Picture this: October skies, desert heat, Levi’s 550 cutoff shorts and rock. This was the first-ever Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. Today, the festival has shifted slightly, from down-to-earth rock ‘n’ roll to a glitz-and-glam fashion runway. The massive annual music and arts festival is held over a two-week period in April at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California. It is immensely popular for hosting high-profile artists from diverse genres, attracting music-lovers from all over the country and stressing them out with the intense pressure of not knowing what to wear. But what we know of the event today has a story of origin, a place where baby tees and Adidas Gazelles were trending.
1999 was a vibrant mix of glamour-meets-grunge. Style icons like Sarah Jessica Parker and Britney Spears defined what lived inside people’s closets. Everyone had a pair of combat boots or baggy pants — well, everyone except people at Coachella. Priorities were less on clothing and more on the music itself. People dressed to survive the terrible heat and be comfortable, more or less. Band t-shirts, tracksuits and flannel shirts wrapped around the waist were the look.
As the event rose to fame and social media became a thing, however, fashion was focused on as much as the lineups. The 2010s boho-chic trend came around, and Vanessa Hudgens was the it-girl. Ruffled blouses, fringed suede vests and, of course, flower crowns. Fast forward to the 2020s, the Kardashian-Jenner family and several influencers took over. People wear bikini tops, tons of layers and sheer fabrics, drawing inspiration from Y2K and maximalism. Observing this shift, it may seem audiences are more excited for Instagram pictures and trendy outfits; yes, they still acknowledge the music, but they didn’t really enjoy it as people did in 1999.
Coachella began as an alternative music festival in the now-famously known “City of Festivals.” Perfect for hiking, affordable living and the famous date shakes, the city of Indio was known for the National Date Festival, a celebration of the region’s date palm harvest with an Arabian Nights theme and ostrich races. Different from the celebration of dates, the music festival was founded by music enthusiasts Paul Tollett and Rick Van Santen with zero success. There were around 25,000 people in attendance, with tickets sold at $50 — not even close to today’s $2,000, and that is if you find an incredibly cheap reseller and pray you are not getting scammed.
The inaugural two-day event featured headliners Beck, Tool and Rage Against the Machine. While it might’ve been cheap and fun, they canceled the event for the following year. Why? Because the partners lost $1 million, or nearly $2 million today due to inflation. To re-establish the festival as a premier, sustainable event, they moved the date from October to April to avoid extreme heat and tried again in 2001. And, as you can probably tell from the popularity it has today, it was a success — second time’s the charm, I guess.
As for today, Coachella has become renowned for booking music icons and reuniting iconic brands. Major artists such as Beyoncé, Billie Eilish, Harry Styles and Bad Bunny have performed on stage. This year, talented artists like Sabrina Carpenter, Karol G and Anyma gave us incredible looks and performances. But of course, the main event was “Bieberchella.” Justin Bieber’s headlining performance at the main stage on April 11 and April 18 marked a major live performance comeback after a long break without seeing everyone’s childhood crush.
With this performance, Bieber has broken the record for highest-paid artist in Coachella history at $10 million for two nights. He featured a throwback segment performing hits like “Beauty and a Beat” and “Baby,” both songs I distinctly remember my friends obsessing over (I was more of a Katy Perry fan at the age of eight). The second show was all over the internet with award-winning artist and super fan Billie Eilish, encouraged by his beautiful wife Hailey Bieber, to go up on stage and join his performance of “One Less Lonely Girl,” creating a really sweet moment.
Instagram pics, exotic art installations, glamping and EDM; this is the Coachella of today. The intimate, anti-Woodstock desert escape was once a mellow event, but it is not our Coachella. Adapting to every changing trend and influencer of the year, the event still celebrates music and art, just with a more curated, luxurious vibe. Now, the real question is whether this evolution is good or bad? I believe it is neither. Sometimes it’s cringy, like when singer-songwriter CeeLo Green told the crowd to “put your middle fingers in the air.” Or soul-touching, like “Beychella,” Beyoncé’s historic 2018 political and radical performance celebrating Black history and womanhood. And so, is the new Coachella better or worse? You tell me.
