In her return to Coachella for the first time in eight years, Lady Gaga dazzled the desert during her opening day headlining set last night (April 11), debuting seven tracks from her latest album, MAYHEM, and potentially giving a taste of what to expect during her upcoming summer North American tour.
The 20-song, nearly two-hour performance was rife with elaborate choreography, costumes and set pieces, including an opera house, a giant chess board and a sandbox filled with nylon-clad zombies. Gaga herself was decked out in everything from feathers, a helmet and a black wig, and at times moved around the stage with either a cane or metallic crutches.
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“I wanted to make a romantic gesture to you,” she told the crowd at one point. “I decided to build you an opera house in the dessert.” Throughout, Gaga alternated live premieres of new tunes such as “The Beast,” “Zombieboy,” “How Bad Do U Want Me” and “Vanish Into You” with classics such as “Poker Face,” “Alejandro” “Paparazzi” and “Shallow,” her powerful vocals rising high above her band’s often thunderous rock’n’roll attack.
The set’s only guest was French DJ Gesaffelstein, who reprised his contribution to the studio version of the funk-tinged pop banger “Killah.” Three songs near the beginning were played for the first time in years, including opener “Bloody Mary,” which had been absent since 2018, and both “Judas” and “Scheiße,” which were last heard in 2019.
Gaga wound down the show by performing “Die With a Smile” (sans Bruno Mars) at a piano nestled inside a skull and the A Star Is Born anthem “Shallow.” “I always feel so blessed to be with the audience because you always teach me something profound,” she said. “The truth is, we’re all one. It’s just all one fucking thing.”
Other opening day Coachella highlights included Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong joining the Go-Go’s for “Head Over Heels,” Three 6 Mafia throwing a hip-hop party with guests Wiz Khalifa, Machine Gun Kelly, blink-182’s Travis Barker and Project Pat, Mustard welcoming Tyga, YG, Big Sean, Roddy Ricch and 2 Chainz and Benson Boone getting a lift from Queen guitarist Brian May on the latter’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” and his own smash hit “Beautiful Things.”
Here is Lady Gaga’s Coachella set list:
Bloody MaryAbracadabraJudasScheißeGarden of EdenPoker FacePerfect CelebrityDiseasePaparazziAlejandroThe BeastKillah (with Gesaffelstein)ZombieboyDie With a SmileHow Bad Do U Want MeShadow of a ManKill for LoveBorn This WayShallowVanish Into YouBad Romance
To see our running list of the top 100 greatest rock stars of all time, click here.
