These are the acts our team can’t wait to see on Saturday. See the full list for Coachella’s first weekend.
Ecca Vandal
4:20 p.m., Sonora Tent
Ecca Vandal hooked me with “Cruising to Self Soothe,” which gave Turnstile x Brody Dalle (the Distillers) vibes, when I first heard it last spring, but she travels in many genres, crossing into punk, trip hop, alternative hip-hop and pop. With a new album, “Looking for People to Unfollow,” out May 22, and upcoming tour dates that are a mix of supporting Deftones around the world and festivals like Lollapalooza, this is your chance to talk about how you saw her at Coachella’s smallest stage way back when. (Vanessa Franko)
Geese
6:15 p.m., Gobi Tent
Geese have undeniably been at the forefront of conversations on tantalizing, new rock and the revival of the classic “band scene.” This year they show up a little further down the Saturday lineup than expected, especially given their astronomical ascension in popularity, but it’s beyond doubt that they will pull quite the crowd and likely an electric one, too. On stage, Cameron Winter leads an overall enthralling performance, as the group slams out songs back-to-back with little to say in between; no shenanigans, just a top-notch show. (Julius Miller)
Giveon
7 p.m., Coachella Stage
The desert can be hot and rough, but Giveon’s soothing baritone is a balm capable of healing sunburns and broken hearts. Since the breakout success of 2022’s “Give or Take,” the Long Beach-bred singer has certainly taken off, earning an avalanche of recognition for his deep, emotionally available twist on romantic R&B, which was also well received at Coachella that year. His rise continued into 2025 and beyond with the release of his sophomore album “Beloved,” a sweeping journey through lush rhythms and a deep well of feeling on songs like “Twenties” that will help your soul re-hydrate once again in the Indio heat as the sun goes down. (Nate Jackson)
Nine Inch Noize
8 p.m., Sahara Tent
What exactly will Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Boys Noize be doing at this bespoke collaborative electronic set? It sounds like they’re building the plane while they fly it, but the middle section of their recent “Peel It Back” tour showed how they can rip apart the NIN canon and make it club-ready with plenty of arena-goth charisma. (August Brown)
The Strokes
9 p.m., Coachella Stage
Six years after “The New Abnormal” proved they can still draw an audience of teenagers, the Strokes are using Coachella to drum up interest in a forthcoming follow-up album, “Reality Awaits,” which they recorded with Rick Rubin in Costa Rica (because why not). This week the band released the LP’s lead single, “Going Shopping”; it sounds kind of like the Steve Miller Band if Auto-Tune had existed in the mid-1970s. (Mikael Wood)
Justin Bieber
11:25 p.m., Coachella Stage
The former teen-pop idol recently teased his headlining appearance with stripped-down gigs at the Roxy and the Troubadour in which he performed only material from last year’s “Swag” and “Swag II” albums. One presumes Bieber will offer a more expansive production for his first big concert in years — but then again he was one of the few high-profile voices to praise Frank Ocean’s polarizing (if brilliant!) headlining set in 2023. (MW)