How Coachella pulled off the most globalised lineup till date

Coachella 2023 was the first time none of the premier desert festival’s headliners were white, and the sets ran the gamut of representation while setting historic precedent. It was perhaps reflective of international music trends brought into relief by streaming metrics.

In their first outing to the Californian festival, India’s Diljit Dosanjh and Pakistan’s Ali Sethi drew large crowds to their high-octane sets.

Dosanjh is as much known for Punjabi tracks like Proper Patola, Lak 28, Ratt Di Gedi, 5 Taara, and Do You Know… as he for his desi humour. Pasoori, a tale of forbidden love and angst by Sethi, was the most-searched song on Google in 2022.

Spain’s Rosalia, Iceland’s Bjork and Nigeria’s Burna Boy received top billings on the festival’s main stage while Bad Bunny, Blackpink, and Frank Ocean grabbed the headline acts.

Also Read | Diljit Dosanjh creates Coachella history, makes people groove to bhangra beats

Reggaeton giant Bad Bunny blazed through two hours of his oeuvre while honouring Latino music pioneers, offering his frenzied fans fireworks, and a dance break. He was the first Spanish-language and first Latin-American act to headline Coachella.

The next night K-pop phenomenon Blackpink became the first Asian act to headline, exceeding already high expectations for a tightly performed show heavy on effects, as tens of thousands of festival-goers partied to a string of their pop smashes.

Frank Ocean, the first openly queer man to headline the mega event, turned up in his signature enigmatic fashion, after taking a full hour beyond his scheduled start time to begin. Wearing a blue hoodie, he sang Novacane and took prolonged pauses between songs including Crack Rock, and White Ferrari. He teased a new album to cries of joy from the audience, but he gave no indication of its content or timeline.

For years, Coachella’s fans have complained that the festival has veered too far from its alt-rock roots; Rage Against The Machine, Beck, and Tool headlined the first edition in 1999.

But for all the weekend’s eminently danceable sets — Charli XCX, Rosalia and Latto to name a few — rock was alive and well, from legacy acts to the cutting edge.

Blink-182 reunited with its original lineup for the first time in nearly a decade, offering a nostalgic headbanging moment for the droves of 30-somethings reliving the soundtrack to their youths, from The Rock Show to What’s My Age Again and All The Small Things.

After the set, many rushed to catch a blockbuster show from Blondie, who delivered hits like Heart of Glass and Call Me. Fresh off the release of their album, Boygenius reunited for a set that ranged from heartstring-tugging to a guitar-smashing vibe.

Belgium’s Angele bopped through her Coachella debut, and the elusive electronic producer Jai Paul from London played his first public performance ever.