We’re through the first weekend of the annual Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, and it sure was eventful. From big-name headliners to surprise guest appearances to legendary covers, the first weekend had most of what we’ve come to expect from the legendary festival — a whole lot of star power and memorable moments.
But now, the crowds are gone and the campers are leaving the Empire Polo Club, so it’s time for some retrospective.
Here’s our recap of the best moments of Coachella 2025 Weekend 1.
Weezer rocks Mojave tent amid bassist drama
The Grammy-winning rock band has headlined Coachella previously, but they were added to the lineup just last week and therefore played on a smaller stage in the middle of day on Saturday. But the band played one of the better sets of the first weekend, admit what is surely a difficult time for bassist Scott Shriner, whose wife was involved in an altercation with the Los Angeles Police Department just a few days prior that ended with her getting shot and then arrested.
The band still rocked out, playing 12 songs in 45 minutes. The setlist included many of Weezer’s biggest hits, and also included a rare cover of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman.” The crowd went particularly wild for that gem.
— Andrew John
Queen guitarist Brian May joins Benson Boone
Coachella newcomer Benson Boone had one of the best sets of the first weekend, and one of the biggest moments of the festival thus far came when Brian May joined him onstage to play the Queen hit “Bohemian Rhapsody.” It was, as some of our reporters have said, pretty epic.
Coachella has been known for years for its guest appearances, and Boone bringing May onstage for that song, with many in the crowd singing passionately along, will be remembered for a long time (despite the fact that some attendees seemed to young to appreciate May, leading Boone to post a silly video to TikTok with the message “Me trying to get the crowd at Coachella to understand what an absolute legend Brian May is and the cultural impact he has had on music and THE WORLD.”)
— Andrew John
The Beaches get vulnerable during their Coachella debut
I hadn’t heard of The Beaches until a couple weeks before the fest when I was looking up rock bands to check out, and was immediately hooked by their fun pop-rock vibe (and the fact that there’s not a single man in the band made them even more badass, of course).
The Canadian quartet of rocker chicks lived up to my high expectations Sunday in the Gobi tent. They spoke so vulnerably to the crowd, expressing how performing at a festival as big as Coachella has always been their dream, and how much it means that we came to see their festival debut. Guitarist Leandra Earl, at one point, spoke directly to her loved ones back home via the livestream and shouted out several people by name in a heartfelt moment that reminded me how much I love seeing the human side of performers at big events like this (no amount of pyrotechnics are better than that).
The Beaches perform in the Gobi tent during the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif., on Sun., April 13, 2025.
You could tell all four women were having the time of their life onstage, from the moment they invited Australian singer-songwriter G-Flip up to sing “Last Girls At The Party” to when they jokingly said they needed a beer before “Shower Beer,” only for a beer to emerge from a fan in the front. (Oh, and let’s not forget when drummer Eliza Enman McDaniel threw her drumsticks into the crowd at the end in true rocker fashion.) It’s safe to say I’m a forever fan now.
— Niki Kottmann
Lisa and Jennie of Blackpink reminding us they’re stars on their own, too
Blackpink stars Lisa and Jennie made their Coachella solo debuts this year. While they’re established artists, seeing them perform separately from their Blackpink identities is a treat for the fans all over the world who are hungry to get to know them as individuals.
It’s also safe to assume that whatever the reason someone showed up for their sets, it’s not because they were there for their bias Rosé or Jisoo, the other Blackpink members. What I mean to say is that for a Blackpink concert, you could attend as a fan of just one of the women.
With their Coachella sets, they’re responsible for their own success. But they can also enjoy the full glory of it.
But it wasn’t just Lisa and Jennie of K-pop fame on this year’s lineup. Enhypen, the seven member all-male group, performed as well. Though the crowd was sparser than that of Lisa or Jennie’s performances, there were clearly many dedicated fans present. And after seeing them live, I understand why.
— Paris Barraza
Zedd bringing out so many special guests that we had a hard time keeping up
Bea Miller, performs “Tangerine Rays” as a special guest of Zedd on the Outdoor Theatre stage at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif., on Sun., April 13, 2025.
Whenever a major pop DJ gets booked for a prime time slot at Coachella, there’s really just one thing I’m hoping for: that they leverage the festival’s mystique and the chance to perform for the many thousands of people watching, both in Indio and around the world, to bring in as many of their big-name collaborators as possible. That way, they’re creating a showcase that, far from being some dude just pressing some buttons is, truly worthy of major billing at America’s premier music festival.
Zedd did just that Sunday night. After a spectacular and raucous opening few minutes that included a live singalong to the classic Hayley Williams collab “Stay the Night” (sans Williams), Zedd got right down to deploying his surprises.
First up was Bea Miller, a fixture of Zed’s new album, who performed “Tangerine Rays.” Minutes later it was time for “Happy Now” with Elley Duhe, followed by Maren Morris to sing their smash hit “The Middle.” The set also featured singer-songwriter John Mayer, Celtic-influenced band The Ollam, Indian musician B.C. Manjunath and finally pop songstress Julia Michaels.
Zedd performs on the Outdoor Theatre stage during the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif., on Sun., April 13, 2025.
— Paul Albani-Burgio
Lady Gaga proving why she’s one of the brightest stars of the 21st century
When Lady Gaga tells you that the category of the night is “dance or die,” there’s only one thing to do: “Dance in the dark” until you drop.
When Gaga was announced as the Friday headliner, she promised fans “a massive night of chaos in the desert.” And that’s exactly what we got. The multi-Grammy Award winner brought mayhem, drama, theatrics and an insanely good time to the festival, closing out the first day by showcasing everything the singer does best.
Lady Gaga showed off her guitar skills during her Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival headlining performance on Friday, April 11, 2025.
Complemented by her entourage of dancers, they delivered in the visual department. It was clear her show would be a full production — even before she started singing, the screen listed all of the crew members, from the cinematography to production to choreography departments, who contributed to bringing the intricate show to life. After a certain point, you didn’t know what element was more impressive, whether it was the perfectly in-sync dancing or the visually stunning mayhem house on stage or the light-up chessboard utilized for one of her first hit songs “Poker Face.”
This little monster left VERY happy.
— Ema Sasic
Legendary acts like Green Day, Missy Elliott, The Go-Go’s and The Original Misfits reminding us what they’ve got
Coachella 2025, in a lot of ways, feels like the perfect balance of old and new. While we got to see rising stars like Benson Boone skyrocket even further into fame during their Coachella debuts, we also got to watch artists who’ve been around the block get their flowers — and hopefully expand their reach to a new generation.
Green Day — a band that was formed over 35 years ago — absolutely crushed what was somehow their first-ever Coachella performance. Frontman Billie Joe Armstrong even joined fellow legends, The Go-Go’s, as a special guest before his group’s headlining set the next day in a move that reminded us that Armstrong is clearly a musician’s musician (and of course reminded us why we love The Go-Go’s).
Missy Elliott, who also had never performed at the festival previously, opted for a set without special guests in a move that showed she’s one of the most revered women in her genre, and she doesn’t need a collaborator to help prove it. The question “how old is Missy Elliott?” was even trending during her performance, reminding us that even if you’re past 50, you can still “Get Ur Freak On” just as well as you did 20 years prior.
The Original Misfits reunited in 2016 for the first time in 33 years, and we’re so glad they did. The group isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but their loud, high-intensity show on Saturday left a mark on a festival that has steered away from its rock roots for the past decade or so, but is slowly starting to book acts that let that rock heritage live on.
— Niki Kottmann
Honorable mention: Megan Thee Stallion brings out Queen Latifah, Ciara, Victoria Monet, Spiritbox
Courtney LaPlante joins hip-hop powerhouse Megan Thee Stallion during her electrifying Coachella set.
Our team didn’t get to enjoy Megan Thee Stallion’s set in full IRL due to scheduling conflicts, so it didn’t feel right making the top seven list only because we didn’t get to experience its full depth, but even watching the livestream showed that Megan Thee Stallion has only grown since her last performance in 2023 (which was already spectacular).
Her joy-filled return to the festival on Sunday felt like a headlining set, and social media commentators agree, which is why they were shocked when it appeared that her mic was turned off and the performance thus cut short (Goldenvoice has yet to comment on the incident).
But Megan would never let an incident like that dull her shine, so I won’t either. She brought out four acclaimed women in music as special guests — Queen Latifah, Ciara, Victoria Monet and Spiritbox member Courtney LaPlante — and each time, Megan’s face lit up as if she were just as surprised to see them there as us. Her performance had the kind of star quality that sits with you, regardless of how you watched it, and I’m excited to be standing there to witness whatever she brings for Weekend 2 audiences.
— Niki Kottmann
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Coachella 2025: 7 most memorable moments of Weekend 1
