Coachella 2023

man meeting you was definitely a highlight of the weekend. Can't wait till the next time we can hang out. You and your group are all wonderful people

Likewise dude!!

Double post with couchella but if anyone has a copy of the boygenius stream please hit up my DM’s

1. Jai Paul - thought they sounded amazing and best crowd of the weekend
2. Underworld - these guys are somehow able to avoid the boomer energy of chem bros
3. Bjork - loved the bjorkestra. stonemilker drew some tears
4. Rosalia - amazing performer, wish i didn't have to leave early for Jai
5. PHM - really fun dance party
6. Bad Bunny - he sounds shockingly good live
7. Chem Bros - rly good but distinctly boomer
8. Angele - amazing performer - like seeing a headliner with a smaller crowd on a side stage
9. Weyes Blood - angelic
10. Charli xcx - queen, would have been nice not at 5pm in the blaring sun
11. Yung Lean - he was rly good. sounds better since ive seen him before
12. Nia Archives - didn't know she sang too but this was rly cool
13. Magdalena Bay - they slayed
14. Romy - it feels so good was one of my song highlights of the weekend
15. 2manydjs - fun show, i enjoyed
Despacio is goated.


had an amazing weekend thanks to an elite crew =)

Full review...

Coachella 2023 was my third year attending this festival, after 2013 and 2014. There were so many synchronicities connecting these three years that it felt like I was absolutely meant to be there. Damon Albarn, Beck, and Debbie Harry were all a strange trifecta of performers who had played or been featured at 2 of the 3 years I've attended. Not to mention Chemical Brothers and 2ManyDjs dropping New Order during their sets - a big reason I went to my first Coachella in '13.

Anyways, this festival's organization always blows me away. We camped onsite for our first time and, arriving right before 7 PM on Thursday, went through security and arrived at our campsite within 30 minutes. Insanely efficient and effortless arrival. Plus we were centrally located to restrooms, showers, general store, and not far from the Green Path leading to Coachella's entrance. The only downside was The Greenhouse being 10 streets away, which may have well been right next to us while it was still operating. Funny as hell to be woken up to their MC yelling "WE'RE GONNA GO SILENT IN 3 MINUTES SO GET YOUR HEEEAAADDDPHOOOOHESSS." I'd definitely camp again since it wasn't a major inconvenience, but this is one pro of staying off site and getting shuttled in. Morning yoga everyday at The Dome gave me life and kept me going as hard as I did all weekend. A pro in favorite of camping onsite.

Friday - The Comet Is Coming > Domi & JD Beck > Despacio > Magdalena Bay > Muna > Wet Leg > Yves Tumor > Blondie > Gorillaz > The Chemical Brothers > Bad Bunny

This weekend started out with a bang! The Comet Is Coming was a ferocious set of hypnotic and energetic jazz. We found a shady spot thanks to the speaker towers and danced for about 20 minutes before heading over to Domi & JD Beck. Right after we arrived, they brought out Thundercat and closed their set with Anderson Paak. Already an exceptional start to the weekend. Jumped into the AC Despacio tent right as Agnatha Faltskog's "The Heat Is On" dropped and proceeded to dance like blissful dummies in front of the DJ booth. After about an hour we lined up for the Sonora and watched Magdalena Bay's psychedelic art pop show, which was even better than their This Ain't No Picnic performance I caught. "Chaeri" and "Dreamcatching" were personal highlights and I just love their trippy visuals and corky-ass presentation. Following the end of Magdalena Bay, we headed over to the restrooms before Wet Leg and, to our surprise, Muna had just started playing "Silk Chiffon" with boygenius. So we hopped in the crowd and screamed along..."Life's so fun!"

Next up was Wet Leg, which I thought started out a bit slow but built up by the end of their set. "UR Mum" with Dave Grohl out on stage screaming was a blast and I love how many collaborations and surprises had already occurred before sundown. While waiting for Blondie, we watched some of Yves Tumor from the sides. Not as bad as their TANP performance but I still thought they sounded sloppy live. Next was Blondie lead by 77 year old Debbie Harry. This was a tough conflict with Kaytranda, but my girlfriend had never seen Blondie and really wanted to check them off her bucket list. I thought the highs of the set were worth the lows of a frail front woman trying her hardest to power through. I appreciated the effort. Really odd how nobody else in the crowd was singing the call back to "Call Me" though. Debbie also howled back at me between songs, which was an honor.

Alright, now it's time for the real deal. An ALL TIMER one-two punch. Gorillaz > The Chemical Brothers. I had seen Gorillaz during the Humanz tour in 2017 and thought it was okay. I had very low expectations going in, but wasn't going to miss an opportunity to see Damn Albarn. Man, was I not ready for him to blow my mind like that. Getting "O Green World", "With Love to an Ex", "Sweepstakes", "Kids With Guns", and "Rock The House"...GOD DAMN that was incredible. And no matter where we ended up, we were somehow left with plenty of room to dance and ended up around a few other Gorillaz fans in a sea of slightly confused Bad Bunny fans camping out. Already worth making the trip. But then came The Chemical Brothers. I don't think I've EVER danced that hard in my life. Seriously, everything about that set - the music, the crowd, visuals, lights, effects, weather - just sublime. At one point me and the guy dancing to my left connected on a high five that felt cosmic. IDK what it was but everything felt perfectly aligned during this set and I'm grateful to have made it to this point in my life to have experienced The Chemical Brothers live.

Finally, Bad Bunny. This was an act my girlfriend was hyped for. We walked up during "Booker T." Alright, I thought, this is cool I can get down to Bad Bunny. And then it all came to a screeching halt. Instead of keeping that energy up, he threw on a music documentary and had another band play 3 songs. Uh, what? Your fans KNOW about the history of Latin music. They came to see YOU, dude. Not a history lesson, or some other band. By the time he came back, we weren't feeling it. IDK if it was us or what, but he was just really boring for the rest of the set. Even my girl, who LOVES Bad Bunny, thought it was underwhelming. Bummer. Sad Bunny.

Saturday - Despacio > Yung Lean > Dinner Party > Haitus Kaiyote > Charli XCX > Sofi Tukker > Rosalia > Jai Paul > Underworld > Eric Prydz

Took it easy Saturday after a hell of a first day. On the way to Despacio we saw Marc Rebillet going nuts and pouring champagne into some kid's mouth. Still, the heat was too much and we didn't feel like stopping, so right into the AC Despacio we went for another round of dancing like dummies in front of the DJ booth. This time we took over the center of the disco ball, where the quality of the sound system really shines. Based off a friend's recommendation, we sat in the shade of the Mojave tent for Yung Lean, which was alright. Wasn't my thing, but his music was more interesting than I expected. Next we jumped over to Dinner Party featuring Kamasi Washington and 9th Wonder. This was awesome. Super jazzy and jammy, I really loved how much they got down. Also loved it when they played that snippet from Kendrick's To Pimp a Butterfly. Keeping the jazz going was Haitus Kaiyote who sounded incredibly tight. This was my second time seeing them and Nai Palm just puts on a hell of a show. Beautiful vocals and skillful musicianship.

Now's the time for the real left turn of the day. My girlfriend convinced me to see Charli XCX. This wasn't on my radar. I just knew she was a pop singer. But OH MY GOD, what a performance! HEADLINER WORTHY! And I had no idea how many songs of her's I knew. IT'S CHARLI BITCH! She just danced her ass off and showed up for her fans. World class show and I can't believe I nearly missed it. Following Charli we jumped over for some of Sofi Tukker based on another friend's recommendation. Boring and repetitive. Bailed on this after a couple songs and left to get a good spot for Rosalia. This was another one of my girlfriend's picks that I hadn't listened to. Jesus, what a performance. She has such a dynamic voice and amazing stage presence. It was hilarious when she gave the mic to that guy to scream her song and then it was incredibly touching to see that girl in the crowd sing while holding back tears. What a class act. Also very happy I ended up catching this set. We left early to see Jai Paul, whose set seemed like such a mystery to me leading up to it. I just knew I had to see it and ended up feeling vindicated in my choice. Jai Paul and his band sounded awesome for their second show ever. And I loved the weird fake rocks up on stage. The crowd was also really fun here with lots of people dancing and getting down.

But nothing, noooottthing came remotely close to yet another transcendent experience during Underworld. My god. I felt like I got DRAGGED into the underworld and spit back out. This was an absolute barn burner of a set where it was so crazy with everyone raving, I had to leave my spot up close to the right. It was just too fucking hot and dusty and I was a bit outta my mind and needed air. Still, just nuts and another overall highlight of my weekend both visually and sonically. Loved seeing Yung Lean jumping around on stage during "Born Slippy".

There was no way anything was going to match that Underworld show, so we hung out in the back of the Outdoor Theater field and watched Eric Prydz while Blackpink's fireworks went off. It was such a funny scene. To our right, the HOLO show looked like a construction zone with fucking yellow tape and basic ass EDM sounding like power tools, while, to our left, trippy pink flowers, and explosions in the sky. This is when we realized the night had peaked and Calvin Harris was all anyone had left, so we dipped early. No regrets as Underworld had just made everything else tame in comparison. LOL, Eric Prydz needs all those screens and shit to create something interesting while his music was nothing compared to the mastery of Karl Hyde and Rick Smith.

Sunday - Sleaford Mods > Weyes Blood > 2ManyDJs > Bjork > Despacio > Blink 182/The Blaze/Blink 182 > Four Text x Fred Again... x Skrillex

Last day of the festival, which I thought would just be the icing on the cake. Wrong. This had the best run of shows back to back up until Blink. My girlfriend really wanted to check out Sleaford Mods, and I thought, sure I like them let's see what they're like. Wow! Incredible energy. The DJ/Producer presses play on a laptop and dances his ass off and their singer fucking shouts relentlessly to the beat while their light show goes crazy with strobes. It was fucking awesome. I loved it. I was confused by it at first, but after one song, their energy was infectious and I couldn't help but dance my ass off like an idiot.

Going into Weyes Blood, I knew it was going to be difficult for me. I had tickets to her LA show at the Ace Theater, but the death of someone close to me made me miss it. While grieving, I listened to pretty much nothing but Weyes Blood and developed an even deeper connection to Natalie Mering's music. Welp, turns out I'm not done grieving and I cried my eyes out during this set. Just openly sobbing - more like ugly crying - during "It's Not Just Me, It's Everybody", "Andromeda", "God Turn Me Into A Flower", and "Movies". I felt venerable as hell her whole performance. She's just so amazing and I loved how she was having fun with all the rave jokes and brought out that hippopotamus.

After being emotionally cleansed, I once again got physically cleansed by 2ManyDJs. Inforoo, thank y'all SO MUCH for convincing me to go to this show. What a fucking blast we had dancing in the back of the Gobi. It was just a nonstop party surrounded by awesome people.

Alright, can you sense a pattern here? Heading to Bjork, I felt amazing. We were trying to decide how close to get or where to be, and scoping out the front, we spotted a girl about 3/4 of the way back of the front pit wearing a swan dress. No brainer. We got a spot about 15 yards back and prepared to be wowed. Holy shit. I wasn't ready for how beautiful that Bjork set was going to be. And everyone around us was SO RESPECTFUL. Even when her voice went out during "Lionsong" everyone around us started applauding and supporting her in the moment. I got the sense she appreciated it. Then, Bjork brought back the waterworks for me with that rendition of "Yoga". Something about it struck my emotional core, and once again, I found myself sobbing in a sea of strangers. And it happened a second time during her set with "Hyperballad"...damn! Bjork is just on a whole different level and I felt fully connected to the beauty of her performance with the orchestra. And closing with a orchestra version of "Pluto?!" Wow, just... wow.

With just enough time, we ran over Desapcio to close it out for Coachella 2023. To my surprise, we ended up getting Kraftwerk! This moment just felt perfect with the disco ball aglow singing and dancing along to "Numbers/Computer World". Excellent send off to Despacio and a dance-filled weekend.

Finally, we arrived at the low point of our day - Blink 182. I was a huge Blink fan when I was a teenager and saw them 3x during the Take of Your Pants and Jacket, Pop Disaster, and Self-Titled Tours. I never would have expected to see them again, let alone at Coachella. We hung out in the back and watched "Family Reunion" and sung along to "Anthem Pt. 2" then decided to bail. They just aren't great live and it's all so fucking immature for a bunch of 50 year olds. Glad people still love it and are able to have fun, but it's not for me. Thinking we'd see something else, we went over to Mojave where I thought Sudan Archives were playing, but I fucked up and we saw The Blaze instead. Still a pretty cool, easy going set to check out. Then it dawned on us, uhhh there's nothing else to do but watch more Blink. Dammit. So we went back and watched "Stay Together For The Kids" through "Dammit". I did like Mark's joke about playing all of "Dude Ranch" during Stagecoach next week, which I would have checked out. Singing along to "Dammit" was fun as hell and I'm glad I was at least there for that moment.

Oh wait, but there's more, and even I forgot until my girlfriend mentioned it...we still had Four Tet x Fred Again.. x Skrillex. Oh my god did you hear that? Damn, this show was fun as hell! What a treat to have this happen last second after Frank Ocean's bullshit. It felt like a huge moment for all 3 djs and, for the final moments of Coachella 2023, I cleansed myself once last time dancing in the desert breeze. Beyond grateful.

Overall Top Ten

1. The Chemical Brothers
2. Gorillaz
3. Underworld
4. Bjork
5. Weyes Blood
6. Sleaford Mods
7. Charli XCX
8. 2ManyDJs
9. Rosalia
10. Magdalena Bay

first year my phone got jacked but yet still somehow the best year yet! Luckily it happened night 1 (sober night) so I had time to work out logistics and make peace with it. By day 2 I had fully embraced the rare opportunity this gave me to be present in the year of our lord 2023. I found a purple hat and my brother put me on his shoulders for sofi tukker and I looked over the crowd at sunset. What a beautiful view that I hope to remember forever. It was also really nice to not be checking the set times obsessively or trying to text and coordinate with our group - honestly. I was just bouncing around and still somehow managed to run into everyone. I even ran into my best friend from first grade right after I got pickpocketed .. cheered my right up!

If you're curious it happened at metro boomin. I had it in my fanny in front of me, but my hands were at my sides. Our crew was going in single file by the portapotties and it was already shoulder to shoulder back there so I didn't even register that someone had bumped into me and took it until I felt the weight shift and looked down and sure enough my zipper was wide open. Bestie started puking immediately as that happened as well, which was around the time the weeknd came on. It felt like metro literally opened the gates of hell lol. I'm not even mad bc it's so fitting. Ultimately I learned that it is OKAY to rely on others and ask for help from this too. As camp/rave mom, this was a hard one for me. But I had to rely on my friends for the rest of the weekend, and they were happy to help. I even had to get my roommate to overnight my passport so I could catch my flight (ID and credit AND debit were in my phone lol). But I somehow made it home and made it to work today. I miss everyone already. Saturday night the fields were GLOWING. I danced from BLACKPINK to prydz and everyone looked beautiful, so many "Happy Coachella"s and smiles and new friends

That fucking OMG TBA fred again skrillex four tet in the jungle grand master kieran partying in the USA set was just incredible. weekend 2 forever. It's hard to believe one week ago today I was so emotional about frank ocean's set. GV made lemonade out of this one for real.

Thanks. Yeah, I was in front of the soundboard but looking at the stage, I was to the right. I was trying to hide it all with my bandana and sunglasses and was still wearing my straw hat that had a hole at the top.

Haha makes sense, she was making us all crying. My girlfriend also cried during that set.

Me and my wife rolled over after The Blaze and Boris was throwing down. Great set from what we saw. 

Prob gonna have to see what they do with the past festivals version and see if it ends up at high res. Blink tweeted one but it was regular resolution.

Edit: somebody did do this and they say its hi res

www.reddit.com/r/Coachella/comments/12zke5d/updated_coachella_2023_poster/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=1&utm_term=1

Underworld was either my top set or close to my top set in 2016, but yeah definitely seems like more praise for them this time around.  I definitely think the show this year was better, but hard to say why.  I'm also extremely biased as they're a top-10 (possibly top-5) all time act for me, and were my #1 priority going in to this year (only other time I saw them was in 2016) but it really was a ridiculously great show.

chems is distinctly boomer

Breeders were good. Brought out the Linda Linda’s for a song and covered Happiness is a Warm Gun. Me and my girlfriend enjoyed it a ton