The best and worst moments from Coachella 2023's second weekend: Blink-182, Zendaya, Bad Bunny
INDIO, Calif. – Coachella's second weekend features most of the same artists as the first weekend, of course.
But it proved to be far from a carbon copy: Frank Ocean, who bowed out with a leg injury, was replaced as Sunday's headliner by Blink-182, who a week ago were surprise guests. Yet, Blink-182 didn't close out the music and arts festival Sunday – that honor went to EDM star Skrillex, along with fellow DJs Fred Again and Four Tet.
These were the best and, well, worst moments, including surprise appearances by Zendaya and Sia with Labrinth – and Bad Bunny's apology for seemingly shading Harry Styles.
'I'll see you soon': Frank Ocean cancels Coachella Weekend 2 performance due to leg injury
Blink-182 saves the day, replaces Frank Ocean
Blink-182 hit the Coachella jackpot Sunday night. After the band's surprise guest performance last weekend, the pop-punk trio delivered another exceptional set as replacement headliners to round out Weekend 2.
The trio, featuring frontman and guitarist Tom DeLonge, bassist Mark Hoppus and drummer Travis Barker, was 10 minutes late and came out to the theme of "2001: A Space Odyssey." They arrived onstage amid an explosion of pyrotechnics before starting with “Family Reunion.”
Although the set list was almost the same as Weekend 1, one of the major differences between that performance and Weekend 2 was the power of the Coachella Stage’s video production capabilities. The band was able to feature more colorful visuals, an impressive light show and more pyrotechnics on the bigger, open-air stage. – Brian Blueskye
DJs Skrillex, Four Tet, Fred Again help fill the Frank Ocean hole
The power DJ trio of Skrillex, Four Tet and Fred Again were tabbed to fill an Ocean-sized hole in Sunday night's lineup, and if the energy of the crowd watching was any indication, they were a good choice.
The DJ squadron, filling in for Ocean, who pulled out midweek after a much-criticized performance, followed headliner Blink-182 with a high-energy set playing not from the main Coachella Stage but rather from an island stage in the middle of the crowd.
"Call Me Maybe" by Carly Rae Jepsen was the starting point for one jam early in the set, and it became almost unrecognizable by the time the beat drop, sending the crowd into one of many frenzies.
A crowd-favorite moment came when the trio played Taylor Swift's "Love Story" and they turned their sound way down to hear the whole field belting out the lyrics. When it got to the song's famous refrain "Baby, just say yes," they dropped the beat on "yes," creating another group bounce moment.
The central stage with fans all around them created more of a club vibe than a concert vibe. Something about them being in the middle of the action made it more intimate. – Shad Powers
Zendaya sings 'All for Us' with Labrinth, he talks mental health
Labrinth served up his score from TV's "Euphoria" to a receptive crowd on Saturday.
He also shared the stage with Australian singer Sia and called her his "bestie." He thanked her for helping him through depression when he was breaking into the music industry, and she joined him for "Thunderclouds."
Soon after, Labrinth brought out "Euphoria" actress Zendaya, who wore a pink corset dress and thigh-high black boots, to sing "I'm Tired" and "All for Us" amid roars and cries from the crowd. – Eliana Perez
Bad Bunny apologizes to Harry Styles for shading him during 'El Apagón'
Bad Bunny offered a mea culpa to Harry Styles Friday night, after seemingly shading the British singer in a tweet displayed behind the Latin star at last week's Coachella set.
“goodnight benito could do as it was but harry could never do el apagaon,” the tweet said, seemingly referencing Bad Bunny's song “El Apagón” and Styles' hit "As It Was."
“Sorry Harry. It was a mistake from my team. We love you. <3,” a new tweet displayed at his set read.
It’s been less than a week since the release of Bad Bunny and Grupo Frontera’s collaboration “un x100to” (read as “1%” in Spanish), yet the regional Mexican act joined Bad Bunny for their first live show of what has quickly become a global No.1 hit. Despite being a new single, the festival audience of more than 100,000 seemed to fully know the lyrics. – Perez
Remember when Ellie Goulding guested with Calvin Harris? Yeah, that didn't happen this time
Ellie Goulding decided it wasn’t worth staying in the desert just to sing one song with DJ Calvin Harris this weekend to close out his Saturday night set. Unlike Weekend 1, when Goulding stepped out to sing their latest collab, “Miracle,” Harris went without any special guests (in a move that surely disappointed the fans hoping to see Dua Lipa, Florence Welch or even Rihanna, to name a few of his dozens of collaborators) and played a couple minutes past curfew, despite being fined for doing the same last weekend. – Niki Kottmann
Best guests: Kaytranada brings out H.E.R., Tinashe and Anderson .Paak
The packed crowd went wild Friday night when Haitian-Canadian DJ and music producer Kaytranada brought R&B singer H.E.R. to the stage to sing their collaboration "Intimidated." A few songs later, the DJ brought out singer/actress Tinashe for another collab.
To round out his set, Kaytranada also brought out rapper Anderson .Paak, who sported overalls, ski goggles and a black wig. – Kottmann
Becky G remembers Selena with tribute medley
Early in her Friday set, Becky G told her audience she was changing things up from last week. This time, she shared the stage with Afrobeats singer Libianca for a rendition of "People" and got the crowd dancing with the following medley of Selena songs:
"Como La Flor"
"La Carcacha"
"Bidi Bidi Bom Bom"
"Baila Esta Cumbia"
Before returning to her own hits, Becky G praised the late Mexican American singer for paving the way for other Latina artists, like herself. "Representation is so important to me," she said. – Perez
Jaden Smith jumps onstage late with ?Téo?
Fans of Colombian-American singer ?Téo? got a special treat Friday afternoon when Jaden Smith, son of Will Smith, jumped up as a guest. We noticed, however, that Jaden almost didn't make it. Palm Springs Desert Sun photographer Jay Calderon just happened to snap a shot of the singer running to get to the stage, clearly late for his appearance.
Have no fear, however, because he made it just in time to sing the pair's 2018 collaboration "Uno Dos" for the hyped crowd. – Kottmann
More Coachella 2023: Willow Smith rocks the stage with brother Jaden Smith in thrilling set
Contributing: Kim Willis, USA TODAY; Brian Blueskye, Shad Powers, Palm Springs Desert Sun
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Coachella 2023 best, worst moments: Blink-182, Zendaya, Bad Bunny
