05 May Coachella

A few weeks ago my friends and I went to Coachella because this is probably the only chance we’ll have, being international students, and it seemed like a damn good way of escaping from approaching finals.

In the days leading up to it there was a heck of a lot more packing to be done than I previously anticipated. Getting the much-vaunted ‘Coachella outfits’ ready was a lot easier than I thought – it’s basically just fringe and groovy sunglasses – but packing food, a cooler, a canopy and the like onto a bus (because none of us can drive) was more than a little stressful. I experienced more stress thinking I was gonna go to Coachella and starve than I have throughout finals.

Thankfully, we got there, about 12 hours later and pitched our spot. Day 1 was insane, there was such a chill energy to the entire place that wasn’t really all that pretentious. I assumed it would be a lot of influencers and purely fashion-oriented people but, thankfully, there was none of that to be seen. The food was crazy expensive but when you’re in the middle of the desert mildly dehydrated and starving, it tastes delicious.

The music was, of course, the highlight. There were a few people that just completely blew me away – King Princess was one of them; she’s who I want to be when I grow up and she clearly had so much fun up on stage. I got to see Kacey Musgraves, basically an idol of mine, for the second time. Anderson .Pak was someone I wasn’t too familiar with but he killed his set and I can call myself a fan now. Likewise, Blackpink, whose music is great, but really, really comes alive when they performed their insanely impressive choreography. Naturally, Childish Gambino and Janelle Monae killed their sets – I don’t need to say any more.

On day 2, Mac DeMarco really impressed me, as did Superorganism, who played a really fun, low-key gig. Billie Eilish closed the day out and she was incredible live. I’m in awe at her talent.

We attended Kanye’s very surreal Easter Sunday service, which was a change of pace although – if I’m honest – got rather dull after a while. Thankfully, Lizzo was super fun and really got things going; “Good as Hell” and “Juice” are such bangers. Finally, Ariana Grande was heavenly and just so, so good – even if Justin Bieber’s weird lip-syncing kinda changed the mood.

It was damn relaxing over all, a lot less stressful than I anticipated, just an amazing opportunity. Truly, Coachella was definitely a highlight of my year and if you get the chance to go, take it in a heartbeat!