The 2025 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival kicked off in Indio, California, with scorching heat and explosive performances. Lady Gaga, Missy Elliott, and a stellar lineup set the tone for a genre-spanning weekend.
The California desert was buzzing Friday as the premier music festival Coachella got underway, with Lady Gaga and Missy Elliott set to helm day one's main stage.
Thousands of music fans traversed the sprawling grounds whipping paper fans and wielding parasols, as temperatures cracked the 100-degree Fahrenheit mark (37.8 degrees Celsius).
That made sunscreen dispensers and water refill stations some of the hottest destinations on the poorly shaded grounds as the afternoon sun blazed and camping attendees popped their tents.
The desert weekend marks the unofficial start of music festival season, which Lady Gaga is priming to kick off with a bang. Fresh off the release of her latest album Mayhem, the pop superstar has vowed "a massive night of chaos."
"Can't wait to hear you all sing along and dance dance DANCE till we drop," she posted when the lineup was announced.
Other Friday features include Australian electropop band Parcels, and a rare stateside appearance from British punk ravers The Prodigy.
South African star Tyla brought out a massive crowd as she gyrated alongside her troupe of dancers and a giant tiger statue on Friday, one year after an injury forced her to pull out of the 2024 festival.
And Blackpink’s Lisa — fresh off a role in HBO's hit show White Lotus — took the stage solo Friday night, having twice performed at Coachella with her bandmates.
Later in the weekend, Charli XCX is expected to turn the grounds her signature "brat" green, after a blockbuster year that saw her latest album propel her to new echelons of fame.
Travis Scott will play a special guest slot following Green Day's Saturday set, years after the hip-hop performer was slated to headline the 2020 festival, which was ultimately scrapped due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rock revival
Legendary all-women rock band The Go-Go's donned glittering, metallic get-ups as they reunited at Coachella, bringing rock back to the desert as they performed their hits including Vacation and We Got the Beat.
They also invited Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong onstage for a rendition of Head Over Heels.
And pop star of the moment Benson Boone took the main stage ahead of the much-touted performances by Elliott and Gaga.
The exuberant costumed dancers of the kids’ television musical show Yo Gabba Gabba! made starring appearances on the grounds Friday afternoon, delighting revelers young and old who scrambled to take selfies with the characters.
The show, first released in 2007, has a cult following and is slated to perform a full set on Saturday, a performance that promises to feature a number of celebrity guest stars.
"So many 'kids' attending the festival grew up watching the show," said show co-creator Christian Jacobs in a backstage interview with AFP. "That's exciting."
Fresh off a Grammy win, Venezuelan band Rawayana is also primed to play a top slot on Saturday.
And celebrity conductor Gustavo Dudamel notably will lead the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a sunset concert.
There have been orchestral performances at Coachella before — film composers Danny Elfman and Hans Zimmer were showcased over the past decade — but Saturday’s performance will be the first time a major professional orchestra has played there.
Hip-hop superstar Megan Thee Stallion will helm the main stage Sunday ahead of Post Malone’s headlining performance, with Ty Dolla $ign also set to perform.
Also on Sunday, French duo Polo & Pan will bring their tropicalia-infused electro set back to the Coachella Valley.
German electronic pioneers Kraftwerk are another top-billed draw.
And while Coachella has leaned decidedly pop over the past decade, the 2025 edition is getting back to the festival’s rock roots.
Along with The Go-Go's and Green Day, rock acts including the original Misfits, Jimmy Eat World, and cult punk legends the Circle Jerks are slated to play.
"In this world gone sideways we know one thing for certain — rock 'n' roll is forever, and its spirit is needed now more than ever," said Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong earlier this year in Billboard.
Coachella 2025 takes place on April 11–13 and 18–20.
By Maggy DONALDSON / AFP
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