Doja Cat
Tyler, the Creator
No Doubt
"Doja squashed debate about whether she was a big enough star to headline Coachella — not by pandering to the audience, but just by embracing her signature strangeness. Think playful wigs, a mud pit, a fake Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton, dancing yetis and other elements presented with total dedication to the bit. This performance happened upon an industrial, multi-tiered stage rig built from scaffolding and multiple walkways jutting out into the crowd, a setup upon which Doja and her crew of dancers prowled."
"Throughout the rapper’s roughly 80-minute performance, he held the assembled crowd in the palm of his hand thanks to a potent combination of down-to-earth real talk, a liberal dousing of (typically racy) humor, passionate performance intensity, hard-charging rap flow, eye-catching visuals and a bevy of special surprise guests. For the performance, the main stage was transformed into a desert vista, centered by a broken-down trailer flanked by two rocky hillsides — one topped by a green tent and adjacent sign that ironically read, “NO CAMPING.” The projection behind the physical set was a thing of ever-changing beauty, hosting such arresting images as a desert rainstorm, a giant silvery moon against a purple sky, a fiery hellscape and a sci-fi tableau complete with flying saucer."
"As their electrifying set on Saturday night proved, No Doubt was Coachella 2024’s secret weapon... the group clobbered the audience with one of the most powerful sets in recent Coachella history, a joyous, hyper-energetic romp through their deceptively deep catalog, playing like a young band at the peak of its powers...It would have been an easy out for No Doubt to come across as one of the de facto nostalgia acts of the weekend... But it’s a testament to the chemistry they’ve had since their formation and subsequent mainstream ascent that they can still harness that same energy with conviction."
Photo credits:
Doja Cat by Greg Noire and Michael Drummond
Tyler, the Creator by Sébastien Nagy
No Doubt by John Shearer