collaborated with them again at the turn of the decade, which had resulted in “Little Bit” — not nearly the chart smash that “Cruise” was,” but just as rewarding a jam, as many folks dancing outside the Palomino tent seemed ready to agree with. — A.U.

Kentucky native Sturgill Simpson brought blistering instrumentals to his tightly constructed, hour-long set Saturday night on Stagecoach’s Mane Stage, marking his first Stagecoach performance in nine years. 

He muscled through the set, rarely taking a moment’s break as he ripped through songs including the sauntering “Brace For Impact (Live a Little),” “Life of Sun,” and a cover of “Don’t Miss Your Water,” which has previously been recorded by William Bell and Otis Redding. 

His set leaned into a jamband vibe, heavy on masterclass instrumentals that let the musicianship do the talking. His set also included an unexpected cover, an intense rendition of Eddie Murphy’s “Party All The Time.” As his set drew to a close, Simpson ended the performance simply, holding one hand in the air acknowledging the crowd, taking off his guitar and walking offstage. — J.N.

Jelly Roll was certainly feeling the love on Saturday night after officially making it to headliner status — and it was a moment that he wanted to share with several of his closest buddies and well-wishers. It honestly feels like it might be quicker to list the collaborators who didn’t perform with Jelly on Saturday — an impressive cross section of figures from the man’s orbit, and even a couple with no obvious connection to him, showed up to support the recently mined poster-topper, and sometimes to get to play one of their own hits as well. And through it all, Jelly still seemed humble, still seemed sincere and still seemed incredibly grateful to be having the later-in-life success he’s currently enjoying. When you get to spend your Saturday hanging out with your famous friends for money — and still do it righteously enough to not fear divine judgment the next morning — what’s not to be thankful for? — A.U.

The artist formerly known as Machine Gun Kelly made the first surprise appearance of the night, seemingly materializing on stage from out of nowhere as Jelly Roll began to sing the chorus to John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads.” Jelly then pivoted to his and mgk’s Denver-interpolating “Lonely Road,” which they played in full. But before his buddy Colson could get out of there, Jelly requested that he perform his Tickets to My Downfall smash “My Ex’s Best Friend” — and mgk had no choice but to oblige.

Shaboozey had graced the main stage (ahem, the “Mane Stage”) at Stagecoach just hours before, but he got the call from Jelly Roll to reprise their “Amen” collab, which was released the previous day (Apr. 26) as part of ‘Boozey’s Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going: The Complete Edition deluxe reissue. And then once on stage, Shaboozey had to hang out just a little bit longer to help greet…

…BigX, who showed up open-shirted to perform his 2022 single “Texas” while the two country stars partied alongside him. After that, Jelly Roll pressured BigX to also perform the song he called “my theme song” — the rapper’s 2024 hit “The Largest,” with the two big men having a mini-danceoff to the song.

With all these “brothers” of Jelly Roll making their presence felt, it was time for his “little sister” to get in on the action — prolific hit collaborator Jessie Murph, making her second Stagecoach appearance of the day, after popping into Koe Wetzel’s set to perform their 2024 Country Airplay No. 1 “The High Road.” Murph of course also had a 2024 hit duet with Jelly, and the two performed their “Wild Ones” together.

The only non-performer of the evening to be welcomed onto the stage by Jelly Roll was of course his longtime wife Bunnie Xo, who he gave a glowing tribute to and greeted warmly, before telling the crowd to give it up for “Mama Bear.”

After his wife’s brief cameo, Jelly Roll said he needed to “confess his love” for her in front of the festival crowd — but lamented that he had been unable to write the perfect love song for his life partner. To help with that, he brought out rising pop-folk singer-songwriter Alex Warren, who performed his current smash “Ordinary” in Bunnie’s honor — then stuck around to help both announce and debut his and Jelly Roll’s not-yet-released collaboration, “Oh My Brother.”

After actually playing a couple solo songs, Jelly Roll embarked upon a mini-covers set, performing bits of Nickelback’s “How You Remind Me,” 2Pac & Dr. Dre’s “California Love” and Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers,” before ending on Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa’s “Young, Wild and Free.” To help with that last one, Wiz himself appeared on stage — and once he was there, Jelly Roll also asked him to play a song of his own, with the Pittsburgh rapper delighting the crowd by launching into his 2011 smash “Black & Yellow.”

With Jelly Roll spending much of the evening preaching all glory to God, it was unsurprising he would ultimately call upon one of his most recent collaborators: CCM star Brandon Lake. The duo performed the Jelly-featuring redo of Lake’s breakout hit “Hard Fought Hallelujah,” which seemed like it would be the climax of the evening. But there was one big moment still to come…

…with one of the biggest stars of the entire weekend, Friday Stagecoach performer Lana Del Rey. The singer-songwriter, who Jelly Roll called his “favorite crooner of all time,” stuck around Indio for at least one more day to help Jelly with his closing number: “Save Me,” which originally featured the unavailable Lainey Wilson. And after that final unforgettable duet, there was officially nothing left but the closing fireworks for Jelly Roll’s stunningly star-studded set.