Coachella Valley once again filled with thousands of fans, influencers and people willing to pay $600 and up for single tickets, and $20 for a slice of pizza (or $50 for a cheeseburger) to see some of their favorite bands perform. But this year took on a few not-subtle LGBTQ nods, as the three-day and night series of concerts streamed free on YouTube April 11-13 on multiple stages. The festival continues with encore performances April 18-20.
While we watched from home, at Coachella, celebrities were in abundance, like drag star Willem.
Bernie Sanders – yes, Bernie Sanders! – enthralled attendees with his speech.
Gay actor and best-selling author Chris Colfer turned heads online with his buff selfies.
Lance Bass hung out with Paris Hilton.
And drag star Trixxie Mattel DJed for a fun set.
But without a doubt, the blockbuster of the weekend was Lady Gaga’s April 11 headlining show on the mainstage with her “Mayhem” show, a full-blown operatic extravaganza which included her new singles and classic hits.
In divided acts, and multiple costumes changes, Gaga and her crew of musicians and multiple dancers starting with a medley of “Bloody Mary,” her new hit single “Abracadabra,” and “Judas.” Popping out of a giant red dress she and other dancers eventually poured out of the lower cage (design conceptualized by Samuel Lewis and brought to life by Athena Lawton).
Along with some spooky visuals, including a hilarious group dance with rubber skeletons for “Zombieboy,” Gaga also visualized her battle with physical disability (fibromyalgia) by again using crutches in a metallic “Metropolis”-inspired costume for “Paparazzi.”
Horror and science fiction aspects continued through the show. Skull-masked dancers wrestled with Gaga in a sandbox (for “Disease”), and other takes on morbidity gave the entire concert a “Phantom of the Opera” vibe.
Further out into the audience, a square stage lit up into a chessboard, where Gaga confronted her former “Bad Romance” character while she and the dancers battled through “Poker Face.”
Long an icon for outsiders and LGBTQ folks, her fandom was visualized in its diversity as she roamed the barricade areas through “Vanish Into You.” Posing with many fans, including a moment with a gay couple who were thrilled to be near her, one young woman gave her a black rose that matched her outfit. Gaga held on to it for her next stage number, and was able to later connect online with Serena, the rose-giving fan.
Fans only had to wait five minutes for Gaga’s encore, “Bad Romance,” with a complete costume change for her and her dancers.
But before Gaga ruled, Missy Elliott provided a dance-heavy showstopper as she emerged from a Transformer costume into her styling self.
And earlier that Friday, Benson Boone did his usual stage flips and crooning up and down the ramp in his now-trademark sparkly jumpsuit that would’ve fit in well as a ’70s retro act.
Boone, who came to fame only a few years ago on “American Idol,” relished in his adoring fans. But many of them didn’t even know that when Boone performed a full-out version of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” with a full choir, the guest guitarist performing the inevitable solo was none other than Queen cofounder Brian May.
Online banter immediately followed with older fans being stunned by the non-response from the audience. Boone later mocked himself in a TikTok clip, mimed singing into a banana, mocking his fans who didn’t know who May is, and possibly didn’t even know the song was not Boone’s. May later joined Boone for the closing song of the show, his hit “Beautiful Things.”
Nevertheless, older fans like this writer figured that the late Freddie Mercury would have appreciated the tribute, and Boone himself.
This Threads post also has the full song:
https://www.threads.net/@raiderchuck310/post/DIVd2JlxpKE
Fan interaction was also evident in the closer for Green Day's set on April 12. The hugely successful punk band from Oakland kicked off with “American Idiot,” including their revised lyrical jab at “the MAGA agenda.” The concert simply rocked with all their hits and some other favorites.
But most amusing was their tradition of Billie Joe Armstrong letting a fan come up on stage to play guitar for the acoustic “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life).”
A young fan, who had held up a T-shirt asking to play, was invited up onstage and aptly called “handsome” by Armstrong himself, who admired his “weird” leather pants and nuzzled his face as he played and Armstrong sang. It turns out that fan is highly accomplished musician Tommy Lloyd.
Armstrong, who has hinted about being bisexual, has not hidden from that aspect with the alternating boyfriend/girlfriend lyrics in the song “Bobby Sox.” Armtrong was quoted about becoming a “bisexual icon” in a recent interview in American Songwriter.
Other queer moments included The Go-Go’s daytime set accented by large-screen projections of Bob Mizer vintage homoerotic films.
The folks at the SF-based Bob Mizer Foundation shared a blog post explaining the collaboration with artist Rob Roth, who worked with the band to make it happen. Oh, and Billie Joe Armstrong popped in to join them for a rendition of “Head Over Heels.”
And as an odd queer-ish addendum, the April 14 schedule included kids' band Yo Gabba Gabba, special guest stars Weird Al Yankovic and composer Paul Williams, who joined the singing of his Muppets anthem, "The Rainbow Connection."
To see all of the concerts, go to Coachella’s YouTube account. On either stage channel, you have to click back and rewind to find the concerts you want to view, since each stage is a three-day livestream.
Or you can scour social media for bootleg clips from "influencers" who paid $50 for a cheeseburger.
https://www.coachella.com/
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