Coachella Weekend One roundup
Critics and outlets are framing Coachella’s first weekend as an anniversary‑scale event with wide depth beyond the headliners, naming more than a dozen standout moments across genres. (latimes.com) Rolling Stone and Variety highlighted milestones such as the festival’s notable firsts and praised non‑headliner sets from artists like Dijon, Laufey and FKA twigs. ( ) Photogalleries and mainstream roundups also captured large crowd moments and surprise stage appearances across Day 3. (desertsun.com)
Coachella’s first weekend ended with critics treating the festival’s 25th year less like a headliner showcase and more like a depth chart. (coachella.com; rollingstone.com) The festival’s first weekend ran April 10 to 12 at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, with Weekend Two scheduled for April 17 to 19. Sabrina Carpenter, Justin Bieber and Karol G led this year’s top lineups. (coachella.com; jambase.com) Rolling Stone counted 15 standout moments from Weekend One, while the Los Angeles Times published a 21-moment roundup tied to the festival’s 25th anniversary. Variety built its own list around non-headliner sets, naming Dijon, Laufey, FKA twigs and Geese among the weekend’s strongest performances. (rollingstone.com; latimes.com; variety.com) Karol G’s Sunday set landed as one of the weekend’s clearest milestones: Rolling Stone and Yahoo both described it as the first Coachella headlining performance by a Latina artist. The Los Angeles Times also framed Day 3 around that history-making booking. (rollingstone.com; yahoo.com; latimes.com) Another widely cited first came from BINI, which Rolling Stone said became the first Filipino group to play the festival. That detail fit the broader Weekend One coverage, which kept returning to Coachella’s scale and its mix of pop, Latin music, rock, electronic music and jazz across the main stages. (rollingstone.com; billboard.com) The strongest reviews were not limited to the biggest names. Variety said Dijon, Laufey, FKA twigs and Geese delivered some of the best sets outside the headliners, and Consequence separately called FKA twigs’ Sunday performance one of the festival’s most memorable. (variety.com; consequence.net) Rolling Stone’s individual dispatches pulled out other moments that fed the weekend narrative, including David Byrne’s Saturday set, Nine Inch Noize’s first full performance, and Clipse’s set with Travis Barker. Those reports helped explain why the post-weekend conversation spread well beyond the three marquee names. (rollingstone.com; rollingstone.com; rollingstone.com) Mainstream photo roundups and live blogs also leaned hard on crowd size and surprise appearances. The Desert Sun’s Day 3 gallery highlighted Justin Bieber, Sabrina Carpenter and Karol G, while Forbes and Yahoo tracked a long list of guest spots across the weekend. (desertsun.com; forbes.com; yahoo.com) By Monday, the shape of Weekend One was clear: Coachella still had its stadium-size headliners, but the reviews that stuck were the ones counting moments, firsts and undercard sets. Weekend Two starts April 17 with the same lineup and a fresh chance to test which of those performances becomes the festival’s lasting image. (rollingstone.com; variety.com; coachella.com)
