For 46-year-old Gloria Juarez of Fontana, the 1990s were the Golden Age of Music.
Juarez was listening to alternative bands like Sublime and No Doubt. Despite growing up with the music, however, she never got to see those bands perform live until decades later at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
And she’s happy the festival is including her beloved bands this year.
“They need to do more of this and less of the youngster’s stuff; they have enough going on for them,” she said with a laugh as she watched Sublime perform a Saturday set with new frontman Jakob Nowell, who is the son of the band’s late lead singer Bradley Nowell.
While the Coachella lineup is known for highlighting artists who are currently hot or even tapped to be the next big thing, the festival has also made a point of including acts that evoke some nostalgia throughout the weekend.
This year, that sense of looking back came with the return of some of the biggest bands of the ’90s, like Sublime, Blur, Deftones, Taking Back Sunday, and the biggest name throwback name in the lineup: No Doubt, which served up a setlist filled with its classic hits like “Sunday Morning,” “Just a Girl” and “Don’t Speak.”
“I wouldn’t be here if they weren’t doing that old-school music. It’s my first time here and it will be my last if they don’t do it again,” Juarez said.
She wasn’t the only one enjoying that nod to old-school music.
On Friday, Deftones reminded fans that rock was not dead with a hardcore set led by 50-year-old singer Chino Moreno, who was jumping all over the stage with surprising energy while belting out songs like “My Own Summer” and “Genesis.” Moreno’s vocal pipes sounded as strong as they did three decades ago.
The next day, Jakob Nowell channeled his late father’s spirit as he joined his dad’s old bandmates for a set that included the band’s ’90s hits like “Summertime,” “Badfish” and “What I Got.” Speaking of nostalgia, during that last song, a photo of baby Jakob and his dad flashed on the screen and the crowd roared seeing the band’s late singer and the band’s new singer together.
“This made us feel young again. We needed something like this,” said 42-year-old Ontario resident Joey Martinez after seeing the Sublime set. He said he’s happy the festival brings back older acts for fans like him.
“They always have that nostalgia, and I appreciate it,” he said.
The nostalgic acts even brought fans from across the world, such as 51-year-old Rory Kay, who flew with his wife from Australia to see Blur and No Doubt.
“I think it’s great that they’re here because it opens the festival up to people my age, instead of just all the EDM and TikTok things, so we can still enjoy the bands we grew up with,” he said.
And Coachella may have given him his last chance to see Blur, who performed a Saturday night set that included their biggest hits like “Girls & Boys” and “Song 2” before lead singer Damon Albarn broke some news to the massive crowd.
“This is probably our last gig,” Albarn told the crowd before they launched into “Tender,” the band’s last song of the night.
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