“Did you notice the wind stop?” Blackpink’s Rosé asked an ebullient Main Stage crowd during a charged pause in the group’s headline performance. “I think it was all the Blinks.”

The K-pop superstars’ fanbase was indeed out in full force on Saturday night — some lined up at the stage barricades the second the gates parted. But winds of change were definitely still blowing through Coachella, as the tastemaking fest hosted its first K-pop headliner and its first all-female group atop the bill.

Coachella is long removed from being an indie- and alt-rock-driven festival, having embraced pop and hip-hop for aesthetic, financial and generational reasons years back. But from the minute Blackpink counted down to “Pink Venom” after a formidable aerial drone swarm, their set felt different — a scale, skill and intensity of pop craftsmanship bigger than anything else that’s graced this stage since Beyoncé made history in 2018.

Jennie, Rosé, Jisoo and Lisa easily nailed a mix of Coachella cool and K-pop razzle-dazzle. On “Kill This Love,” “Kick It” and “How You Like That,” they stomped and sassed beneath a towering temple roof and made the most of the gigantic stage. It’s rare to see an act as good on its feet as its backup dancers, but Blackpink is in a class of its own as physical performers, too.

Every finger flick, every hip thrust, every hair flip during “Boombayah” and “DDU-DU DDU-DU” was choreographed to the microsecond; their vocals sounded immaculate despite the aerobic demands of their dancing.

After tonight’s set, even BTS’ Jungkook (reportedly on the grounds Saturday) would probably admit: Blackpink is the best group in K-pop, and it made Coachella bigger, better and more relevant by being here. — A.B.

cr. LA Times