Coachella’s main stage plagued by sound issues throughout day one

13 April, 2024

Coachella

Day one of Coachella 2024‘s first weekend has wrapped, but not without controversy as fans have been taking to social media to voice their disdain for the sound quality at this year’s festival.

Throughout the course of day one (April 12), several artists faced sound and technical issues, especially on the main stage – known as the Coachella Stage. Some of these acts include headlining Lana Del Rey, Sabrina Carpenter and The Japanese House.

The Japanese House were one of the first bands to take to the Mojave stage. Amber Bain and co. hit the stage roughly ten minutes late and were met with various technical difficulties while performing. “This is my first Coachella, can you tell?” joked Bain as she tried to solve the issues so that they could continue their set.

Though there were issues including the lack of vocals feeding into Bain’s in-ears along with too much guitar and no keys, The Japanese House were able to pull through, performing a mix of fan favorites including ‘Sad To Breathe’, ‘Touching Yourself’ and ‘Boyhood’ which Bain dedicated to all the gays.

Then, Sabrina Carpenter took to the Coachella Stage, where she faced several technical difficulties including the volume of her microphone, and a sustain pedal not being set up correctly.

NME’s The Cover stars YOASOBI also experienced rough sound conditions, with fans sharing that they could “hardly hear” singer Ikura.

However, it was headliner Lana Del Rey who drew the shortest end of the stick. Throughout the course of her performance, fans aired their grievances about the sound quality, as Lana’s microphone volume was noticeably lower than her backup singers’ and her microphone would occasionally beep and crackle.

At one point, Lana addressed the sound, saying to the crowd: “As quiet as I am, how are you doing? There’s little that I have to say, can you hear me well?”

Unfortunately, the sound issues continued when she brought out special guests such as Billie Eilish, Jon Batiste and Jack Antonoff to perform. See more X reactions below.

In other Coachella news, Deftones covered The Smith’s ‘Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want’, Suki Waterhouse, who covered Oasis‘ ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’, and French dance duo Justice made their anticipated return.

Shakira made a special guest appearance during Bizarrap’s set, during which she announced a new world tour. Sabrina Carpenter treated fans in attendance at the main stage to a visually stunning and hit-filled setlist and Lil Uzi Vert broke out the hits for their high-octane set. For more live updates as it happens, check out NME’s liveblog for Coachella 2024 here.

Check back here for the latest news, reviews and more from Coachella 2024. 

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