Surprisingly, Post Malone brought no surprise guests to Coachella. But he didn’t need them.
Post Malone might just be the coolest guy in music. He’s certainly among the most multitalented. And the most fun.
Still not even 30 (as he subtly reminded the crowd Sunday), he’s already seemingly lived many musical lives. He burst on the scene around a decade ago as the rapper with tattoos on his face only to eventually release some of the most catchy (and sometimes most emotional) pop hits of the late 2010s and early 2020s. Seriously, who hasn’t bopped along to “Sunflower" or “Circles”” in the car once or twice… or maybe a hundred times in my case.
Last year, Malone took another sharp musical turn, delivering a masterful set of country covers at Stagecoach 2024 and then releasing a country album, "F-1 Trillion," that stood on its own as one of the year’s best.
Oh and did we mention everyone seems to love him? How else to explain how he seemingly got half of the most relevant stars in Nashville to collaborate with him on songs for that album despite not previously having sung country music?
But as much as I’ve come to appreciate both Malone’s versatility in general and his new country sound in particular, I wasn’t sure how the many increasingly disparate elements that make up the 2025 Post Malone experience would go over at Coachella.
After all, when it comes to the music festivals around these parts, you kind of have to pick a lane and Stagecoach isn’t for a couple of weeks. Would this be a sort of split personality set that ended up totally satisfying no one?
Well, I should’ve had more faith in Mr. Malone, because I needn’t have worried about that possibility. If anything, the end result here seemed to be the opposite: Post Malone delivered a set that I think pretty much anyone could appreciate, no matter where their tastes fall on the musical spectrum.
Seriously, what other artist could play songs as different as “Rockstar,” “I Had Some Help,” “Congratulations” and “Sunflower” one after the other and make it feel like the most cohesive and natural thing in the world.
So how did Post do it? It doesn’t hurt that he’s a great showman, as he proved when he was raised to the top of a large tower he walked out to in the middle of the crowd, where then performed “Congratulations,” was blanketed on all sides by fireworks and even provided a pep talk like the kind your uncle used to give about following your dreams (but with maybe a few more cuss words thrown in).
It also helps that he is nothing if not sincere, with that sincerity evidently on display as he repeatedly paused the show to express his appreciation for the crowd and gratitude for the moment (to the point where some around me even started to get annoyed).
But I think the key is that Malone injected every song he sang and everything he did on stage with a sheer force of personality that makes it all feel authentically him.
When Post raises a red solo cup or lights up a cigarette between sets or humbly reflects on never expecting to get this big, it feels not like a schtick but authentically him.
When he sings his heart out during “Fall Apart” and then channels his inner Jelly Roll for “Losers” — which he performed sans Jelly, who is part of the recorded track — that totally feels like him too.
And when he quipped that “White Iverson” was his only good song before bringing the house down with his rapping in a way last night’s co-headliner rapper Travis Scott could only dream of that felt distinctively Post as well.
So while it wasn’t a perfect set — there was a surprising lack of surprise guests given Malone’s extensive repertoire of blockbuster collabs, the decision not to play some of the major hits from "F-1 Trillion" including "California Sober" in California, the fact that the set ended about 10 minutes before the mandated curfew and Malone’s own occasional self-described pitchiness (Auto-Tune has become a hell of a drug, he explained), but it just doesn’t feel right to quibble here.
While no one would’ve said no to a cameo from the likes of Morgan Wallen or Noah Kahan, Sunday’s headline showcase of the many sides of the singular force that is Post Malone made for a more adequate way to close out another great weekend of music at the ole’ polo grounds.
Paul Albani-Burgio covers growth, development and business in the Coachella Valley. Follow him on Twitter at @albaniburgiop and email him at paul.albani-burgio@desertsun.com.