Coachella 2024: Eddie Zuko, Carin Leon, Y.G. Marley among Day 3 highlights

Hermanos Gutiérrez, Reneé Rapp and Taking Back Sunday also turn in strong sets.

Notable sets from day three of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, on Sunday, April 14.

Eddie Zuko

Eddie Zuko and his band, who all wore matching red and white aprons, came out with some much-needed energy on the last day of Coachella. Zuko’s ability to transition between hip-hop,  ska/reggae, norteño and quite a few different genres was impressive. It won the attention of an eager crowd rapidly making their way into the Sonora tent to join the fans singing and dancing along to his set inside.

The Imperial Valley native told the crowd that he was stoked to be performing at Coachella and that it was his first time ever visiting the festival. If you listen to his the Chicano artist’s lyrics and are familiar with the region in Southern California, you’ll likely catch the anecdotes present in his first viral hit “Made,” which feature lines about eating Hot Cheetos with chile. Some high schools in Imperial Valley have even used the song as part of their marching band performances. There’s just something about having neighboring locals that adds an extra layer of fun to those performances.

— Charlie Vargas

Carin Leon

As the sun finally dipped, Carin Leon took the main stage, accompanied by a sea of flags in the colors of red, white, and green. With the opening chords, Leon belted out “Viva Mexico chingada madre,” igniting a wave of Mexican pride among the crowd. From ranchero to corridos and bachata, every genre was brought to life during Leon’s Coachella debut, backed by a robust ensemble of brass instruments.

Hits like “Te Lo Agradezco,” “Corazón de Oro,” and the collaboration “Que Vuelvas” with Grupo Frontera dominated the night. Adding a twist, Leon delivered a cover of Hombres G’s “Te Quiero,” infusing the Coachella grounds with rock en español. A tender tribute to the legendary Selena Quintanilla came in the form of “Si Una Vez,” honoring her legacy with grace.

Leon is also set to make his Stagecoach debut for the three-day country sister festival Stagecoach happening on April 26-28.

— Holly Alvarado

Hermanos Gutiérrez

The desert sun had set the stage for Hermanos Gutiérrez, a guitar and brother duo blending Western and Latin American sounds with finesse.

Their 50-minute set, though simple, radiated power as they took the stage seated on black chairs, letting their guitars do the talking. After performing “El Bueno Y El Malo,” Alejandro Gutiérrez reflected on their connection to the desert.

“The desert is a special place for us, it’s where our music feels like it’s born from,” he said.

The brothers’ music, tinged with soul, blues, and Latin flair, evokes images of sunset drives along the coast, instantly transporting listeners.

Previewing tracks from their upcoming record, “Sonido Cósmico,” set to release on June 14, the group had fans lifted in the cosmos of new music . As the set neared its end, Alejandro hinted at a surprise, revealing Adrian Quesada from the psychedelic soul group Black Pumas, who has felt like “a very close primo” over the past year, to the stage. Together, the guitar trio gifted the audience with a cult favorite, “Esperanza.”

— Holly Alvarado

Reneé Rapp

After watching clips of Reneé Rapp concerts on TikTok for the past year, I knew the “Poison Poison” singer was on my list of acts I could not miss at Coachella. It is after all “Baby’s first Coachella” as Rapp shared with the crowd that it was her first time performing at the annual music and arts festival.

Rapp’s Broadway background comes through not only in her voice but in her stage presence. The “The Sex Lives of College Girls” star has transformed into her popstar persona, captivating fans both with her vocals, and her storytelling between songs. “Last year I was here, and if you know anything about me, you know Frank Ocean is my f—ing North Star, and I got to see him play and it was the best experience of my life,” Rapp shared with the crowd. “I cried the whole time and I finally understood fan culture. And so that feeling for me, I hope that this can give you even remotely close or far away to that.”

One of the major highlights of the set was when Rapp brought out Kesha to perform her iconic 2009 “TikTok.” Before the performance fans had speculated the surprise guest after the two tweeted out each other’s lyrics and retweeted each other. Kesha also adjusted the lyrics of the first verse to instead sing “Wake up in the morning feeling like f— Diddy.” By the time the chorus dropped the entire crowd was on their feet dancing, jumping and having a great time.

Other notable moments during the set included when Rapp brought out guitarist Towa Bird during “Tummy Hurts” and “Not My Fault” from the “Mean Girls” musical movie soundtrack.

“It was the best time of my whole entire life, my soul was awakened and I just love her. She’s the best. God bless Coachella, God bless Renee Rapp,” said fan Hayley Parker after the performance concluded.

— Carolyn Burt

Y.G. Marley

Y.G. Marley, who carried the family name of Saint Bob, was a sure bet to drop a few of his great-grandfather’s songs into his mid-afternoon set at Coachella on Sunday.

What you couldn’t have foreseen, though, was that his performance would also result in an unexpected sorta reunion of the Fugees, too.

In hindsight it all made sense: Y.G. Marley’s mother is former Fugee Lauryn Hill, his father Rohan Marley, grandson of Bob Marley.

And it was Hill who showed up first midway through the set to sing songs of her own such as “Ex-Factor” and “Lost Ones” before sliding into the Fugees’ cover of “Killing Me Softly With His Song.”

During the latter song Fugee Wycliff Jean was on stage, too, and that group’s “Fu-gee-La” followed.

Rapper Busta Rhymes came out next — Y.G. has definitely got some pull — to do his own “Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See“ and a cover of a Chris Brown song, showing off his rapid-fire rap skills to the audiences delight.

A handful of Bob Marley classics followed — “One Love” and “Exodus” among them — before the whole collective finished up with the Fugees’ “Ready or Not,” Bob Marley’s “Is This Love,” and Hill’s “Praise Jah in the Moonlight.”

All praise the Marley Family Complex.

— Peter Larsen

Taking Back Sunday

Fans of the early festival days often say they’d like to see more rock acts on the bill and this year’s lineup has arguably fulfilled the request. Rock fans were treated to the ’90s bunch (No Doubt, Sublime and Blur) and more indie rock acts such as The Last Dinner Party and Narrow Head.

Rockers also got a chance to get in their feels with alt-pop punk act Taking Back Sunday.The group took the Mojave tent by storm with crowds overflowing while they played through angsty hits such as “You’re So Last Summer” “Liar (It Takes One To Know One)” and “MakeDamnSure.”

While Coachella continues to be a melting pot of genres globally there is without a doubt still plenty of room for rockers.

— Charlie Vargas