Coachella playlist

If you are brave enough to face Twitter between the dates of April 13 through April 22, or truly any days after that, you have undoubtedly seen a lot about Coachella this year. Featuring a lot of big names like Beyonce, Portugal. The Man, SZA, The Weeknd, Cardi B, HAIM and Eminem, the setlist this year was packed full of insanely talented artists. Besides these big names, the setlist also included smaller names such as Japanese Breakfast, The Neighbourhood, Bleachers, BROCKHAMPTON, Sir Sly and LANY. What is surprising is many artists performing at Coachella this year have grown quickly into their stardom. Artists like Portugal. The Man and Cash Cash have even come through Champaign, sharing their music for many of the students at the University. Other artists like Fleet Foxes and Japanese Breakfast are coming to Pitchfork Music Festival this summer in Chicago.

Coachella is now a highly esteemed music festival, one that most people think brings in the best of the best. And who wouldn’t agree? This year Beyonce was featured! Reviewers even state that she gave one of the best performances of her career. What Coachella seems to offer in big names, they supplement with newer, up-and-coming artists.

Coachella is short for “Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival,” and every year, it is held in Indio, California at the Empire Polo Club. The festival was originally founded in 1999, but could be traced back to a Pearl Jam concert held at the Empire Polo Club in 1993. The festival did not start out as we know it to be today: three days long and filled with top artists. It first started out rocky, only one day a year and not even on a consistent annual basis. Over time, the festival grew and grew, adding on days, art exhibitions and permits for festival-goers to camp out overnight.

If you are following Coachella for its future pop culture references, here are a couple of highlights from the past three days of music. Beyonce gave arguably one of the best performances of her career. You can find the opener to her performance here. Cardi B gave an impressive performance, not to mention that she is pregnant and still twerking. During her performance, she brought out Chance The Rapper, YG, 21 Savage and Kehlani. The Weeknd reportedly cried during his set during “Call Out My Name.” Lastly, and probably most importantly in the meme world, The Yodeling Boy (real name: Mason Ramsey) from Harrisburg, Illinois, made a quick appearance to sing Hank William’s “Lovesick Blues.” If I attended Coachella and had to cry for only one set and one set alone, it would’ve been during this. I can’t handle how awesome that is. You can find his quick performance here.

Besides the music, Coachella is a huge venue for fashion and celebrity appearances (excluding those who performed). Concert goers included Justin Bieber, Bella Hadid, Ansel Elgot, Rihanna, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kourtney Kardashian, Kendall Jenner and Charli XCX.

If you didn’t attend Coachella (AKA No-chella, or “Couchella” since you are enjoying from the comfort of your own home), here is a playlist of some of the big name artists with their smaller name, rising star counterparts.

 

About Maggie Knoll

If Maggie isn't writing about music or talking about music, she's probably dead. Just kidding. In her spare time, Maggie collects albums, lint rolls dog hair off of all of her belongings or recreates the one SNL sketch where Kristen Wiig has tiny plastic doll hands. Don't worry, she can make it weirder!

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