The 8 best and 8 worst things about attending Coachella this year

MUNA took the Mojave stage on Friday afternoon for a dynamic set that included bops like "Stayaway," "Number One Fan," and "What I Want," which we previously ranked as the 12th best song of 2022.

The band's performance was unfailingly fun and ended with a bang: Phoebe Bridgers arrived to perform their duet "Silk Chiffon." She was quickly joined onstage by the rest of boygenius, Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus, who provided harmonies as well as a jolt of feel-good energy.

Blink-182 was not included on Coachella's original line-up, so their Friday afternoon performance was a thrilling surprise for fans — especially since Tom DeLonge officially rejoined the band. (He originally left in 2015, but they reconnected after lead singer Mark Hoppus was diagnosed with cancer in 2021.)

The rockers played a variety of nostalgic hits including "All the Small Things" and "I Miss You," as well as an inspired cover of TLC's "No Scrubs."

Do LaB, a smaller stage that specializes in dance and electronic music, enlisted a formidable array of artists this year to deliver surprise DJ sets, including James Blake on Friday and ODESZA on Saturday.

Elsewhere, on the Outdoor Theatre stage, masters of dance-pop like Kaytranada and SG Lewis pulled out all the stops with exciting special guests like Aminé and Channel Tres, respectively. Labrinth's late-night set at Mojave on Saturday even featured a duet with Billie Eilish.

For festivalgoers who came to rave, it was a weekend for the books.

Charli XCX commanded the main stage on Saturday, despite an earlier slot than she deserved.

Armed with hot-girl choreography, a hit-packed set list (the Icona Pop duet "I Love It" still goes hard more than a decade after its release), and a Troye Sivan cameo for "1999," Charli had the unmistakable vibe of a headliner — even with the sun still blazing in the sky.

Coachella's lineup is absolutely stuffed with talented musicians and stars, so efficient stage turnover is essential to the festival's success.

Luckily, all went smoothly this year (except for the headliners) and fans were able to see excellent shows back-to-back without leaving the crowd.

For example, Rosalía arrived on the main stage for a show-stopping performance (dubbed "MOTOCHELLA" by fans in honor of her brilliant third album) just 40 minutes after Charli XCX wrapped up.

Saturday's lineup was truly designed for the pop girlies, with BLACKPINK taking the main stage directly after Rosalía.

The quartet dazzled the crowd with ease and grace, nailing complex choreography and electrifying the crowd with hits like "Pink Venom" and "Lovesick Girls."

BLACKPINK has collaborated with A-listers like Lady Gaga, Selena Gomez, and Cardi B — but Jisoo, Lisa, Jennie, and Rosé didn't need any surprise guests to show why they deserved top billing.

For their first official performance since the release of their debut album, "The Record," boygenius rocked the Outdoor Theatre stage on Saturday.

The trio delivered an unforgettable set, kicking it off with Baker-led ragers "$20" and "Satanist" before closing with "Salt in the Wound," a highlight from their 2018 self-titled EP.

In between, the best friends flaunted their finely tuned harmonies, Dacus championed trans rights, and Bridgers declared, "Abortion rocks. And fuck Ron DeSantis."

Last year was our first time attending the famous music festival and even for all of Coachella's flaws, we were stunned by its beauty.

You might think the horizon would be old news the second time around, but you'd be wrong. Even with sore feet and sleep deprivation, it's hard to be pessimistic when the sun goes down, the ferris wheel lights up, and the mountains glow with that hazy orange halo.

It seemed like Bad Bunny bore the brunt of Coachella's technical issues this year. He brought out Post Malone as a surprise guest, but their duet was ruined by audio malfunctions.

In the end, they were forced to give up and Bad Bunny delivered "Yonaguni" a cappella.

According to other festivalgoers, Becky G and Kali Uchis also had their microphones cut out on Friday.

In contrast to last year, when Harry Styles and Billie Eilish were right on time to perform, both headliners on Saturday suffered significant delays.

Half an hour may not seem like a long time to wait, but after you've been on your feet all day — and knowing that it'll probably take you hours to get home — it feels like an eternity.

There have been conflicting reports about what caused Ocean's delay, with some sources saying he decided to change his stage setup at the last minute (allegedly forcing the festival workers to melt down a ready-to-go ice skating rink that he no longer wanted to use) and others claiming that a sprained ankle required him to reimagine the performance.

Whatever the root cause, a 50-minute delay is almost unprecedented by Coachella's standards. The anticipation was pure agony — especially since he hadn't performed live since 2017 — and the experience became even more sour when Ocean abruptly ended the show with little-to-no explanation.

All of Coachella's heavy hitters perform on the main stage, which sucks because it offers the worst experience for fans.

Other stages like Sahara and Outdoor Theatre are similarly massive, but structured differently to allow higher elevation and better viewpoints.

This flaw became especially obvious during Ocean's set, during which he sat inside an outcove in the middle of the stage. For the majority of his performance, his actual body was essentially invisible.

Unlike last year, we decided to spring for the pricey shuttle pass to avoid Coachella's painful traffic.

Although we found it a much smoother experience overall, getting home on the first night was a real challenge. We asked several festival workers to point us towards the shuttle's pickup location and got several different answers.

One person directed us to the day parking lot, while another sent us in the opposite direction.

After we finally found the correct route, we commiserated with other shuttle-takers — and found that we were far from the only people who encountered this issue.

After driving last year and taking the shuttle on day one of this year, we found that taking an Uber to the festival is the worst method of transportation by far.

The walk from the rideshare drop-off location is at least 20 minutes long, through the dust, in the scorching midday sun. It also took extra long to arrive because traffic was so backed up.

The interdisciplinary sculpture known as Spectra has been a Coachella mainstay for the past few years. It looks gorgeous from the outside — especially at night, when the rainbow glow acts like a beacon in the night sky.

But if you decide to enter the sculpture at night and walk up its spiral pathway, the vibe is a major bummer. The tinted windows are overpowered by the white LED lights, making for a very underwhelming experience.

As for the festival's famous Ferris wheel, we tried to ride it on Sunday, but the long line — and additional ticket fee — simply didn't feel worth it.

This is true for every music festival, but from the perspective of a festival veteran, it feels especially true for Coachella.

A single Heineken will set you back $15, not including tip or tax. The simple meal pictured above — two hot dogs and two orders of french fries — cost us $45.