YOLA: Coachella Music Festival Weekend 2 (Hidden Gem Performance)

As you are well aware, Coachella is one of the largest and most syndicated music festivals in the world. When we receive credentials, it is on us to build our layout schedules of when we are going to go and who we are going to see because it is virtually impossible to see everyone in one weekend and that’s why there are TWO weekends of wonderful artists.

As a journalist, we are invited to a plethora of sets from people performing for the first time all the way up to headlining acts. Music is engrained in my life but live performances with bands have a special place in my heart. This performance was so overwhelming it stood out to me for a number of reasons, but I have one recommendation that you see this woman live and you decide for yourself. There’s one word to describe what I saw.

UNBELIEVEABLE. To be honest I was unfamiliar with Yola, as the British self-proclaimed “genre fluid” sensational superstar has been lying right under my nose this whole time. If I am going to be totally honest, if I would have listened to her music before I wouldn’t have been as enthusiastic to see her perform, but boy would I have been wrong. This is one of the definite cases where I was taken aback from the moment she walked on stage, because halfway through the first refrain I was immediately thinking Tina Turner soul reincarnated. Her set was at 2:55 pm on Sunday and there was a guy standing next to me as we were waiting for her to come up as the band was coming up. He said, and I quote, ” I don’t know why she is performing this early in the day, but I am not going to complain because I saw her show before the pandemic and if people don’t know who she is her voice is going to pierce across these entire grounds.” He wasn’t lying because by the end of the first song what might have seemed like 30-50 people when I glanced back there was about 300-400 people and by the end of the set it could have been close to 750 people. Tina Turner Tina Turner Tina Turner was all that was going through my head and how I couldn’t wait to get to explore the rest of her catalog after the rest of the festival was over. People have been sleeping on Yola for way too long and I am still ashamed to say I was one of them. She came out in black and pink leopard print with and acoustic guitar, then switched to the next song she switched to the electric guitar, then to the tambourine, then back to the guitar. Every note and every run were literally like I cannot believe what I am actually hearing. She makes that shag rug and cognac music in the 21st century. I was glad I was there to experience it for myself.

The only part of the performance that I was disappointed in was when the set was over. I can’t wait to see her perform again. This summer Yola will perform at festivals including Bourbon and Beyond, Telluride Jazz Festival, Rocky Mountain Folks Festival, and FreshGrass in North Adams, MA, and then the Stand For Myself 2022 headline tour will continue, this fall with shows at venues across the US, including Chicago’s landmark Thalia Hall, New York’s Webster Hall and Washington, DC’s Lincoln Theatre.

Yola will also portray Sister Rosetta Tharpe in Baz Luhrmann’s musical drama Elvis, who is played by Austin Butler, alongside Tom Hanks, Kelvin Harrison Jr and Alton Mason, releasing June 24.

Yola achieved another breakout year in 2021, which included show stopping performances at Newport Folk and Newport Jazz, her Red Rocks debut, extensively toured the US with Chris Stapleton including performances at Madison Square Garden alongside the release of her anthemic sophomore album, Stand For Myself, which was twice GRAMMY nominated, making her a six-time GRAMMY nominee.

Stand For Myself drew widespread critical acclaim from publications including The New York Times who stated it is an, “‘Album made on her own terms.” and All Songs Considered, who anointed the album “the best soul record of the last 20 years.” Yola recently performed on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. I urge you to listen to her music and come back with your own musical opinion.