Coachella 2023: Björk brightens sky with insane drone display
For her characteristically extravagant performance at Coachella on Sunday, April 16th, Icelandic singer Björk used more than 800 drones for a cutting-edge light show. When the audience wasn’t entranced by the idiosyncrasies of her vocals or her elegantly obscure headwear, these drones gave a spectacle in the sky to keep the eyes busy.
Björk was joined by an orchestra conducted by Bjarni Frímann in a set she promised would prioritise “simplicity”. Of course, when Björk says these words, it’s difficult to know what that could entail. If an orchestral backing, colourful garb and over 800 drones are “simplicity”, then I don’t know what complexity is.
Coachella was set to live-stream the set on its YouTube channel, but in a controversial decision, they pulled Björk and Frank Ocean’s performances from the schedule just a few hours before they took the stage.
During Björk’s set, which included classic hits like ‘Isobel’, ‘I’ve Seen It All’, ‘Hyperballad’ and ‘Joga’, the drones emitted green, blue and red lights that flashed with the beat of each song. As the show came to a close, Björk performed ‘Pluto’ for a dazzling encore finale.
“I wanted to share with you excitedly that i was joined with 864 drones tonight !!!” Björk wrote afterwards in an Instagram post. “The show tonight was orkestral which is me, all about simplicity [with an] orchestra playing a selection of my songs,” she continued. “So in honour of Coachella magnificent festival … I asked a drone company, Studio Drift, to join us.”
See Björk’s full post and watch audience-captured footage from the set below.
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