FESTIVAL season is officially upon us and California’s Coachella is gearing for another year of iconic performances, Instagram posts and unforgettable moments.
And this year is set to be better than ever for music lovers with major headliners Lady Gaga, Travis Scott, Post Malone and Green Day all performing.
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The festival has already been hit by a setback, with British singer FKA Twigs pulling out of her slot due to ongoing visa complications.
But that’s nothing compared the long list of disasters the world’s most influencer-friendly music festival has had over the years.
From stars storming off stage to a silent crowd row and technical glitches, these blunders have caused major headlines.
Let’s take a look back at some of the biggest mishaps that have shaken the Coachella Valley.
GRIMES (2024)
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Last year, singer Grimes was left screaming in outrage after her first ever Coachella set was met with a string of technical difficulties.
The 37-year-old took to the Sahara stage and began the disastrous performance on the back of a mechanical spider.
Chaos erupted around half way into her set as her songs began to play at double the tempo.
This made her tracks “unmixable”, she explained to the crowd: “This is a difficult thing to explain but we’re having a major technical error.
“All my tracks are double tempo and I can’t do the math. They’re borderline un-mixable, so the rest of my set won’t be mixes but it’ll still be fun,” she continued.
Fans were left cringing when the star went on to scream in frustration several times.
Watch the shocking moment Kid Cudi jumps off Coachella stage and breaks his foot – before being rushed to hospital
Many taking to social media to complain about the performance, one user said: “Put in the time, understand dj decks, avoid embarrassment like this.
“I love Grimes’ music, and the pressure must be crazy to do a show like this – but her show at Coachella is the musician’s version of nightmares where your teeth fall out and everyone laughs,” another chimed.
“I bet Grimes was paid hella cash to headline Coachella, and she has a meltdown after exposing herself cos she didn’t make her own playlist & don’t know how to work the decks,” added a third.
Drake and Madonna (2015)
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This eye-covering moment happened in 2015 as fans witnessed Drake getting snogged by the Queen of Pop onstage.
Drake brought Madonna on as a guest for part of his 75-minute set and the singer appeared from backstage with a chair.
She began by singing her track Human Nature, before ripping off her dress for the song Hung Up.
As Drake sat on the chair, she circled him before giving him a whopping kiss. As he left the stage, she said into the mic, “B***h, I’m Madonna.”
The One Dance hitmaker was left looking visibly disgusted and sources at the time confirmed that the snog was not planned.
Drake later confessed that his disgust was due to the aftertaste of Madonna’s lipstick not the kiss itself, taking to Instagram to set the record straight.
He said: “Don’t misinterpret my shock!! I got to make out with the queen Madonna and I feel 100 about that forever. Thank you @madonna”.
Blur (2024)
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English rock band Blur made headlines last year when front-man Damon Albarn told the crowd “you’re never seeing us again”.
The group was met with a lacklustre audience during their 13 song set which included some of their biggest hits like Song 2 and Popscene.
But things went downhill when Albarn decided to lead a sing-along during his performance of Boys & Girls.
Multiple times the band was met with silence and the front-man ended up losing his rag going in on a rant.
He said: “You’re never seeing us again so you might as well f***ing sing it. Know what I’m saying?”
Considering the Britpop icons were one of the biggest headliners of the festival that year, fans at home couldn’t understand why the live audience was so quiet.
In a later interview with GQ, guitarist Graham Coxon revealed his thoughts on the Coachella crowd.
He said: “I love an audience that are smiling their heads off and having a great time, because you’re doing it for them. And if I see audiences of people that are bored, like maybe Coachella, I just do it for myself.”
Cee-Lo Green (2011)
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Atlanta-born singer Cee-Lo Green bombed his 2011 Coachella set which ended with him storming off stage.
The star was 25 minutes late slamming the festival organisers for not giving him a better time slot.
Cee-Lo said: “Sorry guys, I just landed. Y’all still gonna party with me? I only have 20 minutes. It ain’t my fault. They should have… given me a better time slot.”
This left a sour taste with fans and many walked out mid performance as for organisers they cut his mic just five songs in.
Cee-Lo managed to get out his most famous tracks Forget You and Crazy but the plug was pulled as he went to sing a cover of Journey’s Don’t Stop Believing.
Protesting that he only had one song left he stormed off-stage leaving a very confused audience.
LE SSERAFIM (2024)
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K-pop group LE SSERAFIM put on a disastrous display for their first performance at Coachella.
Many fans were excited to see the girl group perform, likening them to rival K-pop star BlACKPINK who were headlined the year before.
Sadly fans were met with bitter disappointment, receiving major backlash for their vocal abilities and lack of professionalism with their set being dubbed as “the worst Coachella performance”.
It seemed the group was under prepared for their 40 minute set and their performance sparked a lot of controversy online.
Speaking about the performance on a Korean social app, member Sakura said: “From preparing for Coachella to the day of the performance, we learned a lot.
“The performance may have looked immature to some. However, nobody is perfect, and it is an undisputed fact that it was the best set among those we have shown.”
Frank Ocean (2023)
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Fans couldn’t believe their luck when singer Frank Ocean was announced as one of the Coachella headline performers last year.
This was the music star’s first performance after a six year hiatus and it turned out to be disappointing to say the least.
The set started a whole hour late and he decided to rearrange some of his most known hits leaving fans confused and annoyed.
There was even more confusion when a random DJ set was thrown in during the middle of his show.
It was later revealed that there was an ice rink that was constructed with a group of ice skaters who was ready to go.
But, it was abruptly called off by Frank on the day of performing leaving a mess on stage.
Social media erupted with fans fuming at the singer, one user said: “Frank Ocean’s performance was genuinely so bad.
“He was an hour late and ended early. He wasn’t even on stage for half the performance and barely sang. Then made some joke about not having new music? READ THE ROOM. Completely lost me as a fan,” chimed another.
“Frank Ocean doing Coachella bad lmaoo wtf is this performance…” commented a third.
In the end Ocean ended up pulling out of week 2 due to an ‘ankle fracture’ – the whole affair was disastrous to say the least.
