Coachella: Stars mingle in audience as Lady Gaga wows festival

Popstars sneaked into the audience at Coachella to watch each other perform this weekend – as Lady Gaga wowed festivalgoers with a dramatic main stage set.

Fans swarmed to catch the Poker Face singer perform songs from her new album Mayhem, delivering a visual spectacle by opening her set with what can only be described as a satanic ritual to her 2011 song Bloody Mary.

Spotted watching on were South Korean pop group Blackpink, whose member Lisa was also seen dancing to K-pop boy band Enhypen after performing herself.

Meanwhile, Beautiful Things singer Benson Boone surprised the crowd by bringing out Sir Brian May for a rendition of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody while executing a trademark front flip.

Actor Timothee Chalamet and partner Kylie Jenner were seen mingling with the crowd on the second day of the music festival, which is taking place at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California.

Blackpink’s Lisa, who recently starred in the third season of HBO’s The White Lotus, was supported during her set by co-star Patrick Schwarzenegger, who posted a clip of himself singing along to her hit Money.

Meanwhile, Justin and Hailey Bieber, singer Tate McRae and Austrailian rapper The Kid Laroi were spotted dancing at Yeat’s set on Friday night.

Headline acts this year include Megan Thee Stallion, rapper Post Malone and US punk-rock band Green Day at the 100,000-attendees-a-day event.

Fresh from her five wins at the 2025 Brit Awards in March, Charli XCX had fans reliving their “brat summer” on Saturday, performing such hits as Von Dutch and 360 to a bumper crowd.

The British singer also brought out a number of guests during her set, including Troye Sivan, Lorde and Billie Eilish, who appeared on the chart topping hit Guess.

Before the performances could even begin, however, there was chaos at the gates, with ticket holders queuing in heavy traffic to get into the festival.

This year Coachella replaced its first come first-served system for campers with a reservation-style programme, forcing attendees to wait up to 12 hours in their vehicles in scorching desert temperatures with limited facilities.

Most music festivals are never short of political activism and this year’s Coachella was no different.

Left-wing Senator Bernie Sanders took the stage before singer songwriter Clairo’s Saturday set to attack US President Donald Trump’s administration.

“This country faces some very difficult challenges,” he told the crowd. “The future of what happens to America is dependent upon your generation.”

Green Day also reworded lyrics from some of their hits during the band’s headline performance, referencing the war in Gaza and railing against what frontman Billy Joe Armstong has repeatedly called “the Maga agenda”.

Following their success at the Bafta awards for their self titled feature film, Irish rap group Kneecap took to the Sonora stage and had the crowd chanting about former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

The online livestream of the performance cut out at the exact moment the band made their political remarks.

Coachella has come under scrutiny in recent years, with one survey reporting in 2024 that 75% of 3,000 US respondents thought the festival was being overshadowed by influencers.

The festival also suffered a number of talent-related incidents last year.

Blur frontman Damon Albarn berrated the crowd in 2024, accusing them of being “lacklustre” in their singing.

“You’re never seeing us again so you might as well sing it,” he said. “Know what I’m saying?”

Grimes was also forced to apologise for “major technical difficulties” during her Coachella DJ set.

Fans watched the singer scream in frustration after a string of problems including songs playing at double speed.

The festival will continue on Sunday and resume next weekend.