From Billie Eilish and Lana del Rey to Vampire Weekend and Paris Hilton, the California festival’s first weekend was flooded with surprise appearances
“Be our guest, be our guest, be our guest!” – these are the immortal words of Lumiere, the fuckable French candlestick from Beauty and the Beast, but they could just as easily have been spoken by many of the stars who performed at Coachella this weekend. The festival saw several surprise appearances and unexpected duets, ranging from the transcendent to the pointless. Here are some of our favourites.
I don’t mean to sound insane but that eclipse shifted something we literally are so back. pic.twitter.com/mSwd7x7Iz9
— baby genius, MA (@enfant_cerebral) April 13, 2024
BILLIE EILISH AND LANA DEL REY
Sitting together on an ornate balcony, Billie and Lana performed “Video Games” and “Ocean Eyes” (the lead single from Billie’s debut EP). What made this so memorable was the affection and respect they clearly have for one another – Billie, on the record as a Lana stan, was grinning from ear to ear the whole way through, and at one point declared to the audience, “This is the reason for half you bitches’ existence, including mine.” Lana, for her part, described Billie as “the voice of your generation, the voice of our generation”, and said she was “so fucking grateful” to have her on stage. Two beautiful, talented women from different generations supporting each other and having a laugh… it’s just nice!
sky ferreira at coachella pic.twitter.com/HcrvFCJlTH
— sky ferreira archive (@skyarchirve) April 14, 2024
SKY FERREIRA AND KEVIN ABSTRACT
Sky Ferreira made a surprise appearance at the beginning of Kevin Abstract’s set on Saturday, performing a cover of the 2010 country classic “Need You Now” by Lady A. Wearing a leather jacket and sunglasses, she looked great and sounded even better. It was a transcendent performance which proved that, however her career has been thwarted over the last ten years, Ferreira remains a star.
Tyler the creator and childish gambino fucking it up pic.twitter.com/hW0Tzn9eq6
— dev (@devinbreee) April 14, 2024
TYLER, THE CREATOR AND JUST ABOUT EVERYONE
Some of the guest appearances across the festival verged on the gimmicky, but Tyler, The Creator opted for a more credible, music-orientated approach. During his headline set on Saturday night, he brought out some of the biggest names in hip-hop and R&B, including A$AP Rocky, Childish Gambino, Kali Uchis and Charlie Wilson, the former vocalist of The Gap Band and a legendary figure within the world of R&B and funk. Which is cool, but maybe he should have brought out the guy who wrote The Big Bang Theory or the dog from Marley and Me?
KESHA JUST CHANGED THE LYRICS FOR TIK TOK TO “FUCK P DIDDY” AT COACHELLA WITH RENEÉ RAPP OH MY GODDD pic.twitter.com/RrDvsyPKmo
— maxx HAS A BEYONCÉ AUTOGRAPH !!!! (@ArnoldMaxx) April 15, 2024
RENEÉ RAPP, KESHA, AND THE L WORD CAST
On Sunday, Reneé Rapp was joined by surprise guest Kesha to perform “TiK ToK” – younger readers will struggle to believe me, but this was a smash hit song back in 2010 and it had nothing to do with the Chinese video-editing app we know and love today. In other respects, Kesha’s break-out single wasn’t so prescient – few lines have aged worse in the current moment than “wake up in the morning feeling like P Diddy” – but she got around this on Sunday by changing the lyrics to “wake up in the morning like ‘fuck P Diddy’” (in reference to the recent sex trafficking allegations against the hip-hop mogul) and raising her middle finger in the air.
Kesha wasn’t the only surprise cast that Reneé brought out: she was introduced by the cast and the creator of her favourite show The L Word, a cult 00s-era drama about a group of lesbian and bisexual women in LA.
Will Smith performing “Men In Black” at #Coachella will J Balvin: pic.twitter.com/LqHgRpef2G
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) April 15, 2024
WILL SMITH AND J BALVIN
From Paris Hilton to The L Word, it was a weekend of 00s nostalgia, but J Balvin looked back to the previous decade: during his set on Sunday night, Will Smith took to the stage – in a black suit and sunglasses – to perform the title track of Men in Black (1997). The set ended with Balvin being dragged off stage by dancers in black suits, while Smith pulled out the memory-erasing device that his character uses in the film.
VAMPIRE WEEKEND AND PARIS HILTON
During Vampire Weekend’s set, Paris Hilton took to the stage to play “cornball” – a lawn game which involves throwing bean bags at a board. This felt a bit pointless, like the kind of “celebrity appearance” a former Love Island star would make at a nightclub in Reading. By being so rooted in late 00s millennial culture, it was also a stark, haunting reminder of the passing of time and the inevitability of death.