On today’s episode of “Daily Variety” podcast, Variety music mavens Jem Aswad, Chris Willman and Steven J. Horowitz unpack the first weekend of the Coachella music festival. The three debate the experience of attending the desert gathering in person versus taking it in as “Couchella” via the expansive YouTube live stream options. They also break down impressive sets from Karol G, Addison Rae, Sombr, Slayyter, Clipse, Wet Leg and Jamie xx, among others.
Aswad, Variety‘s executive editor of music, reveals that he has never attended Coachella despite his long career in music. The live stream is a gift to inveterate New Yorkers who generally avoid dusty deserts/
“My whole attitude has been — because all I care about is the music — I don’t need to make the scene. I don’t need to hobnob with the executives because I see them all the rest of the year. All I care about is the music,” Aswad asserts. “And the live stream is the greatest place to hear what’s happening It is the best view. You’re going to get 10 times better better view, even from like the greatest artist pass VIP. And I don’t have to go anywhere and it doesn’t cost anything. So what could be better than that?”
Willman has spent many a hot day and chilly night in the venue that is about halfway between Los Angeles and the Arizona border. His last IRL excursion to Coachella came in 2019.
“I remember literally running across the festival grounds to catch Blackpink, which was very unseemly for a person of my age. And I was kind of a snob about it at that point. I was like, you have to be there. It’s not the same,” Willman says. “But then like the first year that it took place after the pandemic, I did do the home experience. And something that struck me was how beautifully everything is photographed, especially the main stage acts, where there’s been so much rehearsal going into it, and you have these Steadicams swooping around the stage. It’s like watching a concert film, except really better than most concert films, because it’s not overedited. It’s just all these beautiful kind of establishing medium shots that zoom in and they’re there on stage. So I’ve been a convert to the couch experience. I love it.”
Horowitz was one of numerous Variety staffers who braved the Interstate 10 freeway to make the trek out past Palm Springs. After taking in dozens of acts over 72 hours, Horowitz came away most impressed was impressed by the performance of Colombian artist Karol G, who closed the place down on April 12 with the closing set of the first weekend. Coachella’s second weekend runs April 17-19.
Karol G was “just an absolute spectacle to behold. She started 30 minutes late. People were very restless. I was in the front pit and I was squished in and I was like, ‘I don’t even know if I can stick around, ‘ ” Horowitz says. “But once she started, I was locked in. I couldn’t take my eyes off her.”
(Pictured: Karol G at her closing night set on April 12)
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