Day Two of Coachella featured a significant dose of alt-rock nostalgia, highlighted by the much-anticipated No Doubt reunion. However, Taylor Swift stole the spotlight on Saturday despite not being part of the lineup or performing.
Her mere presence at the mammoth festival in the California desert set the internet alight after she made a much-speculated appearance ... as a fan, canoodling and dancing with beau Travis Kelce as Bleachers performed a rollicking set.
The rock band Bleachers is fronted by Jack Antonoff, Swift's friend and longtime producer.
Kelce's blocking skills came in handy. The 6'5" (1.96 meters) NFL tight end did well to obscure his wildly famous girlfriend from view as the couple enjoyed the show from just offstage.
Still, an Agence France-Presse (AFP) journalist saw the lovebirds twirling and singing along during the performance of Antonoff, who has co-written and produced several of Swift's albums.
Fan videos quickly started circulating online. Swift's cameo comes less than a week before her forthcoming album, "The Tortured Poets Department," drops on April 19.
Shortly after the Bleachers set, Swift and Kelce were caught by fan cameras as they stood in the VIP section for a bombastic performance by Ice Spice, the Bronx rapper who collaborated on a remix of Swift's "Karma."
The crowd went berserk when Ice Spice shouted out her megastar pal, but she performed "Karma" on her own with a backing track, giving Swift the chance to watch a rendition of her own song from the crowd's vantage point.
The 34-year-old billionaire is currently on a break from her blockbuster Eras tour.
Some fans had speculated Swift might join friend and fellow Antonoff associate Lana Del Rey as she headlined Friday's opening night.
Tyler, the Creator will headline Coachella on Saturday, with Doja Cat set to close out weekend one of the festival on Sunday.
Coachella started as a rock festival, but in recent years, it's leaned increasingly toward pop, rap and the Latino megastars who rule the streaming charts.
But Saturday's lineup offered a portrait of nostalgia: No Doubt – the group fronted by Gwen Stefani – played together for the first time in 15 years.
Stefani, 54, bounded across the stage, boasting the vocals of her youth. She led the crowd in singalongs of the group's classics, including "Just A Girl" and "Don't Speak."
English rockers Blur also took the stage, and stoner reggae rock group Sublime – the 1990s act beloved for hits including "Santeria" – drew throngs of fans to the main stage for a sunset performance featuring the late frontman Brad Nowell's son Jakob leading the way.
For Vampire Weekend, I made a last-minute return to the desert, where I last performed more than a decade ago.
The veteran indie rockers whose hits including "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" were brought in just last week, and frontman Ezra Koenig, who sported a striped Pogues sweatshirt, told cheering fans he'd been leaning back sipping ranch water – a cocktail of seltzer, tequila and lime – in Texas when he got a text asking if they'd come on board.
The group just released their fifth album, "Only God Was Above Us," and played a mix of fan favorites and new work, including a 15-minute honky tonk mash-up.
They also randomly brought Paris Hilton onstage to play a quick round of cornhole – a popular North American bean bag-based lawn game – as part of a giveaway of chocolate for front-row fans.
"I haven't played this game since 'The Simple Life,'" the cowboy-hat-wearing socialite and reality TV icon quipped, referencing the cult mid-2000s series she starred in with Nicole Richie.
"Make some noise for 'The Simple Life!'" yelled Koenig to laughs and applause.
