Coachella 2017: The best of the fest (so far)

Culture Tue Apr 18 2017 by Katie Todd

With the first weekend of Coachella behind us, you'd be forgiven for angrily scrolling past every annoyingly good Instagram post, citing #Coachella17. With our FOMO levels officially through the roof, we're pretending we were amongst the action by rounding up all the first-weekend highlights: fresh to you from the sunny Californian desert.

Lorde
Our heroine stepped out of her two-year concert hiatus in silver flares, a high neck mesh top, sparkling bustier and Stan Smiths. A huge translucent box of dancers suspended above her stage referenced the “awkward teenage party” around which her new album Melodrama is based. Her hour on stage transversed classics, like Royals, fresh content like Homemade Dynamite and even a free-styled version of Kanye’s Runaway. “Can we do this forever please and thank you” she declared on Twitter after the show, with photos of her getting amongst the 100,000 strong crowd.

COACHELLA!
A post shared by Lorde (@lordemusic) on Apr 17, 2017 at 8:34am PDT

Georgia Fowler
Lorde wasn't the only Kiwi mingling amongst the masses. Also spotted were actor KJ Apa, Broods siblings Caleb and Georgia (post-performance), TV host Shavaughn Ruakere, actress Fleur Saville and Victoria’s Secret Model, Georgia Fowler. Georgia was snapped sporting slick bohemian Coachella style and hanging out stage-side at A$AP Rocky, and her gram delivered true “Squadchella” goals.

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A post shared by GEORGIA FOWLER (@georgiafowler) on Apr 17, 2017 at 1:40pm PDT

Gaga
After Beyonce dropped from the Coachella lineup citing doctor's orders, Gaga was tasked with filling the third headliner slot. Her two-hour set morphed genres - from rock, to trance, to country, pop and EDM, old classics and newer ballads, including a new single called The Cure. Clad in leather and denim ensembles and clambering all over her backup dancers, she incorporate signature quirkiness into her set and delivered an electrifying performance to a receptive crowd.

Thank you @Coachella! ✨? See you next weekend!
A post shared by xoxo, Gaga (@ladygaga) on Apr 16, 2017 at 3:47pm PDT

Kendrick Lamar
Fresh on the heels of his DAMN. album drop, Kendrick stepped onto the stage in full force - packing skill, newly styled content and several surprise guests. His powerful set rounded out the first weekend and featured contributions from Future, Schoolboy Q and Travis Scott.