We had been looking forward to this weekend for weeks; we were so excited we literally could not sleep. As we were circling some random dirt parking lots in Indio, we started to have some doubts. But all of that changed as soon as we made it past the security check point and found ourselves standing below the iconic Coachella Ferris Wheel. The air was full of electricity, music was already sweeping us away, and let us tell you the people watching was fantastic! No matter how many people you think will be there, how scandalously dressed you think they will be, or how many drugs will be passed, it is a million times more.
Friday night’s main performer, The Weeknd was everything you could imagine and more. Taking the stage at 11:30, the artist opened the show with “Starboy.” Shouting from the stage that Weekend Two was by far his favorite only made the crowd more pumped. He performed for over an hour and a half, blasting out everyone’s favorites, “The Hills,” “Can’t Feel My Face,” “Often” and his latest releases, “Call Out My Name,” “Wasted Times,” and “Hurt You.” We were still riding the high from his performance when we climbed into my car at 1:15 am, but by the time we made it home at 2:30 am we were definitely dead.
Waking up the next morning was a little rough, but we could not wait to get back and experience another day of amazing performances. Since we knew exactly where we were going (thank you pin drop), getting to the venue was way easier and parking was fast. Another aspect that made Day Two easier was knowing what essentials we needed to take: buy a locker – completely worth the $55 (plus $20 is returned when you turn in the key), bring a blanket to sit on for the calmer performances, a bandana to cover your face from the dust when walking from stage to stage, and a hat – that Southern California sun is no joke!
Making sure that you and the people you are going with all get to see who you want; this takes a bit of organization. If you want to see different performances, make sure that you have a meeting place and time set up. This will keep you from worrying and waiting in a sea of people.
Day Two was full of great shows, but we could not wait for Post Malone. Since he was on another stage across the Polo Grounds from the main stage, we thought for sure the crowd wouldn’t be too bad – we were wrong. The audience poured from under the Sahara stage’s huge ceiling out into the grass under the Ferris wheel. He started out with “Go Flex”, but quickly showed his variety of musical talent, switching over to “Fall Apart”. Post Malone was very considerate in making his performance only an hour, allowing the Beyhive to rush over to Coachella stage to get a decent spot for her performance.
Directly after Post, Beyoncé was set to perform. Scheduled for 11:05, she did not catwalk onto the stage until almost 11:30pm – but the Queen was worth the wait! She gives an incredible performance. The theme of her show was like a high school pep rally and she had the crowd going wild! It was definitely biggest show of the night, the weekend, and pretty much everyone’s life. Beyoncé brought out Jay-Z, Solange, and the rest of Destiny’s Child. She performed all the favorites with an entire drum line and band – “Single Ladies,” “Sorry,” “Crazy in Love,” “Drunk in Love,” the list goes on. Not going to lie, it was a little disappointing that she did not sing “Halo.” But nonetheless, she can’t disappoint and let me just say, thirty-six has never looked so good.
The downside of the night was the traffic getting home. The thought of getting up the next day and enduring yet another full day of Coachella was unbearable.
The plan was to get to the grounds by 3pm to catch San Holo who was performing before Russ so we could get close for the performance. Please note: if there is a band you want to get close to, showing up for the prior performance and moving up is the best way to make that happen.
Russ was amazing! Completely worth rallying and making it to Day Three! Most of the future Russ wives cried as he serenaded them with “Wife You Up” and no one can blame them. Not only was Russ great, but his crowd was too, singing his songs back to him, while he watched in amazement and gratitude for the loyal fans he has. Russ performed even after they told him his time was up – singing “What They Want” acapella while they tore down the stage for the next group.
Although Cardi B is pregnant, she did not let that get in her way from performing and dancing her heart out. Cardi B is such a great performer and she looked stunning in her white jumpsuit with cut outs, voluminous long brown hair, and bright blue eyeshadow. Her set was great even though it only lasted 35 minutes. In this time frame she managed to bring out 3 guests; Bad Bunny, J Balvin, and SZA. It was also 94 degrees out and her fans were not willing to move until Cardi left the stage. Many looked like they had been holding a spot close to the stage for well over an hour and those who were getting there minutes before she started ended up pretty far back. Cardi B was definitely worth the wait!
Closing out Day Three, the weekend, and the 98 degree heat was Eminem. To say that his performance spanned decades is an understatement. Eminem played all of the classics including “Stan”, “Lose Yourself”, “My Name is” just to name a few. He did drop a new album not too many months ago so of course he had to play the top songs from “Revival” which were limited to “Walk on Water” and “River”. Since in this new album Eminem had many different vocalists sing the chorus, he brought out the beautiful Skylar Grey to fill in for the missing artists but also had her stand in for Rihanna’s part of “Love the Way You Lie”. Other special guests that graced the stage included 50 Cent, Dr. Dre, and Kehlani. All performed songs with Eminem and even had some songs that seemed unexpected such as “California Knows How to Party” which is one song that no one was expecting to see performed. Eminem was the perfect act to close out Coachella 2018 and even had fireworks signaling the end of the long but truly enhancing weekend.
Overall, Coachella was everything we wanted it to be. There was such a wide range of music and performers that no matter the type of music you like, you will find bands/singers who can meet your expectations. Coachella seems so once in a lifetime because of the price and the time it takes to prepare and recover from it, trust us, it takes days to be able to breathe normally again once the dust is gone, it is such an experience if you genuinely love listening to music and watching performers give it their all for thousands of people.