EVENT: THE CHARM AND CHAOS OF COACHELLA VALLEY MUSIC FESTIVAL 2023

BY A BOOK OF EDITORS

With Festival season kicking in and ushering waves of new and returning audiophiles, curious party-goers, fashionistas, influencers, celebrities, and more, the A BOOK OF team braved the scorching heat and the hovering veil of dust to share our editors’ personal thoughts and inputs regarding their experiences at the recent 2023 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Club on April 14-16, 2023 in Indio, California.

This is actually the first Coachella Festival with a diverse group of Headliners- Black Pink, Bad Bunny, Frank Ocean and Blink 182.

FESTIVAL VIBES

LB: When you walk through security, there’s a pact you make when you tap your wristband on the RFID scanner. You subject yourself to a bag check, but also they know you’re all there to commune in the name of good music and good vibes. Being searched and walking through a metal detector is always nerve wracking no matter what, but in Coachella, it’s the rite of passage to an unforgettable weekend. Inside the festival, everyone is happy and respectful. No one pushes you as you walk through the crowd. Once, we got stuck between Sahara and the Ferris Wheel and it almost felt like we were in a crush, but it also felt safe. Crowd etiquette - don’t push, make way and if stuck, wait. Something the crowd of Astro World should take note of.

IR: For a first timer, I’m digging the vibes. It’s a little chaotic but also orderly at the same time. Since its launch in1999, you can tell how the organizers have figured out crowd control. You can tell that the layers and level of security are tight. It’s not perfect but it’s a working, evolving, system. Most people are generally happy just to be there. Although I noticed that it was also a very social-media driven, influencer-centric environment, there’s also people who are there just for the music and the vibes alone. It’s indeed a little nice getaway from the city. It’s a giant fair- you’re all inside this fenced environment with pretty much the same general goal, which is to have fun.

FOOD

IR: It’s festival food. It’s expensive. Nothing new about that. Imagine the regular prices of most foods you get but double or triple thos prices- that’s your festival food price. There’s a whole gamut of selections though. From fried, to savory, to sweet, to healthy, to gourmet, to vegan. Thing is, if you’re inside the festival and you didn’t eat beforehand, you will eventually end up grabbing food inside anyway, so prepare yourself for that.

FASHION

IR: There’s diversity in fashion here. This is the place to experiment, the place to flaunt your style, the place to express your individuality. A lot of people brought their fashion game during this year’s fest. There’s a lot of the usual festival fashion (mesh, vests, fringes, hats, cropped-tops, shorts are the usual staple), but you can also see a lot of people who brought their fashion game to another level despite the scorching heat of the desert. There’s jackets- a variety of jackets ranging from denim to puffers (yes, puffer, colored jackets in the heat!), there’s dresses, and even couture pieces. It was definitely a fun place to people-watch on top of enjoying the music.

LB: In terms of fashion, anything goes in Coachella. Wear bikinis, boots, mesh outerwear and even a dress, if you can deal with the desert sun during the day and the cold desert nights. If you feel cold at night, it’s the best opportunity to head to the merch store and buy your favorite artist merch or even Coachella merch. It’s memorabilia at its best and will forever remind you of the amazing weekend you had in the desert.

MUSIC AND PERFORMANCES WE SAW:

BLACKPINK

LB: I wasn’t a Blackpink fan coming in, but definitely wanted to see why they’re the biggest girl group in the world. And I can say that after watching them up close, I’m now a converted BLINK. Lalisa, Jennie, Rosé and Jisoo all have this je ne se quoi that is cute and sexy at the same time. All those years in pop star camp definitely shows in their performance and they’re able to do hard hitting hip hop moves with a feminine Asian flair.

IR: Blackpink deserved the main stage. Period. This group of performers delivered to their very core and satisfied the Blinks (Blackpink fandom), and audience. Lalisa, Jennie, Rosé and Jisoo were exceptional global performers who earned their right on the world’s global stages. The energy was so electric and infectious, it was insane.

ANGÈLE

LB: Belgian pop star Angèle has really leveraged her collaboration with Dua Lipa to break into the US market. After appearing in Dua Lipa’s pandemic livestream only concert Studio 2054 and appearing as a surprise guest at her live Future Nostalgia tour dates, Angèle has been able to get through to the English speaking audience and further proves that music is a universal language. She’s a popstar through and through and will get you dancing to her French songs, even if you don’t understand it.

IR: It was a great mix of electric, fiery, and sexy performance. I genuinely enjoyed Angèle’s set and found it mesmerizing- the specific ways she commanded the stage with her beauty, presence and dancing. Also props to her dancers for pumping up the energy and delivering a solid, engaging performance.

BAD BUNNY

IR: Puerto Rican rapper and singer Bad Bunny definitely brought reggaeton and latin trap to Coachella’s main stage with a huge bang. As a headliner for this year’s festival, Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio hyped the fans and his audience with his hits, and inducted the rest of the audience with his music and latin culture. The visuals were stunning, the presentation was bomb, to say the least. It was spicy, it was sexy, and definitely something to remember. I was already tired at this point of the night since headliners are slated at the very end of each festival day but the energy was just infectious that you can’t stop vibing and dancing to the music.

LB: It’s not lost on me that this year’s headliners are people of color like Bad Bunny, Frank Ocean and Blackpink. Seeing Bad Banny take the stage and showcase the best of latin trap music, and seeing the audience sing along to a lot of songs made his set worthwhile. He’s an artist that can cross cultures and touch people even if they don’t understand the lyrics. Music is a universal language and Bad Bunny’s global dominance proves that music cuts across all cultures and languages.

DPR LIVE and DPR IAN

IR: DPR Ian’s (Christian Yu) knows how to work his audience. His overall performance was packed with energy. You can easily tell how passionate he is with his craft and how much he cares about his fans. He performed several of his hits that kept the audience hyped up throughout the whole set. It was an energetic, fiery performance.

LB: It’s interesting to see an Australian born-and-raised artist like DPR Ian who ends up back in his native country of South Korea to find himself as a K-Pop superstar with C-Clown. Just like Jennie and Rosé of Blackpink, he is able to find that sweet spot of Western and Asian cultures and bring them into his performances.

KALI UCHIS

LB: I still remember watching Kali Uchis for the first time in Coachella in 2018 and she was performing during the desert’s magical golden hour when the sun eases up and the wind starts to blow. It’s exactly at that time when the light breeze infuses new energy to the sundrenched weary festival goers. And it’s always magical. Seeing Kali finally take on the main stage is a sight to behold. She’s definitely come a long way from 2018 and I can see her returning to Coachella in the future as a headliner.

BOY GENIUS

IR: The black and white visuals was really a vibe and it absolutely sets the tone for the group’s entire set. It was a nice, laidback, almost spiritual set of performances that provided a good contrast to the other performances happening around us. As a whole, it was beautiful and magical.

LB: The band all wore matching suits that recall the clean cut version of The Beatles during their early years, playing their respective instruments as well. It’s almost like watching the now defunct MTV Unplugged, a stripped down performance of your favorite artist – as intimate as you can make it in Coachella’s Outdoor Stage (which is the 2nd largest stage at the festival). That was the vibe, and it’s a welcome palate cleanser before heading over to the main stage to see another headliner.

BLONDIE

IR: This woman is literally a legend. Rocking out hits and performing in front of hundreds of people on that stage was an absolute delight to witness. Desert evenings tend to be cold but Blondie lit that stage on fire with her music and performance. I can’t help but smile and jump as soon as the electric guitars and bass drops. She delivered an epic, energetic finale that delivered an absolute memorable moment to those who were able to witness it.

LB: ONE WORD – ICONIC. Coachella likes to pay homage to iconic artists that have paved the way for all the new and current artists, and seeing 77-year-old Debbie Harry take the stage with Blondie is by itself a tribute to the legendary rock band.

CHARLI XCX

IR: It was hits after hits after hits powered by Charli’s infectious energy, powerful vocals, entertainment prowess and visual presentations. It was a whole treat. You can hear the audience jamming to Charli’s hits from different parts of the campground. There’s people dancing under the sun, all bathing under the desert heat and Charli’s infectious pop music.

LB: What can I say? Charli is the ultimate pop star and songwriter. She just has so many bangers and a Coachella set is too short for her complete oeuvre. I loved seeing her command the main stage and was definitely left wanting for more. She also brought out Troye Sivan as a surprise guest and that was a treat.

ROSALIA

IR: I’ve always been enamored by Rosalia’s charm. She possesses this sweet, soft, beauty paired with a badass attitude and sass that highly complements her performances. When she started singing Bizcochito, the audience lost it. It was a party. Rosalia is a performer who never seems to run out of energy. Whether she’s singing pop bops or rocking out some slower songs, the energy is undeniably there. It’s that kind of electric energy that makes you move as soon as her music plays.

WILLOW

IR: Willow’s entire set was a mesmerizing journey throughout her continuous music evolution as an artist. At such a young age, Willow’s powerful vocals and narratives constantly engages the audience and fans to her realm. Willow knows how to engage and work her audience while staying true to herself and her vision. She’s an artist that refuses to be placed in any box or category. She creates music, and she performs while staying true to her craft. The entire set ranges from Willow’s slow jams to her electric, metal sounding music.

LB: Willow is a rockstar. She has it in her blood, growing under the spotlight of her famous parents. For a bit, we all thought that rock is dead, but Gen Z artists like Willow are leaning into the rock sounds of the 90s and 2000s with a contemporary flair gives me hope for the crop of new artists. Her music touches on the themes that are relevant to her generation with a wink to the past generation that makes her able to tick the boxes across generations. Not all artists are able to do that.

DOMINIC FIKE

LB: Dominic Fike is of Haitian and Filipino descent, and this cross cultural upbringing definitely unconsciously bleeds into his music. He falls into the alt music genre, but can lean towards more pop or rap, if needed. It’s genre meshing and bending at its best, but somehow fits with him. Fike may be more known as Elliot in HBO’s Euphoria, but his music is outstanding and he definitely deserved that Outdoor Stage lineup.