Coachella: pop and nostalgia

Coachella’s first weekend turned into a pop-forward reunion show, with Justin Bieber, Sabrina Carpenter and Karol G anchoring a 25th-anniversary lineup built on star power and throwback appeal. (coachella.com) (coachellavalley.com) Weekend 1 ran April 10 to 12 in Indio, California, and Weekend 2 is scheduled for April 17 to 19 at the Empire Polo Club. The official lineup put Carpenter, Bieber and Karol G at the top, with the xx, the Strokes, Young Thug and BigBang further down the bill. (coachella.com) (coachellavalley.com) Coverage of the first weekend kept circling back to Bieber’s set and the guest-heavy format around it. Rolling Stone reported that Bieber brought out the Kid Laroi, Dijon, Tems and Wizkid, while Forbes counted 41 surprise guest appearances across the festival. (rollingstone.com) (forbes.com) The nostalgia angle came from both the lineup and the cameos. Rolling Stone highlighted Jack White’s surprise performance, David Byrne’s return, Billy Corgan joining Sombr, M.I.A. appearing with Major Lazer, and David Lee Roth, Joe Jonas and Vanessa Carlton joining Teddy Swims. (rollingstone.com) The festival’s pop tilt also sat next to a run of milestone bookings. Karol G became the first Latina artist to headline Coachella, and Rolling Stone said BINI became the first Filipino group to play the festival. (rollingstone.com) That mix helps explain why Weekend 1 felt split between spectacle and cultural firsts. The same official festival site that promoted seven stages of YouTube livestreams also pushed resale wristbands, exclusive American Express merchandise and hotel-and-pass bundles across the desert event. (coachella.com) (coachellavalley.com) Coachella has long sold itself as a place to discover new acts, but this year’s framing leaned hard on familiarity. The official 2026 announcement led with three arena-scale headliners and a roster of legacy names, while early reviews focused on celebrity cameos as much as full sets. (coachellavalley.com) (usatoday.com) (forbes.com) There were still plenty of critics pointing to non-headliners. Variety singled out Dijon, Laufey, FKA Twigs and Geese among the weekend’s strongest sets beyond the top line, a reminder that the smaller-font acts still shape the festival’s reputation. (variety.com) By the end of Weekend 1, Coachella looked like both a live festival and a pop culture delivery system: seven livestreamed stages, dozens of guest spots, sold-out passes and a crowd still chasing the next surprise. Weekend 2 starts April 17 with the same question hanging over the desert — who shows up next. (coachella.com) (forbes.com)