Coachella 2025: Green Day, Charli XCX and other Saturday highs and lows

USA Today

13-04-2025

Coachella 2025: Green Day, Charli XCX and other Saturday highs and lows
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Coachella 2025: Charli xcx fans show off their best 'brat' strut
We asked a bunch of Charli xcx fans to show off their best "brat" struts ahead of the singer's performance on Saturday, April 12, 2025.
Another Coachella day, another edition of our Coachella highs and lows. And this action-packed day featured no shortage of either, as Charli owned the stage while T-Pain (partially) flopped. But we're going to keep this thing snappy as I've still got a Travis Scott set to catch (so the jury's out on which part of this story that set would fit into).
THE HIGHS
Rock is alive and well at Coachella with Weezer and Green Day
There's been a great deal of talk about how Coachella has strayed from its rock roots only to seemingly turn somewhat back toward them this year. But if this year's festival was something of an unofficial trial on the question of whether booking big-name rock acts is still a viable path for the festival, Saturday's early performances certainly delivered (The Misfits set was still to come as of this writing).
Weezer delivered a barrage of hits early in the day, Jimmy Eat World brought a full-blown rock show to the Coachella Stage in the mid-afternoon and then Green Day delivered a commanding and energetic highlight set that was heavy on spectacle and seemed to be making a clear argument that while this was somehow Green Day's first time playing Coachella, it should not be the last of a rock band of their ilk. The massive crowd seemed to eat it up, and I hope Goldenvoice CEO Paul Tollett did too, and will act accordingly when booking future festivals.
Charli XCX delivered a magical golden-hour set
Sometimes the Coachella stars really align and you end up with something like Charli XCX's unforgettable golden hour set. A bonafide superstar clearly at the height of her powers, Charli XCX oozed unfathomable levels of charisma as she worked through the hits that defined Brat summer, only to cap things off with her OG classic "I Love It." She also didn't disappoint on the special guest front as she deployed her beloved collaborators Troye Sivan, Lorde and perhaps most exciting of all Billie Eilish.
But that was all icing on the cake as Charli is every bit a commanding star in her own right and showed it as she owned the stage in her sunglasses despite the lack of backup dancers or even much in the way of set pieces. Seriously, Lady Gaga may be the best performer who has graced the stage so far at Coachella 2025 but Charli is certainly the coolest — and also pretty great herself.
Medium Build offered an uplifting party vibe
I didn't have much in the way of expectations when I wandered into Media Build's 2:10 p.m. Gobi set. I only loosely knew who he was after listening to a couple songs with my wife during a road trip to the coast we took last weekend. Which is why I was totally blown away by what a fun, charismatic and talented performer he turned out to be. From the luscious locks of the wig get ups he repeatedly donned during the show to his gorgeous voice and exaltations to stop worrying about what everyone else thinks and enjoy your life, Medium Build proved to be a perfectly uplifting way to start the day.
The weather = idyllic
Oh what a difference a day makes! One day after we suffered through 100-degree temps that made for one of the sweatiest days at Coachella I can recall, the weather gods changed their tune and blessed us with a forecast that showcased why Coachella can be among the best locations for a music festival anywhere — after the sun sets, that is. The evening temperatures were mild, the wind was light and the sunset created an explosion of color across the sky just as thousands were gathering on the lawn in front of the main stage in anticipation of Charli XCX's set.
THE LOWS
People making too much noise during the sets
I am a Coachella diehard, which means I often find myself having to defend the festival when talking to people who bemoan that it has turned into an influencer fest for people who care more about posting the perfect Insta story than the music. Which is why it was so disheartening to have several experiences today when people around were loudly laughing, talking, taking photos and generally making tons of noise at some of the key moments of several sets, such as the dramatic closing minutes of Above & Beyond's. Look, I'm all for people having fun and enjoying Coachella however works for them but ya'll need to chill.
T-Pain's lack of actual singing
Look, I know and generally accept that backing tracks are a thing. But it still felt like T-Pain, who is already famous (infamous?) for being the artist more associated with the use of Auto-Tune, took things a little far as he let song after song pass with him only bothering to sing or rap a few words (if that) while blaring backing tracks that obviously did 90% of the work. This is not to say, however, that this set was bad necessarily.
While it was disappointing that T-Pain chose to relegate himself to hype man for most of the set, he is still a pretty incredible hype man and the crowd scarcely seemed to mind as they raucously danced to hit after hit. Seriously, who remembered T-Pain was part of so many early 2000s bangers? Like remember 'Kiss Kiss' and 'Alcohol?' Wow. And T-Pain was definitely singing (seemingly with less Auto-Tune than usual?) when he delivered a unique Coachella moment by covering Chris Stapleton's 'Tennessee Whiskey' and Journey's 'Don't Stop Believin'.'
Less-than-ideal scheduling
Jimmy Eat World starting moments after Weezer ended when there was a lengthy walk between the stages and only a few high-end rock acts playing the whole weekend? Frustrating. Nearly Above & Beyond's entire set overlapping with Green Day's? Unforgivable. Fine, am I one of the few Coachellagoers who probably enjoys both top-notch pop punk and emotive, trancy EDM in equal measure. Well, maybe. But still, this is my highs and lows and I didn't appreciate it.