Stagecoach Is The World’s Biggest Karaoke Bar

stagecoach_music(1024x450) — Philip Cosores

Stagecoach began as a country music festival and for all intents and purposes, that’s still what it is. At the top of the lineup, it’s hard to imagine a complete pivot from this identity, especially if country keeps producing genuine headliners to cap each night and drive tickets. Last year, they got one of the biggest stars in music period in Morgan Wallen. This year was a trifecta of highly relevant twangy superstars: newly minted stadium sensation Zach Bryan, multi-quadrant entertainer Jelly Roll, and Luke Combs coming off a crossover megahit with his Tracy Chapman cover, “Fast Car.”

And up and down the lineup, there was plenty more country from all types of backgrounds. Outlaw country had its hero in Sturgill Simpson. Koe Wetzel represented the rock and country intersection with a booming, chaotic set. The Brothers Osbourne gave the fans something more traditional and country-radio adjacent. There were even new, emerging stars like Shaboozey, Dasha, and Waylon Wyatt. And while you can’t generalize tens of thousands of people — many of whom haul out their lawn chairs and picnic blankets to bake in the sun and pound Twisted Teas as a yearly tradition — one thing was especially clear this year: people just really wanted to hear a song they knew.

Is that much different than any other concert? Yes and no. Sure, Coachella or Lollapalooza also buoy their events on familiarity. An act like Green Day can play wall-to-wall hits for nearly two hours, but that’s less what makes someone like Charli XCX or Fred Again.. or Chappell Roan festival sensations. They’ve got some songs people know, for sure, but they also have spectacle, big emotions, and underscored charisma in their corner as well. Traditionally, there is a diversity in kinds of experiences that are possible, with festivals serving as a sort of choose-your-own-adventure.

But this year’s Stagecoach continues a trend that’s been developing for years, by supplementing the country artists with lowest-common-denominator music that places ubiquity over taste. Diplo’s Honkeytonk offered everyone from Steve Aoki to Paris Hilton. Creed, Sammy Hagar, Nelly, Goo Goo Dolls, and Backstreet Boys all received plush slots, and a couple of the weekend’s most talked about moments, Lana Del Rey and Mumford & Sons, stretched the definition of country-adjacent so you’d have to squint to make it make sense. (You’d also have to squint to actually see them, as the choice to book them in the tent severely limited the amount of people who could actually enjoy these sets.)

This stuff all goes over incredibly well, and that’s something you can’t fault Stagecoach for. They know their audience and they aim to please, but there is also the feeling that it is coming at the expense of becoming a place for country music to thrive. The festival now plays by Karaoke Bar rules, where the center of the Venn Diagram occupies the meeting point of competence and barrier of entry. The Brothers Osbourne had a parade of country hits to employ, but nothing got the VIP section as riled up as their cover of Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down.” Walking around during Ashley McBride’s set revealed mild engagement turning into an arms-around-each other singalong as she busted out a faithful version of “Boys Of Summer.” I heard “Country Roads” multiple times. I heard a country version of “Crazy Train.” The more omnipresent the song, the more the beer-swigging audience responded.

No one embodied that idea more than Jelly Roll. A music success story that’s hard not to root for, Jelly Roll’s ascension to headliner slot on Saturday night was not taken lightly by the perfomer. When he wasn’t showing off his dance moves or waving to audience members like a Christmas pageant child to his parents, he was parading out a non-stop stream of guest performers showing off collabs and their own hits. MGK was there. So was BigXthaPlug. Plus Jessie Murph, Shaboozey, Lana Del Rey, Alex Warren, and Wiz Khalifa. It created a perfect storm of karaoke celebration vibes: Jelly Roll, errr, rolling out his hits while peppering in pervasive staples like “Black And Yellow,” “My Ex’s Best Friend,” and one of the songs of the moment,”Ordinary.” If ever a set was designed for the right vibe for the right crowd, this was it.

That’s not to say that some of the other marquee acts did anything wrong, it’s just more about whether they fit at Stagecoach in 2025. I’ve written about Zach Bryan more than I’ve written about any other musician in the last several years, as I genuinely believe he’s one of the most exciting songwriters to emerge in that time. And seeing him reach the spot of Friday night headliner was wonderful, and his gracious vibe and ripping band were on full display. Up close, you could see Bryan getting the most joy from seeing his best friends — his band — embrace the moment, strutting on the catwalk and interacting with fans. But if this was someone’s first time seeing Bryan, I’d encourage checking him out on his own turf, where fans scream back his words to him as he performs in the round. Bryan is at his best when he brings intimacy to massive spaces, and fans can only catch glimpses of that in the Stagecoach setting.

Speaking of ripping bands, Sturgill Simpson wins the award for the most musically impressive thing I witnessed over the weekend. My colleague Steven Hyden has written extensively about Simpson’s musicianship, the kind of no frills set that fits as easily in the rock and jam worlds as it does at Stagecoach. And while there were plenty of tipsy dudes entranced by the guitar solos and extended guitar solos, there were also plenty of people unwilling to meet Simpson in the moment. Fittingly, Sturgill began his set by dedicating it to Marty McFly. I couldn’t help thinking of McFly’s school dance performance in Back To The Future, the audience staring back at him blankly, and his iconic line: “I guess you guys aren’t ready for that yet. But your kids are gonna love it.”

Stagecoach manages to let Nelly and newly minted Grammy darling Sierra Ferrell exist as two sides of the same coin, though only one of those artists performed in a fantasy mushroom garden. It gives plenty of activities, from branded integrations like Amex’s interactive experience that included exclusive merch for cardholders and customized BÉIS bags to horse riding displays from local legends the Compton Cowboys. Guy Fieri does live interviews about barbecuing. Yellowstone takes over the same tent that 2Hollis performed in just a week before.

Early in his set, Jelly Roll talked about the set that was to come, saying that “all kinds of music is therapeutic.” If you’ve ever spent time in karaoke bars, you’ll find that to be true. It’s a place for people to blow off steam, be the center of attention for a moment, get the rush of putting themselves out there and then singing along and supporting the other performers. Broadway showtunes can exist side-by-side with classic rock. Radio country next to ’90s alt-rock. The only sin is playing something dull. Enthusiasm is sometimes better received than genuine talent.

And Stagecoach isn’t alone in figuring out this skeleton key. Festival culture in general seems to be moving to this same conclusion, where broad familiarity is more important than brand identity. Whether it is Bonnaroo or Coachella or Lollapalooza, most events are moving more to the center, less interested in their own perspective and more interested in pleasing the most people in the most general way. In a crowded market with economic uncertainty, who can blame them? Providing a space for people to hear the songs they know at the loudest volume possible still has value. But it might come at the expense of what truly distinguished Stagecoach in the first place.

Check out some exclusive photos of Stagecoach 2025 below.