Surprise, surprise: the teases were interconnected.
Metro Boomin brought out The Weeknd, Future, John Legend, Don Toliver, 21 Savage, and Diddy. The Weeknd’s portion included the live debut of “Creepin’,” the Heroes & Villainscollaborative track with Metro Boomin and 21 Savage that peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, and what’s believed to be “Double Fantasy” with Mike Dean (as reported by Billboard).
Per Billboard, “For the live debut, Dean’s saxophone rumbled through the Sahara Tent while the crowd was blinded by The Weeknd’s fluorescent, all-white ensemble, along with the lights he once sang about. ‘Temperature rising, bodies united, now that I tried you in my arms. No need to fight it, no need to hide it, now that I’ve seen what’s in your heart,’ he sang before letting his vocal runs synch up with the electrifying synths.”
The Weeknd will take any good press related to The Idol, even if tangential, after the Rolling Stone‘s damning investigative report about allegedly troubling working conditions on the HBO set. He responded to the criticism, though Jeremy O. Harris didn’t explicitly ask about the March report, for Interview Magazine:
“I’m used to it more than someone like Sam [Levinson], who’s probably a little bit used to it now. And I’m sure Lily[-Rose Depp], definitely — Lily’s stronger than both of us. But I’ve been judged since the beginning. My stuff’s always kind of been provocative. I understand it’s hard for people to separate that sometimes and that some people want to have an opinion about you, even if it’s not true.
As an artist, you have to know that you can’t please everybody, and you have to accept that it comes with the job. You have to remind yourself that everybody that knows you, knows you’re a good person. If you’re going out there trying to prove to people you’re a good person all the time, then it becomes like a dead end. But what I’ve learned is, with time people will learn to understand. But I have thick skin. I’m used to it.”
In total, there were 24 songs (as setlist.fm notes), but a significant portion of those came during a DJ Crystall Mess mini DJ set that was primarily Ocean remixes, not songs performed live. Beyond that, the set featured the live debuts of “Come On World, You Can’t Go!,” “Impietas / Deathwish (ASR),” “White Ferrari,” “Florida,” and “Godspeed.”
Check out the setlist below.
1. “Novacane” (new version)
2. “Come On World, You Can’t Go!”
3. “Crack Rock”
4. “Impietas / Deathwish (ASR)”
5. “Bad Religion”
6. “White Ferrari” (new version)
7. “Florida”
8. “Pink + White” (acoustic)
9. “Solo” (new version)
10. “Solo (Reprise)” *
11. “Chanel (Sango Remix)” *
12. “Lost (Jersey Club Remix)” *#
13. “Slide (Jersey Club Remix)” *#
14. “In Ha Mood” (Ice Spice song) *#
15. “Provider (Jersey Club Remix)” *#
16. “In My Room (Jersey Club Remix)” *#
17. “No Church In The Wild/Pyramids” (mashup) *#
18. “Godspeed”
19. “Wise Man” (new version)
20. “Night Life” (Aretha Franklin cover)
21. “Self Control” (acoustic)
22. “Nikes” *
23. “Nights (Mixed with Sango Remix)” *
24. “At Your Best (You Are Love)” (The Isley Brothers cover)
* played from tape, not performed live
# DJ Crystall Mess set
Yesterday (April 16), Frank Ocean headlined the final day of Coachella’s first weekend. It was a highly anticipated performance, but for a number of reasons, it did not go well at all. One attendee summarized, “I’ve never seen so many people walk out of a show so upset and confused. The amount of anticipation for this was extremely high, and I don’t think anyone was satisfied. Not even the diehard fans.”
If there was one silver lining to be had, though, it was that Ocean spoke about his next album.
At one point during the set, he took a couple minutes to give a short speech, which he started, “It’s been so long, but I have missed you. I want to talk about why I’m here, because it’s not because of a new album. It’s because… not that there’s not a new album, just like… but there’s not right now.”
A new album would certainly be a big deal, as Ocean hasn’t released one since 2016’s Blonde, which topped the charts and was one of the year’s most acclaimed projects.
Back to Ocean’s speech: He went on to speak about how his life “changed so much” over the past few years following the 2020 death of his brother, Ryan Breaux, and about how much Coachella meant to them both and the memories he had of attending the fest with Breaux. He also thanked fans for their support over the years before resuming his set.
Per setlist.fm, Frank Ocean performed at Finland’s Flow Festival in August 2017. Until this weekend, that was his most recent live show, but now, nearly six years later, Ocean returned to the stage yesterday (April 16) to headline Coachella. It… did not go well.
Even before Ocean took the stage, things weren’t looking good. It was revealed that his performance would not be livestreamed online, unlike the majority of other Coachella sets this year. Then, Ocean only started performing an hour after his set was supposed to begin, meaning he only ended up starting the show at around 11 p.m. PT. Given that, as the Coachella website notes, there was a midnight venue curfew on Sunday, Ocean’s set ended up having to be cut short. As setlist.fm notes, the set features 14 actual performances and a lot of other pre-recorded songs, mostly remixes, played over the speakers.
As for when the show was actually going on, people weren’t happy. Rolling Stone‘s Tomás Mier summarized his take on the situation, tweeting, “No, I didn’t enjoy Frank Ocean’s set. It was confusing. It was odd. it was not a Coachella headliner-worthy performance. I didn’t understand it. Maybe it wasn’t made for me to understand. Idk. I have more questions than I do answers. I’ve never seen so many people walk out of a show so upset and confused. The amount of anticipation for this was extremely high, and I don’t think anyone was satisfied. Not even the diehard fans. (And if you weren’t there… don’t talk lol.)
No, I didn’t enjoy Frank Ocean’s set. It was confusing. It was odd. it was not a Coachella headliner-worthy performance. I didn’t understand it. Maybe it wasn’t made for me to understand. Idk. I have more questions than I do answers.
I’ve never seen so many people walk out of a show so upset and confused. The amount of anticipation for this was extremely high, and I don’t think anyone was satisfied. Not even the diehard fans. (And if you weren’t there… don’t talk lol.)
It’s that time of the year again; hundreds of thousands of people flock to the California desert to show out in their best outfits, sample some amazing eats, and, of course, see a line-up of incredible artists at Coachella. Now that he dust has (literally) settled on the grounds, let’s look back on the highlights of Coachella 2023 Day One, which highlighted era-defining artists Blondie and Blink-182 while bringing together some of the current innovators like Bad Bunny and Metro Boomin.
Philip Cosores
Bad Bunny closed out the night with a bang, and I’m not just about the fireworks during his main stage set. The Puerto Rican rapper drew the largest crowd of the night, and for good reason. While the moment was historic — Bad Bunny is the first Latin solo artist to ever headline the festival — he made sure to highlight the roots of Reggaeton music and credit the artists who made his success possible like Celia Cruz, El General, and Tego Calderón. On top of that, his show-stopping stage design cleverly nodded to the viral concert he performed on top of a gas station late last year. Bad Bunny performed all the hits during his set, like “Moscow Mule,” “Yo Perreo Sola,” and “Después De La Playa.” He even brought out Post Malone for an acoustic set, but technical difficulties made it nearly impossible to hear him.
Philip Cosores
Bad Bunny is far from the only artist who brought out surprise guests on stage. One thing about Coachella is always true: if an artist has a collaboration, they’re going to use their Coachella set as an excuse to bring that artist out to perform. Metro Boomin’s closing set at the Sahara stage is perhaps the biggest example of that. A massive stage floated down from the ceiling that housed Metro’s main DJ equipment, with Metro himself dressed as a superhero (cape included). John Legend appeared below, kicking the set off with their Heroes & Villains track “On Time.” From there, Future joined Metro for several tracks like “Superhero,” “Serve The Bass,” and “Thought It Was Drought.” Don Toliver was next, delivering “Too Many Nights” with Future. 21 Savage also took the stage for a couple tracks like “10 Freaky Girls” and some highlights from Savage Mode 2, while also giving Metro his flowers by naming him the “greatest producer of our generation.” Finally, after teasing his appearance on Twitter, The Weeknd pulled up and the crowd went wild. He delivered his After Hours track “Heartless” and gave us a taste of upcoming music with an unreleased track. Finally, The Weeknd closed out the set with fan-favorite “Creepin,” where Diddy made a brief and unexpected cameo.
Philip Cosores
Blink-182 was another major highlight from Coachella day one, and perhaps the only major artist who didn’t bring out any surprise guests. Instead, they themselves were the surprise guests. Blink-182 was announced as part of the lineup just a few days ago, reuniting on the stage with their original lineup of Tom Delonge, Mark Hoppus, and Travis Barker for the first time in nine years. And in the years since, each three members have come a long way; Mark Hoppus beat cancer, Tom Delonge discovered aliens (kinda), and Travis Barker married a Kardashian. Joining together on stage, though, it felt like no time had passed. Mark and Tom were continually cracking “your mom” jokes like it was still the ’90s. To their credit, their set did feel like it transported the crowd back to their 1999 inception, playing all the early tracks like “The Rock Show” and “What’s My Age Again.” They closed out their set with three back-to-back greatest hits, “I Miss You,” “All The Small Things,” and “Dammit.”
Philip Cosores
Countless other artists on Coachella 2023’s day one lineup made their memorable mark on the weekend. Gorillaz, who recently dropped the album Cracker Island, used their stage time to highlight collaborators. They invited Thundercat to the stage to perform their recent album’s title track, Del The Funkee Homosapien for their iconic hit “Clint Eastwood,” and UK rapper Slowthai for “Momentary Bliss.” Artists who couldn’t make it to the stage were replaced massive holograms, like Tame Impala singing his part on “New Gold” and Snoop Dogg firing off his verse in “Hollywood.” Indie-pop trio MUNA was also a highlight of the day. The group dedicated their set to their young queer and trans fans while performing a soon-to-be released song and bringing out the members of Boygenius to sing “Silk Chiffon.” Top Dawg Entertainment rapper Doechii brought the heat to the already sweltering day with an impeccably choreographed set. New Zealand breakout songwriter Benee drew a massive crowd for a mid-day performance where she brought out Gus Dapperton for their quarantine-era viral hit “Supalonely.” Finally, Philly band Soul Glo made good on their hard-core genre label by opening up a mosh pit and delivering a riotous and riveting set.
Philip Cosores
Follow along with Uproxx’s Coachella 2023 coverage here. Check out a few more photos from Friday below.
Some of the artists mentioned here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Coachella Music and Arts Festival returned to Indio, California this weekend, loaded with great music that literally drew fans from all over the world. With Puerto Rican star Bad Bunny and K-pop icons Blackpink among the headliners, Coachella’s global movement is in full swing, with other key artists (Frank Ocean, Blink-182, Phoebe Bridgers) hailing from the festival’s own backyard of Southern California. With so many locales represented, the expectation was that the fans would show up looking as fashionable and as eclectic as ever. And, they certainly delivered.
It’s been slightly more temperate weather conditions in California this year, thanks to a particularly cool and wet SoCal winter (there is even some snow still on the peaks near the fest). One of the questions for the weekend was whether people would tout as much skin as in years past. The answer was a resounding yes, as people still came ready for sun and dancing, even if the thermometer struggled to hit 80 degrees. The fans that didn’t arrive dressed to impress had options as well, with plenty of ways to tout Coachella-specific looks from the many merch vendors and an American Express pop-up with exclusive Blackpink shirts and accessories.
With Coachella’s first day in the books, take a look at some of our favorite festival fashion photos from the fest so far.
While a lot of attention has been lavished on Rolling Loud as the premiere hip-hop-oriented festival (and rightly so), Lyrical Lemonade’s Summer Smash, which takes place annually in the Chicago area, is quickly carving out a chunk of that regard for itself. It probably helps that Lyrical Lemonade is the brainchild of Cole Bennett and has produced music videos for just about every notable name in rap right now (as well as Jack Black, whose “Peaches” song from The Super Mario Bros. Movie is an inescapable earworm).
So it makes sense that the 2023 lineup for Summer Smash includes a great many of those notable names, including headliners Future, Kid Cudi, and Playboi Cart, along with “a very special Chicago guest” which probably means Chance The Rapper (or a hologram of Juice WRLD, you never know. As long as it ain’t Kanye). Meanwhile, the three-day festival — which takes place at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview, IL on June 23-25 — also includes heavy hitters like Vince Staples, Ice Spice, GloRilla, Freddie Gibbs, Ski Mask The Slump God, G Herbo, Cordae, Juicy J, Trippie Redd, Lucki, Central Cee, Lil Skies, and Rico Nasty, and that’s just the top line of each of the three days.
(@GATTIRELOADED) 
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