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.
READ MORE: Coachella 2024 live: Check out all of the action as it happens
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.
Whoever Coachella had for sound during The Japanese House needs to be FUCKING FIRED GET HIM THE HELL OUT OF WHEREVER HE IS
— EXXO (@EXXOmixin) April 13, 2024
The Japanese House spending half of her set insisting the sound is right is a show within itself
— Elle (@ElleCeeDubya) April 12, 2024
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.
why does sabrina carpenter’s audio sound so bad on the coachella stage rn oh my god justice for her
— abbs (@kachowxcx) April 13, 2024
| Sabrina talking to the crowd at #Coachella “Hold on i have to make sure my sustain is working, otherwise it’ll sound bad… fuck it still sounds bad, it’s probably the 5 inch heels”
— Sabrina Carpenter Canada is caffeinated (@SabrinaCCanada) April 13, 2024
NME’s The Cover stars YOASOBI also experienced rough sound conditions, with fans sharing that they could “hardly hear” singer Ikura.
The sound was so bad that I could hardly hear ikura voice….
However, I was amazed by her English speech. ikura you said it so well proud of you!!#Coachella #Coachella2024 #yoasobi #YOASOBI pic.twitter.com/fdULbUj0kE
— Janジャニス l YOASOBIドームツアー大阪東京全参戦予定 (@Jan_YOASOBI) April 13, 2024
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?”
“As quiet as I am, how are you doing?”
Lana Del Rey addresses sound issues during her headline set at Coachella. Apparently, the sound engineer really wants everyone to hear the piano, but isn’t too fussed about things like vocals, drums, bass… pic.twitter.com/d12EsNKxZC
— Mark Savage (@mrdiscopop) April 13, 2024
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.
i hope the sound isn’t actually that bad at coachella bc why can’t i hear them https://t.co/1fmE3sewKq
— isa (@happilyfolklore) April 13, 2024
wHATS GOING ON WITH THE SOUND COACHELLA FIX THZT SHIT
— remoony (@veronicaglitzz) April 13, 2024
bye who gave lana a microphone from temu??? someone needs to fire the entire coachella sound crew
— ultraviolence (@purpmp3) April 13, 2024
the sound system at coachella is completely fucked up cause why can i hear some gay at barricade screaming louder than i can hear lana singing
— ًjohn (@needtcknow) April 13, 2024
Why are the backup vocalist mics louder than Lana’s. Common, Coachella sound people.
— Brenda (Tortured Poet) (@silentswiftie89) April 13, 2024
Lana’s mic started to make beeping sound everytime she sang too loud Coachella tech when I catch you
— Stream Over in His #X-Men ’97 era (@StreamOver99) April 13, 2024
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.
The post Coachella’s main stage plagued by sound issues throughout day one appeared first on NME.
