Once almost impossible to bag a ticket, Coachella is now being shunned by some music lovers after becoming overrun with Gen Z influencers.
This year’s California-based music festival – boasting a lineup of music legends such as Lana del Ray and Blur – saw a string of influencers flown out by brands to snap photos of themselves in the desert – with some reportedly not even attending the event.
But while well known faces such as Love Island’s Maura Higgins and Millie Court posed up for pictures for this year’s fest, Coachella has faced its slowest sales year in a decade, according to the Los Angeles Times.
‘Influencer fatigue’ is setting in for music lovers who would typically attend Coachella, with 75 per cent of respondents of a recent US survey saying influencers are overshadowing Coachella’s musical purpose.
Meanwhile, 68 per cent of respondents said they are unhappy with the increasing presence of brands and social media influencers at the three-day event.
It comes as Blur’s frontman Damon Albarn became increasingly frustrated with the ‘silent’ Coachella crowd during his band’s set this weekend, during which he told them: ‘You’ll never see us again so you might as well f****** sing it’.
Influencers appearing at Coachella include Love Island star Maura Higgins (pictured)
YouTuber and influencer Saffron Barker, 23, (pictured) also posed up for Coachella this year
Love Island winner Millie Court also posed up for the festival in California this weekend
Love Island star Millie Grace Court takes a selfie for Coachella festival 2024
Singer and influencer Loren Gray talking on TikTok about how influencers fake their Coachella attendance
Woman pose in Oh Polly outfits for the second day of the Coachella music festival
Blur played a 13-song set at the California music festival, including 90s classics like Girls & Boys, Popscene and Song 2
WARNING: GRAPHIC LANGUAGE
The iconic Britpop band played a 13-song set at the California-based music festival, including 90s classics like Girls & Boys, Popscene and Song 2.
But the audience was less than enthusiastic, with their apathy becoming apparent to the band onstage.
Footage taken during the band’s set shows Damon becoming frustrated with the crowd as he asks them to sing back to him but is hit with near silence.
The singer becomes increasingly annoyed as he shouts ‘you can do it better than that’, before waving his hands in the air and vowing never to return, adding: ‘You’ll never see us again so you might as well f****** sing it’.
The crowd appeared to be comprised mostly of young Gen Z festivalgoers, while Blur hit its musical peak in the 90s.
Famous influencers who posed up for Coachella also included YouTuber Saffron Barker, who was in partnership with White Fox boutique.
Fans branded the festival goers as ’embarrassing’ after their indifferent reaction during Blur’s set.
Maura Higgins attended Coachella in partnership with clothing brand Oh Polly
Festivalgoers attend the 2024 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival at Empire Polo Club
The audience at Coachella is made up primarily of young Gen Z people
Festivalgoer attends the 2024 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival at Empire Polo Club yesterday
Young people dressed up for the festival in Indio, California this weekend
A festivalgoer attends the 2024 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival at Empire Polo Club
The audience at Coachella in California is made up mostly of young Gen Z people
A woman poses in her outfit for Coachella festival in Indio, California
A festivalgoer attends the 2024 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival at Empire Polo Club
Clips of the toe-curling moment were soon circulated on social media, with many fans slamming the Coachella crowd as having the ‘worst vibes’ and declaring they ‘did not deserve to be graced by the presence of Blur’.
They wrote: ‘This coachella people do NOT deserve this blur setlist you’re joking; lord please take away all my suffering and give it to the blur crowd at coachella; Why does everyone at Coachella lowkey want Blur dead; the crowd for blur at coachella was so embarassing damon im so sorry i wasn’t there’.
‘America, you don’t deserve Damon Albarn, you do not deserve Blur. I will burn you to the ground.; i should be at coachella watching blur and no doubt perform back to back and not these children… they don’t get it; Coachella you do not deserve to be graced by the presence of blur.’
‘I actually feel bad for blur at Coachella, they deserve better; Coachella looks like the f***ing worst. Poor Blur.; honestly that crowd did NOT deserve blur except for like the few people who actually made noise; blame rich californians for the dead blur crowd not just americans sigh’.
‘most of these ppl at coachella don’t even know how lucky they are to see blur THAT SHOULD BE MEE; Thanks to every coachella goer who went to blur and probably ruined the chances of any more america shows for our american blur lovers’.
‘the SILENCE when blur came out pls; coachella does not deserve blur I should be there; WHAT THE F*** IS HAPPENING im convinced coachella has the worst vibes and people possible. it’s f***ing Blur, show some respect !!!!’
Doja Cat performs at Coachella on the third day of the festival in California
Doja Cat was among the biggest stars performing at the festival this year
Sabrina Carpenter performs onstage at the 2024 Coachella festival this weekend
Tems performs onstage in the Mojave tent at the 2024 Coachella festival
Anyma performs at the Sahara Stage at the 2024 Coachella festival
Snake performs at the Sahara Stage at the 2024 Coachella festival
Bebe Rexha performs onstage at the 2024 Coachella festival this weekend
The crowds at Coachella have been branded ’embarrassing’ and ‘dead’ after footage of Blur’s set on Saturday night went viral
People took to social media to slam the crowds for not being loud enough during Blur’s set
Lead singer Damon Albarn (pictured) could be seen looking increasingly irritated as he attempted to engage with the crowd to no avail
However, the audience at their set was less than enthusiastic, with their apathy becoming apparent to the band onstage
Frustrated he declared that the band would not be returning to the festival, saying: ‘You’re never seeing us again, so you might as well f****** sing it’
Clips of the toe-curling moment were soon circulated on social media, with many fans slamming the Coachella crowd as having the ‘worst vibes’ and declaring they ‘did not deserve to be graced by the presence of blur’
Others pointed out that those attending Coachella were unlikely to be familiar with Blur, insisting they would only know recent music and not the impact of Britpop.
They tweeted: ‘Coachella was never going to be the right crowd for Blur. Still gutted for them tho!!; i wish britpop had more exposure in america. watching this gives me second hand embarrassment’.
‘I can’t help but think the crowd at Coachella has no idea who Blur is.; ‘You know who we should book for the 7:30 Saturday slot here at Coachella? Blur. Whose entire discography combined has sold slightly less in the United States than Limp Bizkit’s Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water did in its first 7 days on sale.’
‘Do these kids at #Coachella2024 even know who Blur are?; That 19 year old Americans don’t know who Blur are is an effing disgrace. Sing for uncle Damon. SING. Without Blur, you have no Doja Cat, no Tyler the Creator, no Ice Spice. Fact.’
Many other fans took to social media to declare that the band should return to Europe instead, and declared they would give Blur the crowd reaction they deserved.
They penned: ‘Blur, come over to Glasto instead. We’re waiting for you!! i think we need more uk blur shows just to show coachella what a proper crowd looks like’.
‘Shoulda done a British festival. Coachella looks dead.; so hyperfixated on blur it’s sickening i should have been there i would have given them the best crowd ever. that crowd didn’t deserve that set list’.
‘damon, there are mentally ill teenagers and chronically online youth livetweeting the entire blur set, waking up at 5am for it and obsessively taking screenshots and screenrecordings. the crowd does not define blur. come back to the other side of the globe come back comeback’.
Others pointed out that those attending Coachella were unlikely to be familiar with Blur, insisting they would only know recent music and not the impact of Britpop
Damon performed at Coachella last year with his other band, Gorillaz, while Blur last played at the festival in 2013.
Ahead of their show, Damon and bassist Alex James spoke to KROQ about returning to the desert.
They revealed they had decided to do the festival after receiving a phone call at night telling them they had five minutes to decide whether to perform.
Alex said: ‘This was a wonderful opportunity, it’s the biggest festival on the planet. If I wasn’t here I’d have FOMO to be honest.’
When asked how they felt the audience would react, Damon admitted: ‘I have no idea how it will go. It’s a weird one, Coachella when it comes to audience.
‘It’s hard to know sometimes, because they’re sort of on their own planet a bit, the audience.’
Many other fans took to social media to declare that the band should return to Europe instead, and declared they would give Blur the crowd reaction they deserved
Ahead of their show, Damon and bassist Alex James spoke to KROQ about returning to the desert and revealed they had received a phone call at night telling them they had five minutes to decide whether to perform
