The first Israeli female artist to perform at the popular festival talked about how “heartbroken” she is over the situation in the Middle East.
via Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for Coachella
Noga Erez made history at Coachella this weekend as the first Israeli female artist to headline a show at the famous musical festival in Indio, California, now in its 25th year.
The singer, who was raised in Caesarea, Israel, has reached many musical peaks in her career, from performing at the Eurovision with Dana International to opening for Pink while seven months pregnant, but this latest historic feat almost didn’t happen.
It took a lot of get the successful Israeli rapper and musician to the Gobi Stage this past Saturday afternoon during the first week of the festival in the blazing sun.
Erez shared a video log of her and her crew’s journey from Israel, which is currently at war with Iran. The videos showed both Erez and her partner in life and music, Ori Rousso, in a safe room during sirens, wondering if they would make it to the festival in time.
While they managed to get to Los Angeles early enough, despite several cancelled flights, their crew didn’t have as easy a journey. They had to travel to Egypt, which didn’t let one of the members cross because he had camera equipment that wasn’t allowed across the border (they quickly stored it back in Israel and resumed their journey). Meanwhile, two of the members with Iraqi heritage, who have G6PD deficiency, suffered pretty badly when their red blood cells started breaking down while eating fava beans on their flight. Yet they all miraculously made it to LA.
The concert was a triumph, despite the self-proclaimed “meh” 2:05 p.m. time slot (“it’s not the headliner’s midnight peak, it’s the blazing desert heat when people are still sweating out the drugs they did last night,” Erez poetically described on her Instagram). Erez and her crew performed a rousing high-energy set to an enthused crowd. She began the show with a new song titled “Duck Season,” and ended with another new title in which she sang. “It’s the wild wild west / but we’re from the Middle East / Broke all the stats fam / We’re really doing this.”
“Billie Eilish” rapper Armani White took the stage to sing a couple of new numbers and Erez basked in his rhyming skills.
@mycallsname4u NOGA EREZ – COACHELLA 2026 w/ Armani White. @nogaerez @Armani White #fyp #coachella #nogaerez #armaniwhite
Perhaps most alarming of all, Erez ended the show with a bloody nose. Some believe it was the result of said desert heat or a head bump from her daughter, but it is very likely that it was simply fake blood; Erez did project the Hebrew word for blood, “dam,” (which sounds a lot like the title of her hit song “Dumb”) on stage behind her during the show, and some online said it was a possible ode to “Pulp Fiction.”
Aside from her excellent music (her set featured hit songs like “Views,” “Dumb” and “Vandalist”), choreography and staging, Erez also shared a heartfelt message.
“I just want to say one thing. You don’t get to play a stage like this every day. I come from a very, very, very complex part of this planet, and to get us all here doing this… took kind of like forces that I didn’t know that I had,” she told the rapt crowd.
“I’m so, so grateful to be here,” she continued to the sound of cheers. “And at the same time, I’m just heartbroken and sad because of things that are happening at home and around it. I just love this music thing so much, and right now, doing this thing is exactly what I’m doing it for… to put a bunch of strangers together and make them feel like a family united around something. Thank you so much for giving me this. We’re doing this, this is Coachella — un-fucking-beliavable.”
While Erez seems to be the first female Israeli to get a Coachella featured spot, many other Israeli acts have performed at the festival before her, including EDM group Infected Mushroom, which performed on multiple occasions, singer Dudu Tassa, Dennis Llyod and DJ Sahar Z, who also was part of this year’s line-up.
The most heartwarming moment of the concert came towards the end, when Erez and Rousso’s toddler daughter was brought on stage (with protective gear for her tender ears, worry not!). Erez held her in her arms in front of the cheering crowd, and with her (fake?) bloody nose, it made for an image of a truly badass triumphant mother and artist at her peak.
Keep Kveller Kvelling. Your support ensures that anyone seeking laughter, community and Jewish joy can find it here, without needing to cross the Red Sea (or a paywall).