As we begin gearing up for the start of another festival season, we’ve picked out our favorite Coachella EDM performances from years past. What used to only monopolize the tucked away stage tents at Coachella has pushed its way to the main stage over time, and it’s not uncommon to find people attending the festival strictly for dance music alone. Here’s our list of the best and most memorable performances in Coachella’s long running history.
Major Lazer – 2013
Major Lazer, Diplo’s most celebrated project, was made for live performances. Known for delivering colorful and booty bass heavy shows, Major Lazer’s return to Coachella in 2013 marked one of the best EDM spectacles of the festival season.
TNGHT – 2013
2012-13 was a huge period for trap music and no relevant artist received more hype than TNGHT, composed of Hudson Mohawke and Lunice. Helping provide trap music with that final push into the mainstream, TNGHT delivered the goods one perfect evening in Indio this year.
Dog Blood – 2013
It’s crazy to think Dog Blood has only been on the music scene for a short time, Skrillex and Boys Noize making a ridiculously good team. Their most recent performance at Coachella really blew the door off the hinges, buying them instant credibility as potential headliners during future EDM festivals.
Disclosure – 2013
Brothers Guy & Howard Lawrence created the most consistent dance record of the year and brought it to the Indio valley in 2013. Disclosure pulled all the stops for their Coachella performance, bringing out multiple guest stars to provide their album Settle with full justice.
Dillon Francis
There’s perhaps no better ambassador for the insanity housed within the Sahara tent than Dillon Francis. Dillon is the type of fun that actually makes you forget it’s over 100 degrees outside. His 2013 performance was just massive. Moombahton lovers unite.
araabMUZIK – 2012
araabMUZIK is no stranger to the valley, having played Coachella several times in the past. Best known for his unique talents on the boards, araab helped solidify EDM as a staple of the festival. His 2012 performance marked his best performance to date.
Swedish House Mafia – 2012
Super group Swedish House Mafia chose to call it quits but not before delivering one of the best EDM performances Coachella has seen on its main stage. The team’s unreal production was worthy of the gargantuan reputation. If you stare directly into the wall of lights, you just might catch their ad for Grey Goose vodka.
Chemical Brothers – 2011
Nearly as much of a visual spectacle as Daft Punk’s timeless Pyramid performance years earlier, Chemical Brothers helped close out the first night of the Coachella with their crazy cone of electric death. Our eyes are still recovering. Their performance showed the group could still hold their own among today’s top talent but more importantly, EDM was well suited on the biggest stage.
LCD Soundsystem – 2010
In a beautiful move by festival organizers, James Murphy and the gang headlined Coachella in 2010, marking one of few precious performances before shutting down the operation for good. RIP, old friends.
Daft Punk – 2007
Arguably the greatest EDM performance in Coachella’s storied history, the robots performance in Indio opened the EDM flood gates, not to mention immortal speculation they’d be headlining every subsequent year. We may never be able to catch anything on the scale of DP’s pyramid ever again.