By Solé Scott
Editor-in-Chief
This year’s Coachella was by far their best festival and was reminiscent of the cultural impact that originally made the event iconic.
After several lackluster lineups, Coachella is finally living up to its name, as headliners Sabrina Carpenter, Justin Bieber and Karol G transformed the desert of Indio, California into an unforgettable experience.
Starting on April 10 and April 17, Carpenter recreated the essence of a Broadway production with her large and decorative sets. Both weekend one and two performances were amazing, as her live vocals and special guests energized the crowd.
Weekend two was a superior show compared to weekend one because she brought out the one and only Madonna to sing “Vogue” and “Like a Prayer,” which forced me to scream as if I was in the audience.
Bieber headlined April 11 and April 18, and at first, I was not a fan of the direction his performance took.
I was on a musical high from the previous night with Carpenter, and here came Bieber with a laptop, memes and a minimalist set. This set was lackluster like his Grammy performance earlier this year.
However, weekend two was an improvement, as his experimental performance seemed to be constructed better.
He left the stage to join his fans in the front row and sing multiple times with live vocals that were consistent with the previous weekend. The special guests, SZA, Big Sean and Billie Eilish, were fantastic.
To sum up Bieber’s performance this year as a headliner, it was for the fans that were with him when he first was on YouTube uploading covers. I am happy for the childhoods of so many being relived again.
Karol G was the first Latina to headline the festival in all its 26 years, which is an abomination. Her set was vibrant, energetic and emotionally powerful, proving exactly why she belonged in that headlining spot.
She was joined by Becky G for the song “MAMIII,” and both women were electric.
Their chemistry on stage made the performance even more powerful, creating one of the most unforgettable moments of the festival.
Other performers that I enjoyed were PinkPantheress, Tinashe, and Addison Rae.
Rae is someone I would completely skip over on my playlists, but I do have to say her set was engaging and reminiscent to the early days of Britney Spears.
The Strokes is a band that I knew of but never listened to their music.
They put on an impressive performance weekend two to close out their set.
During the song “OBLIVIUS,” footage of political crimes by the United States such as the deaths of Martin Luther King Jr., prime minister of Congo Patrice Lumumba, president of Bolivia Juan Torres and the description of Gaza University were displayed on the screens.
Overall, this Coachella was pleasurable, and I regret not buying a $1,000+ ticket, but at least I enjoyed the experience on my couch for free.
