Lady Gaga Played Chess with a ‘Poker Face’ at Coachella

Lady Gaga is causing Mayhem at Coachella. This year, Gaga is headlining the opening night for the desert festival. It is technically the pop star’s second time headlining — she was also on in 2017, when she subbed in last minute for Beyoncé. This time, though, she was announced early and has more than enough time to prep for the set. “I’m getting ready for Coachella, and I’m so, so excited, but I’ve definitely lost sleep a whole bunch of nights, and it’s because I want to do a great job,” Gaga told the New York Times on March 8. “If there’s a time and a date where you can make the public smile, from 11 p.m. to 1 in the morning on this day, I want to make it happen.” Are you ready to be made happy? Here’s a list of everything that Gaga did while performing in the desert.

She read a “manifesto of mayhem”

Her set opened with a prerecorded message voiced by two different versions of herself, one dressed in red and one dressed in white. “Her and I will find a way to live as twins, but I will know if in the end mistress of mayhem wins,” the Gagas said while facing each other.

She split her setlist into four acts

Including the following songs:

Act I – Of Velvet and Vice
1. “Bloody Mary”
2. “Abracadabra”
3. “Judas”
4. “Scheiße”
5. “Garden of Eden”
6. “Poker Face”

Act II – And She Fell Into a Gothic Dream
7. “Perfect Celebrity”
8. “Disease”
9. “Paparazzi”
10. “Alejandro”
11. “The Beast”

Act III – The Beautiful Nightmare That Knows Her Name
12. “Killah”
13. “Zombieboy”
14. “Die With a Smile”
15. “How Bad Do U Want Me”
16. “Abracadabra (Gesaffelstein Remix)” – Interlude

Act IV: To Make Her Is to Lose Her
17. “Shadow Of a Man”
18. “Kill for Love”
19. “Born This Way”
20. “Shallow”
21. “Vanish Into You”

Finale: Eternal Aria of the Monster Heart
22. “Bad Romance”

She changed up her look again and again

Gaga started the performance dressed in red and with a black bob; she ended it as a blonde wearing a white ensemble with feathers. But there were multiple wardrobe and wig changes in between those looks. Below, a sampling of just a few of these different ‘fits:

Lady Gaga kicks off her headlining #Coachella set with ‘Bloody Mary.’ pic.twitter.com/0gkrVJokat

— Pop Base (@PopBase) April 12, 2025

SCHEIßE🌴 #GAGACHELLA pic.twitter.com/Ba0MlDe0qJ

— LadyGagaMonsterBlog (@LGMonsterBlog) April 12, 2025

Lady Gaga’s iconic boots are back! #GAGACHELLA pic.twitter.com/duTFsqAbgC

— LⱯDY GⱯGⱯ NOW🪞 (@ladygaganownet) April 12, 2025

#22 – Bad Romance pic.twitter.com/ppfpsEzGME

— LⱯDY GⱯGⱯ NOW🪞 (@ladygaganownet) April 12, 2025

She grabbed a guitar

For her first live performance of “Garden of Eden,” she strutted down the catwalk while strumming an electric guitar, which she eventually set aside so she could execute a dance break.

Lady Gaga playing the guitar while performing “Garden of Eden”. #GAGACHELLA pic.twitter.com/bwUaxQntBG

— LⱯDY GⱯGⱯ NOW🪞 (@ladygaganownet) April 12, 2025

“Garden Of Eden” choreography at #GAGACHELLA pic.twitter.com/Qp4QLu1eXB

— Gaga Notify (@gaganotify) April 12, 2025

She played chess with her “Poker Face”

The stage turned into a chess board during “Poker Face,” which soundtracked a choreographed dance battle between two groups: one led by Gaga and one led by a veiled figure dressed in white. Gaga ultimately won, which triggered an “off with her head” chant aimed at her opponent.

lady gaga performing ‘poker face’ & simulating chess is ICONIC #coachella pic.twitter.com/XxGt8rqMHX

— ໊ (@smazos) April 12, 2025

She got sandy

While performing “Perfect Celebrity” and “Disease,” with dancers in skeletal masks at her side.

Lady Gaga performing “Perfect Celebrity” at Coachella. https://t.co/KH5d2XTCKF

— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) April 12, 2025

#8 Disease pic.twitter.com/W6LLbZq2SI

— LⱯDY GⱯGⱯ NOW🪞 (@ladygaganownet) April 12, 2025

She pulled out the “Paparazzi” crutches

Singing her way across the stage with a giant piece of white fabric billowing behind her.

lady gaga performing paparazzi in the year 2025… tearing up a little #GAGACHELLA pic.twitter.com/tA7fWojezu

— arianators wildin (@arianatorswildt) April 12, 2025

She told her fans how much she appreciated them

“I love you so much, I wanted to make a romantic gesture to you,” she said before performing “Alejandro.” She went on to explain that she’d decided to build the crowd “an opera house in the desert” for “all the love and all the joy and all the strength you’ve given me my whole life.” She added that she sometimes feels like she has been in a dream since she was 20 years old, and didn’t know if she wanted to wake up, “because what if you weren’t there?”

She timed her set down to the minute

Making it so that she sang “11:59” during “The Beast” at that exact time in California.

Lady Gaga timed her Coachella set so perfectly that she managed to sing the lyrics “11:59” from The Beast at the exact time. #GAGACHELLA pic.twitter.com/MO8ag7eaTj

— LⱯDY GⱯGⱯ NOW🪞 (@ladygaganownet) April 12, 2025

She played the drums (and got Gesaffelstein onstage)

For “Killah,” the opening song of her third act.

Lady Gaga performing “Killah” with Gesaffelstein #GAGACHELLA pic.twitter.com/k7qlWzoVgE

— GⱯGⱯ THROWBⱯCKS (@ThrowbacksGaga) April 12, 2025

She partner-danced with a skeleton

For her first live performance of “Zombieboy.”

Lady Gaga performs “Zombieboy” at Coachella. https://t.co/3SHM3g32iO

— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) April 12, 2025

She shouted out her man

Gaga pointed her fiancé and Mayhem collaborator Michael Polansky out in the audience. “Babe, I love you,” she said before blowing a kiss, prompting some people in the audience to start chanting, “Michael, Michael!”

She told us to put our paws up because we were “Born This Way”

Lady Gaga performing “Born This Way” at Coachella. #GAGACHELLA https://t.co/N4TbiJ3oao

— GⱯGⱯ THROWBⱯCKS (@ThrowbacksGaga) April 12, 2025

She performed “Shallow” at a piano

Which was a full-circle moment, given that she filmed the song for A Star Is Born at Coachella. “We filmed a movie here, a movie that changed my life, helped me say something different I hadn’t said before,” she reflected. “So excited to sing this for you tonight. Couldn’t wait.”

She descended into the crowd for “Vanish Into You”

Gaga acknowledged that she might not “get to high-five each and every one of you” before she got off stage to go brush hands with the emotional audience. “But I can sure as fuck sing to you,” she added. “And I hope maybe one day I’ll just vanish right into you.”

Lady Gaga performing “Vanish Into You” walking through the crowd at Coachella #GAGACHELLA https://t.co/PGKj992DCj

— GⱯGⱯ THROWBⱯCKS (@ThrowbacksGaga) April 12, 2025

She was brought back in on a table by plague doctors

She was resurrected in feathery form to perform “Bad Romance” as the encore and final song in her headlining set.

Lady Gaga closes her headlining #Coachella set with ‘Bad Romance.’ pic.twitter.com/ekeVqixvH5

— Pop Base (@PopBase) April 12, 2025

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