Headliners Harry Styles and Billie Eilish take the stage.

Coachella 2022: A review

April 30, 2022

Coachella. The infamous three-day annual music festival that takes place in Indio, California.
Coachella is well known for its hit-after-hit artist lineup, the cool and eccentric outfits, and all the famous celebrities that attend. (Yes, I did happen to breathe the same air as Timothée Chalamet, Jaden Smith, and Kylie & Kendall Jenner.)
Over spring break, I had the wonderful opportunity to go to Coachella for the first time with a couple of my family members, and I wanted to give a quick overview of my experience.

What I wore over a three-day period. (Photo Credit: Serene Luces & Nia Delacruz ’24)

To start, you just can’t show up to Coachella underdressed. It was stressful, but I had a lot of fun shopping for three different Coachella-worthy outfits. (Shoutout to H&M, Urban Outfitters, Forever 21, Plato’s Closet, and Target for providing me with my Coachella wardrobe.)
As I walked into Coachella, I was able to see the legendary ferris wheel, the dog-shaped plants, and the rainbow spiral cylinder… thing. And almost everyone had super cool outfits on.
There were also so many artist performances that I was able to enjoy. Here’s a list of artists that I was able to watch. (Stick with me.)

City Girls, NIKI, Phoebe Bridgers, Daniel Caesar (who brought Justin Bieber), Harry Styles (who brought Shania Twain), Conan Gray, Japanese Breakfast, girl in red, Molchat Doma, Megan Thee Stallion, Billie Eilish (who brought Khalid, Finneas, and Damon Albarn from the Gorillaz), Surf Curse, Hayden James, beabadoobee, Finneas (who brought Lizzy McAlpine), Crumb, Eyedress, Karol G (who brought Becky G), and Doja Cat.
It’s hard to choose, but my favorite performances were probably by Phoebe Bridgers, Daniel Caesar, Harry Styles, girl in red, Billie Eilish, and Eyedress.

Phoebe Bridgers in all her glory. (Photo Credit: Trinity Delacruz)

It was already dark out when we watched Phoebe Bridgers. We sat on a blanket further away from the stage. I remember looking up at the light-polluted starless sky while a soft breeze passed through and Phoebe was singing “Motion Sickness” on stage. She has such a nice voice. The entire setting was so calm and serene.

Daniel Caesar? Unreal. (Photo Credit: Trinity Delacruz)

Daniel Caesar had an amazing song lineup, and he did an amazing job singing his best and most popular hits. “Get You,” “Best Part,” and “Japanese Denim” were amongst those songs. And he even pulled out Justin Bieber to sing their hit song, “Peaches.”

It goes without saying, but Harry Styles was amazing. Of course. 10/10 stage presence, 10/10 outfit, 10/10 performance. He KNOWS how to entertain. We also got to see one of his unreleased songs,  “Boyfriends.”

Girl in red was unforgettable. My sister, cousin, and I got front and center barricade for her concert, and she crowd-surfed over us. Definitely one of the top five experiences of my life.
Billie Eilish was excellent. She pulled out Khalid, her brother Finneas, and Gorillaz member Damon Albarn. Beyond the amazing set and impressive light show, as a person, Billie just seems really caring and down to earth.

I think the setting of Eyedress’s concert contributed to his entertaining performance. It was inside the dark Sonora Stage, and he made good use of the lights.
Senior Kate Curry also happened to go to Coachella for the first time. She said, “I absolutely loved going to Coachella! It was very overwhelming with how many people there were and how much dust was flying everywhere, but it was worth it! My favorite performers were Phoebe Bridgers, Billie Eilish, Madeon, Joji, and the Current Joys!”

The man himself, Harry Styles. (Photo Credit: Trinity Delacruz)

Gabriela Guzman ’22 came with her. She remarked, “I had a fantastic first time going… But I would definitely say to someone who hasn’t gone yet to get one of those water backpacks and to wear comfy shoes. One of my favorite parts was running around to catch different artists. I did that with Steve Lacy, Flume, and Brockhampton because they were on at the same time, but it was still pretty exciting. All of the headliners were definitely a highlight, especially Billie Eilish—she was amazing.”

Girl in red, one of my favorite performances to watch. (Photo Credit: Trinity Delacruz)

But beyond all the things that were incredible, here were a few things that… weren’t too incredible.
The nighttime? Cold. Plus, the second day was super windy. I probably should’ve brought a warmer jacket.
The dust? Dusty. We were in a desert, after all. As people walked out of Coachella like herds of cattle, they kicked up a ton of dust. I had to wear a face mask to prevent myself from breathing it in.
The food? At least three times more expensive than it should be. My cousin (who came with me to Coachella) and I were hungry, so we went to go buy a grilled cheese sandwich. But guess how much the grilled cheese sandwich cost? $16. And guess how much my cousin had in her bank account? $14.62. It was sad.
The walking? Pretty bad. There are six different stages to walk to, plus you need to walk pretty far if you aren’t camping or parking in the parking lot. On the first day, I wore my brand new platform Jadon docs that hadn’t been broken in yet. Fatal mistake. If you ever decide to go to Coachella, I advise you to 1) bring comfortable shoes and 2) maybe bring shoes that you’re fine with getting a little scuffed and beat up. I did neither of those things.

Also, you might have noticed that Doja Cat and the Weeknd (who performed with Swedish House Mafia) weren’t on my favorite performers list. But there is reasoning.

Eyedress, whose songs gained much popularity on TikTok, performing on the Sonora Stage. (Photo Credit: Trinity Delacruz)

This might be an unpopular opinion, but Doja Cat’s performance wasn’t super good. I love Doja Cat, but her performance had a number of problems for me. First, I don’t think she really did a good job of playing her best songs, so it was a bit difficult to get into. They also never put her up on the big screens, which was problematic because I am below the average height and could not see. And where I was standing, the crowd was super close and bunched up together, which was fairly uncomfy. I mean, the performance was great because Doja Cat is Doja Cat, but it just wasn’t showstopping.

And yes, the Weeknd headlined for the third day. But no, we did not watch. He makes good music, but I don’t really listen to him. Plus, he was playing from around 10:00 p.m. to midnight at the end of the last day of Coachella, and my sister, cousin, and I were about to collapse from exhaustion. Forgive us.
But Coachella overall?
Minus the cold & windy nights, overpriced food, excessive amounts of dust, and never-ending walking, it was amazing. There are very few places that I could see so many of my favorite artists within a three-day time period. I would definitely do it again.

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