Coachella 2022: girl in red braves the desert dust, wind to deliver electric set

Not even the Coachella dust and wind could stop festival newcomer girl in red from delivering an electric set that got people dancing and singing along Saturday in the Mojave tent.

Addressing the crowd at the start of her show, Norwegian singer/songwriter Marie Ulven Ringheim said she has "never tried to sing in a (expletive) sandstorm before," but she powered through it nonetheless.

She opened with "You Stupid Bitch," a rock song that goes hard, as its name suggests. The singer — wearing a comfy pair of black shorts and a dark reddish-brown, loose-fitted T-shirt — was bouncing from one end of the stage to another, and getting others in the crowd in on the action. A loud roar from the crowd followed the final note of the song.

As the wind and dust picked up at the start of "Girls," Ulven Ringheim had to skip a few lyrics. "It's the sand," she said.

But that didn't effect the way the crowd responded to the 23-year-old singer. She busted out her guitar on "Girls," and the energy never died down from audience members.

She addressed the crowd a few times throughout her set, either talking about her experience at Coachella thus far, or reminding everyone to stay hydrated and out of the sun.

"I'm not used to this Cali sun," she said. "I'm sunburnt."

The crowd enjoyed whenever she would speak with them, as people could be heard saying "she's pretty cool."

One of her requests was to get people to move their arms from side to side above their heads during "I'll Call You Mine." When she was writing the song, she said she envisioned a crowd doing the motion. Seeing it happen in real time seemed to be a surreal experience for the singer.

One of her most recognizable songs, "We Fell in Love in October," was greeted with a massive roar from festivalgoers once they recognized the opening chord. The sound of people singing along was almost as loud as girl in red on the microphone.

Ulven Ringheim said she changed the chords from "Girls" to make "We Fell in Love in October." She said that should show people "you don't need to be a good guitarist to make bangers."

Ulven Ringheim released her debut album "If I Could Make It Go Quiet" in April 2021.

girl in red was originally scheduled to perform at Coachella in 2020, but the festival was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ema Sasic covers entertainment and health in the Coachella Valley. Reach her at ema.sasic@desertsun.com or on Twitter @ema_sasic.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Coachella 2022: girl in red braves the desert dust, wind to deliver electric set