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Coachella returned to the California desert over the weekend for the primary time since 2019. Within the intervening years, there have been loads of bulletins and subsequent cancellations—the 2020 model was to function headliners Travis Scott, Frank Ocean, and Rage Towards the Machine, none of whom ended up taking part in—and if the inevitable pandemic upheaval was not sufficient, one of many 2022 fest’s greatest names, Kanye West, pulled out of his settlement lower than two weeks earlier than gates opened.
However in its twice-delayed return, Coachella ran with exceptional effectivity. (For the reason that final version of the competition, fest organizer Goldenvoice took full operation management of the Empire Polo Membership, which serves because the competition grounds, by way of 2050.) Some lower-billed acts from the 2020 slate carried their bookings over to this yr, and it was enjoyable to see whose profiles have risen and fallen. On the poster from two years in the past, as an example, Doja Cat was introduced within the smallest potential font; this time, her title got here second on Sunday’s lineup. And all the jigsaw puzzle proved manageable sufficient that the promoters even discovered area for the last-minute addition of Arcade Fireplace, an act that’s emblematic of a formative indie pressure of the competition’s DNA.
As for the fan expertise, Coachella 2022 was, no less than anecdotally, as calm an setting as ever. I didn’t witness any fights or main medical incidents; aside from the Weeknd and Swedish Home Mafia’s Sunday headliner set, no act was notably late or saddled with critical technical difficulties. Musically, the competition continued on a number of pre-pandemic trajectories: remodeling the big Sahara tent, which was as soon as largely reserved for dance acts, into an area for rappers, and shifting guitar acts from the outside levels to the tents.
It’s at all times fascinating to maintain observe of simply how a lot Coachella succeeds or fails at representing the musical panorama for the time being the competition is held. Whereas streaming knowledge is extra available than ever, the pandemic made it more durable to conduct extra ambient exams: listening to which songs are performed out of passing automobiles, in evening golf equipment, at home events. So it’s comprehensible that the competition is in a little bit of an aesthetic holding sample from the tip of the final decade. Because the nation continues to open its doorways and return to a semblance of regular life, it is going to be fascinating to see whether or not a brand new consensus kinds across the state of fashionable music—and whether or not America’s largest competition will take discover.
For now, listed below are among the greatest and worst elements of Coachella 2022.
