Coachella 2022 live: Billie Eilish brings out Paramore’s Hayley Williams as special guest
California festival is in full swing, with headline sets from Harry Styles, Billie Eilish, The Weeknd and Swedish House Mafia
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Your support makes all the difference.After a two-year absence, Coachella has made its highly anticipated return.
Located in Indio, California, the desert festival has gained popularity over the years for its glitzy Instagram-worthy dress code and major celebrity guest sightings.
The festival began its second weekend on Friday (22 April), following a lively first three days a week ago.
Harry Styles headlined on Friday night, delighting fans as he brought out Lizzo for his special guest (after duetting with Shania Twain last week). The singer and rapper joined him for a rendition of the One Direction song “What Makes You Beautiful”, as well as Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive”.
Saturday’s (23 April) show was all about Billie Eilish, who teamed up with Hayley Williams for an acoustic version of Paramore’s “Misery Business”. However, soon after Williams left the stage, Eilish tripped over and fell flat on her face. “You guys, I seriously ate s***,” she told the crowd. “Seriously. It was pitch black.”
Read more:
- Harry Styles review: Cheesy chat, One Direction hits and a cameo from country queen Shania Twain
- Coachella 2022 Day 2 talking points: From a surprise Gorillaz appearance to The Simpsons theme, live!
- Maneskin Q&A: ‘Our new single was inspired by Ukraine – we wanted to raise our voice for something meaningful’
- The Weeknd sparks speculation over mystery voice note played during Sunday headliner set
- Teenage fan invited on stage to perform with Dave revealed to be the son of ‘Notting Hill’ director Richard Curtis
Find all the updates from this year’s festival below
Watch: Billie Eilish joined by Khalid as duo perform 2018 hit ‘Lovely’
Billie Eilish was joined by Khalid as the duo recreated the magic of their 2018 hit “Lovely” during Eilish’s history-making set at Coachella.
Fans on social media have shared snippets from Eilish and Khalid’s performance, describing it as “iconic”.
Watch it here:
Danny Elfman brings Spider-Man, Batman and The Simpsons to Coachella - review
And now, time for something completely different: composer Danny Elfman is by some margin the oldest artist performing at this year’s youth-focused Coachella. But on the basis of his eclectic show on the Outdoor Theatre stage late on Saturday night (16 April), his age is the least unusual thing about him.
For a start, there can be few 68-year-old composers around who would choose to perform topless so as best to show off a heavily tattooed torso. More pertinently, there are few composers of any age who could make a full orchestra sound like a garage punk band, as Elfman often does throughout his hour-long set.
“Hello Coachella,” he says, not long after playing deranged 2021 single “Insects” and then a section of his orchestral score from 2002’s Spider-Man. “My name’s Danny Elfman, and I’ve got a strange little show for you.” He’s not kidding.
Read Kevin E G Perry’s four-star review of Elfman’s first Coachella performance here:
Danny Elfman’s ‘strange’ Coachella show among this year’s most memorable - review
Danny Elfman’s booking was undoubtedly a gamble, but it’s one that pays off many times over as ‘The Simpsons’ composer delivers a mutli-faceted, unusual Coachella debut on Saturday (16 April)
Coachella bids rowdy farewell to innovative boy band Brockhampton - review
After almost a decade of boundary shifting and rule breaking, the most innovative boy band of the 21st century have decided to call it a day.
Taking over the huge aircraft hangar that is the Sahara stage at Coachella music festival on Saturday (16 April), sprawling Texan collective Brockhampton have decided to hang up their bucket hats for good. Well, at least that was what fans were told in January of this year, when they revealed via social media that they would be taking an “indefinite hiatus” following Coachella, while thanking fans for their support over the past eight years.
However, after tonight’s hour-long spectacular, video screens reveal that they’re not quite done yet. When the band leave the stage, a pre-recorded clip of de facto frontman Kevin Abstract talking to his bandmates flashes up. He has something to tell them he says. The screens then go dark, leaving nothing but the words: “Brockhampton. The Final Album. 2022.” If the crowd hadn’t been going bonkers enough during the set, this is enough to make them totally lose it.
Read The Independent’s US Entertainment Editor Leonie Cooper’s full review here.
Coachella bids rowdy farewell to innovative boy band Brockhampton - review
‘This is not a comeback ‘cus we not coming back’
First pictures of Megan Thee Stallion at Coachella day 2
Megan Thee Stallion’s set is currently underway at Coachella!
“You ready hotties?” the “Hot Girl Summer” singer arrived onstage, wearing a silver cut-out jumpsuit, for her first time performing at the festival.
Fans are speculating whether Dua Lipa might make a surprise appearance with Megan; the singers’ collaborative “Sweetest Pie” was released last month.
Brockhampton’s forthcoming 2022 album will be their ‘final’ one
Brockhampton have announced their final album together at Coachella, after founding member Kevin Abstract also told fans that their shows in California would be their “last ever”.
The American hip-hop boy band on Saturday (16 April) concluded their set at the festival’s Sahara stage with an emotional update: Brockhampton‘s forthcoming 2022 album will also be their final one.
Read the full story here.
Brockhampton announce final album at Coachella as fans left shocked
‘Brockhampton: The final album. 2022,’ the screens at Coachella’s Sahara stage flashed after the boy band’s performance
Disclosure joined by Khalid and brass band during high-energy rave set
Last time Surrey-born brothers Howard and Guy Lawrence played Coachella, back in 2016, they augmented their live show with a number of high-profile guest vocalists including Lorde (for “Magnets”), Sam Smith (for “Latch” and “Omen”) and AlunaGeorge (for “White Noise”).
By those high standards, tonight’s performance was relatively light on surprises – bar the appearance of Khalid late on for the first ever live performance of their 2020 collaboration “Know Your Worth”. Perhaps that’s a sign that the Lawrence brothers are now more confident in their own ability to hold the Coachella audience captive with minimal bells and whistles.
Now over a decade into a career they began as minors, the pair have become practiced experts at delivering a high-energy rave by this point. The Coachella crowd is more than willing to meet them half way, and they’re out in force for the duo’s sunset set, a euphoric, hands-in-the-air performance. “We want to see maximum energy, maximum vibes tonight,” announce the brothers. It’s fair to say their wish is granted.
“When a Fire Starts to Burn” has the whole crowd moving in unison, while phone lights flash on to illuminate “Nocturnal”. Despite playing the festival yesterday, there’s no sign of Slowthai aside from in pre-recorded form on the big screens for Grammy-nominated banger “My High”.
The duo close their set with party anthem “Tondo”, joined on stage by a brass band horn section, but the focus never really leaves the siblings at centre stage during the sort of uplifting performance the Coachella stage was made for.
Jackson Wang’s surprise appearance is all Twitter can talk about
While Disclosure are busy bringing in one of the biggest crowds of the weekend over on the Outdoor Theatre, 88rising are doing their own equally impressive thing on the main Coachella stage.
The first ever record label to be given their own showcase at the festival, the collective doesn’t take this honour lightly.
Since 2015, 88rising have been working with artists and creators from across Asia and, tonight, the LA-based company brings in the big boys and girls for an 80 minute extravaganza with an epic list of names as well as a troupe of dancers and multi-layered stage.
A mini version of 88rising’s own hugely successful Head in the Clouds festival, it’s the perfect potted variety show – with spots from Thai rapper Milli, South Korean singer songwriter Bibi and Jakarta-born Taylor Swift co-signed singer Niki as well as Indonesian rappers Rich Brian and Warren Hue.
It is the unannounced appearance of Chinese superstar Jackson Wang however, that really makes the festival lose its collective mind.
With his silver blue hair and red gloves on majestic display, the flashy Wang slinks his way through ten minutes of Michael Jackson inspired choreography with Las Vegas magician worthy flair, leaving a whole lot of fans more than happy for his arrival, but also wondering why he wasn’t on stage for an hour longer at least.
Fans react to Wang’s ‘festival devouring’ Coachella performance here.
Fans react to Jackson Wang’s ‘festival devouring’ Coachella 2022 show
Wang’s unannounced appearance makes the festival ‘lose its collective mind’
Coachella weather report
Where yesterday was too hot, today is decidedly too windy. Dust storms surround the site making visibility a challenge for many driving to the festival. On the ground, this means bucket hats blowing all over the place, bins tumbling across the fields and a lot of hairdos becoming hair don’ts. The solution? Hold onto your hats, Coachella.
A mosh pit at last
We find our first legit mosh pit of the weekend at Turnstile’s Mojave stage set. Crowd surfing and an abundance of flailing limbs accompany the US hardcore act’s enticing way with melodic but still utterly ferocious punk.
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