The Coachella music festival is here. The small town of Indio, Calif., was filled last weekend with people coming to enjoy good music. The event did not disappoint. Lana del Rey, Bizarrap and the long-awaited reunion of No Doubt were the headliners last weekend and will do the same next weekend.
However, these artists were not the ones who accumulated the most headlines during the festival. That was done by personalities such as Grimes, Will Smith and Taylor Swift. Only one of them was actually performing at Coachella, and she did not make headlines for the right reason. Grimes had to face the one thing that no artist wants to suffer during Coachella: technical difficulties in the middle of her performance.
Grimes #Coachella malfunctions pic.twitter.com/nrKZqgm65F
— Nimrod Kamer (@nnimrodd) April 15, 2024
This left a moment that the artist will likely never forget. She apologized onstage before thousands of fans, all baffled at how she was unable to solve technical failures and how she appeared frazzled in the face of the errors. This, in turn, led the artist to apologize online and ensure that these mistakes would not happen again in her next show, which will take place this upcoming Saturday:
I want to apologize for the technical issues with the show tonight. I wanted to come back rly strong and usually I always handle every aspect of my show myself - to save time this was one of the first times I've outsourced essential things like rekordbox bpm's and letting…
— 𝖦𝗋𝗂𝗆𝖾𝗌 ⏳ (@Grimezsz) April 14, 2024
Blur gets angry with Coachella attendees
Damon Albarn, the well-known singer of the musical group Blur, left the first weekend of the music festival with a sour taste in his mouth. The artist starred in a peculiar moment when, in an effort to encourage the audience, he asked them to sing along to some of their best-known songs, such as "Girls & Boys," "Song 2" and "The Ballad of Darren."
He never suspected that festival attendees would not respond. But that's how it was. This angered the artist who, during his performance, even expressed his discontent with the following phrase: "You're never seeing us again, so you might as well f***ing sing it, you know what I'm saying?" This reaction provoked a multitude of comments on social media about the artist who, once again, will take the stage this weekend:
this coachella crowd doesn’t deserve blur pic.twitter.com/xBpys9qnkP
— music struggles & wins (@musicstruggles1) April 15, 2024
Will Smith takes the stage at Coachella with J Balvin
Coachella not only left bittersweet moments. Attendees were also able to enjoy surprise appearances from celebrities such as Will Smith. The actor, known, among others, for his role in "Men in Black," took the stage of the music festival to accompany the artist J Balvin. Will Smith dressed in his full suit and the sunglasses he used in the movie, accompanied Balvin while they both performed the title song from the 1997 film.
Will Smith performing Men In Black at Coachella with J Balvin. pic.twitter.com/TLbzdODZNx
— Complex Pop Culture (@ComplexPop) April 15, 2024
The performance was brief and ended with an extraterrestrial-themed set, in which J Balvin was dragged by dancers dressed, like Smith, in black, while the actor took out a "Neuralyzer," the famous device through which his character erased the memories of those who saw UFOs in the film.
Olivia Rodrigo performs with No Doubt
One of the most anticipated moments of the musical event was, without a doubt, the reunion of No Doubt. The band, which broke up in 2004, reunited so that its singer, Gwen Stefani, could once again perform well-known songs such as "Don't Speak" accompanied by her old bandmates.
But the reunion also helped artist Olivia Rodrigo fulfill her dream. The singer took the stage to perform with one of her favorite bands Saturday, to the surprise of many festival attendees. They already knew that they could enjoy jams like "Sunday Morning" and "Spiderwebs," but what they did not expect was also to have the surprise performance of Rodrigo who came on stage while Gwen Stefani performed "Bathwater," the song that the band released in the 2000s, and she joined the show leaving a scene that few will be able to forget.
We need @nodoubt + @oliviarodrigo to tour together after this @coachella performance. EPIC 🔥
pic.twitter.com/7xYmhcqoeq— Audacy (@Audacy) April 15, 2024
Taylor Swift attends Coachella
Not all artists who attended Coachella did so with the intention of performing. An example of this was Taylor Swift. The singer, who is on break from "The Eras Tour," attended the event accompanied by her boyfriend, Travis Kelce. There, they both enjoyed the shows from artists like Bleaches and Ice Spice on Saturday, with images that have gone viral, such as that of Kelce lifting Swift up effortlessly:
🎥 I Travis Kelce lifted Taylor Swift up at #Coachella!
— Taylor Swift News (@DailyTSwiftNews) April 15, 2024
The couple was also seen accompanying the artist Sabrina Carpenter and actor Barry Keoghan, as well as enjoying her own song, "Karma," which was performed by Ice Spice at musical festival .
🚨| Taylor Swift enjoying Karma at #Coachella
— The Eras Tour (@tswifterastour) April 14, 2024
#TaylorSwift and #TravisKelce were seen with fellow power couples #JustinBieber and #HaileyBieber and #SabrinaCarpenter and #BarryKeoghan backstage at #IceSpice's #Coachella set! 🎤 https://t.co/ZevGnS9LHC pic.twitter.com/a02T8Z3NYu
— TMZ (@TMZ) April 15, 2024
