Harry Styles performs at Coachella and surprises fan with Shania Twain cameo
After a two-year absence, Coachella has made its highly anticipated return.
Located in Indio, California, the desert festival has gained popularity over the years for its glitzy Instagram-worthy dress code and major celebrity guest sightings.
The festival leads the pack when it comes to innovative lineups. Two of its top-billed artists (Harry Styles and Billie Eilish) are under 30, while further down the carefully curated bill you’ll find some of the buzziest new acts around – Koffee, Amyl and the Sniffers, Rina Sawayama – mingling with old school staples such as Spiritualized and The Avalanches.
Find all the updates from this year’s festival below
Our full review of Megan Thee Stallion’s set from earlier, and it was something of a mixed bag for Leonie Cooper…
Chock-full of sex positivity and oh, so much twerking, the set was dulled a little by an overlong costume change and a complete lack of special guests.
Read the full write-up here…
Louis Chilton17 April 2022 12:40
Leonie Cooper presents a rundown of the biggest talking points from Coachella day two.
We’ve had guest appearances, Billie-mania and even a showing for a classic TV cartoon theme.
Read all about it below…
Louis Chilton17 April 2022 12:10
As part of Kevin EG Perry’s Billie Eilish review, which will be shared here as soon as it’s live, he reflects on the singer-songwriter’s first Coachella outing, back when she was just 17.
“It was a set was blighted by technical mishaps: she arrived onstage over half an hour late, forgot some of the words to ‘All the Good Girls Go to Hell’ and, worst of all, brought out special guest Vince Staples for ‘&Burn’, only for his microphone to entirely fail to work and leave him rapping in silence.
“Still, she had fond memories of that weekend too. After all, it was backstage here in Indio that Eilish met her teen idol Justin Bieber. In footage captured for RJ Cutler’s 2021 documentary Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry, the pair meet and embrace for the first time.
“Eilish had grown up worshipping the Canadian singer, who is eight years her senior, and the moment marked a sort of emotional crossing of the Rubicon for Eilish as she was quite literally welcomed into the world of pop superstardom by the icon she’d deified.”
Louis Chilton17 April 2022 11:44
We’ll have our full review of Eilish’s set going up very shortly.
In the meantime, people have been sharing their thoughts on social media.
The 20-year-old became the youngest person ever to headline Coachella tonight. The festival’s official account summed it up pretty nicely: “Unbillievable”
Louis Chilton17 April 2022 11:25
Damon Albarn’s guest spot during Billie Eilish’s set also prompted bemused reactions from some fans, with many writing on Twitter that they weren’t sure who he was.
Albarn (whose core demographic, it has to be said, skews a good bit older than Eilish’s) was mistaken for Eilish’s dad, as well as Elton John.
Not sure he’ll neccesarily be too flattered by that.
Read the full story below…
Louis Chilton17 April 2022 10:40
Fans of Megan Thee Stallion were left somewhat confused during her Saturday set, after the singer appeared to vanish mid-way through her set.
In what was believed to be a particularly difficult costume change, the singer walked off and took minutes to come back on, prompting some viewers to question whether she had “bailed”.
Louis Chilton17 April 2022 10:10
Billie Eilish and Gorillaz’s Damon Albarn perform ‘Feel Good Inc’
Damon Albarn wanders onstage to join Billie Eilish who is midway through “Getting Older”.
The 20-year-old later introduces him afterwards as Gorrillaz’s Damon Albarn who “changed her life” and is “literally a genius”, before they team up for a performance of “Feel Good Inc”.
Kevin E G Perry17 April 2022 09:00
Watch: Billie Eilish joined by Khalid as duo perform 2018 hit ‘Lovely’
Billie Eilish was joined by Khalid as the duo recreated the magic of their 2018 hit “Lovely” during Eilish’s history-making set at Coachella.
Fans on social media have shared snippets from Eilish and Khalid’s performance, describing it as “iconic”.
Maanya Sachdeva17 April 2022 08:30
Danny Elfman brings Spider-Man, Batman and The Simpsons to Coachella – review
And now, time for something completely different: composer Danny Elfman is by some margin the oldest artist performing at this year’s youth-focused Coachella. But on the basis of his eclectic show on the Outdoor Theatre stage late on Saturday night (16 April), his age is the least unusual thing about him.
For a start, there can be few 68-year-old composers around who would choose to perform topless so as best to show off a heavily tattooed torso. More pertinently, there are few composers of any age who could make a full orchestra sound like a garage punk band, as Elfman often does throughout his hour-long set.
“Hello Coachella,” he says, not long after playing deranged 2021 single “Insects” and then a section of his orchestral score from 2002’s Spider-Man. “My name’s Danny Elfman, and I’ve got a strange little show for you.” He’s not kidding.
Read Kevin E G Perry’s four-star review of Elfman’s first Coachella performance here:
Maanya Sachdeva17 April 2022 08:00
Coachella bids rowdy farewell to innovative boy band Brockhampton – review
After almost a decade of boundary shifting and rule breaking, the most innovative boy band of the 21st century have decided to call it a day.
Taking over the huge aircraft hangar that is the Sahara stage at Coachella music festival on Saturday (16 April), sprawling Texan collective Brockhampton have decided to hang up their bucket hats for good. Well, at least that was what fans were told in January of this year, when they revealed via social media that they would be taking an “indefinite hiatus” following Coachella, while thanking fans for their support over the past eight years.
However, after tonight’s hour-long spectacular, video screens reveal that they’re not quite done yet. When the band leave the stage, a pre-recorded clip of de facto frontman Kevin Abstract talking to his bandmates flashes up. He has something to tell them he says. The screens then go dark, leaving nothing but the words: “Brockhampton. The Final Album. 2022.” If the crowd hadn’t been going bonkers enough during the set, this is enough to make them totally lose it.
Read The Independent’s US Entertainment Editor Leonie Cooper’s full review here.
Maanya Sachdeva17 April 2022 07:27
2022-04-17 11:40:16