Imagine being in the crowd during your favorite band’s set when the members announce that this is going to be the last show they’ll ever play. Just like that, you’ve suddenly become one of the last people, ever, to see them live.
That’s what happened during Blur’s Weekend 2 Coachella Valley Arts & Music Festival set, and that’s why Emma Kremer-McCarthy argues that the three-day festival is still absolutely worth going to.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Kremer-McCarthy said. “We don’t know the next time we’ll be able to come back.”
Kremer-McCarthy attended this year’s festival with her sister, Nora Kremer-McCarthy and her best friend, Mckayla Jones from Tacoma, Wash.
They all said that, despite some people saying that watching the livestreams from home (dubbed ‘Couchchella’) is better, they don’t regret making the trek.
“I went back and rewatched Bleachers on the livestream when I went home,” Nora said. “It was not nearly as great as it was in person.”
Daniel Marquez of Long Beach agreed.
“Maybe it’s the bass, maybe it’s just the environment, but when you’re watching it from home, you don’t get that escape feeling,” Marquez said. “Being here is significantly different.”
Marquez, who has been attending the festival since 2012, said that over the years, it’s been hit-or-miss in terms of overall experience. “I think it teeters a lot,” he said.
Suggestions that the festival is becoming less fun, fueled by the fact that the fest has struggled to sell out both weekends the past two years, have circulated social media.
To Marquez, it’s all subjective. He said he believes that the experience depends on whether the lineup plays to your own tastes, the attitude you have going in and, more importantly, the people you surround yourself with.
For Keren Valle, Issis Flores and Jackie Luna, the human aspect was a huge reason why the festival was so fun for them this year.
Valle, from El Salvador, and Luna and Flores, from Mexico, all work in the U.S. as au pairs, scattered around the country. They’d all met in the comment section of a post in a Facebook group for au pairs asking if anyone was attending Weekend 2 of Coachella.
After connecting online, the three decided to book an Airbnb together. They reported that they’ve had a blast together, even visiting Los Angeles as a group before the festival began.
“It was like, oh my gosh,” Valle said. “We are all really cool as friends.”
But of course, no event is perfect and some festival goers – while they said they were happy with their overall weekend experience – suggested a few tweaks.
Yesenia Cruz of Indio, attending Coachella for the first time, loved the lineup and said the festival is running smoothly for such a large event.
But she would do things a little differently when it comes to the Outstanding in the Field dinner, which is an exclusive farm-to-table 6 p.m. dinner that is set up on a 200-person table in the pristine VIP Rose Garden. The $362.50 per-person family-style meal is prepared by different star chefs each night of the festival.
“I would change it from a dinner to a brunch or lunch because dinner is awful because you can miss important music sets and you have to buy it beforehand and what if there’s someone really great you miss out on,” she said.
An early brunch would mean that there’s no chance of missing big acts. “You can still do a wonderful fine dining experience for lunch,” she added.
Her friend Megan Corbett, who traveled from Canada for the festival, agreed about the dinner time.
“I did it in 2017 and definitely was bummed I had to miss a set I really wanted to see,” she said.
First-time Coachella goer Ruben Rodriguez wants to see more big-name hip-hop acts featured, despite Doja Cat and Tyler, the Creator headlining and Ice Spice and Lil Uzi Vert being high up on the bill.
“I want to see a little bit more hip-hop. I like that there are some awesome hip-hop acts here, but I would have liked to see more. Other than that I think the ambience here, the total vibe, is pretty cool,” he said.
As she was sitting on the grass near the large-scale art installations, Jaelan Rodriguez of Indiana said she was enjoying her first Coachella experience but had a little trouble when nature called.
“All of the performances I’ve seen have been amazing. I’ve absolutely had the best experience and the only thing I would ask for to be different is more accessible restrooms because I got lost early and I almost gave up,” she said.
“That’s the only thing for me. I love the food, I love the drinks, it’s all been a breeze. I’m loving all of this,” she said.
