Highlights From Coachella Day One

The first day of Coachella wasn’t for the faint-hearted this year: The heat soared to a solid 101 degrees in the desert, but that didn’t stop festival-goers – or the performers — from showing any less enthusiasm. Even as the sun beat down relentlessly, fans showed up at every stage in droves, getting riled up by earlier acts in the day, including Tyla, Ravyn Lenae, and Three 6 Mafia, and counting down for a slew of nighttime showstoppers like Benson Boone, Missy Elliott, LISA, and of course, headliner Lady Gaga. (Tons of celebrities could be seen in the crowd: Chappell Roan made it to MARINA, while Justin and Hailey Bieber and Tate McCrae and The Kid Laroi cheered on YEAT.)

Most performances came jam-packed with surprises: Three 6 Mafia brought out Machine Gun Kelly and Travis Barker, while Tyla invited Becky G to sing their collab ““On My Body” during her sun-lit set. The big shock of the evening, though, came when Benson Boone (and longtime Freddie Mercury stan and cosplayer) had Brian May hop onstage to play guitar for “Bohemian Rhapsody” and his massive smash “Beautiful Things.” From there, Missy Elliott had fans dance through about two-decades worth of historic, game-changing bangers, and then all the little monsters assembled to see Lady Gaga shut the night down with a spellbinding spectacle of a show, heavy on theatrics and thought-out stagecraft. Fans left the grounds equally overjoyed and exhausted — and it’s just day one. 

Here are more of the highlight’s and best moments from Coachella 2025’s opening day.

Benson Boone

Rolling Stone declared Benson Boone as the future of music — and his Coachella set showed why. The pop star filled his set with flips, jumps, and slides onstage, but also with emotional crowd interactions that proved he’s taken notes from greats like Freddie Mercury. It was only fitting for him to end his performance with a cover of “Bohemian Rhapsody,” accompanied by none other than Sir Brian May himself. (The Queen legend stuck around for “Beautiful Things,” too.) A legendary guest appearance wasn’t all: Boone announced his sophomore album American Heart, debuted single “Mystical Magic,” and performed its catchy title track backed by American flag-inspired visuals. Benson’s a star, and even Brian May knows it. — Tomás Mier

Lola Young

The temperature had already dropped to 100 degrees on Friday afternoon when Lola Young stepped onto the Mojave Stage, backed by her band and a vintage recording studio setup. Dressed in fingerless green gloves and matching olive green pants, a layered bikini top and a hood tied around her neck, Young played cuts from her latest LP, This Wasn’t Meant for You Anyway, plus never-before-heard singles like “Spiders.” Young brought the house down with her soulful, powerhouse vocals and got the crowd singing every word on tracks like “Big Brown Eyes” and the viral hit “Messy.” Nerves aside, it was a Coachella debut to remember. —John Lonsdale

Glorilla

Glorilla says she’s been studying artists like Beyonce and Michael Jackson since launching her own career as a performer, and her theatrical takeover on the Sahara stage Friday night let people see just how thoroughly she’s been taking notes. The Memphis rapper began the show with dramatics, rising on a giant platform with her back to the audience as a screen behind her projected the image of a desolate street.  She twitched to distorted vocals and then slowly turned around, revealing a terrifying mask that got the audience screaming. Throwing it into the crowd, she launched into a haunting, take-no-prisoners rendition of her Cardi B collab “Tomorrow 2” and never lost steam (even while battling a couple audio glitches) as she bounced into “Let Her Cook” even a quick cover of “Love” by Keyshia Cole. —Julyssa Lopez

Ca7riel and Paco Amoroso

Ca7riel and Paco Amoroso keep going viral with performances that blend humor and mischief, but they did not come to play at Coachella. The Argentine artists set up shop in the Gobi stage, where fans had already gathered — some even wore giant furry blue hats, the signature of raspy-voiced rapper Paco Amoroso. Their nine-piece live band took their places first, previewing some of the rock and jazz sounds from the set until the twosome arrived, striking a pose for the crowd. From there, they launched into the upbeat “Dumbai” before eventually hitting an anarchic peak: By the time they got to their recent hit “Papota,” they were in full rock star mode, letting out wild screams to hype up fans without losing the musicality of the performance. —Julyssa Lopez

Tyla

“Don’t be too cool, now!” Tyla called out midway through her sunset performance at Coachella’s Outdoor Theatre. It wasn’t that the crowd was subdued; everyone just seemed mesmerized as the South African star sang hit after hit in her velvety voice, pulling out all the stops onstage. She had a small but mighty army of dancers to back her up and then got even more reinforcements when Becky G popped out to perform “On My Body.” The surprises didn’t stop there: The audience lost it when she covered a snipped of Aaliyah’s “Rock The Boat” and then, to end things with a bang, she leaped into a kiddie pool for “Water,” splashing in bubbly suds for a feel-good ending. —Julyssa Lopez

MARINA

Marina channeled feminine energy and power as she commanded her pastel-colored main stage set early in the evening. The pop queen started her set with a rhetorical question: “Why be a wallflower when you could be a Venus fly trap?” It served as a perfect intro to the themes of love and pleasure she’ll sing about on her upcoming album, Princess of Power. As the sun beamed on her “Cuntissimo” blonde wig, Marina serenaded the crowd with “I Am Not a Robot” and “Are You Satisfied?” The crowd went wild for classics “Primadonna,” “How to Be a Heartbreaker,” and “Bubblegum Bitch” as she sang the name of Electra Heart extra loud in the final song, reminding fans that the central character of her beloved sophomore album is alive and well. At one point in the show, Chappell Roan walked in front of the stage to catch her set, for a moment that felt like a celebration of women making avant-garde pop music. —T.M.

The Marias

Usually it’s upbeat, raucous performances that get noticed at Coachella, but The Marias worked their magic and illustrated just how powerful a deeply felt, dreamlike set can be. Dressed in a flowing white dress, frontwoman María Zardoya (who joked that she looked like a gothic bride) practically put the audience into a trance as she led the band through gossamer songs like “Hamptons,” “Care For You,” and “Only In My Dreams.” (There was also time for a honeyed cover of “Lovefool,” a reworked version of the Bad Bunny collab “Otro Atardecer,” and “Ojos Tristes,” the band’s assist on Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco’s new album.) When it came time for “Back to Me,” a gut-wrenching ballad about regret and heartbreak that the band released in April, there were more than a few tears in the crowd. “Whatever you’re going through right now,” Zardoya said as the song began. “Just know that it gets so better.” —Julyssa Lopez

Missy Elliott

We can confirm: asses shook during Missy Elliott’s Coachella set. It felt like Elliott’s nighttime show was a giant generation-jumping nightclub, as she performed her biggest hits and infused them with touches of songs of today. Elliott delivered camp aesthetics as robotic booties flashed on screen — she even came out (literally) dressed as a functional Optimus Prime. Elliott switched between an orange mohawk hat and a bicycle helmet as she played songs like “Ching-a-Ling,” “Get Ur Freak On,” and “I’m Better,” and was surrounded by 15 dancers and a DJ that hyped up the performer and turned the Coachella field into a massive dance floor. She concluded her set with “Lose Control,” sprinkling in hits from Lizzo and Ciara before the grand finale. —T.M.

Djo

A week after releasing his third studio LP, The Crux, singer-songwriter and Stranger Things star Joe Keery made his Coachella debut on Friday night as Djo.With sunglasses shielding his eyes from the intense Indio sun, he tore through new and old hits on the Mojave Stage, from his danceable singles like “Basic Being Basic” and “Delete Ya” to laidback desert jams like “Chateau (Feel Alright).” Fans shrieked when he played the first few bars of “Gap Tooth Smile” from his new LP, bouncing to the rocking chorus as fans lifted their friends (and strangers) over their shoulders to get a better view. Djo’s viral hit “End of Beginning” arrived near the end of his set, with fans waving their hands side to side and swaying in the desert heat to a blissful festival anthem. —John Lonsdale

Lady Gaga

At Coachella, Lady Gaga transformed the desert into a gothic operahouse, delivering a dramatic, four-act spectacle telling the story of Mayhem. Over two hours, she explored the duality of light and dark through theatrical performances, and eccentric costumes, while bringing in old hits like “Bloody Mary,” “Judas,” and “Poker Face.” She rose from the afterlife, battled her inner demons, and honored her Little Monsters for a once-in-a-lifetime performance. With fireworks and the message “monsters never die,” Gaga closed the night as a feathered angel. Her set proved once again she’s in a league of her own. — T.M.