This weekend (April 10-12) and next (April 17-19) will see Coachella take over Indio, California with a wide range of musical artists, with Sabrina Carpenter, Justin Bieber, and Karol G headlining. As such, fans of nu metal may be ambivalent towards the festival, but fear not, as there's actually a bit more for the cult of the nu than one might think. The following five (well, six, but we'll get there) acts aren't necessarily nu metal, but they're embraced by the scene and celebrated nevertheless, and are worth tuning into the Coachella YouTube channel's livestreams at the listed times.
And hey. Only a couple more weekends till Sick New World Vegas.
Turnstile - Friday 8:05pm-9pm PDT
The Grammy-winning hardcore kids are playing Friday evening both weekends, riding high off the success of their latest album Never Enough, the title track of which was featured as the theme of last month's AEW pay-per-view Revolution. In spite of recent headlines regarding former guitarist Brady Ebert, the band are set to bring it to the valley. This is easily one of the biggest stages Turnstile have been on in their tenure, and getting to reach a wider audience is great for heavy music in general.
Fleshwater - Friday 4:50pm-5:30pm PDT
We had 2000: In Search of the Endless Sky among our top nu metal albums of 2025, with the Georgetown outfit blending post-hardcore panache and shoegaze spacing-out expertly. Their dual vocal approach is one time-tested by acts nu and nu-er, expanding the range that the sound can achieve. Indio, CA is about to not know what hit them, and afterwards, they'll be asking for more.
Ecca Vandal - Saturday 4:20pm-5pm PDT
The South African-cum-Aussie genre line-stepper Ecca Vandal is on the road to their second album Looking For People To Unfollow, with their latest song being the spunky and bouncy "SORRY! CRASH!" They've previously had artists like FEVER 333 & Letlive's Jason Aalon Butler feature on tracks, and their sound jumps around like a bass player in 2001. There's something to enjoy for the genre-agnostic among the Coachella crowd, and we'll be paying attention to what comes next from this expat.
DRAIN - Sunday 8pm-8:40pm PDT
Crossover thrash is back, and DRAIN are at the forefront of it. These guys from Santa Cruz are known to play around with genre conventions, embracing a bit more of a "fuck it" attitude along with the DIY nature of punk. With modern nu metal embracing hardcore and vice versa (we're looking at you, Knocked Loose & Denzel Curry), any major stage embracing heavy music is a blessing, and DRAIN is about to be Coachella's friend for the weekend.
Also, tell me that opening in the song below, "Who's Having Fun?" doesn't sound like Type O Negative's "I Don't Wanna Be Me." I see you, DRAIN.
Suicidal Tendencies - Sunday 5:35pm-6:25pm PDT
On the subject of crossover thrash, few do it better than the godfathers of the genre, Suicidal Tendencies. New generations are getting into the band, both figuratively and literally, now that Tye Trujillo has taken over the bass duties in the band that his father Robert was a part of before joining the mighty Metallica. The hardcore kids and the hip-hop crowd were far from strange bedfellows, with songs like "Institutionalized" being covered extensively, most notably in the nu world by Body Count.
As much as we are about new nu around here, we absolutely will tip our hats to the ones that helped us get to the dance.
Honorable Mention: Taemin - Saturday 7:30pm-8:20pm PDT
The SHINee dancing machine is set to make his solo debut at Coachella, and while he's a K-pop icon, he's also been known to bust out a cover of Korn's "Get Up!" While there's not been an indication that he'll break out the nu-step staple, it would, to borrow a line from Dazed and Confused, be a lot cooler it he did. And hey, he is in the States, so those F-bombs in the chorus wouldn't need to be censored or left out. #LetIdolsSayFuck
Both weekends of Coachella will be livestreaming on YouTube. Check out the festival's official website for info and the full schedule for both weekends.
