The Five Biggest Coachella 2025 Moments (So Far)
From Lady Gaga's bombastic set to all the special guests and the all-Australian takeover, there have already been plenty of highlights at this year’s Coachella.
Billie Joe Armstrong performing with The Go Go's at Coachella (Source: YouTube/@Coachella)
Coachella has wrapped its first weekend for another year. It was three days of live music, art, food, and experiences, and for those of us watching on the YouTube livestream, a communal bit of fun celebrating yet another edition of #Couchella.
Like any festival of this stature—one of the biggest music festivals in the world—there were huge moments beyond the songs the artists played. From Lady Gaga's bombastic return to the festival stage to all the special guests and the all-Australian takeover, there have already been plenty of highlights at this year’s Coachella.
Ahead of Coachella weekend two, which takes place this weekend (18-20 April), we’ve gathered the five biggest moments of weekend one.
Lady Gaga brings the MAYHEM to Coachella
If anyone was in doubt about Lady Gaga being a Coachella headliner in 2025, she proved how unnecessary any doubt was with a history-making headlining set.
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Delivering a theatrical tribute to her latest album, MAYHEM, as well as the hits from throughout her incredible career, Gaga brought her brand of a rock opera to the desert.
There was the chess-inspired performance of Poker Face, the flawless transition from Abracadabra into Judas, Alejandro performed for the first time since 2020, the awe-inspiring Parris Goebel-choreographed dance break for Garden Of Eden, dancing skeletons, and the Bad Romance encore—all showcasing why people haven’t been able to stop talking about Lady Gaga for days.
Charli x Troye x Billie x Lorde, Benson Boone and Brian May, and more: the special guests who appeared on stage
Coachella weekend one was packed with special guests, from Charli XCX bringing out her Brat collaborators Billie Eilish, Troye Sivan and Lorde to Benson Boone performing Bohemian Rhapsody with Queen’s Brian May, Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong surprising the crowd at the Outdoor Theatre when he joined The Go-Go’s on stage, Megan Thee Stallion paying tribute to the women of hip-hop and rap, inviting Queen Latifah, Victoria Monet, and Ciara to the stage, and surprising metal fans by performing TYG with Spiritbox’s Courtney LaPlante, to Maren Morris joining Zedd for a performance of The Middle, it was all happening at Coachella weekend one.
Billie and @charli_xcx performing “Guess” at Coachella 2025 pic.twitter.com/i5fHkymD7m
— billie eilish (@billieeilish) April 13, 2025
@zedd WOW COACHELLA 🤯 One of my fav shows ever. Huge thanks to @johnmayer, @marenmorris, @bea miller, @Elley Duhé, @Julia Michaels, @the olllam, & #bcmanjunath for joining me on stage. See you next weekend with some more surprises 🤐 @coachella
♬ original sound - Zedd
The Australian takeover at Coachella
Amyl And The Sniffers, Parcels, Glass Beams, and HAAi brought the energy to Coachella, with Amy Taylor winning over fans across all genres, Parcels proving why they’re festival favourites, and Glass Beams and HAAi bringing luscious vibes to the festival.
SPEED bring hardcore to the stage
Yes, SPEED are Australian, but they needed their own shoutout for bringing Sydney hardcore to the world stage. Watching from the live stream, SPEED’s set was no less powerful. They ripped through a twelve-song set, pulling from their debut album, ONLY ONE MODE, and EP, Gang Called Speed. Kids crowd surfed and formed mosh pits for the first time (probably) as the band brought the riffs and a flute solo to one of the biggest festivals in the world.
Bernie Sanders introduces Clairo & makes hard-hitting speech
For those getting ready to watch Clairo at Coachella on Saturday, we doubt they expected to see Bernie Sanders introduce her and make a speech condemning US President Donald Trump before her performance.
The Senator of Vermont told the crowd, “The future of what happens in America is dependent upon your generation. Now, you can turn away, and you can ignore what goes on, but if you do that, you’re doing it at your own peril.”
Upon mentioning “the President of the United States,” the audience booed, to which he responded, “I agree.”
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