5 things you might have missed from Coachella weekend 1

They called it the influencer festival. Many had written it off in the music scene, yet the first weekend of Coachella 2025 – just wrapped up – proved everyone wrong. Despite the lineup being dubbed on social media as “the worst of all time”, the numbers speak for themselves: over 125,000 people per day filled the Empire Polo Club, while millions tuned in from around the world to watch the event live on YouTube. The ENHYPEN performance alone exceeded 400,000 concurrent viewers, confirming the festival’s massive digital impact. Other highly anticipated sets, like Lady Gaga’s, saw similar peaks, helping make Coachella one of the most-watched music events of the year, even in streaming. On the style front, there was a clear resurrection of the boho-chic aesthetic that made the festival iconic, perfectly aligned with the trends of recent seasons – although regulars like Kendall and Kylie Jenner opted for more minimal looks, in full recession-core mood. If the eight-hour time difference kept you from following everything live, here are five things you missed during Coachella’s first weekend.

Lorde Summer 2025

After a mass hysteria triggered by a 15-second snippet posted last Thursday on TikTok, Lorde returned to the Coachella stage, this time as a surprise guest of Charli XCX. During their duet on the remix of “Girl, So Confusing”, the British singer passed the crown of summer queen (considering last year’s global success of the “brat summer”) to the New Zealand singer-songwriter, hinting at the imminent release of Lorde’s fourth album. Needless to say, fans – both online and on-site – went absolutely wild at the news.

Gaga vs Gaga

A battle between past, present, and future: that was “GagaChella”. The American artist took to the main stage for the second time as headliner and basically rewrote the festival’s history with an almost two-hour set. Gaga’s performance spanned the eras that made her one of the undisputed queens of pop, featuring hits like “Born This Way” and “Alejandro”. Her stylistic choices aligned with the “old Gagas”: it was during the performance of “Poker Face” that she battled her past self in a chess match, a subtle ode to designer Alexander McQueen and his SS2005 runway show.

Bernie Sanders introduces Clairo

Just a few hours after wrapping up his biggest rally in Los Angeles, Senator and former Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders took the stage at the Outdoor Theater to address a massive crowd of young people about the issues of the current U.S. government – all before introducing Clairo’s performance. In his speech, Sanders reminded the audience that the power to change the country’s fate lies in the hands of Gen Z, urging them to mobilize and oppose the Trump administration. After his speech, Clairo took over with one of the weekend’s best and most viral performances.

Cactus Jack Takeover (ft. Vetements)

Although no one knew where or when Travis Scott would perform until last week, the rapper and designer pulled off a full-on takeover of the Empire Polo Club, thanks in part to his brand Cactus Jack. In addition to bringing a mini soccer stadium in collaboration with Nike and dropping a new sneaker dedicated to the festival, Scott partnered with Vetements to set up a free tattoo parlor in the middle of the desert – in case visitors felt like commemorating this edition of the festival in an indelible way.

Green Day’s Political Statement

Headliners on the second day and one of the most famous pop-punk bands in history, Green Day, used their time on the Main Stage not only to revisit the last 30 years of their career but also to deliver a strong political message. During their performance of “Jesus of Suburbia”, Billie Joe Armstrong changed the lyrics to express the band’s support for the Palestinian cause, referring to the ongoing genocide in Palestine. Similarly, during their hit “American Idiot”, the band swapped the line “don’t want to be part of the redneck agenda” with “MAGA agenda”, highlighting their opposition to the current U.S. administration. It seems like punk truly never dies.