Jack White surprise set
Jack White wasn’t on the poster two weeks ago but showed up at Coachella and delivered a set that critics are already calling one of the year’s best, with a published playlist including “That’s How I’m Feeling,” “Fell in Love With a Girl,” and “Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground.” (consequence.net) The late addition and the specific song choices made his appearance a standout in several roundups. (consequence.net)
Jack White turned a last-minute Coachella booking into one of Weekend 1’s most talked-about rock sets on Saturday, April 11, in Indio, California. (consequence.net) Coachella added White to its 2026 lineup days before the festival, and he played a 45-minute Mojave Tent set at 3:00 p.m. Pacific time during the first weekend, which ran April 10 to April 12. (consequence.net) (coachella.com) Setlist records show he opened with “That’s How I’m Feeling” and also played “Fell in Love With a Girl,” “Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground,” “Icky Thump,” “Steady, as She Goes,” and “Seven Nation Army.” (setlist.fm) The timing mattered because Coachella’s early-afternoon Mojave slot has become a place for unannounced or late-added acts, and Consequence noted that Weezer, blink-182, and Arcade Fire had used the same lane in recent years. (consequence.net) White’s set also landed on a Saturday lineup that included The Strokes, Interpol, David Byrne, Alex G, Blondshell, and Nine Inch Noize, putting a veteran garage-rock performer into a day built to attract rock fans. (consequence.net) Reviewers quickly singled it out. Consequence wrote that White “made the most of his allotted 45-minute set,” while The Orange County Register called it a likely rock-and-roll highlight of the first weekend. (consequence.net) (ocregister.com) The song choices helped explain the reaction: the set mixed solo material with White Stripes songs and a Raconteurs track, giving festivalgoers a short catalog-spanning show instead of a tour-style deep dive. (setlist.fm) Coachella is also streaming performances across seven stages on YouTube for both weekends, which gives surprise bookings a wider audience than the tent can hold in person. (coachella.com) Weekend 2 runs April 17 to April 19, and White’s first-weekend appearance already did what surprise Coachella sets are supposed to do: change the conversation around the day’s schedule. (coachella.com)
