By Danielle Broadway
INDIO, California (Reuters) – Strobe lighting, hardcore bass and screaming fans wearing “Brat” T-shirts defined English pop singer Charli xcx’s Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival performance on Saturday night.
The Grammy-winner brought her signature club party energy, inviting fellow singers Troye Sivan, Billie Eilish, and Lorde to join her on stage.
Sivan and Charli xcx, who joined forces in 2024 for the Sweat Tour, reunited on stage at Coachella to perform the song “Talk Talk.”
The Charli xcx’s “Brat” album inspired a cultural phenomenon on TikTok and beyond last summer.
Some of the songs she performed at the festival include “365,” “360” and “Von Dutch.”
Following Charli xcx on the main stage, punk rockers Green Day decided to address some political issues, criticizing “Make America Great” (MAGA) supporters and spotlighting the struggles of Palestinian children, by changing the lyrics of their songs.
Singer Billie Joe Armstrong changed the lyrics in the song “American Idiot,” from “I’m not a part of a redneck agenda” to “I’m not part of the MAGA agenda.”
Later, the “21 Guns” singer also changed the “American Idiot” lyrics “Runnin’ away from pain when you’ve been victimized,” to “Run away from pain, like the kids from Palestine. Tales from another broken home.”
For Green Day, planting political messages in their performances is nothing new, including changing the lyrics of the song “Jesus of Suburbia” in March during the band’s concert in Australia.
Green Day took aim at U.S. Vice President JD Vance, after he and President Donald Trump had a tense meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in the Oval Office.
Armstrong sang: “Am I retarded or am I just JD Vance,” instead of, “Am I retarded or am I just overjoyed?”
The band has also taken jabs at Trump and Elon Musk.
The group also paid homage to punk rock music throughout the decades, including their songs “Wake Me Up When September Ends,” and “Know Your Enemy.”
Ending the night, rapper Travis Scott, known for his 2021 Astroworld Festival performance in Houston where a dangerous crowd surge resulted in 10 deaths, was late to his Coachella performance.
However, fans were cheering when a brass band arrived on stage, signaling the start of the “SICKO MODE” rapper’s set.
Scott’s show included massive bursts of fire and strobe, while he and his dancers were suspended in mid-air for some aerial moves.
Songs the rapper performed include “Skyfall” and “Highest in the Room,”
He was also joined by American rappers Playboi Carti and Don Toliver.
Coachella is a two-week festival that features the same headliners both weekends. The first was April 11-13, and the second is April 18-20.
(Reporting by Danielle Broadway, editing by Giles Elgood)
