18 Coachella 2026 acts we can’t wait to see

With the first weekend of Coachella 2026 just one day away, it’s time once again for festivalgoers to get their act together to find out which set times they can’t bear to miss once they set foot on the field at the Empire Polo Club in Indio. Whether the plan is to fan out with old favorites or find your next artist obsession, the festival’s three-day buffet of sound has you covered. As the staff at The Times pack up to head to the desert, here are 18 artists we’ve circled on the schedule.

FRIDAY

Fleshwater
4:50 p.m., Sonora Tent

The kids love shoegaze for the dissociative vibes, but real heads know all the genre’s best bands have monster rhythm sections too. Fleshwater’s crystalline guitar leads and tidal currents of noise hit so much harder for the revving percussion, which moves with the dexterity of metal and hardcore. When vocalist Marisa Shirar wails those desperate high notes, they’re well earned. (August Brown)

CMAT
6:15 p.m., Gobi Tent

Who would have thought a suite of songs that cover being annoyed at TV chef Jamie Oliver and some rich Tesla driver moving into an old flame’s flat would be so comprehensively devastating? What a bounty of heart, wit and captivating stage presence from this Irish singer behind “Euro-Country,” one of the funniest and most wrenching albums of 2025. (AB)

Turnstile
8:05 p.m., Outdoor Theatre

Turnstile’s 2025 album “Never Enough” — my favorite of the year — translates even better live. I have made it a point to see the Baltimore band with hardcore roots every time because the show is simultaneously energy-giving and cathartic. Hoping we see fellow Coachella artist Blood Orange show up for “Alien Love Call” and maybe for “Seein’ Stars.” Warning: It doesn’t matter where you are in the general crowd, you need to be aware of mosh pits breaking out around you at any point. (Vanessa Franko)

Blood Orange
11:55 p.m., Mojave Tent

Blood Orange has consistently penned enough hits to fill an entire set with them, let alone cement himself as one of the mostly highly anticipated performances at this year’s festival. Dev Hynes’ 2025 was highlighted by the release of the emotionally driven “Essex Honey,” which he told The Times was “made from a place of living life” rather than living in the music. Notably, he also discussed the unexpected, social media-stemmed revival of “Champagne Coast,” 13 years after it was released on “Coastal Grooves.” “It’s funny [how] people are constantly chasing virality, because even the word itself tells you how random it is,” he said. “You don’t try to catch viruses; they come to you.” Regardless of how the surge came to light, it’ll be a pleasure to hear on the Empire Polo Club lawn, alongside ever-alluring tunes like “Augustine” and “Saint.” (Julius Miller)

SATURDAY

Ecca Vandal
4:20 p.m., Sonora Tent

Ecca Vandal hooked me with “Cruising to Self Soothe,” which gave Turnstile x Brody Dalle (the Distillers) vibes, when I first heard it last spring, but she travels in many genres, crossing into punk, trip hop, alternative hip-hop and pop. With a new album, “Looking for People to Unfollow,” out May 22, and upcoming tour dates that are a mix of supporting Deftones around the world and festivals like Lollapalooza, this is your chance to talk about how you saw her at Coachella’s smallest stage way back when. (VF)

Geese

(Kyle Berger / Courtesy Partisan Records)

Geese
6:15 p.m., Gobi Tent

Geese have undeniably been at the forefront of conversations on tantalizing, new rock and the revival of the classic “band scene.” This year they show up a little further down the Saturday lineup than expected, especially given their astronomical ascension in popularity, but it’s beyond doubt that they will pull quite the crowd and likely an electric one, too. On stage, Cameron Winter leads an overall enthralling performance, as the group slams out songs back-to-back with little to say in between; no shenanigans, just a top-notch show. (JM)

Giveon

(Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)

Giveon
7 p.m., Coachella Stage

The desert can be hot and rough, but Giveon’s soothing baritone is a balm capable of healing sunburns and broken hearts. Since the breakout success of 2022’s “Give or Take,” the Long Beach-bred singer has certainly taken off, earning an avalanche of recognition for his deep, emotionally available twist on romantic R&B, which was also well received at Coachella that year. His rise continued into 2025 and beyond with the release of his sophomore album “Beloved,” a sweeping journey through lush rhythms and a deep well of feeling on songs like “Twenties” that will help your soul re-hydrate once again in the Indio heat as the sun goes down. (Nate Jackson)

Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails performs with Boys Noize for a Nine Inch Noize set on Saturday.

(Piper Ferguson)

Nine Inch Noize
8 p.m., Sahara Tent

What exactly will Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Boys Noize be doing at this bespoke collaborative electronic set? It sounds like they’re building the plane while they fly it, but the middle section of their recent “Peel It Back” tour showed how they can rip apart the NIN canon and make it club-ready with plenty of arena-goth charisma. (AB)

Julian Casablancas of The Strokes

(Josh Brasted / FilmMagic)

The Strokes
9 p.m., Coachella Stage

Six years after “The New Abnormal” proved they can still draw an audience of teenagers, the Strokes are using Coachella to drum up interest in a forthcoming follow-up album, “Reality Awaits,” which they recorded with Rick Rubin in Costa Rica (because why not). This week the band released the LP’s lead single, “Going Shopping”; it sounds kind of like the Steve Miller Band if Auto-Tune had existed in the mid-1970s. (Mikael Wood)

Justin Bieber

(Renell Medrano)

Justin Bieber
11:25 p.m., Coachella Stage

The former teen-pop idol recently teased his headlining appearance with stripped-down gigs at the Roxy and the Troubadour in which he performed only material from last year’s “Swag” and “Swag II” albums. One presumes Bieber will offer a more expansive production for his first big concert in years — but then again he was one of the few high-profile voices to praise Frank Ocean’s polarizing (if brilliant!) headlining set in 2023. (MW)

SUNDAY

The Chats
3 p.m., Gobi Tent

It’s been a shocking eight years since The Chats released “Smoko,” but crowds in Indio will find it’s aged like fine wine. They’ve since released two EPs and a pair of studio albums, and are as punk rock as ever. Though 2022’s “Get F—” didn’t exactly strike the chord that “High Risk Behavior” did two years prior, it was still crude, crass, and as fast-paced as ever. That album’s production cycle was a bit hectic, as lead singer Eamon Sandwith told Brooklyn Vegan in May 2022 that it typically consisted of an “11 to 4” before hitting “the pub for two hours, and have a few beers” before scrambling back to the studio. But would you expect anything less from the Aussie punk outfit? (JM)

Gigi Perez

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

Gigi Perez
4 p.m., Outdoor Theatre

In 2024, this young emo-folk singer and songwriter from South Florida scored a viral TikTok hit with “Sailor Song”; in 2025, she dropped one of the year’s most impressive debut albums in the wise and moving “At the Beach, In Every Life.” Perhaps 2026 will be the year Perez breaks out as a must-see live act: After Coachella, she’s headed out on the road to open a bunch of stadium shows for Noah Kahan. (MW)

Jane Remover
4:20 p.m., Sonora Tent

Jane Remover’s “Revengeseekerz” turns redlining into an instrument onto itself. The singer-producer’s 2025 LP uses the mechanics of hyperpop to make a record that feels like punk rock suffering a full core-reactor meltdown. Blown out, extravagant, dripping with ferocious malaise and desperation, but precisely arranged for the maximum possible emotional effect. (AB)

Wet Leg
4:45 p.m., Coachella Stage

In 2025, Wet Leg returned with a new look, an improved sound, and a sophomore album, “Moisturizer,” as a cherry on top. It looked like it might be difficult for the Isle of Wight quintet to follow the success of their self-titled debut, which garnered critical acclaim and ended its run with two Grammys, but “Moisturizer” has followed suit. Rhian Teasdale is a commanding presence on stage, and songs like “mangetout,” “CPR,” and “jennifer’s body” are rendered utterly screamable at one of their shows. Back in July, Teasdale told The Times that the “muscular sound” on the album comes from the band’s longlasting relationship. “[It’s] just the result of five people that have been touring together for something shy of three years,” she says. (JM)

Malice and Pusha T of Clipse

(Cian Moore)

Clipse
5:15 p.m., Outdoor Theatre

Not many people had a Clipse comeback on their 2025 bingo card, but the hip-hop duo, composed of brothers Pusha-T and Malice, were back again like they never left. “Let God Sort Em Out” came 16 years after their last release, which had marked the end of the Virginia Beach-born group amid a “come to God” moment for Malice. The two could have easily been forgotten, obscured by the passage of time as so many returning groups are. Instead, they mounted a monumental run that evoked widespread cultural celebration and praise, one Grammy win, and a nomination in the “Album of the Year” category. On stage, they’re still in their prime, slinging out classics like “Grindin’” and “Virginia” between last year’s “Chains & Whips” and “So Be It.” In August, they shared with The Times their plans for a “new frontier” in rap via “cracking the ceiling to longevity.” If this Coachella performance proves anything, it’s that they’ve gone and outdid themselves. (JM)

Suicidal Tendencies perform at Punk Rock Bowling in 2023.

(Rob Wallace)

Suicidal Tendencies
5:35 p.m., Mojave Tent

The SoCal punk rock beginnings of Goldenvoice will always find a way to break through at Coachella and this year’s inclusion of Suicidal Tendencies is no exception. Bringing the rage and riffs of 1980s Venice to the Mojave Tent on a Sunday afternoon, Mike Muir and company will remind you that they’re still a force to be reckoned with over 40 years into their career. Not only do they thrive on aggression but their technical riffs and roaring anti-authoritarian sentiment seem to be more vital now than ever. (NJ)

Less Than Jake
5:45 p.m., Heineken House

Ska punk hive, now is our time! While it’s not unheard of to see ska bands at Coachella (see: Madness, The Selecter, Fishbone), it’s definitely not the norm. This year the OG Warped Tour set can get a fix with Less Than Jake, skanking along to “All My Best Friends are Metalheads” and “History of a Boring Town.” If it’s anything like a normal set, it will be fun and there will be a toilet paper gun. (VF)

Iggy Pop

(Zoe Cranfill / Los Angeles Times)

Iggy Pop
7:10 p.m., Mojave Tent

The elder statesmen of proto punk isn’t just another act on the Coachella bill. To many who will crowd into the Mojave tent to see him in all his shirtless glory, his music is a religion. Making another return to the festival to conquer the stage with timeless anthems like “I Wanna Be Your Dog,” “The Passenger” and “Lust For Life,” Iggy’s raw power is embodiment of a spirit that can’t be tamed at any age. (NJ)