Welcome to the live coverage of First Day of 2023 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
Friday’s lead was Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny, the first Hispanic-speaking artist to top the festival’s list, and in another first, one of the top three was not whites this year: K-pop girl group Blackpink will perform on the main stage on Saturday night, and international mystery man Frank Ocean will close the festival on Sunday with his first concert. since 2019 and his first regional gig since 2017.
The 2023 edition of the hugely popular (and lucrative) festival comes after a tumultuous couple of years, for Coachella and, more broadly, for live music. In 2022, both Travis Scott and Kanye West pulled out of planned title performances, while the 2020 and 2021 shows were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Friday will have the highly anticipated series from gorillasMetro Boomin, Burna Boy, the Chemical Brothers, a reunion Blink 182, wet feet, Becky WOODYves Tumor, Kaytranada, Blonde, Doechii and much more, plus the usual parade of surprise guest stars (guardians weekend?), and Mikael Wood, August Brown, Suzy Exposito and Kenan Drauhorne of The Times will roam the grounds of Indio’s Empire Polo Club, reporting on all the action as it happens.
