It was the 23rd edition of the Indio two-weekend celebration.
Photo Credit: Coachella – Official
Coachella is one of the world’s top-tier music festivals for a reason and 2024 left no room for disappointment. I had the pleasure of being present during both weekends and these were some of my highlights.
Weekend 1:
ANOTR led us into Friday night with lively dance grooves like ‘Relax my Eyes’ and their new single ‘How You Feel ft. Leven Kali’, a singer-singer writer whose journey I’ve been following for years. Hearing this collaboration for the first time on Yuma’s dance floor made perfect sense as the first big highlight of the night. The bar reached new heights at Anti Up, Chris Lorenzo and Chris Lake’s progressive house brainchild, with ‘Keep Calm, Says Who?’ spray painted along the backdrop in true underground fashion. You could feel the attention to detail infused in the entire atmosphere as Mojave turned into a giant dance floor alongside the British duo.
Opening Sahara on Saturday, Massio and Loboman returned to Coachella as Lobomassio and set the stage with euphoric Afro house anthems including Sparrow and Barbosa’s remix of DIKEBO by CISUMMI and hot track ‘MALA FAMA” by Moeaike. Their infectious, breezy set was accompanied by a killer view from atop the new Sahara Hill – one of the best additions to the festival grounds. Belgium’s powerhouse Charlotte de Witte captivated the audience after sunset, the pounding acid techno rhythms making it impossible not to move. The impeccable next set came from Gessafelstein, French producer dubbed “dark prince of techno” and boy, he did not disappoint. Touching every sensory perception, Gessafelstein lands right on your pulse. His music captivates and enchants, and tells a powerful story. The last stop was Dom Dolla, where he dropped an unreleased, contagious ID with Tove Lo called ‘Cave’.
Sunday began with an incredible set by Adam Ten x Mita Gami, followed by Folamour and Artbat. Spent all afternoon under one roof raving, AKA the Yuma. Bicep shut it down at Mojave afterwards – an unreal moment when they dropped their classic ‘Glue’. The visual journey there took on a life of its own.
Weekend 2:
Friday started off strong with Rufus Du Sol’s sunset set at the brand new Quasar stage, featuring double monolithic screens that often mimic the desert’s jaw-dropping surroundings, especially at dusk. They had a message for the crowd, “Life is Simple” and kept it going, keeping the dance floor grounded in the present moment for hours to come.
On Saturday, Maz started up the Yuma at 2 pm, transporting you to a mystical place through his melodic, tribal grooves. It was a no-brainer that we went back for round two of Gessafelstein later that night – the second set was even better. Dom Dolla seconds after that where he brought out Tove Lo for the final announcement of their new track together, ‘Cave’. Sunday was packed with happy, lighter dance tracks from DJ Seinfeld and Flight Facilities at Yuma, to Diplo and Mau P’s sunset set back at Quasar. This new stage is truly the most beautiful spot to be for sunset at Coachella, with a powerful sound to match the insane imagery. Barry Can’t Swim ended our journey on the perfect playful note, dropping tunes like ‘How It Feels‘ and ‘God is The Space Between Us’, waves of nostalgia and melancholy swirling in the air.
Additional highlights included meeting the lovely Morag Myerscough at Lobomassio’s set – creator of the whimsical and playful art installation ‘Dancing in the Sky’ featured at Coachella 2024. It’s a geometric plaza full of color and child-like playfulness that encapsulates the energy of exploration and creativity most perfectly. The Do Lab debuted their new and improved setup, featuring immersive life-size mushrooms made of satin which act as shade structures by day and morph into lively interactive beings that dance alongside you by night.
What were your highlights from Coachella 2024?
xx, C
