It took until Sunday, but Coachella 2025 found its first disastrous set with Rema. The Nigerian Afrobeats superstar did not take the stage at the festival’s Mojave Tent until nearly 30 minutes into his 45-minute set, and lip-synched badly for a couple of songs. But then the backing track was dropped and he delivered a solid performance for a few songs, including his global smash “Calm Down,” before another delay at his scheduled end time. The set continued for three more songs, but ended on a note of some confusion and widespread grumbling from the audience.
It seems obvious that something was wrong, as the next set in the Mojave Tent, by British dance-music vets Basement Jaxx, was delayed for half an hour and initially suffered from technical difficulties; reps for the singer and the festival did not immediately respond to Variety’s requests for comment.
Rema’s set actually began a few minutes before its scheduled 5 p.m. PT start time, with the DJ and several musicians took the stage to Afrobeats hits. After a couple of minutes, the DJ shouted, “Rema’s about to take the stage!,” but kept playing music and hyping … and hyping… and hyping while the musicians fiddled with their equipment and looked at each other with increasing confusion and concern.
After several minutes, the DJ tried to keep the mood afloat by cuing up Tyla’s international smash “Water,” which got a big cheer from the crowd.
“This Rema’s DJ Afrobeat set is fire,” one fan posted on Twitter. “But this is not why we are here,” adding a crying emoji. The Coachella livestream camera crews faced increasing challenges finding fans to put on camera who didn’t look annoyed.
“Nahh Rema pulling up late while the DJ & guitarist look around wondering where he’s at is wild,” wrote another fan.
Finally, after nearly half an hour, the music stopped abruptly and the DJ yelled: “Are you ready? If you’re ready for Rema, make some motherfuckin’ noise!”
The crowd cheered, but Rema was clearly lip-synching and not trying hard to pretend otherwise, pulling the mic away from his mouth while the recording of his voice continued.
He spoke enthusiastically to the crowd between songs though, saying he “loved the energy” and asking if they wanted “anudda banga!” But suddenly, he wasn’t lip-synching anymore and the band appeared relieved and played enthusiastically.
“If you don’t know the song word for word, I just want to see you dance and enjoy yourself,” he told the suddenly energized crowd. “Afrobeats is about the vibes, you only live once.”
But after about a dozen minutes that included a rousing version of his global hit “Calm Down” (minus Selena Gomez, who guests on the remix) and “Favourite Girl,” there was a long pause and darkness on the stage — it seems the organizers were trying to end his set, but he pushed back.
“They sayin’ it’s time for Rema to go home,” he told the crowd.
After another couple of minutes, the guitar lick for his just-released single “Bout U” began but he said “Hold up!” and it stopped — and a different song began. He followed with “Bout U,” then played “Baby (Is It a Crime),” and the set ended amid a confused reaction from the crowd.
“Okay I’m guessing Rema had a wardrobe malfunction,” one fan posted.
“You can see in his face and body language he is slightly annoyed and defeated,” another wrote after the set ended. “I’m so hurt for him cause knowing Rema he wanted to give it his all.”
Another fan was less charitable. “The reviews about this Rema coachella set in the morning is not gonna be nice. He feels a bit out of breath, drank water like twice, the dj had to restart DND after playing Bout You instead. The set is ending early or what? Something is off.”
Whether the problems were due to technical or human issues, it was a rough day for Rema. Many eyes will be on his set or livestream during Coachella’s second weekend at 5 p.m. PT next Sunday.
