FEATURE:
From Coachella Queens…
IN THIS PHOTO: Doja Cat at the 2024 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival/PHOTO CREDIT: Arturo Holmes/Getty Images for Coachella
How Women Will Define and Dominate Festivals This Year
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I have been thinking a lot…
IN THIS PHOTO: Gwen Stefani of No Doubt and Olivia Rodrigo performing at Coachella/PHOTO CREDIT: John Shearer/Getty Images for No Doubt
about women in music. How there is still misogyny and sexism levied at them. In fact, thinking of recent news events, there is still so misogyny in the world. Some really disgusting and unforgivable occurrences. In terms of general attitudes towards women, how far have we come in the past few decades?! This question can be asked of the music industry. Whilst there have been steps made, I still feel like the female dominance we see clearly out there is not being met with respect and opportunity. Still so much imbalance. It is only this year really when Glastonbury has addressed its all-male headliners. I am going to reference and source an article from The Guardian that was published yesterday (14th April) in reaction to the Coachella festival in the U.S. It seems like an odd festival. In the sense many of the acts did not get the crowd response they deserved. Blur were among those who blasted the crowd for not being engaged and properly appreciative. What the article highlighted is how women salvaged and defined the festival. I feel this is something that is going to be repeated throughout all major festivals, begging the question as to whether there needs to be commitment and need guidance at all festivals going forward. Will it also lead to greater progress in the industry regarding tackling misogyny and addressing gender imbalance? Although Coachella is not the best guide as to how every festival this year will pan out, yet it is clear we are seeing a change.
Not to say there are a lack of exciting make headliners and festival-defining acts. It is the case that women are dominating. Coachella saw Doja Cat, Lana Del Rey, No Doubt and so many others rule. Bringing in guests such as Olivia Rodrigo and Billie Eilish, it was a huge show of female empowerment, talent and togetherness. The Guardian explained why female artists helped lift an otherwise tepid Coachella:
“As someone who attended (for free, as press … though I did succumb to the call of the $16 Claw), I can confirm that rumors of Coachella’s demise are a little premature. Yes, there were fewer people. But the diehards still showed up – with a notable exception being the so-called Queen of Coachella, Vanessa Hudgens, who skipped out this year due to her pregnancy.
Some of the attendees I spoke to were there for the fifth, eighth, or tenth time. It’s a tradition they admitted to planning their year around, no matter who plays. One college-age woman I spoke to ahead of the gates opening on Friday night said she’s come since childhood with her dad, noting with a straight face that, “He’s an OG. He has a vintage Coachella shirt from 2008.”
But a flop year remains valuable for the feedback it gives us. Remove the noise of a once-in-a-lifetime, Beychella-esque headline performance and you can take stock of the tradition as a whole. What’s working: booking surprise special guests who bring the nostalgia points.
My soul left my body for a moment when Kesha walked out to support Reneé Rapp, altering the opening line of her recession-core banger Tik Tok to “wake up in the morning saying fuck P Diddy,” amid allegations of sexual assault against Sean Combs. Not even a rough onstage tumble that left the promiscuous girl herself Nelly Furtado bloodied kept the special guest from working the crowd at Dom Dolla. It was nice to see J Balvin call in a beaming Will Smith, who joined a cast of dancing green aliens for a rendition of Men in Black, reminding us inthe wake of the Oscars slap and whatever Jada’s been up to that he’s ultimately a showman at heart.
One attendee, an influencer-in-her-own-mind type who asked me to film as she delivered a straight-to-camera monologue for TikTok, declared that this year was “for the girls!” I agree, unless said girl was Grimes, whose disastrous, issue-plagued DJ set was ultimately just cut off in a satisfying display of schadenfreude. Or Lana Del Rey, who also did not fare well during her Friday headline set due to constant audio issues and what appeared to be old-fashioned nerves.
But overall, the best of this year’s acts projected girl power, not in the corny, superficial way that’s all too common in pop, but by simply showing up and tearing up. Gwen Stefani climbing on top of stage scaffolding while leading the call-and-response chorus of I’m Just a Girl during No Doubt’s headline set was one of the highest highs of the festival, and Doja Cat’s sapphic mud pit closer alone was worth the price of admission.
Raye, a UK star who’s now on a US ascension, gave early Amy Winehouse during a tight, mid-century styled set. When it came time for Ice Cream Man, a raw and unflinching account of Raye’s sexual assault at the hands of a music producer, she left every woman I could see in my section wiping away tears – myself included – and the many of the men staring solemnly down at their feet, unable to make eye contact.
Coachella is such a well-oiled machine that moments of real emotion can be hard to come by – it’s essentially the music industry’s Disneyland. Raye’s admission served as a rare gasp of authenticity. Ditto for Victoria Monet’s loud and clear call for an end to the genocide in Gaza, a plea that received one of the longest and loudest rounds of applause I heard all weekend. (Levant, a 23-year-old part-Palestinian DJ also roused a crowd with his full-throated call for a free Palestine, and it’s a shame his set conflicted with No Doubt’s reunion.)
Danish R&B singer Erika de Casier’s early 2pm death slot started with only a dozen or so attendees, but grew into a full crowd as she worked through her polished, ‘90s-tinged slow jams. Anyone in the mood for rave vibes could be found at South Korean DJ Peggy Gou’s tent, where she slung remixes while a cast of gender-queer gogo dancers hyped up the audience.
Admittedly I only went to see pop star Sabrina Carpenter because I thought I might get a glimpse of her potential boo Barry Keoghan (I did not), but the nascent star won me over with unadulterated pop girl charisma. And then there was Rapp, who not only brought out Kesha, but also enlisted the cast of The L Word to introduce her show and performed in front of a giant pair of scissors (because, you know, lesbians).
Ice Spice drew so big of a crowd that I couldn’t even enter her tent. I later learned on TikTok that Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce were there, but I’m glad that rumblings of a Swift guest appearance on stage didn’t materialize. Spice had the opportunity to dominate all by herself, actually keeping her mic on and not relying too heavily on backing vocals, as many performers do”.
PHOTO CREDIT: Glastonbury Festival
I do think, more and more, the incredible albums released by women translates to festival stages and shows why they should have been represented more years ago. Whilst many of the most notable acts and performances at Coachella were from established artists, there is a wave of newer talent coming through who are shaping up to be future legends. Think about Glastonbury and how Dua Lipa and SZA will be clear highlights showed how women are staking their claim as the most exciting and strongest festival choices. Shania Twain will bring her magic to the legends slot. The other Glasto headliners, Coldplay, seem like also-rans. A tired choice that has little logic. The festival could easily have booked a third female headliner like Little Simz and made a big call – though I feel there is still a fear here for major festivals to have an all-female headliner look (something that I don’t think has ever happened). Even if there is a huge way to go for festivals, I feel Coachella is the start of festivals creating memories and wonderful moments because of its queens. Readings and Leeds is a U.K. festival still struggling to book female headliners. Hopes that they correct their ways and realise they need to do better, Glastonbury’s balanced bill and long-overdue steps to book women as headliners will pay dividends. It may be a big call, but I think this is true: women are going to be the highlight of nearly every festival this year. The fact that the amazing music they have been putting out is being recognised is leading to festival bookings and naturally assured and astonishing performances.
Going forward, it does the beg the question as to whether attitudes will change. There is still a big issue with sexism and a true lack of parity. I hope the face of festivals changes. We should no longer see booking female headliners as something that needs to be done. It should be natural. Normalising having them headliner every year. Festivals need to make that commitment. I also feel festival need to take more risks and book younger and less established artists as headliners. Ensure that the reviews and news we hear from festivals like Coachella – where sets from women are positive and impressive – makes it clear that the male-dominated and focused festival scene should and can reverse easily. That needs to spread throughout the industry. A matriarchy replacing the patriarchy! This summer is going to see some iconic sets from female headliners. Rising artists making their mark. The festival queens coming through and showing why they should have been a larger part of the conversation a long time ago. Coachella is the start of things. This year will be a revolution. Let’s hope that next year builds on that so that all festivals have no issue with booking female headliners and balancing their bills. Not that this will fix inequality and misogyny that still exists in the industry. It does prove how amazing our women are. How they are defining and dominating. Words I have no problem in reusing because it is true. Our queens are going to slay festivals this year. It is wonderful to…
SEE them reign.