Coachella 2024 day one round-up: Heat-seeking grunge, technical issues and Lana Del Rey
The Coachella festival has officially begun. The California sun is beaming down on the desert as music lovers, influencers, and fashionistas from across North America gather to see some of the biggest names in music. The festival is a staple of the American festival circuit, and although 2024 marks the first year that it hasn’t sold out in some time, that hasn’t stopped an exciting range of artists from coming out and delivering stellar sets.
As people queued to enter the festival, they could buy merchandise and essentials, listen to some tone-setting DJ sets and even get tattoos marking the occasion. The most notable thing, it seems, was the heat, which led to a lot of people looking for shade before the event had even started.
One of the best stages of the day has to be the DoLab Stage. It has been a staple of the festival for years now and promised surprise sets throughout the weekend. Despite being an online spectacle and a live experience, it seems the festival wants to keep this element of surprise as pure as possible, as the DoLab stage is one of the few that isn’t available on the live stream. Some of the best sets of day one included appearances from Sofi Tukker and DJ Pee Wee (who, it turns out, is none other than Anderson Paak).
People had to try to navigate several clashes throughout the day. For instance, contrasting performers but equally as popular, punters had to choose whether to see modern sensation Sabrina Carpenter or a pioneer of the UK grime scene, Skepta. While on stage, Carpenter referred to all the other amazing artists she shared the stage with over the weekend, including one in particular who she said she was most excited about: the Friday headliner.
“This has been a dream of mine for a very long time… there’s so many iconic artists that have been on this stage and are playing on this stage tonight,” she said, “I’m so excited to see, big fan of Lana, who’s going to see Lana later?” Carpenter’s question was met with roars from a crowd eagerly awaiting Lana Del Rey’s headline set, to which Carpenter replied, “Yeah, I’ll be right there.”
Day one was packed with other memorable highlights that are worth talking about.
Cimafunk kicked off the festival with a healthy serving of Afro-Cuban get-down
Being one of the first performers at a festival is likely one of two things for an artist: incredibly exciting or horribly nerve-wracking. If Afro-Cuban funk performer Cimafunk felt nervous, it certainly didn’t show in his performance. For a festival that gets criticised for its commercialised approach to organisation and being a networking hub for influencers, Cimafunk delivered a performance that was all about the music.
With his Spanish set, Cimafunk got the entire desert shaking. People were still unpacking their tents and picking their outfits for the day when he began, but those in attendance had their festival started in the most iconic way possible. By the end of his set, people were ready to party.
Narrow Head converts shade seekers into fans
A lot of people found themselves in the Sonora Tent for Narrow Head’s set as they were looking for somewhere to hide from the heat; however, by the end of their 35-minute performance, all in attendance were left in awe, converted into fans as the grunge sound of Narrow Head was hard to ignore. A representation of the music the festival was initially famed for, Narrow Head delivered a helping of metal screams, distorted guitars and shoegaze-esque wall of sound.
As their set progressed, those who had entered the tent looking to hide from the shade were instead joining mosh pits and stage diving. This was the band’s debut Coachella set, but they have no doubt left a significant enough impact to get invited back in the future.
Tech issues plague stages
The only thing more consistent than the heat on day one were technical issues. The Japanese House left the stage during their set, refusing to play until the technical problems were fixed. “You know what, we’re going to pretend this never happened,” they said, “We’re going off stage, get this fixed, and come back on.” She eventually came back on and delivered beautiful renditions of ‘Something Has To Change’ and ‘Sad To Breathe’.
She wasn’t the only one facing technical issues, though. Jazz outfit Kokoroko had their set delayed, as did Late Night Drive Home, who had to do their first song without a microphone. Even Sabrina Carpenter wasn’t immune to the failings of Coachella computing, as she had problems working the pedals of her piano.
Lana Del Rey is joined by Billie Eilish for headline set
Day one headliner Lana Del Rey didn’t disappoint with her set. With a voice as beautifully fragile as the subject matters she writes about, despite playing in front of however many tens of thousands of people, the whole performance seemed incredibly intimate. The crowd were in fine voice, filling in the blanks for the singer when they occurred, as her (occasionally pitchy but for the most part wonderful) vocals travelled across the sand.
It was a bizarre performance, though. She was joined by some special guests, who weren’t welcomed onto the stage; rather, they just walked on as if Del Rey herself wasn’t expecting them. When Jon Batiste came on, she said, “Oh my goodness, the man himself, let me get a spotlight on this man,” before they stood on stage and spoke to one another without mics for about 30 seconds. The same happened with Billie Eilish, who walked on to the eruption of the crowd before Lana said, “She doesn’t need an introduction.” The two performed beautiful renditions of ‘Ocean Eyes’ and ‘Video Games’.
Finally, the set ended with Del Rey initially going off-stage and having a hologram of herself perform before coming back on for one last hurrah. The set ended with a big band playing an upbeat jazz number and Lana being escorted through the crowd on a motorbike. Bring on day two.
Never Miss A Beat
The Far Out Music Newsletter
All the latest music news from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.