I hope you know you don’t have to travel to the Coachella Valley to attend the music festival. YouTube streams the event each year, and you can watch it live or catch a limited replay, and they cover most of the stages. This year, some of the big names are Lady Gaga, Missy Elliot, Post Malone, Charlie XCX, Weezer, Ed Sheeran, and Greenday.
But I tune in to discover new music, which I firmly believe is an effective anti-aging strategy. Every year my husband and I do “COUCHella,” where the snacks and drinks are free and you don’t have to use a port-a-potty.
Here are some new-to-me picks from the first day — watch it while you can!
Benson Boone
Holy shit Benson’s got pipes. (I admit he’s not totally new to me, you’ve probably heard his song Beautiful Things.) But his Coachella performance was like a dream — imagine a younger Pedro Pascal in a glittery jumpsuit and and a fur cape singing Bohemian Rhapsody with Queen’s Brian May. Here’s a social media clip, but watch the official performance of his own songs, too.
Socks blown off!
Djo
I was all, “that guy looks like the kid from Stranger Things,” and my husband was all, “yeah, totally.” Well, IT IS the kid from Stranger Things. In our defense, there was beer involved and Joe Keery was wearing a hat that covered a lot of his face. Surprise! He’s really good. If you want to check out his performance, he was on the Mojave Stage. There’s now some Djo songs that will now be on repeat in our kitchen. Like this one:
Sara Landry
Sara is hard techno. For me, this means you have to be in the mood. But if you are ready, she will bring it. She is skilled and gorgeous (in that order). Check her out on the Sahara stage. If you watch her performance you will understand why we call her “the tin foil girl.”
d4vd
David Burke started out as a gamer on YouTube, and now at just 20 years old, he’s a promising R&B talent. He’s a natural performer and a fashionista. On the Gobi stage if you want to watch.
Tyla
It made me feel old that I’d not yet heard of Tyla, and I don’t want this to happen to you. Although her song Water was everywhere last summer, I admit I didn’t know who was singing it, so I plan to play her full album by the pool this summer. Her Coachella performance was good (I mean, could she be ANY CUTER??) but the South African singer’s music videos are more interesting to watch IMO. This one in particular:
I’d love to hear your favorites in the comment section, and I’ll bring you more from my couch soon.
XO
This is a fascinating piece that exposes me to unfamiliar talent. I look forward to delving deeper. Well written. Peaks my imagination.