COACHELLA VLOG | traveling w friends, artist pass & going backstage!

Pokimane| 00:18:02|Apr 21, 2026
Chapters5
The creator arrives at Coachella feeling nervous after a close call with entry and a missing QR code, leading to a tense moment before finally getting in.

Pokimane’s Coachella vlog mixes backstage access with hype, hurdles, and real-life friendship moments that show the fringe realities of artist passes.

Summary

Pokimane invites viewers into her Coachella weekend, balancing excitement with the chaos of event logistics. She encounters a bouncer scare and a last-minute QR-code scramble at a YSL Beauty event, then documents the energy of day parties, meetups with friends, and the camaraderie of her crew. She candidly critiques the artist-pass experience, noting how crowds and navigation can dilute the vibe despite VIP perks. Throughout, she highlights small wins—finding friends, enjoying fresh-pressed juices, and savoring snacks—and she reflects on travel, sleep, and managing expectations when plans derail. The vlog captures not just performances, but the social texture of Coachella: the golf carts that shuttle artists, the like-minded fans that become impromptu friends, and the mix of daytime energy with late-night fatigue. By the end, Pokimane offers a grounded verdict on GA versus artist passes, underscoring that the best moments often come from flexibility and good company. It’s a vivid snapshot of chasing concerts with friends and learning the lay of the land on your first big return to Coachella in years.

Key Takeaways

  • QR-code confusion caused entry delays at the YSL Beauty event, revealing gaps between RSVP management and on-site checks.
  • The artist pass offers golf-cart convenience but doesn’t guarantee smoother logistics in crowded zones or better sightlines.
  • GA (general admission) can outperform artist areas for space, crowding, and overall comfort when planning multiple shows.
  • Walking distances and layout knowledge are critical; Pokimane notes a steep learning curve early on that improves with familiarity.
  • Even with VIP perks, the vibe hinges on friends and timing, not just passes or access.”
  • Coachella’s daytime format helps with social meetups and easier sightlines, but fatigue grows with long days and 14k+ steps.
  • Small, spontaneous interactions (e.g., running into Megan from Cat’s Eye, and friends in the crowd) create some of the vlog’s most memorable moments.

Who Is This For?

Ideal for concert-goers, especially first-time Coachella attendees or content creators weighing artist passes vs. GA. Fans of Pokimane will enjoy behind-the-scenes realism and practical takeaways about event logistics and planning.

Notable Quotes

"“I might delete this. It's nice to see you guys.”"
Opening nerves and the candid, vlog-style intimacy that defines the video.
"“We both give him our names. He's like, ‘You're not on the list.’”"
The entry hiccup showcases real-world event gatekeeping and miscommunication.
"“Coachella is infinitely better during the day. It’s insanely hectic at night.”"
Pokimane contrasts day vs. night dynamics and crowd energy.
"“GA is kind of really good. Less expensive, way more room, much more of a chill vibe.”"
Her final assessment of pass types and what works best for her group.
"“You can actually feast my sugar DADDY TREAT AND IT'S freshly squeezed.”"
A playful moment at a vendor stop that highlights the social texture of the event.

Questions This Video Answers

  • How does the Coachella artist pass compare to GA in terms of crowds and comfort?
  • What are practical tips for navigating Coachella logistics as a first-time attendee?
  • Do golf carts really improve movement between stages at Coachella, or are they overrated?
  • What are common entry hiccups at VIP events and how can you avoid them?
  • What was Pokimane’s overall verdict on attending Coachella with friends vs. solo?
CoachellaArtist PassGeneral Admission (GA)Backstage accessEvent logisticsQR code entryGolf cart transportationYSL Beauty eventCat’s EyeFlower Love
Full Transcript
You know, usually I'd be like, "Oh, I shouldn't be nervous." But I was nervous. And I think I had a reason to be nervous because we get there and the bouncer almost kicks us out. Hello. I haven't vlogged in so long. Kind of nervous. I might delete this. It's nice to see you guys. Honestly, a big reason why I haven't vlogged uh I just like I was like what is interesting enough? So maybe Coachella will be interesting enough to you all. I'm a little nervous to be honest. I've only been to one other Coachella and that was many years ago like 4 years ago. But I like Coachella cuz it's during the day. There's a lot of friends and you know I can't resist friends. I am manifesting for the rest of the vlog if I can cross some friends. Some people I haven't seen in a minute that I would love to see. I'm manifesting it in the sense that I'm not going to message them. I'm just going to be like maybe we'll see each other. This is what I'm wearing just to head on over to our Airbnb. I'm about to head to Coachella and in the last like 2 3 days there were so many things that kind of went wrong and it's making me realize I'm such a control freak. I'm not nonchalant. I'm very shal about every detail. Long story short, we had no passes 2 days ago. We got passes. They're different passes than we thought we got. There's just so many things going on. Anyways, I think we will figure it all out and it will be fine. I am so pooped. But I got dressed. There is a YSL beauty event. I've never been to something like that. So, let me take you. We almost didn't get in. shouldn't be nervous." But I was nervous and I think I had reason to be nervous because we get there and the bouncer rejected me and said that I wasn't on the list. Let me explain. So, our car drives up and usually for events, we already sent in our names. We RSVPd. My managers handled it all. But we get there and he goes, "Do you have the QR code?" And I didn't know what the hell QR code he's talking about. I'm good at clearing my email, but event emails I don't fully look through or I maybe hadn't seen this email. So, I was really confused. I start messaging my managers. I'm going through my email. I'm doing whatever I need to do. Right. By the way, Yang isn't here yet. Usually a beauty event, I would bring Yang, but I needed to get photos. So, I asked Chris to come. So, Chris goes, "Oh, can we just give you our names?" And he's like, "Yeah, sure." We both give him our names. He's like, "You're not on the list." It's almost like your card getting rejected at the cashier. Oh, the embarrassment. Anyways, he's like, "Yeah, also the event closes in 5 minutes." It was actually closing in 35, but he said they were going to stop letting people in in 5 minutes. I start adding a stop to the Uber. I'm like, "We're going back home, I guess." Mhm. But as we keep going, there's actually like more event people further down. And when we get to them, I actually find the QR code in my email. So, we hop out of the car and we're like, "We might as well try. There's two more minutes before they stop letting people in. Apparently, I give the lady our names and she's like, "Oh, I found you on the list. Go ahead. Excuse me." That was a very weird experience, but hopefully just a hiccup to start off an otherwise beautiful weekend, my hope. Hello. Today was not a good day. If you know why, you know why. If you don't, don't worry. But it's like 6:00 p.m. and I'm finally heading to Coachella. I kind of spent the whole day getting ready, taking photos. You know how it goes. Now it's like right before the cat's eye show, so hopefully I catch that and Sabrina. And then there was a party tonight, but I'm not feeling too great. So, I think I might not go. But hopefully tomorrow and Sunday we'll still be fine. And it's been nice cuz I got to spend time with friends. We ate the biggest breakfast on earth. I've been having Chipotle sushi. It's a vacation. Here's my outfit. Hello. If you go to concerts often, I highly recommend earplugs that aren't really earplugs. They're supposed to let you still hear the concert, but just less loud to cause less damage to your ears. If you didn't know, I have tonitis, so I often get like a ring in my ear. So, I'm really mindful about damage to these bad boys. Why do I still feel like there's a small chance that man will show up? Please. I put my pluggies in and I can't tell how loud I'm talking. Do you hear me? Guys, this is this is a mission. Getting so many steps in right now. Be honest. Do I look crazy? I look like I just came out of the pandemic, not I'm going to [ __ ] Coachella. Oh my god. I think we're finally here. The way it took us so long. It went from daytime to night time. So crowded. Let's find cats eye. What's up? We're finally here. So she is Oh, there's water. Oh, hold on. He's trying codes. They did it. So, this is the artist viewing area. Technically, this is where you can come in to watch the live stream. It's kind of like I'm home, but I'm at Coachella. And it's kind of like I'm at Coachella, but I'm also at home. There are snacks. Oh my gosh. I love a beach. Always like bar. I love bari. Cookies and cream. mint in case you want to kiss anyone. Oo, it's good. Yeah, we're going to need that. Yes. I'm going to take two beef jerks. And honestly, I might try these. Okay, let's try it. I just got back and I am exhausted. I was at Coachella maybe 3 and 1/2 hours and I walked 14,000 steps. And I don't want to be mean, but it's extremely disorganized, especially when every single staffer that you ask something to tells you they don't know or tells you it's their first day and they don't know. So, you're just told to go left. Okay, go right. Okay, ask someone else. Okay, do this. Okay, do that. My feet are beyond busted. I must rest. We will reconvene tomorrow. It's Coachella day two. Yesterday, I don't want to talk about it right now. I'll talk about it when I've mentally recovered. Today I'm very quickly swinging by this barbecue that my agency is doing. Come on in. His fit versus mine. Why is he looking so fresh though? Hey, bring me along and stitch. Hey, anyways. Yes, my agency is doing a little barbecue and they are like the heart of my livelihood. So, I definitely want to swing by. So, it's a little pale yellow skirt top and set. What would you even call this? A shoulder shaw. shoulders. And I have my little me new bag. And I'm going to go say thank you agents for keeping my business alive. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. And maybe eat some steak. And then I'll come back and get like fully ready for the concert with my baby. This is my day two outfit. I'm not really taking photos in this one. You don't realize how difficult. Bro is in flow state. Yeah. Yeah. We're very addicted to this Brazilian Tik Tok trend. All right, let's go crew. You guys are actually so cute. We're like a big happy family. Oh, the light went out. This is better than that Disneyland fast pass. It really is. Ah. Oh my god. The girlies are here. Including you. Yes. Yes. He's an imposter. I'm not an imposter. Y'all where we pink panther? Justin Bieber. Where we going? This is like Sandy Mirror XY YouTube. I vote him out. [ __ ] It's not Among Us. I just saw Jason, the Haw Sisters, and Yona. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. So do you. Okay. Well, something. I love that. That looks so good. Thank you. You're so sweet. I'm blushing. I'm blushing. You look so sweet, girl. I love it. Day three, Coachella. I am drained physically and emotionally, but we're just going to come see one artist, Flower Love. We're going to hang out a little, see if any friends are there, and at the very least, our walk today is so chill. We could even be in the shade a little bit. I hope we get to relax at the Airbnb later. That sounds kind of nice. It's nice to hang out with friends more than anything else. Yeah, sure. Oh my god, I'm a big fan. Thank you so much. Have a good one, too. Have a good day. Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you. We are here to facilitate golf cart rides for artists to stages for their performances. This line is kind of just like for guests and whoever has like artist guest band. How big is your crew today? Just just us two, dude. Come drop me on the shoulder. We're going to win a ride. Oh, thank you so much. I appreciate that. Thank you. You know what? Coachella is infinitely better during the day. Yeah, I feel like it's insanely hectic at night. This is nice. Coachella. Coachella can be so kind and so mean. It giveth and it taketh away. Hi guys. You were at the back of our car. You guys look so gorgeous. Nice to meet you guys. Oh my gosh. I'm here to see my girl. This stage is so cool. The flower headband. I'm Flower of Love and this is New Friends. Hey Coella is the best. You can actually feast my sugar DADDY TREAT AND IT'S freshly squeezed. Hey. All right, taste test and review now. 3 2 1 refreshing. That's really good. I just love that it's freshly squeezed and you can tell you taste almost like from the lime. A little acidity. I like that. This has been the best hour and a half I've ever had. WHY SHE'S LAUGHING? It's true though. I'm sorry. We're really not Coachella girls. We're not built for ALL OF IT. HI, NICE TO MEET YOU. HE ASKED us for a portable. I said no. IT'S A POKEMON. Do you mind? Huh? His phone's dead. So, I'm going to take the photo and send it to him. He's like, "Don't worry, I won't leak your number." Do you promise? I do. Just know if it does get leaked, I'll know it's you. How? Because you're the only You'd be the only league. Nice meeting you. I can't believe I'm going to have one of your [ __ ] numbers. Be careful with that. I went to Coachella for 2 hours and I'm not going to lie, I'm back home in my PJs and I'm very happy to be. I love to do drivebys at events, not have to stay for forever. You get all the fun without the exhaustion, guys. I was going to go home. Day three, end of the day. But my friends really want to go out and we're having such a fun time. We're filming Tik Toks. It just feels like a fun little group. So, I'm going to do it because there's not that many opportunities like this. And you should always take advantage of rare and unique instances with your friends. Go have fun, I say to myself in this very moment. Also, I haven't seen so many of my friends at Coachella yet. So, maybe I will see them tonight. Fingers crossed. Let's go. I'll give it a rating out of 10. One shot. Got it. Okay. Okay. One. Tell it right. Last night of Coachella. Oh. Oh, that was a good sound. I give that like a 9.4. Hey, that was good. We're going to try to meet up with friends. Y First time I've seen anyone I know this hey. You're so cute. I love you so much. You made some cookies. Wow. Thank you. Have an amazing time. You always brought snacks. $100. WHAT? WHY DID YOU GET $100 of watermelon? Everyone likes watermelon. Why not is the question, I guess. So good. W. This is how we find each other. We're about to try spicy pies. Apparently, they're not available in stores. It's festival only and they're really good. They have this one called spicy pie and it has pepperoni. Ah, I got you cheese. Go try the cheese. I've never had a spicy pizza before. It's like a spicy sauce and cheesy goodness. 7.2. You guys won't believe what happened. I was watching Carol G and I happened across Megan from Cat's Eye in the crowd so randomly with a group of friends. I think she was wearing a hoodie or something and we just happened to lock eyes and look at each other for a minute and then realize who the other was. It was so cute and it was so nice to see her. and we talked about her Valerant show match and I was like, "You did so good." What a random cute coincidence. Like the perfect one to end the festival with. Now I'm going home. Well, hopefully in one piece. I can't wait to sleep in my own bed. Hello. I'm here to give you a little Coachella review. You must see so much Coachella content, it's hard not to be influenced, but I don't want to blind influence you. I want to tell you my honest thoughts so if you decide to go, you kind of know what to expect. For starters, this year I had artist passes, which are technically like the best passes you can get, and I kind of anticipated that to mean that it's like the best experience you can have. But that might not really be the case. Let's start with some pros. There are a lot of shows. So, if you really take advantage of your time and you make a good plan, then you can see a lot of artists in like 3 days. I love that it is a daytime event. as someone who likes to go to bed very early and to me an upside is that a lot of people go, a lot of friends, a lot of industry folks. So, it's a good opportunity to honestly just catch up with people. And lastly, if you have an artist pass, the golf carts are really nice. They let you get around between stage to stage without having to walk the full way. But I don't want you to think you need an artist pass cuz you really don't. Let's talk about the cons. It was insanely crowded in the artist section. So many people have artist passes or artist guest passes cuz it's also like artists friends and family. And unfortunately at certain stages where that area is very very crowded, it's not as pleasant of an experience. And very often we ended up just leaving and going to GA with some of our other friends. Also, when you're so close, your angle can be kind of bad. But when we would go to GA, the view was actually much better. Like you can enjoy the concert. There's more space. Everybody's just hanging out. No one's pushing each other. Another con, it can be hard to see everybody that you want to see. You might want to see two artists and then they end up having sets that are either at the same time or very close in times but on opposite ends of the festival grounds. And it is a lot to walk the full festival grounds, which leads me to my last con. It can be very tiring. It's a lot of walking, even just figuring out how to walk in and out of the festival. There's a learning curve to Coachella. like you kind of have to come in and learn the full map. And that took me a day or two. And then when I learned it, I had a much much much much better time, but the first day or two, you really need a guide or someone who's maybe gone before. Otherwise, you are going to be pooped with 30k steps and lost. As a summary, my hot take, Coachella GA is kind of really good. Less expensive, way more room, much more of a chill vibe. So, if that's what you like and you just want to be around your friends and enjoy some music, I really like GA. I am of course so grateful that I got to go and maybe I'll go next year. We will see. And I hope you enjoyed my little vlog. If you did, let me know in the comments and I'll see you in the next one.

Get daily recaps from
Pokimane

AI-powered summaries delivered to your inbox. Save hours every week while staying fully informed.