Yes, Lana Del Rey's set as head of the Coachella cartel was surprising and profound

Lana Del Rey is not solo comenzó su set en Coachella antes de tiempo, sino que su entrada fue épica.

On Friday, April 12, at 11:16 p.m., the festival's main screens showed an aerial view of Del Rey and her entourage approaching rapidly. As he got closer, it became clear that his team was not arriving in the expected golf carts that usually take the stars around the festival in Indio, California, but in motorcycles. And while a fragment of her song “Jealous Girl” was playing — whose lyrics say “Baby, yo soy una gánster también” en loop — Del Rey’s caravan made a turn between the crowd while she smiled and greeted reunited fans to see this momento.

“Qué tal, Coachella?”, previously casualmente, después de llegar al centro del escenario y ofrecer una pequeña sonrisa antes de performante “Without You” and a fusion of Sublime's “Doin' Time” with “Summertime Sadness”. “Estoy muy contenta de estar aquí”, he added with another tenuous and even more brief smile. Tengamos en cuenta que esta es Lana Del Rey, presidenta del pop de la tristeza y eternamente comprometida con el personaje, ya sea que esté cabezando Coachella or no.

As such, his behavior coincided with the design of the elaborate stage, which looked more like a degraded version of the Gatsby Mansion much after he had offered his last party. It was, of course, the perfect imaginary setting for Del Rey to organize her own nocturnal party, complete with a swing band and dancers inspired by the roaring 1920s.

At the beginning of the set, Del Rey noted that he played at Coachella “exactamente hace 10 años hoy” (when he released the single “West Coast”), before adding gently “todavía estamos haciendo esto”. Sin embargo, no es el hecho de que todava esté aquí una decada después lo que impressa, sino más bien que todava es completa e irreverentemente ella misma después de tantos años, o la personally despuét, o la personally despuét, . De hecho, along with his nine studio albums, Del Rey seems to have returned even more to herself, taking on more experimental risks and offering longer and more surprising song titles on the way.

Y esta noche, su set como cabeza de cartel parécia ser una tranquila celebración de eso. Del Rey walked across the stage performing hits that encompassed his career and that, at a festival like Coachella, seemed like gems underground que estaba estaba del esenterrando. Inclusion las esperadas “acrobacias” como cabeza de cartel fueron entregadas con un toque delicado: Performs “Ride” mientras giraba lentamente desde un columpio circular cubierto de hojas? ofreció una hermosa interpretación a capela de “The Grants” junto a su trío de coristas? y, it is remarkable that, the song “Hope is a dangerous thing for a woman like me to have – but I have it” a trip from a hologram accompanied by his partner and friend Jack Antonoff on piano, quien coprodujo la canción. (Early on that night, Jon Batiste played the piano for an extended version of “Candy Necklace”).

The hologram — aunque un poco morbido, especially considering the letter “Hola, soy la mujer más famosa que conoces en el iPad/Lamando desde más allá de la tumba” — emphasized perfectly the spirit of the set. Como evidencia, su elección de “Young and Beautiful” (que se utilizó prominentmente en The Great Gatsby) como canción final dejó aún más claro que Del Rey had come to hacer una declaración.

Como canta en “Young and Beautiful”: “He visto el mundo, lo he hecho todo, ahora tengo mi pastel. He visto el mundo, lo he iluminado como mi escenario”. Todo el tiempo, se cernía la pregunta principal de la canción: “¿Seguirás amándome cuando ya no sea joven y hermosa?”

Earlier in the set, Billie Eilish gave an affirmative response.

After rumors online that the superstar would be making a special appearance during Del Rey's set (an artist of which Eilish has been a fan for much time), she appeared towards the end of the set on an arched trellis to make a duet Eyes” and “Video games”. After they finished, they sat there for a moment longer, looking really amazed at the other's presence. “Salt de mi vista”, Eilish said laughing at her heroine.

“Sí, esa es la voz de tu generación, la voz de nuestra generación,” Del Rey responds. “Estoy tan jodidamente agradecida de que ella esté parada junto a mí en este momento”. A lo que Eilish answer: “Esta es la razón de la existencia de la mitad de ustedes, includante la mía”.

Esa simple phrase legó al corazón de la audiencia. Of course, the set had its irregularities, with moments of darkness and silence between many songs and some problems with the volume of the microphone, all of which Del Rey pointed out audibly. And yes, Del Rey's tendency to speak softly both inside and outside the stage may not have made her the most obvious main artist to inaugurate Coachella. But its impact is still undeniable.

But don't crean en mi palabra, creanle a “la voz de nuestra generation”. The artist that we probably wouldn't have if it wasn't for an artist like Lana Del Rey doing what she knows best: ser Lana del Rey.

While delivering the final note of “Young and Beautiful”, the band accelerated the rhythm and their dancers reappeared with bottles of champagne in hand while fireworks exploded in the night sky, todos los fierientes al ingredientes de al. And while Del Rey was driving away, as she had arrived, the party on the stage continued much more after she left. Y ese es el punto.

His undeniable impact is also unforgettable, and that's exactly what makes Lana Del Rey the icon she is. An icon worth celebrating.