Don’t be fooled by the clickbait headlines about influencers or camping drama – Coachella remains the premier festival for any music lover, especially electronic music fans. I had the chance to attend Weekend 2 for the second year in a row, and it somehow surpassed my already sky-high expectations.
I could talk about how logistics were seamless for W2, or how the stage and sound design were top-notch, or how the weather was absolutely glorious for W2. But what makes Coachella truly unbeatable is its lineup of exclusive performances from the best musicians in the game.
I managed to hit 22 sets over the course of the 3 days I attended, but these 10 stood out from the rest:
Sammy Virji: Maybe the true breakout star of the weekend. Between his “UKG Avengers”-style B5B Do Lab surprise set (featuring fellow UKG stars Interplanetary Criminal, Oppidan, Salute, and Conducta) and his packed Sahara stage performances, Virji absolutely dominated the conversation coming out of both weekends. With his infectious enthusiasm, killer selections, and insane mixing skills (shoutout to his mashup of Radiohead’s “Everything In Its Right Place” and “If U Need It”), Virji had the crowd literally jumping from open to close.
Courtesy of Coachella
Chase & Status: It’s so satisfying to see these veterans get their flowers in the US dance music scene given that they’ve been on the cutting edge of DnB for decades. This was without a doubt the best crowd of the whole festival. The energy was truly electric, made even more impressive by the fact that it was one of the last sets of the whole festival and most people were probably tired. It was the only dance floor I was part of where everyone was truly dancing like crazy.
Lady Gaga: It feels unfair to compare any other set to Lady Gaga’s, because she gave such a legendary performance that will considered one of the greats in Coachella history books. She fully put on a five-act opera complete with outfit changes, incredible choreography with a full ensemble, and multiple set changes. And her mic was ON. At the end, she treated us to an acoustic rendition of “Shallow.” I will be thinking about her performance for years to come.
Green Day: One of my most highly anticipated sets of the weekend, and yet they somehow surpassed expectations. One thing is undeniable – Billy Joe Armstrong is truly a rockstar. His swagger was off the charts and he embodied the punk mentality while also bringing everyone together. The crowd was full of nostalgic millennials reliving our childhood memories, and everyone singing along to the lyrics of “Wake Me Up When September Ends” will surely be a new core one.
Courtesy of Coachella
Charli XCX: With Brat being my top album of 2024, I couldn’t wait to hear her songs live. While I saw plenty of people complaining on social media that she was autotuned, that she didn’t have any stage production, or that she didn’t have anyone else on stage – I couldn’t have cared less. She didn’t need it, and I was there be a part of the crowd more than anything else. She completely dominated the stage by herself, somehow hyping up the thousands and thousands of people in attendance and transforming the massive main stage experience into an intimate rave.
Lola Young: This girl has Chappel Roan potential. She packed the Mojave stage at 5PM on a Friday, and her voice is just truly incredible. One of the few artists I’ve seen who sounds even better live than she does on her albums. Her rock ‘n roll meets Amy Winehouse energy was the perfect way to kick off my festival experience, and though the crowd had the most energy for her viral closing song “Messy,” I thought her best performance was “Conceited,” a defiant power anthem that I personally think should be her next number one single.
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Sara Landy: I wasn’t familiar with her game. Her hardcore techno set was just so fun. She played remixes of so many pop songs (including one electric remix of a Charli XCX tune) – I never thought it was possible to want to twerk to techno music until her set.
Courtesy of Coachella
T-Pain: Another pure dose of nostalgia. This man just has so many hits and the crowd sang along on full blast to every song. T-Pain has been on a campaign to let people know that despite being a pioneer of autotune, his real voice is incredible, and it was on full display during this set. Even though he had a daytime slot, he transported the audience into a 2010 nightclub.
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The Prodigy: I love drum & bass music, but I’ve never seen real live DnB music, until I saw The Prodigy close out the Mojave tent on Saturday. I was blown away by the magic they made with their full live band, and if the mosh pits I saw were any indication, the audience felt the same way. This performance from these 90s trailblazers was as special as it was rare, given they hadn’t performed in the US since 2017.
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Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Philharmonic: I think it should be a rule that an orchestra needs to be on the lineup every single year from here on out. In terms of pure star power, they were unbeatable, bringing out five different guests: Laufey, Ca7riel and Paco Amoroso, Natasha Bedingfield, Dave Grohl, and Cynthia Erivo. Between each of these stellar surprise guests, they played classic songs ranging from “Flight of the Bumblebee” to the Darth Vader theme song. It was so unexpectedly delightful.
Courtesy of Coachella
The post RECAP | The Top 10 Sets We Saw At Coachella Weekend Two 2025 appeared first on This Song Is Sick.