Eminem brings out 50 Cent, ODESZA has their crowning moment, Cardi B shows off baby bump: Everything that happened at Coachella Day 3
The 19th annual edition of Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival is officially in the books. After Beyoncé handed over her empowering main stage performance on Saturday night, fans probably wondered if the final day of Coachella could ever be as iconic. Fortunately for all, Coachella is a festival that always seems to top itself. Marquee acts, such as Eminem, Miguel, and Cardi B, gave attendees a second wind in the sweltering Indio desert with their closing day performances, along with burgeoning electronic talents ODESZA, Illenium, and San Holo.
Here is DA‘s guide to the key moments of day three at Coachella 2018.
Eminem brings out an all-star cast in Dr. Dre, 50 Cent, Skylar Grey, and more
As Coachella’s closing headliner for an audience of nearly 100,000 people, Eminem knew he had a tough act to follow in Queen B’s landmark two-hour set (which made her the first ever woman of color to headline the festival). Marshall Mathers rounded up an all-star roster to join him on stage — including Dr. Dre, 50 Cent, Bebe Rexha, Skylar Grey, and Kehlani — to perform some of the biggest career hits.
While Mathers was sure to cover his golden-age hits “The Real Slim Shady” and “Lose Yourself,” his set list didn’t just focus on his own discography. The rap icon was joined by his mentor, Dr. Dre, onstage to perform “Still D.R.E.” and “Forgot About Dre.” The pair even nodded back to Snoop Dogg’s classic, “Nothin’ but a G Thang,” along with a cover of Tupac’s 1996 hit with Dre, “California Love” (which Snoop and Dre had previously resurrected a hologram of Tupac in the latter’s own 2012 headlining appearance).
Photo credit: Kevin Mazur, Getty Images for Coachella
Eminem’s mentee 50 Cent then took to the stage for a medley of “In Da Club” and “My Life,” giving the set a nice bookend appeal as it showcased their own hip-hop family lineage. Finally, Eminem was joined by longtime collaborator Skylar Grey as they performed multiple tracks, including “Stan,” “Walk on Water,” and “Love the Way You Lie,” showing off their electric chemistry.
Photo credit: Kevin Winter, Getty Images for Coachella
ODESZA delivers a milestone performance with aerial drones, a live drum line, and many special guests
Harrison Mills and Clayton Knight of ODESZA had a sparkling 2017 after releasing their critically-acclaimed studio album, A Moment Apart, which netted their first-ever Grammy nomination. What better way to cap a wildly successful year than a spring kick-off performance in one of the world’s most visible festivals.
Back in 2015, ODESZA made headlines at Coachella when they brought out USC’s full drum line for a stunning rendition of their track “Bloom,” along with a live remix of Alex Adair’s “Make Me Feel Better.” So the Seattle-based duo knew they had to one up themselves.
This year, Knight and Mills’ appearance was nothing short of cutting-edge as they filled the late night headlining slot on Coachella’s main stage. Time sped up and slowed down, hearts stopped and began racing all at once, and technological spectacle felt organic in ODESZA’s live performance at Coachella.
Photo credit: Kevin Winter, Getty Images for Coachella
With this year’s inclusion of the highly-disciplined ODESZA drum line — which the pair has been incorporating in their album-accompanying “A Moment Apart” tour — Knight and Mills took this element to its height by incorporating drum line members throughout the entire set. It’s clear that the coveted ODESZA drum line has become a permanent mainstay during the most commanding moments of their live act.
Along the way, ODESZA brought a number of vocalists onstage to perform their various tracks from the latest album. Naomi Wild was first to take front and center in her live performance of “Higher Ground.” Wild’s mic had issues at the start, for which the design team quickly solved as the young singer belted her soft tune to an awe-inspired audience. To cap it all off, Knight and Mills brought out high-powered soul artist Leon Bridges to perform their single, “Across The Room,” as hundreds of aerial drones floated up into the California night sky to erect ODESZA’s icosahedron logo.
ODESZA have been diligently perfecting their live act over the years, working to incorporate immersive visual elements and surprise guest appearances along the way. But never before has an EDM act integrated such a captivating array of LED drones in their act to bring visual production from the screen into the sky. In addition to pioneering their own new genre, the boys can now count themselves spearheads for the visual production side as well.
Illenium brings his full AWAKE live band to the Sahara tent
Photo courtesy of Illenium
Illenium is one EDM act that is currently smashing every bar he’s set for himself artistically; and with incredible candor and humility, one might add. The talented and focused artist out of Denver has been selling out national arenas, collaborating with everyone whose anyone, and incorporating a live elements into his sets. Now Illenium’s AWAKE act has become a mainstay at festivals, including band members Dabin on electric guitar, along with Day and Said The Sky on the drums.
While in Indio Valley, the artist covered a full gamut of his own classics in the Annika Wells-assisted “Crawl Outta Love,” his remix of Flume and Tove Lo‘s “Say It,” and his track, “Rush Over Me,”with Seven Lions and Said the Sky. The melodic dub step producer then paid homage to Excision and Zomboy, famously shouting “where my headbanga’s at?” to a crowd of fist pumping Coachella attendees.
Perhaps the shinning moment of Illenium’s Coachella debut came in the form of a live VIP of his track with 1788-L and close friend, Said the Sky, “Where’d You Go.” Miller’s tight-knit “Illenial” fanbase have certainly been going crazy over the live edit online.
Illenium x Said The Sky x 1788-L – Where’d You Go (VIP) from EDM
Migos is plagued by sound issues in the Sahara tent
After walking onto stage 30 minutes late, and having sound issues early on, people were apparently not happy with the Migos‘ performance. Yet, within a couple minutes, Quavo, Offset, and Takeoff easily earned the crowd’s forgiveness. The group began with “Higher We Go,” the opening track of Culture II, and by the time they slipped into their second song, “Slippery,” the crowd was in full-frenzy mode. Migos waited until the set’s final stretch to survey their biggest and most recent hits, which included the classic “Bando” for Offset (whose original was given to him by fiancée Cardi B).
“We thank God for making us the greatest group in the world,” Quavo proclaimed as a closing statement. It was the kind of humble arrogance that didn’t quite match the trio’s rather plagued live performance at Coachella.
Photo credit: Scott Dudelson, Getty Images for Coachella
THEY.’s performance included a nod to Kurt Cobain
As THEY. took to Coachella’s Mojave stage, the rap/R&B hybrid duo surprised attendees with an refreshing and intriguing rock-crossover by covering Nirvana‘s “Rather Die.” Intriguing, because of how odd it seems to take on such a disturbing song and refit the track with a hip-hop drop. Refreshing, because hip-hop acts rarely, if ever, sample rock ballads. THEY. were certainly keen to rework a song from Nirvana’s Nevermind album beyond the wildly overdone “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”
Perhaps Kurt Cobain might have appreciated the subversive move.
Photo credit: Scott Dudelson, Getty Images for Coachella
Pregnant Cardi B brings out Chance The Rapper, Kehlani, and G-Easy
Cardi B, who recently revealed her baby bump during an SNL performance, brought out a number of superstar friends during her afternoon Coachella performance, with live collaborations with Chance The Rapper on their single, “Best Life,” and G-Easy on “No Limit.”
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The “Bodak Yellow” rapper also performed livcuts of “Bickenhead,” “Drip,” “Bariter Cardi” with 21 Savage, and her remix of Bruno Mars‘ “Finesse.”
Photo credit: Christopher Polk, Getty Images for Coachella
Photo credit: Scott Dudelson, Getty Images for Coachella
Portugal. The Man trolls ODESZA fans, delivers rock history lesson
Portugal. The Man are known for their silly pre-set messages. Just last week, the band used amusing musings like “Having fun? Getting fucked up? Talking politics at family dinners?” and “Kevin’s got a boner” at a performance in Reno, Nevada. During closing night of Coachella 2018, as the sun began to set, the Alaskan rockers delivered a message to ODESZA campers in quirky fashion.
Portugal. The Man – "If you’re here for Odesza, you’re a little early" from Coachella
Yet it wasn’t only fun and games for Portugal, as they spent the entirety of their set schooling attendees with a serious rock music history lesson. After kicking off with Metallica‘s “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” the alt-rock band then surveyed a broad range of classics from Pink Floyd, T. Rex, and Black Sabbath, before ending with a “Hey Jude” sing-a-long.
“To anybody who says that there’s a lack of rock bands at Coachella, it’s not about genre — it’s about music,” the group’s front man shouted. “But if you are gonna complain about the lack of rock bands at Coachella, this is the only band here you need to see.”
Photo credit: Scott Dudelso, Getty Images for Coachella
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