The 23rd Coachella festival opened this past weekend in Indio, California, featuring performances from headliners like Lana Del Rey, Tyler the Creator and Doja Cat.
Ahead of the second weekend of the festival, some Trojans, like junior Ashley Gauba, said the first weekend “blew my expectations away.”
“There were such amazing shows to see, and everybody in the crowd was just so energetic and so nice,” said Gauba, a public relations major.
Footage on social media from the first weekend shifted expectations for some attending the second weekend of the festival. Canadian artist Grimes’ Saturday performance sparked a great deal of internet discourse over the technical issues, such as tapes that played too fast, that arose during the set.
Jenna Salley, a sophomore studying public relations and a Grimes fan, expressed concern over the artist’s set after seeing the fiasco go down online.
“I really hope Grimes gets it together because I was reading articles that said she had multiple mental breakdowns throughout her set,” Salley said.
Some Coachella attendees prefer attending the second weekend, because they expect a smoother experience once all the issues from the first weekend are ironed out.
Caroline Perez, a sophomore studying international relations, said she is “an avid promoter of weekend two, just because there are less influencers and there are also less technical difficulties.”
For some, attending weekend two allows for more production preparation and they expect a more cohesive festival experience. Perez said that last year her experience during the second weekend was a marked improvement on a technical level compared to the first weekend.
“One of the artists that I really loved was Yves Tumor and during their weekend one set, there were a lot of sound issues,” Perez said. “But when I went to weekend two it was one of the best performances ever.”
Declining ticket sales over the last few years has been a major point of contention to determine Coachella’s relevance within current pop culture. Nate Sloan, assistant professor at the USC Thornton School of Music, said Coachella’s sales might not be due to a lack of cultural relevance, but rather the skyrocketing ticket prices.
“When the festival started in 1999, I believe it was only $50 for a day pass, and now it’s hundreds of dollars, plus the expense of finding a place to stay and whatever kind of housing accommodations and transportation there are,” Sloan said. “The whole festival costs a lot of money and when the cost of living is higher than ever, people are more judicious about where they’re going to spend their money.”
Sloan said Coachella’s biggest strength was how the festival brought together headliners of various generations in order to have shows that appeal to the broadest group of people possible.
“‘Coachella is great about providing more opportunities for them to have shows that combine artists of different generations like [Gwen Stefani] and Olivia Rodrigo playing together,” Sloan said. “I think that’s something that could make the festival kind of stand out, because you have all these artists there at the same time, and there’s exciting opportunities to see them cross over.”
Weekend one attendees said that they attributed the decline in sales to lack of name recognition and pricing.
Lucy Kwitten, a sophomore studying Economics and Data Science, said that many headliners brought out other well-known artists that were not on the lineup, and including them might be beneficial for sales.
“I was watching Reneè Rapp and Katy Perry was right there next to me in front of the Barricade,” she said. “I do think they would have way more attendance if they advertised how many creators are there.”
Jake Rutsky, a sophomore studying business, said that he also thinks the advertising is the main contributor to lower attendance.
“There were a lot of people performing who I didn’t even know were going to be there,” Rutsky said. “There were two big DJs Chris Lorenzo and Chris Lake that are a part of Anti Up, and a lot of people probably just didn’t know that. There’s just less widely-known names on the lineups probably contributing to [lower attendance].”
While the prices are high, Kwitten said her experience was worth the expenditures — passes, housing and shuttle.
“It’s kind of a good deal if you think about it,” Kwitten said. “Yes, the tickets are very expensive, but you’re seeing 20 different artists for that price. It’s so worth it in my opinion.”
Kwitten said that she was pleasantly surprised by her weekend experience.
“I’d rate it a nine out of 10,” she said. “It was really, really well organized in general, which I was really happy about. Every single headliner came on [and got off] exactly when they were supposed to. I’d definitely go again.”