Coachella 2026 review: Day 3’s artists amaze audiences through vocals, visuals, vibrance
A crowd with their flashlights on is pictured, with Dedo Vabo’s art piece “Network Operations” in the background. Day three of Coachella brought energetic sets to the Empire Polo Club. (Courtesy of Coachella and Gabriella Hughes)
Weekend two of Coachella is over, but the buzz is still holding on.
After two weekends’ worth of music, the Empire Polo Club hosted its last day of the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival. With eventful sets full of guest surprises and sunny, warm weather, Sunday continued to highlight a wide variety of genres. Creating memorable moments for festivalgoers, this year’s Coachella was representative of community between artists and milestones within the industry, such as the first Latina headliner, KAROL G.
Keep reading for the Daily Bruin’s coverage of Coachella day three.
Young Thug
The crowd was ablaze at Young Thug from start to finish.
The American rapper performed at the main stage Sunday evening, running through iconic songs that had fans jumping all night long. The performance started with a massive, colorful drone show above the stage, which eventually ended with the drones spelling out “Young Thug” for the first few songs. Young Thug played hits such as “Slatty” and “With That” to bring energy to the crowd, and his accompanying fireworks aided that goal. The rapper also used other visual effects to amplify his performance, such as a light show during “Best Friend” and plumes of fire during “With That.”
One of the largest rap performers of the weekend, Young Thug captivated his audience throughout his entire set, consistently drawing on the crowd to interact and engage with him. A highlight of his performance was Mariah the Scientist’s guest appearance for a cover of “Burning Blue,” an R&B song that helped slow down the set for a moment and bring a much-needed reprieve. Afterward, Young Thug continued with hits such as “Relationship” and “Pick Up the Phone,” before ending with a performance of “Lifestyle” while his drones read “Thugchella” above.
It’s safe to say Young Thug’s set was anything but “Bad Bad Bad.”
[Related: Coachella 2026 review: Friday night features stunning vocals, elaborate set designs]
Laufey
Fans were obsessed with Laufey “From The Start.”
Featuring Renaissance- and fairy-tale-like visuals, Laufey’s set was divided into three acts. Opening with her 2025 single “Lover Girl,” the singer’s smooth vocals and simple dancing engaged the crowd from the first notes. The Icelandic singer’s set included some of her most popular songs, such as “Promise” and “Falling Behind,” as well as the recently released deluxe track “Madwoman.” Laufey’s stage design featured an arch structure with a swing and two staircases, which, in addition to her background dancers, added to the theatricality and drama characteristic of the singer.
Fitting of the bossa nova genre, Laufey was accompanied on stage by a full band, including drums, piano, bass, a string quartet and guitar. Additionally, the singer showed her versatility as a musician, alternating between instruments from the guitar to the cello to the piano. Laufey also built on the festival’s mission of bringing different genres of music together by including jazz versions of her songs “Fragile” and “Valentine,” with the latter highlighting outstanding and effortlessly executed vocal runs.
After a dreamy performance, it’s only “A Matter of Time” until Laufey becomes the next Coachella headliner.
KAROL G
KAROL G brought dance to the Empire Polo Club like never before.
Turning the stage into a cave, KAROL G opened her set with “LATINA FOREVA.” Wearing a two-piece golden outfit, the Colombian singer stood in a nook within the stage, along with her backup dancers. Waving flags from multiple Latin American countries, the crowd’s energy reached an all-time high from the first song and steadily continued throughout the hour-and-a-half set. Alternating between songs from three of her albums, KAROL G smoothly transitioned between aesthetics, with six different outfits and multiple stage props – from a macaw bird structure big enough for the singer to use as a stage to an extra stage within the crowd filled with water.
KAROL G also took the surprise guest trend to another level, inviting multiple Latino artists to join her on stage. During her fifth song, “QLONA,” Mexican artist Peso Pluma made a quick appearance. A few songs later, an all-female mariachi band performed as last weekend’s guest, Becky G, joined KAROL G on the Coachella stage, performing their collaboration “MAMIII.” Lastly, halfway through the set’s second act, KAROL G introduced J Balvin as a groundbreaking artist in the reggaeton genre and Ryan Castro as a symbol of the genre’s new generation. During this part, KAROL G took a step back, allowing Castro and Balvin to sing a mashup of Balvin’s tracks – “Ay Vamos,” “Ginza” and “LA CANCIÓN.” To close the night, KAROL G finished up her set with a tour announcement.
As the last headliner of the year, KAROL G turned the Coachella Valley into her own show.
