10 Can't-Miss 2023 Stagecoach Festival Performances

by Julian Spivey

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Stagecoach Festival, one of country music’s biggest concert festivals, begins today in Indio, Calif. one weekend after the two-week Coachella Festival at the same location wrapped up. Stagecoach features some of the biggest names in mainstream country music, while also showcasing some acts that maybe lesser known or more popular in the independent or alternative country music scene. 

Some of the bigger mainstream acts at Stagecoach this year include superstars Luke Bryan, Kane Brown and Old Dominion, who frankly I have absolutely no use for – but if you’re willing to tune in earlier in the day over the three-day event you might find some truly great country music.

This year’s festival can be streamed live via Amazon Prime Video and the Amazon Music Twitch channel (for those who aren’t Prime subscribers). However, I’m not certain yet if all sets will be streaming. Hopefully, Amazon will have it set up similarly to how YouTube streams Coachella with multiple streams from the different stages going at once.

Here are 10 can’t-miss acts from Stagecoach Festival 2023:

All times below will be Pacific Time Zone

American Aquarium – Friday, April 28 @ 3:05 p.m. – Palomino Stage
OK, so the T-Mobile Mane (not a typo, like a horse’s mane) Stage features the bigger, mainstream acts – which I’ve found are the ones I typically won’t give two seconds of my time to, so the really awesome place for music at Stagecoach is the Palomino Stage, with a more traditional or outcast sound. American Aquarium is honestly more of a rock band to me than a country band – but they’re freakin’ awesome whatever you want to call their style of music. I’ve seen American Aquarium, led by songwriter and frontman B.J. Barham, multiple times in concert and they put on a helluva show where you can see they’re giving everything they have from the stage.

ZZ Top – Friday, April 28 @ 7:45 p.m. – Palomino Stage
So, you’re probably thinking right now, I thought he said this was a country music festival. Why is ZZ Top here? OK, so Stagecoach is a country music festival but it does feature other artists who are maybe somewhat close to the genre or just fit the Stagecoach demo a little better than they would the Coachella demo. The Texas blue-rock trio ZZ Top isn’t as weird as the inclusion of R&B/Motown legend Smokey Robinson (though I did watch and enjoy that set) last year. I’ll take ZZ Top performing some of their greatest hits over Friday night’s headliner Luke Bryan any day of the week.

Lola Kirke – Saturday, April 29 @ 3 p.m. – Horseshoe Stage
I knew and enjoyed Lola Kirke as an actor from Amazon Prime Video’s four-season-long comedy “Mozart in the Jungle,” which I felt was underrated. But, last year Kirke released the album Lady for Sale and it included a couple of my favorite songs of the year in “Broken Families” and “Pink Sky.” She performs a sort of old-school meets modern type of country music that isn’t afraid to mix synthesizers in with Emmylou Harris-esque vocals.

Nikki Lane – Saturday, April 29 @ 4:15 p.m. – Palomino Stage
Saturday truly is a great day for women of country music at Stagecoach – be sure to check out Mary Chapin Carpenter, Jamie Wyatt and Morgan Wade too if you have time on this day – and Nikki Lane will bring her high-octane country rock to the Palomino Stage. Lane’s most recent album Denim & Diamonds was a highlight of last year with tracks like “First High” and “Born Tough,” which she’ll hopefully play during her set.

Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives – Saturday, April 29 @ 6:30 p.m. – Palomino Stage
While some people on Saturday at Stagecoach are no doubt going to be pumped for the modern sounds of Kane Brown and Old Dominion over at the Mane Stage, it’ll be the old-school, traditional yet mixed with a desert country-rock twinge of Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives that I’ll be salivating over. I’ve seen Stuart and the boys on multiple occasions and they always put on an epic country music show.

49 Winchester – Sunday, April 30 @ 1:05 p.m. – Palomino Stage
49 Winchester feels like the next big thing in the non-mainstream country music world. They could be the next Turnpike Troubadours or Tyler Childers, who’ll be performing on the same stage later in the day. So, it’s somewhat disheartening that the best they could get was the 1:05 p.m. slot and merely a half-hour set time on the final day of Stagecoach. If you’ve never heard this group’s music you’ll want to make sure to catch this afternoon performance. Their album Fortune Favors the Bold was one of 2022’s best.

Turnpike Troubadours – Sunday, April 30 @ 5:40 p.m. – Palomino Stage
The Turnpike Troubadours reunited last summer after nearly a half-decade hiatus and have gone from a band that played smaller venues before their break to a band that’s now selling out arenas. I’m honestly not sure how their popularity bloomed over their hiatus, but it’s incredibly nice to see for what I think is the finest band in country music since 2010. You can be sure to get a Stagecoach set that resembles what many fans would call their greatest hits.

Tyler Childers – Sunday, April 30 @ 7 p.m. – Palomino Stage
Tyler Childers may be the hardest ticket of any non-mainstream (that is frequently played on radio) artist in the entire country to find. His shows are selling out fast, as well as being picked up and sold for exorbitant prices on the secondary market. So, if you want to see Childers, doing so on the Stagecoach stream might be your best shot. It’s Appalachian country folk music in its finest modern state.   

Brooks & Dunn – Sunday, April 30 @ 8 p.m. – Mane Stage
OK, so Sunday night is when the Mane Stage at Stagecoach becomes acceptable with Brooks & Dunn and Chris Stapleton closing out the festival. Brooks & Dunn is the most successful duo in country music history and no doubt will be bringing a set filled with their greatest hits to the Mane Stage. It’s a group old enough for traditional country fans to enjoy while being cool enough and having sing-along tracks like “Neon Moon” for the younger crowd to dig, as well.

Chris Stapleton – Sunday, April 30 @ 9:30 p.m. – Mane Stage
Chris Stapleton has been one of the few worthy performers on mainstream country radio over the last decade with his excellent songwriting and his stellar bluesy, soulful voice. Stapleton headlines the final night of the Stagecoach Festival and if you’re trying to go for a current performer who can also thrill an old-school country music fan like me there’s no better choice to close out the show.