Anitta, Arcade Fire, Harry Styles & More – Billboard

On the first day of Coachella’s big return after the 2020-2021 festival was on hiatus due to the pandemic, the festival and its artists were keen to impress.

From the surprise addition of Arcade Fire (the band performed on the tented Mojave stage at sunset) to the various guest appearances, Anitta hired Snoop Dogg to introduce their history-making set (and later Saweetie and Diplo), called Phoebe Bridgers they welcomed Arlo Parks, Daniel Caesar invited a shirtless Justin Bieber onstage to perform “Peaches,” and headliner Harry Styles shocked audiences by taking out Shania Twain for two of their biggest hits — day one ensured the Fans were on their toes and always guessing what could come next

Despite some hiccups earlier in the day (major parking delays brought many to a standstill, with most citing the lack of directions and signage), all was forgotten by the time Styles took the stage at 11:35 p.m. sharp. His high-energy set, during which he debuted new music from his forthcoming third solo album Harry’s houseShe sent the fans home more than happy – and ready for the second day.

Check out Friday’s 11 best moments below.

5:20pm – Towards the end of the Dom Dolla Sahara stage set, the producer declared, “Kanye, this is for you” – nodding to the artist’s canceled headlining Sunday set, which has since been replaced by one by Swedish House Mafia and The weekend – before he performed the artist’s “I Love Kanye” by him That life of Pablo Album.

5:50pm – Carly Rae Jepsen ushered in a new musical era with a world premiere of “Western Wind,” a suitably breezy pop song about a love that always returns. “Coming in like a west wind / Do you feel at home from all directions? / First bloom, you know it’s spring / Reminds me love that everything is connected,” she sang in the chorus.

6:00 p.m. – Miami rap duo The City Girls took to the Sahara stage for their Friday night set, which included pole dancers, a twerk competition and a special cameo. JT and Yung Miami’s camaraderie, both sporting orange two-pieces with cheeky bottoms, was on full display as they performed some of their biggest hits like “P—y Talk,” “Jobs,” and “Act Up.” Moving on to “Twerk,” the City Girls split their backing dancers into two teams — Team JT and Team Yung Miami — to deliver a twerk contest for the duration of the song. Before the set ended, the rappers brought out Memphis artist Moneybagg Yo for their “Said Sum” remix. Moneybagg Yo then performed two of his own hits, “Time Today” and “Wockesha,” giving the City Girls a brief breather before their “Twerkulator” finale.

6:07 p.m. – It’s hard to pick just one best moment from Anitta’s star-studded and booty-shattering performance on Coachella’s main stage. Just a few days after the release of their latest album versions of me, the Brazilian superstar jumped into her set with a troupe of nearly 20 dancers – and Snoop Dogg, her first surprise guest of the night – to sing “Onda Diferente.” Other guests included Sawetie, who joined her for her Faking Love collaboration, followed by last guest Diplo, who DJed the second half of their set. The crowd grew bigger and bigger by the second, with Brazilian flags and soccer shirts waving by their eager fans. “What’s up Coachella? Hello Latinos. Brazil!” She saluted her loyal and new fans. Of course, she performed her global hit Envolver, and as you guessed it, fans couldn’t take their eyes off her as she danced her viral TikTok dance — the, at she falls to the ground and, well, you know the rest…

6:28pm – The Marías throw in a cover of “…Baby One More Time” by Britney Spears, which frontwoman María Zardoya told the crowd “is my favorite artist.” Within seconds of fans hearing the opening notes to the band’s quirky version of Spears’ breakthrough 1998 hit, the crowd immediately erupted in Gobi Tent-trembling cheers.

6:42pm – Arcade Fire started their impromptu set a few minutes early – as if they just can’t wait to perform – opening with the double hit of “The Lightning I, II”. Between old hits (“The Suburbs”) and new ones (the band played an unreleased track from their upcoming album WEATHER), frontman Win Butler recalled the band’s first time playing the festival in 2005, saying, “We were kids.” He later thanked Coachella founder Paul Tollett, whom he affectionately referred to as “that motherfucker” during he gave a brief history lesson on how Pearl Jam, while boycotting venues controlled by Ticketmaster and rather appearing at the Empire Polo Club, helped the festival flourish in existence almost 30 years ago.

7:15pm – Fans in tejanas and cowboy boots excitedly made their way to the main stage to see Grupo Firme make history as the first banda ensemble at the festival. Among the crowd, Jorge Gaxiola was spotted by Voz de Mando, watching from afar and singing along to the band’s anthems along with the packed crowd. Grupo Firme took the stage around 7:20 a.m. after playing a short video teasing the songs they would sing during their 50-minute set, including “Ya Supérame”, “El Tóxico”, “Yo Ya No Vuelvo.” Contigo” and a cover of “Tusa”. Meanwhile, the band danced and took shots of tequila straight from the bottle (and even a cowboy hat at the end) and hailed another milestone in their young but fruitful career.

9:15 p.m. – “Hello mom,” said Phoebe Bridgers before thanking her mother Jamie for driving her to this very festival for the past seven years. Bridgers notably narrated once in 2011, for which she had light pink hair and wore a Two Door Cinema Club t-shirt. Even better than this picture? The artist greeted Arlo Parks on stage (“How’s my hair, is my hair crazy?” she asked the moment her friend was within earshot). The pair performed two tracks from Bridger’s latest album punisher (“Graceland Too” and “I Know the End”), both of which are well balanced with previously played sad-girl bangers like “Motion Sickness” and “Kyoto”. Of course, there was also the live debut of new single Sidelines, which she introduced with a grin while saying, “Let’s all imagine a world where people come to a concert to hear new music. “

10:47 p.m. – Daniel Caesar had a peachy, sharp performance, thanks in part to Justin Bieber – a guest performance that was arguably the worst-kept secret of day one. That justice The singer ran shirtless onto the stage to perform his Grammy-nominated song “Peaches,” which features both Caesar and Giveon. (“Crazy, isn’t it?! Caesar said of Bieber. ‘He’s been banging my whole life!'”) While Giveon didn’t perform his verse, the singer is on the bill for the second day of the festival, giving Bieber a chance to double up . Before his brief cameo appearance, Caesar previewed a new song called “PDNL,” an acronym for “Please Do Not Leave,” the lead single from his upcoming album. He also performed fan favorites like “Get You,” “Who Hurt You?” and “Cyanide,” and often commented on how much he’s missed performing at the festival — and in general — since his last performance in 2018. Earlier this week (April 12), billboard reports that Caesar has signed to Republic Records.

11:15 p.m. – During Big Sean’s late night set, the Detroit rapper brought out YG for “Big Bank” and Jhene Aiko for “Beware” and a sensual rendition of “I Know.” “Make some noise for my baby, Jhené Aiko,” Sean asked, to which she yelled back, “I love you!” as he ran off the stage. While the cameo was sadly not a reunion with Twenty88, the rapper confirmed back in February that a new album from the duo was in the works.

12:27 am – Harry Styles and Shania Twain exuded chemistry as they chanted “Man! I Feel Like a Woman,” before tackling Twain’s 1997 romantic hit You’re Still the One. As Styles beamed with delight, he told the crowd, and Twain in particular, “Now I have to tell you, this lady taught me to sing when I was a kid in the car with my mom. She also taught me that men are garbage. But you, for the memories you gave me with my mother, I am forever grateful.”

“I’m at a loss for words, I’m a little overwhelmed,” Twain replied. “When I wrote this song, you were just a kid. It’s kind of a dream and very surreal to be sitting right here with you.”