Coachella 2024 day two: Tyler the Creator joined by A$AP Rocky and Donald Glover for headline set
Saturday at Coachella saw Paris Hilton playing cornhole with Vampire Weekend and Grimes suffering a major technical malfunction. Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the festival’s final day
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Tyler, the Creator delivered a sharp, varied and spectacular headline set on the Saturday night of this year’s Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival 2024, joined by guests including Donald Glover (aka Childish Gambino), A$AP Rocky, Charlie Wilson and Kali Uchs.
Earlier, No Doubt’s first show in nine years saw a special guest appearance from Olivia Rodrigo, Paris Hilton played cornhole with Vampire Weekend and Grimes suffered “major technical difficulties”.
On the opening Friday night of the festival, Lana Del Rey was joined by Billie Eilish and Jon Batiste during her rapturously received and beautifully staged headline performance.
Earlier in the day there had been performances from rising Mexican singer Peso Pluma, rapper Lil Uzi Vert, French dance act Justice and a history-making set from K-pop boyband Ateez. Shakira made a surprise appearance during DJ Bizarrap’s set, and announced a new world tour while she was there.
Doja Cat is set to close the festival tonight. The second weekend will take place from Friday 19 April to Sunday 21 April, with the same artists performing at both events.
Asides from its reputation for drawing influencers, many celebrities have been known to attend the event over the years, with Vanessa Hudgens being unofficially dubbed the Queen of Coachella. This year, even power couple Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce have made the trip out to the desert - clearly not put off by reports of ridiculous traffic jams and overpriced burritos.
The festival also includes some must-see art installations, food and drink, and immersive experiences for ticket holders, which you can read about here.
Suki Waterhouse covers Oasis
One for the Britpop fans: Suki Waterhouse delivered this impressive cover of the 1996 Oasis classic “Don’t Look Back In Anger” earlier tonight:
Lana reprises her Sublime cover
Lana Del Rey covered Cali reggae trailblazers Sublime’s “Doin’ Time” on her 2019 album Norman F***ing Rockwell, and it’s fitting that she perform the song live for the first time since that year tonight. Tomorrow, Sublime (with the late Brad Nowell’s son Jakob taking up the mantle) will play this same stage.
Lana’s special guest is... Jon Batiste
There had been rumours about Billie Eilish and Taylor Swift, but the first special guest to appear onstage with Lana Del Rey is pianist and composer Jon Batiste. The pair collaborated on “Candy Necklace” from Del Rey’s 2023 album Did You Know That There's a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd andthey perform the slow, seductive ballad together, largely with Del Rey sat atop Batiste’s piano.
Here’s Billie!
The rumours were true! Billie Eilish is here to duet with Lana on (Eilish’s) “Ocean Eyes” and (Del Rey’s) “Video Games”.
As Del Rey quickly points out, and screams from the crowd confirm: “She doesn’t need an introduction.” Eilish, of course, became the youngest headliner in Coachella history when she played here two years ago.
That’s a wrap for Friday!
That’s all for Friday night at Coachella! We’ve had a packed day, with headliner Lana Del Rey capping it all with a wonderful, career-spanning set, a crowd-pleasing cameo from Billie Eilish and a stylish exit the same way she came in - on the back of a motorcycle.
Join us back here tomorrow where we’ll be covering the headline set from Tyler, the Creator, seeing how Britpop survivors Blur go down with an American audience in 2024 and - a personal favourite - looking forward to seeing what the reformed No Doubt have to offer.
There’ll be much more to talk about tomorrow too, but until then we’re off to celebrate with shots just like our new favourite boyband Ateez. Cheers!
The best and worst dressed celebrities and influencers
Good morning and welcome to The Independent’s coverage of Saturday at Coachella 2024. We’re still recovering from Lana Del Rey’s epic headline performance last night, so here’s something fun to get us started today: my colleague Brittany Miller has rounded up all the best (and worst) dressed celebs and influencers from this year’s festival so far. Check out the full gallery here:
Coachella 2024: Best and worst dressed celebrities and influencers at the festival
The first weekend of Coachella 2024 started yesterday and runs until Sunday
Maya Jama drinks pink gin and parties with friends at Coachella
Speaking of celebrities, Love Island presenter Maya Jama looked to be having the time of her life at the festival in a series of Instagram stories she posted on Friday. Here’s a peek:
Don’t forget the sunscreen!
If you’re heading in to the Coachella site today, my colleague Olivia Hebert has rounded up some essential survival tips.
“As someone who has been there and done that, there are certain must-haves and things to avoid that I certainly would’ve benefited from knowing as a first-timer and not-so-seasoned festival attendee,” she writes. “First and foremost, whatever you’re wearing truly doesn’t matter. You will most likely give up on looking somewhat chic by day three, and may resort to wearing an ill-fitting band tee and cutoffs and call it a day.”
Read the full story here:
Surplus of sunscreen and comfy shoes: Here’s how to survive Coachella 2024
For eager festival-goers, here’s a guide on how to survive Coachella 2024
Happy No Doubt day!
Today’s the day Gwen Stefani and the rest of Californian punks No Doubt reform nearly a decade after they last played together.
Start getting excited with this exploration of the writing of one of their greatest hits, “Don’t Speak”:
Story of the song: 'Don't Speak', No Doubt, 1996
When Gwen Stefani walked into the Anaheim house she shared with her brother and bandmates, she heard Eric Stefani playing a tender piano figure that stopped her in her tracks. The pair immediately set about writing the song that would become "Don't Speak". Gwen gushed out some lyrics: "I can see it all in an eye blink/ I know everything about how you are/ I can understand exactly how you think/ Between you and me, it's not very far." The verses celebrated Gwen's long-standing relationship with her bassist, Tony Kanal. It was a pretty, if lyrically unexceptional, love song; unusual for a band more noted for an energetic ska-pop. Melodically, though, it sounded like a hit. "The vibes were there, the chorus was almost exactly perfect," said the band's guitarist, Tom Dumont.
Will it be Vampire Weekend’s weekend?
There’s much excitement for Vampire Weekend’s set at the Outdoor Theatre later this afternoon. The band are fresh from launching their latest album during the recent eclipse, and The Independent’s Helen Brown liked what she heard. Read her four-star review of an album which features frontman Ezra Koenig musing on “conflict, life and art”:
Vampire Weekend’s new album journeys through disaster but ends on hope – review
Ezra Koenig gets the original band back together for a record that incorporates the best of their original sound with musings on conflict, life and art
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