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Coachella Weekend One Woes: Traffic Jams, Extreme Heat, and Mic Issues

Home » Coachella Weekend One Woes: Traffic Jams, Extreme Heat, and Mic Issues

MusicOlivia Perreault3 days ago

The coveted Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival officially wrapped its first weekend in the desert — though not without a few woes.

The annual event kicked-off at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California on Friday. Before the music even started, chaos ensued as cars piled up on Thursday, attempting to get through security to park in the car camping area. Those in line shared photos on social media, showing that there was up to a 12-hour wait time. No restrooms or water were available during this time, and some fans even ran out of gas.

Coachella descends into chaos, and it hasn’t even started yet. These are cars lined up to get through security to enter the car camping area. Attendees are reporting a 12 hour wait, and no porta potties, with some saying it’s “worse than Fyre Festival”. pic.twitter.com/ztjACmd70u

— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) April 11, 2025

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Hearing lots of reports of Coachella getting off to a rough start for campers today — some have waited as long as 12+ hours to reach a campsite, including one person who sent the DM below. pic.twitter.com/i19KcDgjeA

— Festive Owl (@TheFestiveOwl) April 10, 2025

This is the worst line I’ve ever seen to get into Coachella car camping in the 10 plus times I’ve been. Nothing makes sense this shit is not moving.

— ً. (@kdilla92) April 10, 2025

Current situation for some people at @coachella. Going on 9 hours on this line, luckily we still half a tank of gas. pic.twitter.com/1396I35zpZ

— Martin (@martindtx108) April 10, 2025

Zero organization, zero traffic control. Coachella let us down big time, waiting in the heat for hours and no direction

— joce (@jlynrlo) April 10, 2025

By the second day of the festival, wristband scanners reportedly stopped working — but only briefly. Alongside delays, the weather also soared; at some points throughout the festival, attendees reported that temperatures hit over 100 degrees.

Coachella wants us dead the way we are standing around to enter in 100+ degree heat pic.twitter.com/DBmcfCwI66

— DED (@boyofla) April 11, 2025

One of the biggest issues to plague the weekend: Megan Thee Stallion’s set. Throughout her performance, she faced various sound problems; first, her mic went out during a song. She yelled out to the stage crew to “come fix my motherf—ing mic.”

Then, her set was cut short and her mic was turned off in the middle of “Mamushi” after going over her allotted time by two minutes. While the crowd couldn’t hear her mic, the livestream caught her complaining, “Don’t y’all do the hotties like that” and “run ‘Mamushi’ back for the motherf—ing hotties.'” The hip-hop star kept performing, despite no sound, before dancing off the stage.

It’s safe to say fans were upset with the outcome — and are hoping this won’t be an issue during Weekend Two.

Aye @coachella this is not ok. Yall messed up @theestallion set with constant sound issues and didn’t even let her finish. This better not happen next week!

— The Neighborhood Publicist (@nhoodpublicist) April 14, 2025

Megan said SOMEBODY COME OUT HERE AND FIX MY MOTHERFUCKING MIC 😭😭😭 seriously wtf is up with the audio at coachella all weekend???

— hot orcs near you (@hotorcsnearyou) April 14, 2025

By next weekend they better fix the mic issues STAT and not run her off the stage. That was crazy. Despite that, it was amazing. #megchella

— monstro elisalex 🍉 (@amdeeeeeee) April 14, 2025

The second weekend of Coachella is set to take place from April 18 to 20. Fans can look forward to headlining performances from the punk-rockers of Green Day, genre-bending hip-hop/country star Post Malone, and pop icon Lady Gaga. Hip-hop legend Missy Elliott, rising pop star Benson Boone, and rapper GloRilla will also perform on Friday, with the original Misfits, pop’s Charli XCX, and indie stars Clairo and Japanese Breakfast performing on Saturday. Rappers Megan Thee Stallion and Ty Dolla $ign, as well as EDM’s Zedd, will close out the festival on Sunday.

Other acts set to appear throughout the weekend include pop-punk’s Jimmy Eat World, K-Pop’s LISA of Blackpink, rapper T-Pain, Brazilian pop singer Anitta, and the Swedish indie group Miike Snow. HiTech, Vintage Culture, Three G Mafia, Ivan Cornejo, and horsegiirl are among the artists rounding-out the bill.

Earlier this month, Coachella announced the addition of Weezer and Ed Sheeran, stepping in as last-minute performers. Weezer performed on the Mojave Stage during Weekend 1, while Sheeran will join Weekend 2 as a special guest, appearing on the Mojave Stage on Saturday, April 19. The additions fill vacancies left by the recent exits of FKA twigs and Anitta, both of who dropped from this year’s bill.