When the inevitable oral history of Coachella is written at some point in the future, the first day of the 2025 edition of the mega-fest will likely be remembered for two things: first, the nearly-unbearable 100-plus degree heat that made the early part of the day a bear to slog through for even the most faithful fans of the desert gathering, and — more importantly — Lady Gaga’s superlative headlining set, definitively one of the most well constructed and over-the-top productions to ever grace the Indio polo field’s most-massive stage.
Gaga’s show (the artist’s first full-length set promoting her newest album, Mayhem) was set up in five acts with appropriately dramatic titles (“And She Fell Into A Gothic Dream,” “The Beautiful Nightmare that Knows Her Name,” etc.) and a semi-throughline story that seemed to be about Gaga killing her Mother Monster persona, only to have it rise again at the end.
But storyline or not, it was clear early on in the performance that Gaga was shooting for the stratosphere: she emerged singing “Bloody Mary” at the top of a huge set-piece, a multi-story dress in the middle of a gothic-looking stage that revealed inside a gaggle of dancers clawing their way through a sartorial prison. The stage was bedecked to look like a ancient performance venue, complete with gargoyles and Roman columns, and flanked with a slew of musicians — a string section hiding in one window, a powerhouse drummer and bassist in another, a team of guitarists ready for battle at any time — and dozens of dancers writhing their way through moment after incredible moment, from a zombie-apocalypse-Thriller-style rise from the dead to a life-sized B-stage chessboard battle set to “Poker Face” that became a death match to enacting a brutalist war-march during “Born This Way.”
At one point, a masked DJ Gesaffelstein emerged flanked by two keyboards to play “Killah” and add to the spectacle as well. If the whole thing sounds crazily cinematic, you’re not off: the whole thing played like a concert movie, with some of the setpieces (notably the chess match) clearly set up as much for those watching the livestream at home and for fans on the packed field who were directed to the video screens.
“I decided to build you an opera house for you in the middle of the desert,” Gaga said mid-set, just before playing her hit “Alejandro.” In fact, it’s hard to fathom how this show can translate to the arenas and stadiums she’s hitting later this year: the whole thing felt custom-built for the Coachella audience, another in the best-of series of artists who have committed to Coachella headline sets that aren’t just-another-date-in-a-tour-cycle stops (Beyonce and Prince come to mind). Her’s is the kind of set that gave Coachella its king-of-the-festival status for over two decades. Only time will tell if that’s actually the plan, but for the 100,000 people watching from the Polo Field, it certainly felt that way.
Of course, Gaga wasn’t the only artist to make an impression on the throngs: just before she hit the main stage, Missy Elliott continued her much deserved victory-lap, blasting through the space-themed party that made her arena tour last year such a delight and proving that 20-plus-year-old hits like “Work It” and “Lose Control” were both timeless and ahead of their time. Blackpink’s LISA (aka Mook from The White Lotus) proved herself as a solo artist, preening and flashing winning smiles during the live debut of her song “Lifestyle” in the Sahara Tent (and shouting out her zeitgeisty HBO show from onstage as well).
Queen’s guitarist Brian May made a surprise appearance alongside a gospel choir, helping rapid-rise newcomer Benson Boone through both Queen’s classic “Bohemian Rhapsody” and his own “Beautiful Things,” shredding tastefully and looking like he was having a blast onstage. Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong (whose long-running punk-pop band headlines Saturday’s edition of the fest) played “Head over Heels” with the again-reunited Go Go’s on the slightly smaller Outdoor Theater, overcoming sound problems to merge two generations of punk together.
Ireland’s Kneecap started a mosh pit with their kinetic, frenetic Gaelic hip-hop, while newcomer Lola Young led a huge singalong of her hit “Messy” just after getting a bit messy herself — she had to grab a bucket to yack offstage a couple songs earlier, clearly suffering from nerves and heatstroke. And on a day that felt like a pressure-cooker, temperature-wise, no one could fault her.
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