31 Must-See Artists At This Year’s Coachella Music Festival
Photo Credit: David Calderón
The annual Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is celebrating their 20th anniversary this year with headliners Childish Gambino, Tame Impala, and Ariana Grande. Taking course over the second and third weekends next month at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, CA, the 2019 lineup includes over 100 artists and spans multiple genres.
Considerably one of the most diverse and colorful lineups the festival has put out to-date, festival goers can expect to see representation from every corner of the music industry. Global phenomenon and bad-ass girl group Blackpink will be the first female Korean act to perform at Coachella, while LGBTQ+ pop sensation King Princess is set to show the crowd that “Pussy Is God.” The diversity doesn’t end there, with other notable acts including indie rapper Lizzo, punk-metal group Turnstile, French DJ Gesaffelstein, and Latin pop princess Rosalía.
While the festival has expanded its range to include more genres and musicians, it still keeps to its indie rock roots with scheduled performances by indie-pop trio Beach Fossils, pop-rock newcomer Soccer Mommy, and bedroom pop-phenom Billie Eilish.
Launching in 1999 as the West Coast’s response to the Woodstock ’99 Festival, Coachella has quickly become one of the most famous music festivals in the world, drawing in 250,000 people and grossing $115 million over the course of two weekends in 2017. With a growing audience of Millennials and Gen Z-ers, festival producers have begun introducing environmental awareness and sustainability as a main feature through a partnership with Global Inheritance. Attendees who carpool with four or more people and decorate their vehicle— aptly named “carpoolchella”— are entered to win prizes such as VIP upgrades, backstage passes, and even VIP passes for life. Other initiatives include the “10-For-1” Recycling Store, which offers fresh bottles of water for every 10 empty plastic bottles collected, as well as a kinetic playground that charges your phone as you play.
While lauded for the musical acts, large art installations, and gourmet street food, attending the festival can be seen as a societal status marker and, for some, one of the main reasons to attend. Coachella culture has created a new type of festival goer, one that not only attends for the music but also for the “instagramability” of the experience. The fashion found at the festival has become a subcategory in street fashion, mixing the traditional boho-hippy style of Southern California with the more alternative styles normally found at a rave. Attendees with the best outfits are commonly photographed and featured in fashion blogs and magazines alike. High-profile celebrity sightings are also not uncommon, with A-listers such as Kendall Jenner, Paris Hilton, Justin Bieber, and Rihanna making multiple appearances each year as Coachella regulars.
With so many incredible artists performing in 2019, we understand it’s tough to figure out which sets to prioritize. We’ve put together a list of 31 artists— with their popular tracks— whose performances should not be missed.
Be sure to check out the full lineup below and don’t miss the festival live-stream via Youtube Live on April 12th-14th and 19th-21st.
