Coachella & The Impossibility of Pleasing Everybody
The desert music festival has shown a disappointing trend on social media platforms, such as TikTok, for the 2024 event.
The end of April has arrived, which means one thing in the world of music: Coachella. The Coachella Music Festival is held on two consecutive weekends in the California desert, and dates back to 1999. Artists of all genres play on a handful of stages within the festival grounds, and excited music-lovers can even camp right outside of the stages during the weekend for an experience like no other.
My entire TikTok for-you page has been swarmed with Coachella content. Whether these are vlogs of attending, outfit inspiration, GRWM (get ready with me)’s, influencers being hosted in decked out sponsored brand houses for the weekend, or simply commentary about the festival as a whole, I have not been able to catch a break.
As a result of viewing so much discourse regarding Coachella, I have come to a conclusion about these 3 days in Indio, California, and the content being created by attendees & followers: it is impossible to please everybody.
Now, let me explain. I am aware that social media will always be critical, and not everybody will be in agreement with every take they see online. However, these past few days have been like nothing I have seen before. I have encountered endless content of conflicting opinions, ruthless comments, and overall criticism surrounding attending and enjoying the Coachella music festival this year.
This kickstarted with one TikTok content creator named Maeve Reilly, who posted her dislike of recent Coachella outfits. She claimed that she was “shocked” with the outfits people were still continuing to wear to the festival, even though the vibe has seemingly changed with the constantly evolving (& unsustainable, might I add) clothing trends.
Another hot take circulated the app surrounding short shorts at the festival, and how it was not “in” to be showing that much skin. A separate video claimed that casual attire was more fitting for the 2024 event.
This trend didn’t stop with Coachella outfits. I saw a vlog of Ysabelle Wallace, a vlog-style influencer sharing her experience on the grounds during Day 1 of the 2024 festival. Her vlog followed the entirety of her day, showing her and her friends having a genuinely amazing time attending sets of artists such as John Summit and Dom Dolla. While consuming this seemingly pure video, you can imagine my shock when seeing almost every comment wasn’t positive.
Viewers were questioning why Ysabelle attended one artist and not another. They stated they would’ve gone about Day 1 of Coachella differently. They voiced their disagreement with her decision to stick with a music taste she enjoys, rather than attending the headliner simply because they were the headliner.
But… It's Coachella. This is a music festival meant to bring music lovers and listeners together. It is an environment for having a good time, feeling comfortable, and enjoying music. Why can’t people wear what they want, listen to who they want, and spend this weekend how they wish? At the end of the day, they spent their money to attend and deserve an experience curated to what they enjoy.
I cannot help but feel frustrated, even when I am located in a different country and am far from ever attending Coachella. Why can’t social media ever uplift women? Why must we constantly critique women for every little thing they wear? Why are we bashing somebody online for going to one music set and skipping another?
All of this has led me to come to the frustrating conclusion that when it comes to Coachella (and seemingly every other thing displayed chronically online), you can’t please everybody. Somebody is going to comment on the length of your skirt. Somebody is going to show frustration with your decision to head home early and miss out on a set they wished they could experience themselves. So, do what you want! If you can’t please everybody, make sure to have an experience you love and wouldn’t change for anything.
To all of those able to attend Coachella, I sincerely hope you have had an amazing weekend so far. It’s safe to say that I am extremely jealous. And to those of us at home, viewing the festival from the screens of our iPhones, allow people to enjoy themselves and refrain from putting in your two cents.
Looking for more Coachella content? Subscribe to #MichaelainMusic where I will be unpacking all of the Coachella Weekend One tea next week.
This is so true! One thing i’ve also realized is that there are always going to be disagreements about influencers attending music festivals and how they go about their own weekends, and you put it absolutely perfectly! Amazingly written blog!!