Jack White, PinkPantheress & More

Following an incendiary instrumental opening, Jack White ripped into “That’s How I’m Feeling” — setting the tone for exactly how amped everyone in the crowd was feeling. “That’s what I’m talking about,” a visibly enthused White said to the crowd after a successful “oh yeah” sing along for the song’s chorus. What came next felt like a best-of set, packed with his hits across his various projects, including “Fell in Love With a Girl,” “Steady as She Goes” and epic expected closer “Seven Nation Army” (for which a respectful mosh pit formed). And even when a smash wasn’t blowing out of the speakers, the musicianship he and his band display when jamming was just as captivating: so much so that the cameraman and security personnel couldn’t help but smirk, knowing they were witnessing one of the greats — what a perk. Before White left the stage, a grateful smirk of his own appeared, before he took a bow, and left the crowd with an important message (and instructions): “Music is sacred… Check our Geese and The Strokes.”

Debuting reddish-blonde locks, Addison Rae performed in the same slot that Sabrina Carpenter did just two years ago — golden hour, main stage, and with a stage design that hinted at bigger aspirations. Despite just having her self-titled debut album to pull from (and her “Von Dutch” collab with Charli xcx that she performed sans Charli), her charisma, dramatic flair and physically taxing choreography helped fill the set. Still, most notable was when she asked security “am I allowed here?” before hopping into the crowd. “Here for JB?!” she asked fans in her signature sugary-sweet voice. Despite the first several rows very clearly being there for Bieber (the sea of purple was a giveaway — Rae fit right in when she later put on a purple hoodie for “Headphones On”) — she managed to find a fan holding a sign declaring that they were the “Von Dutch Screamer,” who went on to prove their mettle shortly after. For Rae, the giggles and screams are warranted — as she later said: “I was here last year, but it was nothing like this… I truly am up here living out my wildest dreams.” — L.H.

There was some question about just how much Justin Bieber would dip back into his old catalog for his headlining set on Saturday — so Geese at least wanted to make sure fans got to hear one of his signature early hits. During a break in its performance of 3D Country‘s “2122,” the Brooklyn alt-rock outfit dipped into a verse and chorus of The Bieb’s “Baby,” with singer Cameron Warner’s trademark warble giving a totally new gravity to its “Are we an item?.. We’re just friends?” questioning. (Spoiler: Bieber did end up singing “Baby” over a YouTube of the song’s beloved bowling alley-set video, though he didn’t get much further into the song than Geese did before moving on.) — ANDREW UNTERBERGER

Making his Coachella debut after a whirlwind rise over the last year, Sombr swaggered onto the Outdoor Stage wearing sunglasses, studded black leather pants and a black leather jacket over a black lace shirt. He looked a lot like a rock star, and acted like one too, busting moves with his mic stand and at one point actually dropping to his knees during a scorching solo from his guitarist. Naturally, the show featured music largely from his 2025 debut I Barely Know Her, as well as the show-opening 2026 single “Homewrecker” and, later, “1979” — the Smashing Pumpkins classic, for which frontman Billy Corgan made his first ever Coachella appearance to come out and duet on. The two men’s voices sounded complementary in tandem, and surely the cosign from the alt-rock legend added further credibility to an already-respectable show that drew a packed crowd.

Taemin’s rise to fame started as the main dancer of SHINee. Now, in 2026, the multi-hyphenite is taking has his own exhibit in the Grammy museum and owning the Mojave stage solo at Coachella, and the fans are showing out, fanchants and all. The musician is one of two K-Pop acts at this year’s festival, along with Sunday’s BIGBANG, and his appearance at the festival only further evidences the success of all things K-Pop in the west; that good ole Hallyu wave. Taemin’s star shone bright throughout, kicking off his set strong with “Sexy in the Air” before getting into “WANT.” Cloaked in a gauze-laden hat, Taemin went into “Parasite.” followed up by fan-favorite “Move,” Guilty” and “Heaven.” He then sat before a piano, playing a melody that transitioned into “Advice” with a mash up of “Idea.” Three brand new songs also made their way into the set, teasing fans for what’s to come. 

Much like when John Mayer proved himself a natural fit to play with the Grateful Dead, the union of German techno stalwart Boys Noize and industrial rock titans Nine Inch Nails demonstrated sonic lineage and closed the loop on shared aural DNA. On Saturday night in the Sahara Tent, the two acts fused into Nine Inch Noize, playing their first show ever under this name after Boys Noize’s stint opening for NIN’s 2025/26 Peel It Back Tour. Coming onstage promptly at 8:00 p.m., Boys Noize and NIN’s Atticus Ross positioned themselves at the panel of instruments they remained stationary at for the duration of the show while Trent Reznor roamed more freely, occasionally amongst the gaggle of dancers whose flesh-colored outfits gave the illusion of nudity and whose herky-jerky choreography up and down a sizable ramp created an ominous, not-quite-human vibe. This dancing was as captivating as it was unsettling, as was a lighting motif that bathed the stage in flashing reds and oranges that made it all look illuminated by the strobelights of hell.

This is all to say that the show was as intense, as basically anyone would have predicted, with the three men and occasional woman (Reznor’s wife Mariqeen Maandig, who came out several times to sing with the band) burning through NIN standbys like 2013’s “Copy of A,” 2007’s “Me, I’m not” and “Vessel”, 2025’s “Alive as You Need Me to Be” and 1994’s perpetually carnal “Closer,” with Boys Noize’s presence cranking up the already significant intensity by working in the builds and releases standard to the electronic world from which he comes. — KATIE BAIN

PinkPantheress arrived stateside for a packed performance at Coachella’s Mojave tent this Saturday, playing fan favorites from her To Hell With It and Fancy That mixtapes and generally showing how far she’s come both skill-wise and comfort-wise as a performer and pop star in the past half-decade. The high-concept performance’s climax likely came in a sequence where Pink turned her set into a dance club, with famous friends like Horsegirrl and The Dare coming onstage to join in the revelry — as the latter kicked up the energy by spinning his remixes to Addison Rae’s “Fame Is a Gun” and Charli xcx’s “Guess,” as well as U.K. dance classics like The Prodigy’s “Smack My B—ch Up.” — A.U.

Only at Coachella would you find The Strokes — a headlining act in its own right — essentially opening for Justin Bieber. But they were happy to do it; in fact, they gave the energy of a band just happy to be there. “Few more songs and we’ll be on our way…” mused Julian Casablancas. “I wanted to see PinkPantheress, she’s playing at the same time as us. They f—ked us!” But when you’re as tight as The Strokes, and with a discography as filled with hits, that attitude is well earned — and still results in one of the best sets of the day, in large part thanks to the various Casablanca quips peppered throughout, all delivered with perfect deadpan, of course. Among his best: “I love an intimate affair”; “You guys excited about the draft? Not the NFL”; and then, of course, the full-bodied “JUSTIN BIEBER!” for which he reclined into a slight backbend, really giving it his all. Each remark contributed to a perfectly classic Strokes set — in demeanor and sound — teeing up the band’s recently announced forthcoming new album nicely. But moreso than promotion, tonight accomplished something even greater: “Thank you for fulfilling our lifelong dream of opening for Justin Bieber.” — L.H.

While David Byrne’s Outdoor Stage-closing Saturday performance focused on the joy in life, the threat of contemporary fascism was consistently lurking under its surface — with Byrne even citing the director John Cameron Mitchell’s belief that in modern day, love and kindness serves as protest and resistance. But the more conventional form of resistance was also showcased during the climax to Fear of Music’s classic single “Life During Wartime,” where a number of ICE protestors were displayed on screen. Even then, though, joy was still present — as the montage of clips kicked off with the hilarious viral video of a protestor stealing an ICE bike and leading a bunch of hapless officers on a cartoonish chase before ultimately escaping. — A.U.

The part from Bieber’s headlining set that fans will almost certainly remember the best was the set’s middle section, where he celebrated the earlier parts of his back catalog by eschewing a band or DJ for the sweet sounds of YouTube. Pulling up one video at a time — usually for just a verse and chorus — he led the crowd in singalongs to early favorites like “That Should Be Me,” “Never Say Never” and, of course, “Baby.” Then, like so many of us, once he started really getting into the thick of YouTube he found it difficult to pull himself back out, not only tracking down once-embarrassing videos of him running into a glass door and falling through a hole in his live stage, but also dialing up some Bieb-unassociated YouTube classics like “Deez Nuts” and “Double Rainbow” — before reminding himself it was time to launch back into 2026 with a performance of his current hit, “Yukon.” — A.U.