The desert air in Indio usually smells like dust and overpriced sunscreen, but in April 2025, it smelled like a comeback. Or at least, that was the plan. When the poster for Coachella 2025 dropped, the name Travis Scott didn't just sit there. It carried a heavy, complicated weight that most other headliners—even legends like Lady Gaga or Green Day—simply don't have to deal with.
For years, the relationship between Travis Scott and the Empire Polo Club has been, well, let's call it "it's complicated." He was supposed to headline in 2020. Then a global pandemic happened. He was booked for 2022. Then the Astroworld tragedy changed everything. For a long time, it felt like the "Rage" was permanently banned from the valley.
But there he was. Billing himself as the one who "designs the desert." He didn't just want to play a set; he wanted to curate a "Cactus Jack desert takeover." Honestly, the hype was astronomical. Fans were expecting the most insane spectacle in the festival's history. Critics were waiting with pens sharpened.
The $12 Million Stage and the "Designs the Desert" Mystery
One of the biggest rumors swirling around the Polo Grounds was the price tag. Shortly before his set, word got out—partially fueled by Travis himself on social media—that he’d dropped $12 million of his own cash on the stage production. That’s a lot of money for a weekend in the dirt.
He wasn't just there to rap. The "Designs the Desert" credit on the lineup poster meant he had a hand in the actual aesthetic of the festival grounds for the weekend. We saw brown-toned branding everywhere. It felt less like a music festival and more like a high-budget immersive art installation by Cactus Jack.
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The set itself was a massive departure from the "giant bird puppet" he rode back in 2017. This was brutalist. It was sharp. It featured a 60-piece marching band that looked incredible in those drone shots you probably saw on the livestream. But here’s the thing: while it looked like a masterpiece on a screen, the vibe on the ground was... different.
Why the 2025 Set Actually Split the Fanbase
If you ask a "rager," the set was legendary. Travis has this way of commanding a crowd that is almost scary. At one point, he was literally walking down a vertical wall during "Skyfall." Then he was hoisted into the air, looking like a giant spider hovering over a group of dancers held by ropes. It was peak Travis—chaotic, high-budget, and visually arresting.
But if you talk to the people who were standing near the back, the reviews were way more mixed. There were some serious technical gripes:
- Volume Issues: People were literally complaining that the speakers weren't loud enough. When you’re coming off sets from Charli XCX and Green Day—who were both deafeningly loud—Travis felt a bit thin.
- The Late Start: He showed up about 15 minutes late. In the world of strict festival curfews, that’s a death sentence for a setlist.
- Clip-itis: He kept cutting songs short. Just as the crowd would get into a rhythm, he’d jump to the next track. It felt frantic rather than high-energy.
Basically, the "new chapter" he promised on Instagram ("IM DOING THE MOST TURNTNEED INCLUDED GAVSBSVDVDHHDHDHDH") was a bit of a scramble. He played "FE!N" twice—standard procedure at this point—and mashed together hits like "SICKO MODE" and "Antidote" at the very end. But when the fireworks went off and "TELEKINESIS" faded out, the crowd didn't roar. They kinda just... started walking toward the shuttles.
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The Elephant in the Desert: Safety and the Astroworld Shadow
You can't talk about Travis Scott Coachella without talking about why it took so long for him to get back there. The 2021 Astroworld tragedy, where 10 people died in a crowd crush, still looms over every large-scale event he does.
In 2022, a petition with over 60,000 signatures successfully got him booted from the Coachella lineup. Goldenvoice, the promoters, were in a tough spot. They even reportedly turned down his offer to play for free back then.
Fast forward to 2025, and the security presence was noticeable. Paul Tollett, the president of Goldenvoice, was very public about the fact that they knew how to run this. They used the main stage specifically because it has the most robust barricade system. It was a "safe" return, which is exactly what the industry needed, but maybe that safety dampened some of the raw, unpredictable energy that made Travis famous in the first place.
What This Means for the Future of Cactus Jack
So, was it a success? It depends on who you ask. Commercially, absolutely. Travis Scott still moves tickets better than almost anyone in the game. His Circus Maximus Tour was one of the highest-grossing rap tours ever, and his presence at Coachella ensured the Saturday night was a sell-out.
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But artistically, the "Designs the Desert" era feels like it’s still finding its legs. He’s moving away from being just a "rapper" and trying to be a world-builder. Sometimes that world-building gets in the way of the actual music.
If you're planning on catching a future Travis set or looking back at the 2025 footage, keep these things in mind:
- Watch the Livestream version: The drone shots and camera angles make the $12 million stage look 10x better than it did from the 100th row.
- Expect the unreleased: He used the Coachella stage to debut new music, including tracks tentatively called "Oh Jacques" and "She Going Dumb." These are the seeds for whatever album comes after Utopia.
- The Guests (or lack thereof): Surprisingly, he didn't lean on a ton of cameos. He let the stage and the marching band do the talking.
The 2025 performance was a massive corporate and personal milestone for Scott. It proved he could play the biggest stage in the world again without incident. It also proved that even with a $12 million budget, you can't always manufacture the "perfect" festival moment. Sometimes, the dust and the late starts just win.
If you're looking to dive deeper into the technical side of his stagecraft, check out the production credits for the "Circus Maximus" tour—it's where he test-drove most of the vertical-climbing tech he used in the desert.