Stagecoach 2025: Jelly Roll, Creed and the best of Day 2

Less than a week after Coachella concluded, the Stagecoach country music festival has drawn another crowd in the tens of thousands to the now mostly grassless Empire Polo Club in Indio. The three-day event kicked off Friday and will run through Sunday night with headliners Zach Bryan, Jelly Roll and Luke Combs. I’ll be here all weekend to bring you the highs and the lows as they happen. Here’s what went down on Day 2:

An oasis in the desert

“This is officially the biggest show I’ve ever headlined in my career,” Jelly Roll said not long into his main-stage performance, and for him that presented an opportunity to do more than entertain: “I never would have dreamed that God would’ve brought a boy from Tennessee to the desert of Southern California,” he added, his voice steadily rising like a pastor’s, “to lead us in church service on a Saturday night to heal the broken through the power of music.”

True to that framing, the face-tattooed rapper-turned-singer did plaintive versions of his songs “Son of a Sinner” and “I Am Not Okay” — both of which draw on his history with drugs and jail to tell stories of redemption — and brought out an actual worship leader, Brandon Lake, to sing his growly Christian-music crossover hit, “Hard Fought Hallelujah.” The stage set resembled a gas station with a neon sign assuring us that Jesus saves — an oasis in the desert, in other words.

Jelly Roll made time for some more earthly pleasures: cameos from BigXthaPlug and Wiz Khalifa that reminded you of his hip-hop roots, and an appearance by MGK, who did his appealingly bratty pop-punk “My Ex’s Best Friend.” He also brought out Alex Warren to sing his gloopy ballad “Ordinary” and to premiere a new duet between the two of them called “Oh My Brother.” (Unfortunately, it sounded like Imagine Dragons.)

Jelly Roll finished his set with another faith-minded moment, welcoming Lana Del Rey to the stage to join him for “Save Me” as simulated rain fell on the two of them. Del Rey’s feathery croon was totally wrong for the song, which calls for an unembarrassed quality that’s not part of her whole deal. But Jelly Roll looked so amped to have her out there that you were inclined — hey, what do you know — to forgive.

With arms wide open

Saturday’s big megachurch energy continued with Creed’s late-night set in the Palomino tent, where singer Scott Stapp struck an assortment of messianic poses as his bandmates ground out the gospel-grunge riffs of “One Last Breath” and “Higher.” For the latter, Creed brought out the pop-soul star Tori Kelly — just one of the many millennials and zoomers who’ve kept Creed in business a quarter-century after the band’s hit-making era.

Five minutes backstage with Koe Wetzel

Did you know that Lana Del Rey had made out with your pal Morgan Wallen, as she claimed in a song at Stagecoach on Friday night?
Did she say so? Good for her.

Your girlfriend recently announced she’s pregnant. If you could choose, what would be the first song your child hears?
“Island in the Sun” by Weezer? I don’t know. It’s a good vibe.

You posted a photo the other day of you and Bailey Zimmerman hanging out at Billy Bob’s in Texas. Bailey’s drinking a Twisted Tea. Did you let him know that Twisted Tea is a disgusting drink?
I honestly don’t know what happened that night. We went to a bar, and I think his manager was like, “Please don’t go out with Koe.” Once we got offstage, it was sort of chaos — kind of black-out city. Twisted Tea, I’m not a big fan of it. But Bailey’s young. I remember being that young and drinking it too — I can’t hold it against him.

What’s an adult beverage you’ve sworn off?
I will never drink Rumple Minze ever again.

Last year, Jessie Murph said on TikTok that she’d been called a rat by some of your fans for appearing on your song “High Road.” Then she directed them to the solo version you released and told them to go get their DUIs. What’s your response?
She’s a bad bitch. Shout out to her. Everybody that was talking s—, go f— yourself.

You wrote songs for your album “9 Lives” with the songwriter Amy Allen, who also had a hand in Sabrina Carpenter’s “Short n’ Sweet.” Are you into Sabrina’s album?
I’d be a liar if I said I wasn’t in there jamming it. I’m a Sabrina fan.

Are you involved in a beef with another musician at the moment?
I’m currently beefless. I think I’m pretty cool with everybody. If you hear different from somebody else, though, let me know — we’ll fire it up for sure.

Last week you posted a photo from the studio. The best new song you’ve got so far — what’s it about?
We wrote a song about a serial killer the other day.

What’s a tattoo you regret?
“F— 2020” on my leg. I was super-drunk when I got it. I woke up the next morning, wiped the blood away and said, “Well, that’s there forever.”

Best cover version heard so far

Tiera Kennedy, dressed in an Aaliyah T-shirt for her second Stagecoach performance of the day, moving nimbly through SWV’s always-welcome “Weak.”

Second-best cover version heard so far

Ashley McBryde, on the main stage at sunset, nailing the haunted yet blissed-out vibe of Don Henley’s “The Boys of Summer.”

Imagine that

Playing Stagecoach as part of a tour behind last year’s “Passage du Desir” (which he released under the alter ego Johnny Blue Skies), Sturgill Simpson and his tight four-piece band offered up an hour of soulful boogie-rock jams that evoked the Allman Brothers backed by Booker T. & the M.G.’s. Speaking of covers: In addition to William Bell’s early-’60s soul staple “You Don’t Miss Your Water,” Simpson played a longing rendition of, uh, “Party All the Time” by Eddie Murphy.

Still tipsy

Like T-Pain on Friday, Shaboozey completed a rare Indio trifecta on Saturday, performing on Stagecoach’s main stage after doing both weekends of Coachella. (Perhaps that’s why he wore three bedazzled belts as part of his sharp denim suit.) The rap-fluent country star sang a moving rendition of Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door,” which he called one of his favorite songs of all time; brought out Sierra Ferrell to do “Hail Mary”; and closed of course with “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” his 2024 smash that spent 19 weeks atop Billboard’s Hot 100 last year. Around the time of February’s Grammy Awards, Shaboozey appeared to have tired — reasonably! — of “Tipsy’s” rootsy jollity. Here, though, he seemed reenergized by the thousands singing along.

A flashy visitor

One vivid demonstration of Stagecoach’s evolution from the festival’s early days: Scott Storch’s appearance inside Diplo’s HonkyTonk, where the producer and songwriter was introduced by his Don Julio-guzzling hype man as the guy who dated both Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian. Eyes hidden behind his signature aviators, Storch took up a spot behind a Korg Kronos synthesizer and played along with a handful of the slinky pop and R&B hits he helped create in the early 2000s — not least Justin Timberlake’s “Cry Me a River,” before which he very dramatically ripped a cig.

Five minutes backstage with Dasha

Help me parse the timeline in your viral hit “Austin.” The narrator used to live in L.A., then moved to Austin and now is talking about moving back to L.A.?
“Austin” is actually about Nashville, but Nashville had some s— rhymes, so we changed it to Austin. In the song, I had been in Nashville — Austin — was living in L.A., and I was moving back to Nashville. That was the whole storyline there. And the guy that I was talking to was in Nashville. Well, Austin.

Hmm. Is it true that things don’t rhyme with Nashville?
Cashville? Hashville?

Would you rather be 10% smarter or 10% funnier?
Funnier. I feel pretty smart. But also: You have to be intelligent to be funny.

What’s the last thing you used ChatGPT for?
In the set today, I whip out a harmonica and play it, so we built a harmonica holster into my outfit — my ass-less chaps that are hanging over there. They were asking what the dimensions were, and I was like, “How would I know?” But ChatGPT will know.

Throwback to your L.A. days: Ralphs or Vons?
I’m more of a Trader Joe’s girl.

Most hated freeway?
The 10 is f—ing terrible.

Do you consider yourself a theater kid?
Yes — a thespian, all the way.

Is “theater kid” derogatory?
People use it as an insult, but I think it’s the biggest compliment. Before I go onstage, to everyone in my band and my dancers, I’m like, “Broadway, guys — Broadway.” I channel my musical-theater self onstage, as if I’m playing myself in a musical-theater production.

What’s a musical you’d like to be in but you haven’t yet?
I’m dying to play Sandy in “Grease.”

How many unread text messages do you have?
823.

Does anyone besides you know the passcode to your phone?
I think my whole team does. I don’t have anything to hide on there.