Day 3: The Weeknd Comes to an End
Day three started out just like rest, hot and sunny, 2.5 hour wait to take a shower inside the mobile shower van, and an overpriced bacon and egg bowl but this time we added a watermelon agua fresca to the mix. It was the first drink with ice that I had tasted all weekend. It felt like someone was putting a fire out inside my throat and it tasted amazing. The walk to the venue felt like they had extended the mileage by double but all 100,000 of us couldn't wait to step foot in the venue for the last day until next year… I think eager is an understatement.
Once we got our wrist bands scanned and made it past the bomb dogs for the last time, we rushed to the Beer Garden as if we hadn’t had a drink all weekend. The beer garden is positioned perfectly to the right of the main stage where we enjoyed our $15 single pour drinks and watched our first performance of the evening, Colombian star KAROL G. Now, I have to say that I have personally never heard of KAROL G but once again, the latin energy that was brought to the set did something to our souls: Not one person was standing still!. She performed latin hits from Selena and Shakira and brought out JBalvin as her special guest.
As the night went on, the crowd seemed tired and dirty yet, with more energy and high vibrations than any other day. This was the night that Kanye West was supposed to be playing. Kanye backed out just weeks before the event and was quickly replaced by, The Weeknd. The Weeknd was accompanied by the Swedish House Mafia. As the sunset, we finished our drinks and gathered with the 10’s thousands of other festival-goers for a solid performance from Doja Cat!
From her melodic beats to her signature voice, Doja Cat gave us a performance that was far superior to anything we thought she could do for us. Girls in the crowd were crying, men were holding themselves like a mother holding her child, and the vibes were the perfect comedown… but we still had one last hoorah before we said goodbye.
As Doja ended the crowd tightened up as Swedish house mafia took the stage, this was our time to push through the crowd like a bully because we knew we had little to no time before Abel “the Weeknd” was going to grace us with his presence. Through the bad looks and “what the fucks,” we officially planted our feet as close as we could get to the stage just to get a little glimpse of the man himself.
After the set ended and the only sounds left were the roaring from the crowds, our phones read 11:00 PM and it was officially time, the moment I had been waiting for all weekend. The lights went out, the crowd got a little quieter, and BOOM, red lights, and fireworks blasted the night sky. The crowd screamed louder than anything imaginable. There was Abel aka “The Weeknd,” himself standing right in front of us!
The Weeknd performed his greatest hits from Blinding Lights to Starboy. The rush that I felt from knowing that he was singing to us and only us and also knowing that this was our last couple of moments on the polo fields was a high, higher than any high I've ever had in my life. Soon, 12:00PM came and The Weeknd thanked us for coming out. The entire crowd was rushing on serotonin and faster than he arrived, he said goodbye. The lights on the polo field slowly relit and the crowds silently shuffled in a wave out of the venue. Very few words were spoken as everyone knew this would be our last walk back to our campsites. Happy tears were cried by many.
On the walk back, the entire crowd was reminiscing on the weekend silently inside our individual heads as we knew 7:00AM would come too soon and it would be time to say goodbye to the polo fields until next year.
Nothing hits harder than to post Coachella silence. As I sit here and write this, I realize all I have left from the weekend is dry skin, tired eyes, some shaky videos, and the most wonderful memories that will last an entire lifetime. Thank you coachella see you next year.
