the monday roundup
featuring girl bosses, festival headliners, and smoked salmon!
Hi, happy Monday! Sometimes I feel like caring so much about music and pop culture is really frivolous, then sometimes I go to a couple concerts [Jack White and Rubblebucket] and a local drag show [Lady Gaga vs. Beyoncé themed, naturally] and am reminded that these things matter because they create community and joy and meaning in a world that can otherwise feel so terrible!
For instance, I don’t know if you heard, but a bunch of Girl Bosses went to space last week!!! If I think too hard about how insane it is to waste resources and money on this type of PR stunt, my head will actually explode. Katy Perry continues to tarnish any of her remaining pop music legacy by being a completely out of touch rich person and (actually, truly!) saying shit like, “we are going to put the 'ass' in astronaut."
Anyway! In actual music news, Coachella concluded over the weekend. The bit of “drama” I cannot stop thinking about is that Charli XCX, who was second billed on the Saturday lineup, pissed off Green Day fans by wearing a sash that said “Miss Should Be Headliner” to an afterparty. Y’all… it’s not that serious. (I’ve written before about Charli wearing a shirt that said, “REAL WINNER,” to a 2023 Brits afterparty, so this is just par for the course.) Members of Green Day responded by wearing brat hats and sashes that said “Actual Headliner,” to which Charli replied, “obsessed.” See, it’s fun! Everyone’s having fun! Stop being boring!
I’m going to be so for real though (and I say this as a devoted Charli fan), if anyone should’ve been a headliner, it should’ve been Missy Elliott.
In my world, the most important headliner this year was Lady Gaga, who last headlined in 2017. I watched Gaga’s set, and WOW I’m so deeply back in my Little Monster phase. Beyoncé set a really high bar with her 2018 Coachella set, and Gaga is the first pop headliner to meet it. She gave drama! Spectacle! Storyline! Dancing! Vocals! Powering through Coachella’s inevitable sound issues! That’s a Pop Star! [Sorry, there are no official videos of this set on Youtube, which maybe is a sign she’s negotiated rights for the footage to be shown elsewhere?]
What amazes me most about Coachella is the scale of everything. Occasional sound issues aside, it is impressive that they pull off so many different stages (there are 8 stages at Coachella), artists (there were over 140 artists this year), set designs, genres, and schedules. I cannot stop thinking about insane it is that Missy Elliott (who had an elaborate stage show) played on the mainstage from 9:00pm- 9:55pm before Gaga (who had an even more elaborate stage show) went on at 11:10pm. They turned over the entire stage decoration, visuals, instruments, sound, etc. etc. in just over an hour. HOW?! And it’s not just headliners with impressive sets! I cannot find adequate reporting on how they pull this off - what prep is done beforehand, how many stage hands are involved, what things look like from the sound and lighting boards, what the storage situation is like - so if anyone’s interested in getting me a press pass for 2026, I’d like to do some on-the-ground research!!!
In new releases news, I love Bon Iver’s album, SABLE, fABLE. It is beautiful and flowy and a perfect spring listen. I’m also smitten by the rollout of this album which featured a series of product collaborations including smoked salmon, ice cream, coffee, candles, cocktails, cashmere hoodies, and room spray. I can think of plenty of artists doing one or two of these kinds of collabs (the Kacey Musgraves candle with Boy Smells; the Sabrina Carpenter Dunkin drink; Phish food ice cream), but I’m not sure any artist has ever attempted so many at once and with such chic, upscale products. Considering how much money I’ve spent on shitty, poor-quality merch (looking at you, Taylor Swift!) this is an interesting approach to… capitalism, I guess? I don’t know, listen to the album!
I’m also enjoying new albums from Valerie June and Julien Baker & TORRES plus tracks from Jordan Patterson, Madison McFerrin, Betty Who, and more! What are you listening to?
I tried to stay awake for Gaga's Coachella but found clips of performances, damn, so good!
Caught Missy's act and I agree, she should have been the Headliner