Music

“I always thought I wasn’t cool enough for Coachella,” Bebe Rexha told the crowd in the middle of her debut performance at the festival. But whatever she may have thought, her evening mainstage show proved that she deserved to be there as much as anyone else, with Rexha — who wore a tight black bodsuit and boots — sounding and looking like every bit the big stage pop star.

The setlist included her 2019 Chainsmokers collab “Call You Mine” and her 2017 Florida Georgia Line hit “Meant to Be,” and the show found Rexha dancing hard and in one moment grinding on the floor in a sequence she herself referred to as an “onstage orgy.” But for all the sex appeal, there was also a level of heart-on-her sleeve authenticity, as Rexha told stories about continuing on after getting dropped from her label (“I said, ‘You know what? F— this. I’m going to write the songs, and when I sell the songs I’m going to say, “You’ve gotta keep me on it”‘”) and dealing with haters by understanding that hate “is just confused love.” (It was also endearing when, after gazing deeply into the camera, she then cracked a wide smile and stuck out her tongue.) Rexha closed the show by bringing out David Guetta to perform the pair’s massive 2023 dance hit “I’m Good (Blue),” closing the show by turning it into a full-on EDM dance party that, based on all the cheering and dancing, everyone seemed to think was indeed pretty cool. — Katie Bain

Tems had a striking debut Coachella set in the Mojave tent, backed by a gorgeous outdoor setting on the stage that perfectly matched her warm, powerful voice. She live-debuted an unreleased song from her upcoming debut album, teaching the audience the “love me jeje, love me tender” chorus so they could sing along like it was already a hit. And then she treated the crowd to “Essence,” with Wizkid joining her onstage to perform the 2021 Hot 100 top 10 smash. But that was only the beginning of the surprise: Their remix collaborator Justin Bieber then popped onstage as well and completely shattered the decibel levels in the tent. Tems tried to prepare us when she tweeted earlier in the day: “Coachella! I’m too exciteddd I have a surprise tonight.” — Katie Atkinson

J Balvin‘s heavy use of sci-fi imagery during his performance on the main stage — including two massive flying saucers and an animatronic Grey Alien head that swiveled eerily back and forth in the center of the stage — proved the perfect setup for the night’s big special guest: Will Smith, who hit the stage for a brief rendition of “Men in Black” (in full suit-and-sunglasses regalia from the film) as Balvin bounced and slid and made his neck work in choreographed tandem with the Oscar-winning movie star. Elsewhere during his set, the Colombian superstar gamely performed such hits as “Mi Gente,” “Con Altura,” “Ginza” and his Cardi B collab “I Like It Like That” — joined throughout by collaborators Jowell & Randy and De La Ghetto. — Chris Eggertsen

Reneé Rapp drew a huge, enthusiastic crowd to the Outdoor Stage on Sunday for her debut Coachella set (or “baby’s first ‘Chella,” as she called it), and it all kicked off with an intro from The L Word stars Jennifer Beals, Leisha Hailey and Kate Moennig and creator Ilene Chaiken. “You’ve gotta say what every lesbian wants to hear,” Moennig said, before yelling to wild cheers: “Who’s ready for a f—ing Reneé Rapp concert?” Rapp kicked off the 14-song set with the Snow Angel single “Talk Too Much” and wrapped with the title track from her 2023 debut album. While she went it alone for the bulk of the set, she did have two special guests: her girlfriend Towa Bird, who played guitar on “Tummy Hurts,” and a surprise appearance from Kesha to duet on her 2009 Hot 100 nine-week No. 1 “Tik Tok.” In response to a series of sexual misconduct allegations against Diddy, the pair did a little surgery on the song’s opening line, changing it to: “Wake up in the morning like ‘F— P. Diddy.’” — K.A.

“Are you ready for this iconic f—ing moment?” DJ Snake asked the Sahara Tent crowd about 15 minutes into his set, then hitting play on “Show Me Love” and welcoming the song’s power-lunged vocalist, Robin S., onto the stage. As it turned out, we were all definitely ready, with the crowd dancing and singing along at full volume. The French producer then kept the show going with some very grimy bass and equally aggressive sounds before bringing out Peso Plumo to debut on the pair’s forthcoming “Teka,” a woozy, infectious dance track. — K.B

Another first-time Coachella performer was four-piece South Korean pop-rock group The Rose, who marveled at the size of the crowd they drew to the Outdoor Stage by recalling their early days as a band. “We have been together as The Rose for seven years now,” Woosung said. “When we first started, we started in a very small place in Seoul called Hongdae. That’s where we used to busk and street-perform and do little club gigs here and there. And our very first show as The Rose, we had about 20 people show up, and half of them were our friends. But look at all you motherf—ers now!” The size of the crowd was especially clear when they performed “Back to Me,” a top 10 hit on Billboard’s Alternative Digital Song Sales chart last year. As the lyrics to the catchy chorus scrolled across the screen, the crowd took over, shouting every word. — K.A.

Just before Monet busted out a performance of the JAGUAR II track “Smoke” during her solid, sex-positive set in the Mojave tent, the red-lingerie-clad rising star — who also performed renditions of songs such as “Jaguar,” “Moment,” “Coastin’” and “Ass Like That” — coaxed the crowd to “hotbox” the performance space, in her words, “’cause it’s legal.” A considerable number of Monet’s fans apparently didn’t need to be told twice, as within seconds, pot smoke emanated from various sections of the audience before coalescing into a massive single cloud that hovered above the crowd. Let’s just say that by the time Monet launched into her breakthrough hit “On My Mama” at the end of the set, the Mojave tent was vibing. But in truth, no cannabis was needed; Monet had the crowd entranced from the get-go. — Chris Eggertsen

Jhene Aiko put on a dreamy, self-assured show at the outdoor stage on Saturday evening — think crystals, sound baths and even a brief pseudo-guided meditation from the singer herself. Like her music, the performance felt grounded and ethereal all at once, with Aiko seemingly floating across the stage in a multi-layered, snakeskin-like dress while delivering effortless performances of songs like “While We’re Young,” “Sativa” and “The Worst.” Just like Aiko’s set on Saturday, her songs tend to spin a gossamer mood while also delivering lyrical truth bombs (“Please don’t take this personal/But you ain’t s—/And you weren’t special/’Til I made you so”).

Though she hosted such impressive special guests as Big Sean, Tyga, Saweetie (“My Type”) and Omarion during the roughly hour and 15-minute set, it was Aiko’s emotional speech near the end of the performance that proved to be the most memorable part of the show. Reflecting on her debut performance at Coachella in 2014, the singer got real (and occasionally choked up) when she related that at the time, “I had a lot going on, my brother had passed two years before, my daughter was five — and I’m not gonna lie, I was high and drunk out of my mind, I was like blackout high and drunk. I had a good time, but it was probably not my best moment.”

She continued, “I just want to thank god for giving me a second chance to come back tonight and give you guys a sober performance. I hope it’s a little better than 10 years ago. I’ve learned a lot since then. I’ve realized that you have to allow yourself to feel your emotions in order to heal. I’ve also learned that your reality is your choice. Everything that we see in our waking life is just a projection of our state of mind and what we imagine, what we think. I’ve learned that everyone is going through something and is just another version of me. We are all each other’s reflection.”

It was a moment of emotional honesty rare for a festival set, and the tears they did flow — both from Aiko and her fans, many of whom clearly felt the weight of her words. – Chris Eggertsen

Leave it to Lil Yachty to bring a not-so-lil boat to Coachella. When the rapper hit the Mojave Tent late Sunday night, his stage had a massive red boat as its centerpiece, with his nickname “Lil Boat” written on the side. He even played the first few songs perched on the boat’s bow, which made for some very cool big-screen shots when he was filmed from behind and the sea of fans in front of him looked like a literal body of water. During the 20-song set — which toggled between the experimental sound of his most recent album, last year’s Let’s Start Here, and his more straightforward hip-hop work — Yachty brought out his Concrete Boys collective to join him aboard the Lil Boat, as well as Justine Skye and Mac DeMarco. — K.A.

The lineup for the 88Rising Futures showcase in the Mojave Tent was already stacked going into Day 3, including Japan’s YOASOBI and Atarashii Gakko! (both of whom also had their own solo sets this weekend) and Korea’s Tiger JK and Yoonmirae. But the music and media company found room for a few surprises too, with 88rising artists Jackson Wang and BIBI showing up unannounced to perform the romantic unreleased duet “Feeling Lucky.” The pair had palpable chemistry as they held hands and got closer and closer toward the end of the song. Wang also came out for the Coachella debut of Japanese boy band Number_i to perform their song “GOAT.” – K.A.

Near the end of his 50-minute set, the Mexican singer-songwriter, performing at Coachella for the first time, broke out a cover of Selena Quintanilla‘s “Si Una Vez” in honor of the late singer, who helped set the template for Latin acts in the 21st century. At another point during the set, he brought out Venezuelan Latin pop brother duo (and fellow Coachella newbies) Mau y Ricky for a performance of the song “Llorar y Llorar” — effectively sharing his moment in the spotlight with both a contemporary and a predecessor who arguably helped set the groundwork for Leon’s moment to happen in the first place. – Chris Eggertsen

With her main-stage performance (which made Doja Cat the second Black woman to ever headline Coachella), the rapper squashed debate about whether she was a big enough star to headline the fest — not by pandering to its audience, but just by embracing her signature strangeness. Think playful wigs, a mud pit, a fake Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton, dancing yetis and other elements presented with total dedication to the bit.

Read the full Doja Cat review here.