Music News

Tyla made us sweat with her fiery Coachella debut performance during Friday’s sunset. Fresh off her Impact Award win at Billboard’s Women in Music, she kicked off her set with “Push 2 Start.” Rocking a sparkling gold top matching her microphone, the South African artist gave fans a surprise when Becky G hit the stage to perform their “On My Body” duet. Tyla paid tribute to Aaliyah mixing “On and On” with Baby Girl’s “Rock The Boat” hit. Jumping across her discography, she moved into “Truth or Dare” before having a dance party on top of her giant on stage tiger. She even spray painted her name on the animal in Brat green. “It’s my first time at Coachella and I’m really excited to be here,” she admitted during a break in the action. The 23-year-old finished off with “Jump” and a slower acoustic intro to her “Water” anthem before taking a bath in the kiddie pool on stage. The hard work is paying off as Tyla continues to make strides as a performer. — M.S.

If the aliens ever came down and landed at Coachella, GloRilla was ready to make them feel at home. In the midst of her Glorious Tour, Big Glo emerged from the Sahara stage rocking an alien mask, which threw off some of the crowd while others enjoyed the extra-terrestrial gimmick. The Memphis rapper ran through staples like “Hollon” and “Wanna Be” before being brought a new mic to fix up her sound issues. She even previewed an unreleased thumping track that should arrive later this year. Following “TGIF” and “F.N.F.,” she had everyone light up the stage and gave a shout-out to Ye’s “All of the Lights,” which she kept on repeat throughout high school. Glo couldn’t head out without ending her set with top 40 hit “Yeah Glo” as she carries her banner 2024 into Glochella. — MICHAEL SAPANORA

“We’ve been hot since 20 years ago,” Missy’s voice echoes over the densely-packed main stage crowd. And as her hits-filled set proved, she’s hotter than ever still. As the iconic MC performed one culture-defining smash after another — from “We Run This” to “Pass That Dutch” and more — she did so as the most futuristic version of herself, even emerging onstage as a transformer. And as her set proved, transforming is something Missy has mastered — ever evolving while always being entirely true to herself. — LYNDSEY HAVENS

Given that many people in the Sahara tent had likely last seen LISA on last Sunday’s season finale of The White Lotus, the pop queen herself took a moment to clear up any confusion. “This is LISA, for the White Lotus fans, you might be surprised to see Mook onstage,” she said, referring to the name of the character she played on the hit series. “This is her when she’s not working, you know?” Indeed, Mook’s work uniform felt like a relic during the performance, which saw LISA changing outfits five-plus times as she ran through hits including “Dream,” “Moonlit Floor (Kiss Me)” and “Money.” The performance was tight, creative, cool and altogether electric, with LISA commanding the massive stage (and its attendant massive audience), dancing precisely in tandem with her gaggle of extremely on point dancers and generally looking like she was having a lot of fun while doing it. — K.B.

Despite being catapulted to the top of a staircase to open his dusk set, Benson Boone managed to take his performance — and his eyebrow-raising vocals — to even greater heights. It’s as if performing in the spacious desert allowed his voice to boom louder and crisper than ever — especially on his surprise one-two punch of a closer. After welcoming the great Brian May onstage for a stellar cover of “Bohemian Rhapsody” complete with a choir — during which Boone perfectly channeled his inner Freddie Mercury — the two wrapped the high-energy set with Boone’s breakout hit, “Beautiful Things.” And yes, it truly was a beautiful thing to witness. — L.H.

Yeatchella definitely didn’t disappoint. Who else would have an inflatable bell taking up his entire stage? YEAT rose to the top of the bell for the live debut of his “The Bell” single to kick things off. An intricate light show followed as he instructed mosh pits to open up. Following a performance of his and Drake’s rebellious “IDGAF,” he paid homage to the 6 God by covering a Drizzy fan-favorite with an AutoTuned rendition of “Feel No Ways.” He returned the favor to Anyma bringing him out atop the bell for their “Work” collab after the DJ helped YEAT make history as the first rapper to perform at Las Vegas’ Sphere venue. “Orchestrate” and “Geek Time” closed out the rapper’s energetic set.

The Marias set was a showing in perfect timing, as their moody, sultry music soundtracked dusk over the desert. Frontwoman María Zardoya’s enticing, calm demeanor helped the crowd transition from the day’s heat into a cooler setting — a mission that the band took quite seriously, as they even made it “snow” in the desert (thanks to engineered flakes that fell over fans, including Troye Sivan who was in attendance). — L.H.

Anything Charli XCX-related will inevitably draw a huge crowd, and indeed the Gobi tent was packed for a sunset hour set from A.G. Cook, a longtime producer for Charli and a brilliant artists in his own right. After he launched the set with a sparkly synth intro, the crowd really roared to life with when he played a remix of the already remixed version of Charli’s “Von Dutch” from Brat and It’s Completely Different but Also Still Brat. Cook later welcomed Danny Brown to the stage for a rendition of Brown’s 2014 Rustie collab “Attak” and after Brown departed shifted the vibe back to hyperpop, with Cook playing bright bands of synth and eventually dropping the jaunty piano intro from the Brat and It’s Completely Different but Also Still Brat edit of “Mean Girls.” The moment elicited another big cheer, with most of the crowd in attendance for Cook presumably keyed up to see the Brat herself tomorrow. — K.B.

Mustard showcased his version of an Eras Tour set while closing down night one of Coachella at the Sahara stage. The California super-producer had a replica of his older studio as his stage and he proceeded to bring out a star-filled cast of guests including Tyga for “Rack City” to 2 Chainz (I’m Different) and YG, who performed “Who Do You Love” and was joined by Big Sean for “Big Bank.” Sean stuck around for his diamond-certified anthem “IDFWU” and then Roddy Ricch popped out for “Ballin’” and “The Box.” Mustard made sure to pay homage to Nipsey Hustle before bringing out Ella Mai for soothing performances of “Boo’d Up” and “Trip.”

Then it was time for the main event, as fans frothed at the mouth anticipating Kendrick Lamar’s arrival. Mustard even tee’d it up while jabbing Drake by cutting off the 6 God’s “Crew Love” and flipping to Kendrick’s guest appearance on Future and Metro Boomin’s “Like That.” “Sike,” he told the crowd. GNX tracks like “Hey Now” and “TV Off” rang off, but Kendrick was nowhere to be found. An appearance from K. Dot would’ve catapulted a really good set into one of the premier moments in rap so far this year. Mustard also brought the set to what felt like an abrupt close as some fans were left puzzled they didn’t get to sing along to “Not Like Us” even if hip-hop’s boogeyman wasn’t in the desert. — M.S.

Coachella has been on a roll over the last two years, bringing in key acts of the early U.K. rave scene via The Chemical Brothers and Underworld in 2023 and Orbital in 2024. This year, the that slot was filled by arguably the most ferocious of the bunch, The Prodigy. Playing in the Mojave tent, the group — lead by frontman Maxim, who wore a white shirt with “HERO” aptly written across it — tore through classics including 1995’s “Poison” and “Invaders Must Die” from the 2009 album of the same name. There was a simple but effective tribute to the group’s late vocalist, Keith Flint, in the form of a silhouette of the singer flashed on the screens, with the figure’s horned hair making it obvious who it was. The mood inside the tent was hyped and happily aggro from start to finish, with myriad mosh pits forming and everyone going especially hard when the guys played their classic “Smack My B—h Up” towards show’s end. — K.B.

Channeling her inner Marie Antoinette with blonde curls piled as high as her falsetto, MARINA delivered a theatrical performance that quite literally helped set the stage for her upcoming anticipated album, Princess of Power. And while she live debuted her new single “CUNTISMA??” it was  her breakout hit, “How To Be a Heartbreaker” (and “Premadonna Girl”) that got the crowd going the most — and offered a glimpse into her growth and evolution as an artist. — L.H.

One of the more delightful legacy acts to see on the Coachella lineup this year was The Go-Go’s. The ’80s new wave rock queens were in fine form on Friday evening, as singer Belinda Carlisle performed barefoot and the rest of the band rocked out in the late afternoon heat, with Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong joining them onstage for “Head Over Heels.” Sounding tight throughout, the group gave the crowd a special and nostalgic thrill by closing the show with their classics “We Got the Beat” and “Our Lips Are Sealed,” both from their 1981 No. 1 album Beauty And The Beat. — K.B.

Just when fans thought Three 6 Mafia’s set was over, they had more left in the tank. MGK and Travis Barker popped out as surprise guests rocking bandanas underneath backwards caps and they demanded Juicy J and DJ Paul get back on stage. MGK began rapping Three 6’s “Hit A Muthaf—a” banger before Juicy and Paul felt the energy and took the baton to finish off their 1997 anthem, while Barker jammed on the drums. It’s sets like these that make Coachella’s full lineup special, as a surprise like this could happen at any time of day. — M.S.