Is Coachella Losing Its Focus?

An Analysis of the Biggest Music Festival An Analysis of the Biggest Music Festival

Over the past two weekends, the biggest music festival of the year continued to bring the live chaos and surprises it is well-known for. Held in Indio, California, the annual Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival returned with some of the biggest names in music performing for over 120,000 fans. I was able to watch most of the performances on the YouTube livestream. Allow me to break down some of the highlights of this year’s festival.  

Lady Gaga was the Friday night headliner both weekends, which was highly anticipated since she hasn’t had a full solo show since the Chromatica Ball Tour in 2022. There are some things that you can always expect from a Gaga performance, including theatrics, good vocals and chaos, to which she certainly did not disappoint. Her gothic operatic entrance to “Bloody Mary” will undoubtedly go down as one of the most iconic Coachella moments of all time. Her sets and costumes were unique and reminiscent of the “Born This Way” era. She mostly played songs from her most recent album, “MAYHEM,” which was fun, but I think it would have been exciting to hear more of her old hits as well. Of course, she played classics like “Judas,” “Bad Romance” and “Shallow.” She put on such a good show both weekends that I am sure that her upcoming tour, The Mayhem Ball, will be even more exciting. Also playing on the Friday shows were Missy Elliott, Benson Boone and LISA, all of which I found fun. I think MARINA’s set was probably the best of Friday, other than Gaga.   

Both Saturday nights were headlined by rock band Green Day. They performed many of their hits, especially ones from their rock opera, “American Idiot.” The band used some of their most political songs from the early 2000s and applied them to the current political administration. Most notably in “American Idiot,” Billie Joe Armstrong sang, “I’m not a part of a MAGA agenda.” Charli xcx also performed Saturday night and stirred up some controversy when she attended a Coachella afterparty wearing a sash that read “Miss Should Be Headliner.” You know what? She’s right. Green Day is one of the best-selling and most talented rock groups and they put on a great show, but Charli changed the game for pop music in 2024. Her hit album “BRAT” garnered massive critical acclaim, awards, sold-out tours and influenced a presidential campaign. In my opinion, she totally deserved to be headliner as she’s really in her moment right now. Either way, both artists are amazing, and I enjoyed both of their shows. Charli bringing out Lorde, Billie Eilish, Troye Sivan and Addison Rae made her shows all the more exciting. Indie pop singer Clairo also made headlines when she had Vermont senator Bernie Sanders introduce her to the crowd at the beginning of her show. Travis Scott returned to the Coachella stage on Saturday night with an exhilarating set and announced new music on the way.   

However, there has been a shift in opinions on Coachella in recent years. With insanely high prices and the infiltration of social media influencers, many people have felt that it has become more of a trend than a celebration of music. According to Coachella’s website, general admission tickets typically cost around $700 for one weekend. These tickets do not include the extremely high prices of nearby hotels at this time of year, transportation or food options. VIP passes look more toward $1,500 just for tickets. Many brand partnerships will pay for influencers to go and promote their products, which has become a huge business opportunity for brand ambassadors. The money and attention that influencers get from attending Coachella has seemed to shift the focus from the artists to them in recent years. All this begs the question: is it even worth it anymore? Ultimately, time will tell. However, I think Coachella has the opportunity to make the festival focus on the music that most want to get out of their experience.