Coachella Weekend 2 updates: Blink-182 saves the day; Christine and the Queens a must-see

Weekend 2 of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival features most of the same artists as Weekend 1, of course.

But it's far from a carbon copy: Frank Ocean is out as Sunday headliner and he'll be replaced by Blink-182, who a week ago was the surprise guest act.

Yet, Blink-182 won't close out the festival Sunday — that honor will go to a newly added trio of DJs. (See more on that below.)

For now, we're on Day 2, and already there have been surprise guests, including The Weeknd during Metro Boomin's set. And we expect more surprises, as usual.

Check back here for the sights, sounds, special guests and magic moments that make Coachella one of the most-anticipated music festivals in the world.

• K-pop sensations: BLACKPINK brings the energy and style again for Weekend 2

• First look at the festival: Get a tour of the festival grounds before you arrive

• Behind the art: Installations are wowing already

• Getting to the festival: What you need to know about traffic, road closures, best routes.

• Ultimate Coachella survival guide: How to get the most out of your festival experience.

Blink-182 saves the day

Blink-182 hit the Coachella jackpot Sunday night. After the band's surprise guest performance in the Sahara tent last weekend, the pop-punk trio delivered another exceptional set as replacement headliners to round out Weekend 2.

The trio, featuring frontman and guitarist Tom DeLonge, bassist Mark Hoppus and drummer Travis Barker, was 10 minutes late and came out to the theme of "2001: A Space Odyssey." They arrived onstage amid an explosion of pyrotechnics before starting with “Family Reunion.”

Although the set list was almost the same as Weekend 1, one of the major differences between that performance and Weekend 2 was the power of the Coachella Stage’s video production capabilities. The band was able to feature more colorful visuals, an impressive light show and more pyrotechnics on the bigger, open-air stage.

Read reporter Brian Blueskye's full review here.

Christine and the Queens puts on a full theatrical production

I’d heard of Christine and the Queens before his Sunday evening set, but nothing I’d skimmed online prior could properly prepare me for the visceral experience of hearing the French singer-songwriter and his band live. Christine and the Queens is the stage name of Héloïse Adélaïde Letissier, aka Redcar, aka Chris (but we'll stick with Chris for this writing), a queer artist whose work explores gender and its fluidity. The beginning of his early Sunday evening set in the Mojave started with Chris wearing a pantsuit-esque black number with large white angel wings. After a dramatic and heartfelt opening, he then shed the wings to reveal a fitted red vest underneath - a symbolic move that foreshadowed the theatrical performance to come.

It's hard to fully describe what the next 40 minutes or so entailed, but the best I can describe it as a play of sorts. Chris never addressed the crowd directly - just like an actor typically wouldn't - but rather took breaks in between songs as a chance to recite what felt like pure poetry, including lines like "To live my life as a man is to stand in the truth of information" and "There is something glorious inside your emotions. Don't deny."

But other than the beautiful words he was reciting, I was captivated by Chris' majestic voice and avant-garde dance moves. In a way I can only describe as perfectly French, Chris moved across the stage with a mix of ballet, modern and street dance techniques. One moment he seemed to embody the likes of Michael Jackson, and the next he was twirling like someone who MUST have had some basic ballet training as a child. All I can say is, I completely agree with the young woman next to me who, moments after Chris took a final bow, said "Well ... I'm a fan now."

― Niki Kottmann

Surprise guest Steve Lacy joins Fousheé

For her second-to-last song Sunday at Coachella, Fousheé pulled a guy seemingly out of the crowd to join her on stage. Immediately the assembled crowd surged toward the front of the stage. It was Steve Lacy, who hopped up to sing his song “Sunshine” which he co-wrote with Fousheé.

Cell phones sprang to life as everyone tried to get a pic of Lacy, the singer, songwriter, producer and now, Grammy winner. Lacy’s album “Gemini Rights” won the 2023 Grammy for Best Progressive R&B Album.

It was a surprise for the Weekend 2 crowd as Lacy did not make an appearance during Weekend 1.

It was an exciting cap to a power-packed set by Fousheé who alternates between showing off those Mariah Carey-esque high notes and flat out scream-singing. With temperatures nearing 100 during her afternoon set, she quickly ditched her black trench coat, and she was frequently spraying the crowd with her water bottle, which she called the Fousheé Sprinkler system.

― Shad Powers

Los Fabulosos Cadillacs rock out in the heat

Los Fabulosos Cadillacs brought their unique mix of ska, reggae, mambo, salsa, samba and rock to the Outdoor Theatre on the last day of Coachella 2023. This special combination of sounds helped the Argentine band get established in the 1980s and has cemented it as a legend in the music world ever since.

Despite the lack of shade by the stage and rising temperatures, Los Fabulosos Cadillacs got people swaying their hips, pumping their fists and even moshing throughout their afternoon set.

Among the crowd, Paulina Mandujano stood out with her bright-red Fabulosos Cadillacs tee. The fan said she traveled from Mexico to see the group.

Towards the end, the band played its iconic hit "Matador," and I personally got to reminiscing about being a teen, thinking I was so cool for listening to these old-school rockers. Now I know I was.

― Eliana Perez

Crowd gets groovy at Sonora tent for Los Bitchos' set

The London-based band Los Bitchos hit the Sonora tent early Sunday, and the four-piece group performed a set that brought psychedelic vibes mixed with surf rock and cumbia. Most of their songs were instrumental and some had an occasional chant from the keyboard player.

As the crowd settled in, people began swaying side-to-side. The electrifying guitar and sporadic, energetic sounds from the drums soon caught on with audience as they proceeded to jump up and down.

Los Bitchos' guitar player and bass player picked up a drum as well during the set, for a high tempo mirage of percussions. As the momentum carried, the crowd had a synchronous chant of their own: "Hey, hey, hey,"  they yelled.

― Kevin Caparoso

Meet Sleaford Mods, the anti-Coachella band

In the mood for some music that calls out phonies, narcissists, and anyone obsessed with image? You would love Sleaford Mods. Reporter Brian Blueskye called the band's Sunday special guest-less set "anti-Coachella," so if that's enough to intrigue you, read his full review.

― Niki Kottmann

Artistic mediums collide in "The Messengers"

Each of Sri Lankan visual artist Kumkum Fernando's three figures that make up "The Messengers" are 65 to 80 feet tall, and are accompanied by a poem to supplement the visual work. Arts and entertainment reporter Brian Blueskye spoke with Fernando to gain some insight into his artistic process, and what figures they're inspired by that he observed at many Hindu temples across India as a child.

― Niki Kottmann

Calvin Harris goes sans guests

Ellie Goulding (not-so-shockingly) decided it wasn’t worth staying in the desert just to sing one song with DJ Calvin Harris this weekend to close out his Saturday night set. Unlike Weekend 1 when Goulding stepped out to sing their latest collab, “Miracle,” Harris went without any special guests (in a move that surely disappointed the fans hoping to see Dua Lipa, Florence Welch or even Rihanna, to name a few of his dozens of collaborators) and played right up until curfew Saturday night.

― Niki Kottmann

Calvin Harris starts late again 

Calvin Harris appears to pay no mind to the fine his past-1 a.m. set incurred for breaking curfew last weekend, or he just plans to shorten his set tonight after starting 25 minutes late. Only time will tell if his delay will cause a repeat issue for Goldenvoice ...

― Niki Kottmann

Labrinth brings out Sia, talks mental health; Zendaya joins the stage

Labrinth served up several of his rhythmic scoring from the hit series "Euphoria" to a receptive crowd on Saturday.

He also shared the stage with Australian singer Sia and called her his "bestie." He thanked her for helping him through depression when he was breaking into the music industry.

Soon after, Labrinth brought "Euphoria" actress Zendaya out on stage to sing "All For Us" amid roars and cries from the crowd.

― Eliana Perez

Remi Wolf lays ground rules for her set

California singer Remi Wolf wanted her Saturday audience in the Mojave tent to have a good time, but she had a few rules before they could groove with her.

Rule No. 1: If you knew the lyrics to her songs, you needed to scream the words as loudly as possible.

Rule No. 2: The crowd had to get their hips nice and loose so they could twerk to her songs.

Rule No. 3: Whatever substances (legal or not) festivalgoers were on, she wanted them to sink in so that they could have the best day of their lives.

After getting everyone on board, the 27-year-old got everyone on their feet and singing along to her songs "Disco Man," "wyd," "Liquor Store" and "Sexy Villain." Throughout her set — wearing a yellow beanie, flowy white tunic with a dog on it and jean shorts — she was strutting across the stage, owning every minute of her time in the Mojave tent, and the crowd was loving it back.

The loudest sing-along came when the former American Idol contestant sang her own version of Gotye's "Somebody I Used to Know," with the audience overtaking her mic-up vocals at times.

― Ema Sasic

Rosalía has some surprising guests

Spanish singer Rosalía had perhaps the most surprising guests of Coachella so far when she hopped off stage and let two fans sing (one was actually screaming) into her mic. They offered very different versions of her song “La Noche de Anoche,” which normally features Bad Bunny.

She also invited Dominican rapper Tokischa to the Coachella Stage to sing "Linda" with her.

Rosalía was not immune to the desert heat, pointing it out before and after she doused her hair with a bottle of water.

“And I’m wearing latex,” she added.

― Eliana Perez

So THAT'S what The Linda Lindas sound like

There was a nice bit of redemption in the Sonora tent on Saturday for the Linda Lindas.

Last week, their 40-minute set was almost entirely marred by microphone problems. I'm not sure there was a single song where everyone's mic was working properly. That's why it was nice to come back and see them again this weekend. And I'm happy to report it was a problem-free set, at least during the five songs I was able to see after the line to get in slowly cycled through.

It was gratifying to see the four-girl rock band from Los Angeles at maximum joy. The band members' ages range from 12 to 18, and watching them grind through last week's performance with smiles on their faces, while everything was failing around them, left me both heartbroken and impressed. They were true pros, but you just knew inside they were crestfallen.

This week, they could just focus on singing and jumping and laughing and rocking. They deserved that moment, they got it and they made good use of it, delighting a full Sonora tent with their energetic set.

And now I know what they sound like. Bonus!

― Shad Powers

Destroy Boys rock the Sonora tent

A Coachella rookie, I was strolling around to get the lay of the land when I heard what sounded like the Nirvana classic “Drain You” thumping from a tent in front of me. I had to check it out.

The band that took me back to high school and early ’90s alt-rock was Destroy Boys, a Sacramento garage-rock group whose founders weren’t even alive then.

I still don’t know if they’d mixed a Nirvana cover into their set, because that track was over by the time I snaked through the line into the Sonora tent.

But the rest of their songs had just as much energy, full of crunching guitar and melodic angst, as you’d expect from a band started in the mid-2010s by teenagers.

To be honest, I could barely understand a word — and if you’re of a certain age, you remember your parents saying the same thing about Kurt Cobain. (Or, well, Mick Jagger.)

But that didn’t matter: Sometimes rock ’n’ roll is even better when you don’t know what they’re singing.

The rock-focused Sonora feels a bit like an indoor club within an outdoor festival, as The Desert Sun’s Brian Blueskye reported in a recent article.

The band pumped up the crowd, with guitarist Vi Mayugba taking the lead on one song and prefacing it with life advice: “No one can tell you who you are!”

Lead singer Alexia Roditis led into the closing song with what seemed like a meditation exercise but turned into primal scream therapy.

Telling the crowd to take a deep breath in and slowly let it out, “Ahhh,” she grew louder with each repetition until the exhale became a scream: “AAAAAHHHHH!”

— Eric Hartley

Flo Milli brings all the swag

There was no lack of enthusiasm throughout Flo Milli’s Saturday afternoon set at the Sahara tent. The rapper entered the stage with purple hair and all the swagger. Her one-hour set was jam packed with hit songs “Roaring 20s” and “In The Party.”

She effortlessly went back to back on songs throughout her performance, hardly losing her breath in between verses. Her love for the festival was evident when she took out her phone after concluding one song, and the crowd yelled the profane opening line of “In The Party” as she recorded a video of them.

― Kevin Caparoso

Bratty, who also played at Indio's Chella, brings it

Mexican singer-songwriter Bratty, another entry on the significant list of Latin artists at this year’s Coachella, had the Sonora tent swaying with her mellow garage pop jams Saturday afternoon. The 22-year-old from Culiacán, Sinaloa, who also played at the free mid-week concert called Chella in Indio, said on Twitter that this trip to California was her first ever to the United States.

Her entire festival set was in Spanish, and she gave multiple shoutouts to her fans from Mexico in the crowd, but even the non-Spanish speakers in the crowd, myself included, were getting caught up in her vibe. To loosely describe her sound, I'd say she put me in mind of Lisa Loeb: poppy but powerful.

She used a red guitar on Saturday, which she revealed on social media was a special gift from Fender. The famous guitar manufacturer included Bratty in its "Next Class of 2023." The guitar was sent to her with a note that read, in part, "We couldn't be happier to be joining forces to amplify you and your music! As one of the few artists selected for Fender Next you'll have our support from gear to marketing collaborations as we work together to drive culture and guitar forward."

Bratty was extremely appreciative and later joked that she was mostly happy about it because the Fender guitar is lighter than hers and doesn't hurt her back.

― Shad Powers

Saturday kicks off with blazing temps, sparse crowd

The crowd for day two of Weekend 2 seemed to still be recovering from staying up for Bad Bunny the night before. The festival grounds looked less packed even around 2 p.m., and attendees said entry was speedier then.

The heat could also be a factor: Indio was a whole 3 degrees hotter Saturday afternoon, at 96, than on Friday. And temperatures are expected to reach 98 degrees on Sunday.

― Eliana Perez

A bunny, some gorillas and other icons take the stage 

Puerto Rican reggaetonero Bad Bunny made time ahead of his headlining act on Friday to join Gorillaz for Weekend 2. They performed their joint song "Tormenta."

Gorillaz was also joined by rapper Yasiin Bey (formerly known as Mos Def) to sing their collab "Sweepstakes," by South African musician Moonchild Sanelly to perform "With Love to an Ex," and Beck for "The Valley of The Pagans."

― Eliana Perez, Niki Kottmann and Ema Sasic

Ladies and gentlemen ... H.E.R.

The Outdoor Theatre audience went wild Friday night when Haitian-Canadian DJ and music producer Kaytranada brought Grammy Award winning R&B singer H.E.R. to the stage. The pair sang their collaboration "Intimidated" for the packed crowd (and the equally excited press tent). A few songs later, the DJ brought out singer/actress Tinashe for another collab.

To round out his set, Kaytranada also brought out rapper (singer, songwriter, music producer and drummer) Anderson .Paak, who sported overalls, ski goggles and a black wig that created quite a buzz on Twitter.

― Niki Kottmann

First-timer

This year marks Jocelyn Leone’s first Coachella. Though the Atlanta, Georgia, native is no stranger to music festivals - Leone has been to Lollapalooza in Chicago and Rolling Loud in Miami - she said Coachella has exceeded her expectations. Leone came to Coachella with a nine-person group, but decided to take a seat in the grass while her group members split up to see different acts. She coordinated her seating location to be in between the Gobi tent and the Outdoor Theatre to be able to hear Yves Tumor (in the Gobi tent) as she waited for Kaytranada to perform at the Outdoor Theatre.

― Kevin Caparoso

Becky G remembers Selena

Early in her set, Becky G told her Weekend 2 audience she was changing things up from last week. This time, she shared the stage with Afrobeats singer Libianca for a rendition of "People" and got the crowd dancing with the following medley of Selena songs:

• "Como La Flor"

• "La Carcacha"

• "Bidi Bidi Bom Bom"

• "Baila Esta Cumbia"

Before returning to her own hits, Becky G praised the deceased Mexican American singer for paving the way for other Latina artists, like herself. "Representation is so important to me," Becky G said.

― Eliana Perez

Lax security evident at the beer gardens

The lax security this weekend is noticeable at the beer garden close to the Coachella Stage. The area's grassy, open space that is blocked off by a fence is not fully occupied, while there are plenty of people walking around the grounds with drinks in hand — which is allowed at Stagecoach, but not this weekend.

The beer gardens — one of the few designated areas that allows alcohol during Coachella — is usually the place where people grab a drink and sit on the grass while enjoying a long-distance view of main stage. As of now, this spot is sparsely utilized except by those grabbing food from one of the stands inside.

― Kevin Caparoso

Pusha T's set has technical difficulties

Pusha T’s set had some technical difficulties on Friday. The music started cracking and came to a pause while the rapper was mid-song. “I need an extra minute, these wires ain’t right” the rapper said to the crowd.The crowd was patient and cheered while they waited for him to begin again. The delay only took about 5 minutes and Pusha T was back.“We going to pick it up like this,” he said to introduce the song “Mercy.”

― Kevin Caparoso

Merch lines remain excessive ... is it worth it?

I got to the merch line about 10 mins after the gates opened, which was at noon. At that point, people had filled all the lanes of the organized line. I decided it was a ‘now or never’ moment to take on this tedious task because the line would only get longer throughout the day. While in line, I noticed many people gave up on securing their precious Bad Bunny merch. The woman in front of me looked up and said aloud “I can’t do this” as she proceeded to exit the labyrinth of a line.

The desert dust was also relentless and claimed a couple victims as quite a few people in line sneezed and wiped their noses.It took me over 2 hours to get to the merch tables and buy the Blondie t-shirt I promised my father, along with a Coachella tote bag for myself.

― Kevin Caparoso

Coachella special guest: Jaden Smith jumps onstage ― late ― with ¿Téo? 

Fans of Colombian-American singer ¿Téo? got a special treat early Friday afternoon when Jaden Smith, the musical son of the now-infamous Will Smith, jumped up as a special guest artist. We noticed, however, that Jaden almost didn't make it. Desert Sun photographer Jay Calderon just happened to snap a shot of the singer running to get to the stage, clearly late for his appearance. Have no fear, however, because he made it just in time to sing the pair's 2018 collaboration "Uno Dos" for the hyped crowd.

More: Coachella 2023: Jaden Smith appears during ¿Téo? and says he's 'proud' of the singer

― Niki Kottmann

Festivalgoers chill at the Heineken House

Festivalgoers made their way to the Heineken House early Friday before artists started performing on the main Coachella stages. Once they get their 21 and older bands and scan their official wristbands to get inside , they can get down on the dance floor, lounge on swings or cabanas and, of course, enjoy some ice-cold Heineken.

― Ema Sasic

Coachella Weekend 2 gets started on time

After making early birds wait more than a half hour for the worm last weekend, Coachella decided to open the gates at the scheduled time, noon, to kick off Weekend 2 today. Several people were already lined up by 11:40 a.m. at the blue path checkpoint, with some groups opting to rotate friends in and out so some could sit in the shade along the fence while others kept their spot.

― Niki Kottmann

5 must-see Coachella acts that blew us away Weekend 1

Sometimes finding a band or artist to fall in love with at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is a volume game. The more artists you see, the greater your chances of finding your new favorite, even if you have to wade through a few auditory disappointments.

Team Desert Sun was doing some of that work for you during Weekend 1. We scoured the grounds listening to new acts and long-time favorites, and have come up with a clunker-free list of the best thing we saw. Read about why we suggest Chromeo, The Chemical Brothers, Charli XCX, MUNA and Dominic Fike.

― Shad Powers

Coachella Weekend 2 set times are in: Blink-182, Skrillex will close out Sunday

Festivalgoers anxiously await the set times release from Goldenvoice each year, each weekend.

For Weekend 2 of the 2023 edition, this announcement held special anticipation, as Sunday headliner Frank Ocean pulled out of the festival after Weekend 1 citing an ankle injury, and savvy fest-watchers expected to learn who the replacement would be when set times dropped.

Not quite, but it didn't take much longer.

Although organizers' official announcement listed the Sunday headliner as "tba," the news soon broke in multiple media outlets that the closing slot would go to EDM star Skrillex, along with fellow DJs Fred Again and Four Tet. The festival later made the news official.

The set times also confirmed Blink-182 would come back for an encore to its surprise Weekend 1 set. And, confusingly to those not fluent in the language of Coachella, they're being billed as the headliner even though they're not the closing act.

It's yet to be seen how all this news will affect ticket sales and the resale market. In the meantime, read all about the Weekend 2 set time changes:

More: Coachella 2023: Weekend 2 set times are here, Blink-182 returns, Sunday headliner TBD

There’s actually a band called TBA. No, they're not Sunday’s mystery Coachella act

Goldenvoice first announced a mysterious artist “tba” will take Sunday’s closing slot in place of Frank Ocean, who dropped out of Weekend 2.

Before the news about Skrillex, Fred Again and Four Tet broke, rumors were swirling about who that “to be announced” artist might be.

Funny enough, there is a band called TBA with music on Spotify. Let’s just say the trio is not getting anywhere near the Coachella Stage. The hip hop, trap group has 727 monthly listeners around the world, and after tolerating 1 minute of their top song “Loony Toony,” I can assure you that I will not be the 728th.

― Jonathan Horwitz

For those with FOMO, you can still book your Coachella 2023 trip

Did watching your social media feeds fill up with images from Coachella Weekend 1 have you second-guessing your decision to forgo the festival this year? It's not too late. Desert Sun arts and entertainment reporter Brian Blueskye checked around, and not only can you still buy GA and VIP passes for Weekend 2 directly from Goldenvoice, there are PLENTY of hotel rooms still available for Friday-Monday stays in the Coachella Valley. Some are even offering a discount. Find out where:

More: It's not too late to decide to go to Coachella 2023: What you need to know

Coachella 2023 Weekend 1 was great, but far from perfect

The Desert Sun team was on site for Weekend 1, which was full of memorable moments. But the festival continues to be plagued by some irritating problems: Sound glitches and trash. So. Much. Trash. And crowds. Will Weekend 2 be different? Well, on the crowd front, passes are still available so festivalgoers might find they have a bit more elbow room. Read more from The Desert Sun team:

More: Coachella 2023: 5 things we hope are improved by Weekend 2

One way to beat Coachella traffic: Private jets, helicopters

There's a common daydream for festivalgoers stuck in traffic on their way to or from the Empire Polo Club in Indio for Coachella: What if I had a helicopter? Well, a daydream for some is a (expensive) reality for others. Desert Sun environment reporter Erin Rode has the scoop on the private jet and helicopter services that ferry the 1% to the festival. But be warned, the cost can be high ... to both the wallet and the environment. But for some, Rode reports, it's worth it for the 'gram. Read more:

More: More festivalgoers are flying from LA to Coachella via chartered helicopters, jets

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Coachella live updates: Blink-182 saves the day last day of Weekend 2