Coachella 2026: The 15 Best Moments From Weekend One

From the first Latina to ever headline Coachella, to the debut of the first Filipino group to play the festival to building a new bunker made specifically for an art installation dedicated to two iconic albums, the first weekend of Coachella 2026 was filled with exciting, memorable, and history-making moments.

On Friday, the eight-women strong BINI exuded Pinoy pride, Radiohead’s Motion Picture House Kid A MNESIA made its world premiere, and Slayyter debuted songs from her third studio album, Worst Girl in America. Saturday found Geese covering Justin Bieber (who’s headlining set was a mixed bag later that night), Nine Inch Noize played their first full set, Jack White gave a surprise performance, and David Byrne made a theatrical return, among other highlights. On Sunday, Karol G headlined and became the first Latina to ever do so and Iggy Pop’s third time at the festival was another punk-rock charmer.

There were also a slew of surprise guests throughout the weekend. Among them, Sabrina Carpenter’s headlining set eschewed musical ones, but she went Hollywood with special guests Will Ferrell, Sam Elliott, Corey Fogelmanis, Samuel L. Jackson, and more. Bieber brought out the Kid Laroi, Dijon, Tems, and Wizkid. Teddy Swims rocked out with David Lee Roth, Joe Jonas, and Vanessa Carlton. Young Thug brought out surprise guest Camila Cabello to perform their smash “Havana.” FKA Twigs stunned with a performance that included a celebratory ode to West Coast ballroom culture, featuring Honey Belenciaga, Makayla Basquiat, and Dashaun Wesley. Sombr surprised fans with Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan, and Major Lazer brought out M.I.A. They were among many, many other surprise guest appearances throughout the weekend.

There was a lot to take in! Here are 15 of the most memorable moments and sets from weekend one of Coachella 2026.

Friday, April 10

BINI

Being the first Filipino group to perform at Coachella, the eight-woman-strong BINI knew how big their moment on the Mojave stage was, and they delivered and then some. They were joined by a team of male dancers for their well crafted choreography. Singing in English, Filipino, and a mix of both in Taglish, they debuted new songs “Blush” from their just-dropped EP, Signals, alongside fan favorites, like “Karera,” “Salamin, Salamin,” and set closer “Pantropiko.” “We are so grateful to be here to represent the Philippines,” they told the crowd. It has been a long time coming for P-pop to hit the global stage, and they made Pinoys proud. – Althea Legaspi

Turnstile

Turnstile’s return to Coachella was as boisterous, unhinged, and crazy-fun as you’d expect from a band who helped bring hardcore, and mosh-pit energy, back to the sweaty Gen Z masses. While their set was overshadowed with recent news that former guitarist Brady Ebert was arrested for the attempted murder of frontman Brandon Yates’ dad, the band chose to let the music do the talking (Yates’ father did appear in a pre-taped segment, proudly talking about Turnstile recently graduating from practicing in his basement to renting an actual studio). Current guitarist Meg Mills alternated between reach-for-the-sky reverb and chunky riff-heavy power chords, playing off the rest of the band’s high-octane energy. Turnstile pummeled the crowd with songs like “Endless” and “Blackout,” encouraging growing circle pits before closing with the slamming “Birds.” “Everyone jump,” Yates insisted, inspiring crowd-wide catharsis. He closed with a prolonged crowd surf, clearly feeling the love from an audience determined to show the band their full support. – Jeff Miller

Radiohead Motion Picture House: KID A MNESIA

There was a time, not so long ago, when Radiohead’s artsy, anxiety-ridden brand of rock made them the patron saints of Coachella (they’ve headlined the fest three times), so this immersive, incredible movie screening-slash-art, retrospective-slash new venue build fully dedicated to iconography surrounding their two early 2000’s releases, Kid A and Amnesiac, feels well-earned. The venue alone is worth a mention: a full bunker, built into the ground and hillside on the field, with a crazy-immersive, brilliant-sounding speaker system from L-Acoustics; the movie that’s playing constantly (and is touring other locations this year) is a stop-motion rumination on life, death, technology, relationships, and emotion. In other words, it’s a worthy addition to and expansion of the band’s deep mythology. – JM

Dabuell

David Said, a.k.a. Dabuell, is a French producer-musician who has leaned about as far into a sleazebag-Seventies-soul-star aesthetic as possible: He’s sported a huge ‘stache and was clad in glitter while his massive band appeared in leisure suits, perfectly accentuating his butt-shaking brand of vocoder-funk. That vibe can get old quickly, but Dabuell kept it fresh by rotating singers from his massive, analog-only band, giving new voices to each new keyboard-laden banger. – JM

Slayyyter

Slayyyter released her third studio album Worst Girl in America less than a month ago — and there was no better place than Coachella for those songs to come to life for the first time. The artist set the bar high for her peers with a 3 p.m. set on the first day of the festival that felt like it could have been a primetime slot later in the evening. Slayyyter’s command of the stage evoked a true sense of euphoria as she thrashed, screamed, and bulldozed through song after song, from “Cannibalism!” to “I’m Actually Kind of Famous” to “Beat Up Chanel$.” Coachella definitely knew how to crank it. – Larisha Paul

Saturday, April 11

David Byrne

David Byrne burned down the house with a fiery set that was theatrical, cathartic, and spectacular. The state of the world has been bleak, but his set had an optimistic outlook. He and his untethered musicians and dancers transported those in the audience into an immersive world that reflected on life’s highs and lows through themes of love and common ground. His Talking Heads-heavy set also included songs from his recent album, Who Is the Sky?  “Love and kindness are a form of resistance,” he said before “What Is the Reason?” Later, for “Life During Wartime,” video footage of protests against ICE drew huge cheers from the crowd. Reveling in our shared humanity, he reminded fans that even in the worst of times, there is hope. – AL

PinkPantheress

PinkPantheress pulled a massive and roaring crowd at Coachella that signaled that a headlining slot might be in her future. Instead of saving “Stateside,” her hit single that is currently sitting in the Top 10 on the Hot 100, for the end of her set, she opened with it. If that’s all someone in the audience came for, they could have dipped out within five minutes. But they would have missed one of the best performances of the weekend, and a standout triumph for her career. The crowd screamed “Pain” back to her and danced along to DJ sets from the Dare and DJ Joe during the warehouse party-like performance. By the end, when she closed the set with “Illegal,” it felt undeniably true that the future of pop is PinkPantheress. – LP

Jack White

These days, there’s very little that can bond the whole of Coachella together — the music world has become so diversified that the idea of a singular hit seems almost mythical. So when Jack White started playing the ephemeral opening lick of “Seven Nation Army” it felt like a revelation: There’s likely not a single person on the field that doesn’t instinctively sing “whoa-a-oh-oh-a-oh-oh” whenever they hear that song, and watching White grin as the audience chant overpowered his roaring guitar after the second verse (and even after the show was over, as the audience exited the Mojave tent) was not just a testament to the power of one lick, but the power of music overall. – JM

Geese

The white-hot Brooklyn indie-rock band Geese may be the least likely band to ever hold the rock-is-back mantle: Their five-piece live lineup walked the line between the Velvet Underground and the Mars Volta, delivering constantly weird, sometimes sweet, sometimes bellowy songs in their Gobi Tent set that matched singer Cameron Winter’s disengaged persona. A partial cover of Justin Bieber’s “Baby” demonstrated that they don’t take themselves as seriously as they let on; the roaring finale of “Trinidad” led to a whole crowd scream-along of the hook, “There’s a bomb in my car!” It’s as close to a breakthrough single as the band has — a couple more and they’re destined to graduate to the main stage sooner rather than later. – JM

Nine Inch Noize

The full-band debut of the collaboration between the German producer Boys Noize and Trent Reznor’s Nine Inch Nails was as apocalyptically dark as you’d expect: the group’s whole set, including a barrage of dancers in grey full body suits writhing to various industrial remixes of NIN songs felt like Mad Max via Bauhaus (both the band and the design aesthetic.) The highlight came when Reznor was engulfed by the horde while singing “Closer;” with the dancers threatening to swallow him whole in the most dramatic moment in a set full of them. – JM

Sombr 

One year ago today, Sombr performed a show in New York City opening for Daniel Seavey, former frontman of the now-disbanded Why Don’t We. It was clear the stage wasn’t the most familiar place for the young artist, almost like he might have been overwhelmed by it. There was nearly no trace of that version of himself left when he hit the stage at Coachella on Saturday in what was likely the most momentous and defining performance of his career thus far. Sombr commanded both the stage and the crowd with the confidence of an artist hungry for more. With an appearance from Billy Corgan, his pop-turned-raging rock set made an undeniable case for a future headlining set. – LP

Sunday, April 12

Karol G

Karol G made history as the first Latina to headline Coachella — and her explosively energetic, wildly sexy, yet grounded and socially conscious set felt like the biggest night in a career that’s already had plenty of unforgettable ones. From the impressive production, which included a three-story stone cave structure to a set list that featured 20 of her own songs (including her hits “TQG” and “Amargura”), a cover of Gloria Estefan’s “Mi Tierra,” a four-song mini-set by reggaetón pioneer Yandel, and songs with Mariachi Reyna de Los Angeles (the U.S.’s first all-women professional mariachi group), she mesmerized the crowd. “This is for my Latinos that have been struggling in this country lately. We stand for them, I stand for my Latino community…feel proud, raise your flag,” she told the audience, who waved Latin American and Caribbean flags. Her Coachella performance cemented her as a new mother of Latin music. – Vanessa Diaz

Iggy Pop

Iggy Pop made his third appearance at Coachella. His first was a solo appearance in 2001 and in 2003, he reunited with the Stooges for an iconic historical moment. His set on Sunday was another one for the books. While The Godfather of Punk turns 79 on April 21, he was full of vigor onstage, belying his seven-plus decades around the sun. He was also in his natural element: shirtless and commanding the stage while he led the crowd through a greatest-hits set on Sunday from the Mojave tent, which included Stooges classics “T.V. Eye,” “Search and Destroy,” and “I Wanna Be Your Dog” alongside solo favorites “Passenger” and a raucous “Lust for Life.” – AL

Wet Leg

The last time Wet Leg played Coachella, in 2023, the punky band led by Rhian Teasdale was sort of in indie-rock purgatory, a buzz band who hadn’t yet delivered on the hype. Now that they’re actual hitmakers, their set on the mainstage was an early highlight of the day, with Teasdale dressed in an underwear-as-outerwear look that’s basically become the Coachella uniform while confidently blasting her way through “Too Late Now” and “Pillowtalk” with the verve of a woman at the very very top of her game. – JM

Major Lazer

Major Lazer’s sunset performance on Sunday marked their first appearance at Coachella since 2016, when their extensive catalog of hits extended with the Justin Bieber collab “Cold Water” and their single “Light It Up” hit the charts. The festival welcomed them back in a major way. Their audience spread far back across the field and bounced in time to the mix of EDM, dancehall, pop, and more — including an appearance from M.I.A to perform “Paper Planes.” The set marked their first Coachella appearance with vocalist America Foster, who joined in 2025, and Ape Drums, who joined in 2019. In a heartening moment at the end of the set, Foster leaned into Ape Drums as she cried seeing how far they’ve come. – LP