festivals
The vibes were both mellow and musical at the 2025 BeachLife Festival, which took over the sand for three days in Redondo Beach, California, this past weekend, from Friday through Sunday.Lenny Kravitz headlined on Friday, bringing the first night to a close with massive hits including “Are You Gonna Go My Way?” and “Fly Away.” Saturday night’s lineup was led by Sublime, fronted by late singer Bradley Nowell’s son Jakob Nowell, who deftly took the reins of his dad’s SoCal band for “What I Got,” “Santeria” and more hits tailor-made for the oceanside fest. And the weekend came to a close with Sunday night headliner Alanis Morissette, whose set was jam-packed with her biggest hits, including Jagged Little Pill standouts like “You Oughta Know,” “Hand in My Pocket” and “Ironic.”
Other Friday highlights included Train starting their set with “Calling All Angels” and wrapping in epic fashion with the top five Billboard Hot 100 smash “Drops of Jupiter,” plus O.A.R. Aloe Blacc, The Struts and Digable Planets.
Saturday included Pretenders, with Chrissie Hynde wailing on “Back on the Chain Gang,” “Don’t Get Me Wrong” and more rock classics, as well as Cake closing their set with the one-two-three punch of “Never There,” “Short Skirt/Long Jacket” and “The Distance,” with frontman John McCrae’s between-song commentary keeping the crowd on their toes. Also on day 2: Susanna Hoffs of The Bangles, Skip Marley, Sugar Ray, Alo and the Sublime spin-off Long Beach Dub Allstars.
Finally, Sunday included a set from The Beach Boys, with longtime friend and collaborator John Stamos joining the Mike Love-led group just down the road from their Hawthorne, California, beginnings, as well as Jackson Browne, Mt. Joy, Marcus King and Big Head Todd and the Monsters.
To get a glimpse at the three-day festival, find some of the best photos from the weekend below.
Lenny Kravitz
Image Credit: Courtesy of BeachLife Festival
Lenny Kravitz performs on day 1 of BeachLife Festival in Redondo Beach, California, on Friday, May 2, 2025.
The Beach Boys
Image Credit: Courtesy of BeachLife Festival
The Beach Boys with John Stamos on day 3 of BeachLife Festival in Redondo Beach, California, on Sunday, May 4, 2025.
Aloe Blacc
Image Credit: Courtesy of BeachLife Festival
Aloe Blacc performs at day 1 of BeachLife Festival in Redondo Beach, California, on Friday, May 2, 2025.
The Beach Boys
Image Credit: Courtesy of BeachLife Festival
The Beach Boys’ Mike Love on day 3 of BeachLife Festival in Redondo Beach, California, on Sunday, May 4, 2025.
Jackson Browne
Image Credit: Courtesy of BeachLife Festival
Jackson Browne performs on day 3 of BeachLife Festival in Redondo Beach, California, on Sunday, May 4, 2025.
Sublime
Image Credit: Courtesy of BeachLife Festival
Sublime’s Jakob Nowell performs on day 2 of BeachLife Festival in Redondo Beach, California, on Saturday, May 3, 2025.
Susanna Hoffs
Image Credit: Courtesy of BeachLife Festival
Susanna Hoffs of The Bangles on day 2 of BeachLife Festival in Redondo Beach, California, on Saturday, May 3, 2025.
Sugar Ray
Image Credit: Courtesy of BeachLife Festival
Sugar Ray’s Mark McGrath performs on day 2 of BeachLife Festival in Redondo Beach, California, on Saturday, May 3, 2025.
Skip Marley
Image Credit: Courtesy of BeachLife Festival
Skip Marley performs on day 2 of BeachLife Festival in Redondo Beach, California, on Saturday, May 3, 2025.
Pretenders
Image Credit: Courtesy of BeachLife Festival
Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde performs on day 2 of BeachLife Festival in Redondo Beach, California, on Saturday, May 3, 2025.
Cake
Image Credit: Courtesy of BeachLife Festival
Cake’s John McCrae performs on day 2 of BeachLife Festival in Redondo Beach, California, on Saturday, May 3, 2025.
O.A.R.
Image Credit: Courtesy of BeachLife Festival
O.A.R.’s Marc Roberge performs on day 1 of BeachLife Festival in Redondo Beach, California, on Friday, May 2, 2025.
Digable Planets
Image Credit: Courtesy of BeachLife Festival
Digable Planets’ Ishmael “Butterfly” Butler performs on day 1 of BeachLife Festival in Redondo Beach, California, on Friday, May 2, 2025.
Pitchfork festival co-founder Mike Reed and his cultural nonprofit Constellation Performing Arts have launched Sound & Gravity, a Sept. 10-14 festival set in Chicago.
Sound & Gravity will be spread out across Chicago’s Bricktown and Avondale neighborhoods with seven venues hosting the festival — Constellation, Hungry Brain, Judson & Moore, Beat Kitchen, Guild Row, and Rockwell on the River. Reed, who is known for curating challenging and contemporary artists through the now defunct Pitchfork Music Festival, is reportedly shaping Sound & Gravity into an “ambitious” event and “unique adventure for music enthusiasts” featuring 48 artists across a spectrum of genres including jazz, experimental, contemporary classical and indie music.
Performers include American singer-songwriter Bill Callahan, who has also recorded and performed under the band name Smog; Nigerian guitarist Mdou Moctar; American experimental electric guitar duo Kim Gordon and Bill Nace, American musician Helado Negro and many, many more.
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Reed said he chose the Bricktown/Avondale area of Chicago, known for its fast-growing creator community and small businesses, due to it small intimate size, noting Sound & Gravity “capitalizes on the neighborhood’s walkability with all venues a 5-15 minute walk from each other,” according to a press release.
“Sound & Gravity offers attendees the opportunity to experience the local culture during five days of cutting-edge performances,” the release continues.
Sound & Gravity also serves as a fundraiser for Constellation Performing Arts, a 12-year-old not-for-profit organization that “has become a cornerstone of Chicago’s forward-thinking music scene,” according to the release. Constellation “has filled a crucial void in Chicago’s cultural landscape by providing a reliable, high-end platform for avant-garde and experimental music.”
Tickets go on sale on Wednesday, May 7 at 11am CT, and can be purchased here. Ticket options include an all-event four-day pass at $240, a single-day pass at $95, and a Wednesday opening night pass at $45. More info here.
Sound & Gravity
Eliza Weber
Lana Del Rey‘s debut on the Stagecoach lineup has come and gone, but the live intro to her upcoming new record set the stage for its visual components, like the personal style she seems to be leaning into for this album cycle.
Gracing the stage in pretty, tea-length dresses, with hair set in brushed-out waves and lips painted a color described by Lisa Eldrige’s cosmetics brand as an “iconic, late 1950s/early 1960s salmon-pink,” Del Rey’s physical presence at the country music festival served a mid-century, on the bayou aesthetic.
Positioned at a mic stand in front of a rural southern home set on the stage, she looked perfectly poised as she sang sweetly about being by her husband’s side, “where the baby alligators play” and “no one talks to me like you do, or takes care of us so good this way.” (The dark side peeked through, too: “Should I turn on the light or burn down the house?” she later contemplated in the premiere of “Quiet in the South,” a track of quiet rage over the worry her man might not make it home that night. “Feet up on the back porch, the wind’s blowing through/ I’m staring at the propane, like, what’s a girl to do?”)
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A handful of never-before-heard songs from her unreleased, untitled next record — formerly known as Lasso or The Right Person Will Stay, depending on when you asked Del Rey — made the Stagecoach set in Indio, Calif., Friday night (April 25): the aforementioned “Husband of Mine” and “Quiet in the South,” and “57.5,” which will be remembered as the one where Del Rey called out Morgan Wallen. She also sang the hauntingly beautiful “Henry, Come On” live for the first time, and her new ballad “Bluebird” was the star of a hologram interlude.
The first dress Del Rey wore, in demure, cream lace, was custom Valentino, stylist Molly Dickson noted in an Instagram Story.
When the “Summertime Sadness” singer returned to the stage post-interlude in red to sing an iconic line from the Born to Die track (“I got my red dress on tonight”), she was in custom Sugar Ferrini, according to Dickson. The strapless number complemented the earlier Valentino silhouette, with its fitted bodice, bow accent at the waist and full skirt.
Hair stylist Anna Cofone offered a how-to on achieving Del Rey’s coiffure in an Instagram post on Saturday. She listed Authentic Beauty Concept’s Glow Spray Serum for prepping mid-length and ends, and Tymo’s Airhype Lite hair dryer for smoothing before styling. She added Authentic Beauty Concept’s Airy Texture Spray and Nude Powder Spray to Del Rey’s roots as a “base for backcombing,” incorporated Remi Cachet Clip-In Deluxe hair extensions prepped with Curl Pro Stylist Mist, and set the singer’s hair using Tymo’s Cues curling iron with a 1/2-inch barrel. She brushed out Del Rey’s waves with an Olivia Garden Essential Style Double Tunnel Brush and finished the style with a mist of strong-hold hairspray.
Makeup artist Pamela Cochrane posted beauty notes as well, with a list of Lisa Eldridge products she used on Del Rey: Skin and Makeup Enhancing Mist, Seamless Skin Foundation in a mix of shades 5 and 10, Elevated Glow Highlighter in Crystal Nebula on her cheekbones, Kitten Lash Mascara “in the inner corners next to the lashes and underneath,” Kitten Flick Liquid Eyeliner “finely drawn along the outer half of eye with a small flick,” and Lip Pencil in shade 1W with Rouge Experience Refillable Lipstick in shade 189, Audrey.
See Lana Del Ray all dolled up in a clip of her singing “Henry, Come On” below, via Stagecoach’s official X account.
The more you watch of Lana Del Rey supposedly going country, the more apparent how ridiculous any talk of her pivoting to any genre really is.
For 15 years now, LDR has essentially been a genre unto herself: a unique and borderline-illogical blending of obviously classic influences with some game-changingly modern sensibilities, one that mostly befuddled critics and radio and the charts early on, even as she was inarguably becoming one of the most important pop stars of her generation. She’s been wildly influential without ever being less than unmistakable; no matter what sonic, thematic or characteristic elements other artists may borrow from her, none of them would ever risk being taken for Lana herself. This is all to say: no matter what style of music she’s making, Lana Del Rey has one genre and that’s “Lana Del Rey.”
But of course, Lana did lean into The Stagecoach of It All while making her debut performance at the Indio, Calif. country festival on Friday (Apr. 25). Singing in a white dress in front of a set of an idyllic-looking rural house at dusk, she looked like she walked on stage straight from an old Loretta Lynn album cover. Early on, she brought out George Birge — himself a Saturday performer at the festival — to duet on his current hit “Cowboy Songs,” an extremely country radio-friendly song Del Rey says she can’t get enough of. (You can certainly imagine a Lanafied version of the chorus, though it was strange to hear her singing on such a zippy and muscular hook in 2025.) And of course, she invoked two all-time genre classics during the show by covering Tammy Wynette’s “Stand by Your Man” (“You can’t do this set without it”), and then closing the proceedings with a family singalong to John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” a recent entry into the LDR cover canon.
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But the new songs? Country-ish in their tempo and in some of their thematic content (and occasional lyrics about “all these country singers”), perhaps, but not in any way that feels at a remove from what she’s done her whole career: Lana has long centered the emotional abandon and cinematic sway of country in her songs. You could hear that even in some of the crowd-elating classics Lana performed in the midst of her Grand Ole Opry moment — tweak a couple lyrics and add some banjo and “Ride” is basically a The Chicks single; turn down the sex and turn up the sarcasm and “Video Games” could’ve been penned by Kacey Musgraves. Nothing about the stately balladry and gender-role explorations of songs like set-opening duo “Husband of Mine” and “Henry, Come On” felt without precedent in her catalog; she could have introduced them as deep cuts from Blue Banisters or Chemtrails Over the Country Club and many of her fans probably would’ve bought it.
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If there was a pronounced difference with Del Rey in Country Mode on Friday night, it was that she seemed… maybe more polite and unassuming than we’re used to her being? Watching her express her very sincere-seeming gratitude at being invited to Stagecoach, and about the size and passion of her Friday night crowd, it was very easy to forget that she was once a highly divisive figure in popular music, one prone to controversy in both her lyrics and public statements. There was no trace of any of that in the smiling, hostly, happy-to-be-here performer who took the stage on Friday night.
Well, almost none. If you missed a little of the unpredictability and ostentatiousness that characterized early-years Lana Del Rey– and still informed highlights from her work up until this decade — then you probably loved “57.5,” a shuffling new song referring to her number (in millions) of monthly listeners on Spotify, which also includes a bridge which begins with LDR proclaiming “I kissed Morgan Wallen” and going onto advise listeners against going ATVing with him. It takes a lot of “yes, really” to explain, but it was still probably the best of the new songs that she debuted: some real country s–t, but more importantly, pure Lana through and through, in a way no other artist or genre could ever totally capture.
CENTRAL MUSIC & ENTERTAINMENT FESTIVAL 2025, a music festival event held in the heart of Yokohama, took place April 4-6, 2025.
Led by the concept of “Bringing the sounds of Japan to the world,” this new music festival in Yokohama presented a wide range of entertainment, from artists that have drawn the attention of the world to anime, technology, and more. The whole city of Yokohama became an enormous festival space, with performances at venues such as K-Arena Yokohama, Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse’s Red Brick Park Special Venue, KT Zepp Yokohama, and Rinko Park. This article covers Echoes Baa, which was held at the Red Brick Park Special Venue of Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse on April 5 and 6.
The event was curated by Echoes, a new label established in September 2024. The main stage lineup featured Echoes artists like YOASOBI, MAISONdes, and Aooo, as well as major artists from other labels invited as special guests. Echoes also runs the MECRE collaboration platform, which brings together people who love music and creation, so in addition to live shows, Echoes Baa also had DJ sets, workshops, and other new forms of entertainment experiences covering a wide range of creative expression.
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Looking around the site before the first performance, the first thing that catches the visitor’s eye would be the massive art wall at the rear of the field. Created by up-and-coming artists such as COIN PARKING DELIVERY and SIMON, it became a photo spot for the event’s many visitors. YOASOBI and the mobile bookstore BOOK TRUCK also collaborated in “The Traveling Bookstore YOASOBI.” The store carried YOASOBI-related books, books selected by Ayase and ikura, and books related to other artists performing at Echoes Baa. On both days of the event, there were also workshops with the theme of “Fun DIY for everyone, regardless of skill level.” In the silkscreen workshop, people could print their own t-shirts and apparel with unique Echoes graphics. Those taking part in the tufting workshop were able to make their own Echoes-exclusive rugs. These workshops were so popular that they were fully booked before the live performances even began. There was also Echoes’ first-ever pop-up shop, “Echoes Maaket,” which sold limited-edition Echoes merchandise. In front of the shop were large capsule prize machines with a variety of metal badges adorned with Echoes logos. These were also popular, selling out early in the event.
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The first live performance began with an energetic rendition of “Idol” by YOASOBI. ikura declared, “Our show’s going to set the standard for the whole festival’s energy levels!” The band went on to play hit after hit, such as “Into The Night” and their newest song, “PLAYERS.” Between songs, they also talked to the crowd, getting everyone to join in in celebrating Ayase’s birthday, which had been the day before, on April 4. Between performances on the main stage, Gaku, Aiobahn, Aiobahn +81, DJ Kazu, and tomad kept the excitement up from the second stage.
KAFUNÉ kicked off their set with “Otonagokko.” During ”Nounaihanseikai,” they were joined in by the audience, and in their last song, “Melty Love,” they filled the air with beautiful falsetto vocals. During NOMELON NOLEMON’s set, tsumiki declared “We came to win today!” from up on stage and then brought the audience to a fever pitch with their catchy “Midnight Reflection,” a song featured in Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX.
asmi, dressed in a colorful costume, started her set with the pop tune “Dokimeki Diary.” She delivered lyric-packed songs like “Face This Way” and “PAKU” in her ennui-tinged yet resonant voice, accompanied by pop melodies. syudou began his first song, “In the Back Room,” with an a cappella intro in a performance that was so confident that you’d scarcely believe that it was his first ever outdoor performance. With a set list that just kept them coming, you could feel the power coming off the stage.
The headliner on the first day was MAISONdes. The show featured a constant tide of “residents” like asmi & THREEE, noa and Kayayu, Pii & meiyo, riria., suisoh, MIKIMARIA, Ren, Yuika & KAFUNÉ and AYUNi D, each creating their own chemical reactions. Rei, from the new project NICHIMEZO, also sang. There was even a surprise appearance by virtual singer KAF, who performed via a monitor and passionately performed “Tokyo Shandy Rendez-vous” alongslide tsumiki’s drums. Then asmi took to the stage again, finishing off the first day’s performances with “Yowanehaki.”
The second day started at a full gallop with FRUITS ZIPPER’s “NEW KAWAII.” In “Watashino Ichiban Kawaiitokoro,” the audience copied the group’s choreography, and the stage positively overflowed with cuteness. Next was Luov, a three-piece band that was just formed in February of this year. They entertained the crowd with their buoyant vocals and sound on songs like “Dai Dassou Keikaku” and “Toumei shabon,” perfect fits for the concert venue, surrounded by the sea and the clear blue sky.
There was a long line at the vending machine selling original Central drinks with designs featuring the show’s performers. While the stage was being prepared for the next act, Gaku, Aruku Hito, DJ To-i (from DISH//), dshino (Toshitaka Shinoda from Ijigen TOKYO) and yuigot put on their own performances, keeping the vibe going.
The main stage thronged with people awaiting Chevon’s set, which they launched into with “Knock Boots.” The audience pumped their hands in the air to Mayuu Yaginu’s vocals, which dripped with charisma and seemed to pierce the sky. Then Mayuu shouted “The second chapter of Chevon starts here and now, at Echoes Baa, with the arrival of the ‘KAIJU! (Japanese title: Daikoushin)‘” and the band charged into the next song, never letting up on their momentum. TOMOO began her set with a rhythmical vocal performance of “Ginger.” Her clear singing voice harmonized beautifully with the ocean-side vista, gently enveloping the audience with songs like “Itterasshai” and “Contrast.” The last song of her set, “Super Ball,” was like a warm spring breeze. The band Aooo, made up of Riko Ishino, THREEE, Hikaru Yamamoto, and tsumiki — each an accomplished artist in their own right — melded the unique sounds of the three instrumentalists with Ishino’s voice. Her voice ranged from wistful, like on “Casablanca,” to powerful and commanding, like on “Fragile Night.”
The headliner on the second day was the opening act on the first day: YOASOBI. They performed hit after hit, such as “Idol,” “UNDEAD,” and “Seventeen,” with Ayase shouting out, “Here, today, I know without question that this is the heart of it all, where we bring music to the world!” During “The Blessing,” the night sky over the Port of Yokohama was lit up with fireworks. Then, with the giant chorus of “Blue,” the second day of the event came to a resplendent close.
—This article by Takayuki Okamoto first appeared on Billboard Japan
Miami’s long-running festival III Points has announced the phase one lineup for its 2025 edition.
The two-day fest will feature sets from artists including 2Hollis, Michael Bibi, Peggy Gou, Darkside, Barry Can’t Swim, Indira Paganotto, Nina Kraviz, Sean Paul, Anotr, Ca7riel and Paco Amoroso, Denzel Curry, L’Imperatrice, Mk.Gee and Turnstile.
III Points 2025 will happen Oct. 17-18 at its longtime site at Miami’s Mana Wynwood. Tickets go on sale Thursday (April 24), with lineup additions to be announced in the coming months.
2025 will mark the festival’s 11th edition since it launched in 2013. The festival was founded by a trio of Miami natives, and over the last decade, has become a standout event on the U.S. electronic festival circuit, while also helping elevate Miami as one of the crown jewels cities in the country’s electronic scene.
The festival, which partnered with Insomniac Events in 2019, has a strong focus on local culture, typically booking many acts from the Miami scene and bringing in food and craft vendors who reflect the city’s thriving local culture.
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“I think it’s just very authentically Miami, and a real time capsule of Miami sonically and visually right now,” III Points co-founder David Sinopoli told Billboard in 2023. “I think people feel that when they come.”
“We’re thrilled to be bringing III Points back to Miami for its 11th installment”, Sinopoli adds in a statement. “It is not easy navigating a forward-thinking, multigenre festival in the North American music landscape nowadays 一 but I believe our commitment to our Miami music community has been the guiding force for us.”
See the III Points phase one lineup below:
III Points 2025
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Riot Fest is one year shy of legal drinking age and celebrating its 20th anniversary this summer with a stacked lineup of classic indie and alternative bands led by East Bay punk legends Green Day, pop punkers Blink-182, alt-rock darlings Weezer and rock icon Jack White. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest […]
All Things Go festival will return to New York with Doechii, Lucy Dacus and Clairo headlining. For the second edition of the New York festival, which will run the same weekend as the festival’s D.C.-area event, fans can also catch sets from Djo, Remi Wolf, The Marías, The Last Dinner Party, Lola Young and Gigi […]
Coachella 2025 will likely be considered one of the most political editions of the longstanding festival, with a flurry of artists using their onstage platforms to make statements on topics including Palestine, ICE, the Trump administration and more.
Nicolas Jaar of psych jam act Darkside used the trio’s Saturday night performances in the Gobi tent to address the audience about a myriad of issues, primarily Palestine. Jaar began his statement by acknowledging that Southern California is the ancestral home of various Native American tribes, with many of these people killed in the mass murders of Native Americans that occurred in the 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th centuries.
“Here were committed the genocides that are the blueprint for what’s happening in Palestine right now, the same racist logic,” Jaar stated during the band’s weekend 1 show, on April 12. “We must continue resisting, even from the belly of the beast, because this genocide is funded by American money, with technology from Silicon Valley, thanks to the complicity of all the politicians in this country.”
Jaar continued by referencing Mahmoud Khalil – the detained Columbia University graduate student currently being held in an immigration detention center following his role in on-campus protests.
“I also want to say that today, these days, as some of you may know, just protesting a genocide that is happening means that you can get deported, like Mahmoud Khalil. That doesn’t feel right. Mahmoud and many others are in ICE detention jails. These jails are run for profit by groups like CoreCivic and The GEO Group. They make money off of keeping people in cells. We need to keep fighting them. For the sake of everyone there stuck without trial, and with no hope, we need to give hope. Thank you, everyone.”
Jaar delivered a slightly different version of the same statement during the band’s weekend 2 performance on Saturday, April 19, stating that, “We’ve been on tour for about a month and a half, and during this month and a half, the administration of this country has been deporting people for their political views, they have been locking people up in ICE detention jails. The prisoner count of this country keeps on being the highest in the entire world. There’s more people locked up in California than at Coachella right now, and this country keeps on arming and funding, also with tech and Silicon Valley, the genocide of the Palestinian people and arming and funding Israel’s system of apartheid and ethnic cleansing.
“But the problem doesn’t stop at this administration and the administration of that country,” he continued. “It’s much deeper than that… It’s based off a system of racism, of ethnic cleansing both here in these lands, and also there. And there’s no way to continue in this planet without the empires falling as soon as possible. In all ways possible. A lot of people tell us to shut up and just play the music, but for us, music is being together, and how can we be together if our brothers and sisters are locked up and our brothers and sisters are literally burning in their homes?”
Elsewhere at the festival’s second weekend, Northern Irish hip-hop group Kneecap ended their performance with strong anti-Israel sentiments. On Friday (April 18), the Belfast trio closed their show by projecting strong messaging in support of Palestinians on their video screens. “Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people,” the projected messages read. “It is being enabled by the U.S. government who arm and fund Israel despite their war crimes. F— Israel; free Palestine.” This display came a week after the band claimed Coachella censored the pro-Palestinian messaging during their debut at the event.
On the main stage, headliners Green Day also changed the lyrics of “American Idiot” to state “I’m not part of the MAGA agenda.” Other artists including Bob Vylan and Blonde Redhead displayed Palestinian flags during their sets. During the performance by this latter artists, the onstage event was soundtracked by audio of Khalil. Senator Bernie Sanders also appeared onstage during Clairo’s weekend 1 performance and urged festivalgoers to “stand up and fight for justice.”