Stagecoach Review By Tyla Rodrigues
Ever wondered what attending Stagecoach? Tyla Rodrigues attended this year, and she’s given Countrytown readers an insight into one of the world’s largest country music festivals!
Tyla Rodrigues (Supplied)
Tyla Rodrigues is swiftly becoming one of Australia’s most captivating country talents. In late 2024, she joined forces with US country star Dylan Gossett, opening all shows on his sold-out Back 40 tour across Australia and New Zealand. And now in 2025, her momentum continues to build. Signing with Wheelhouse Agency, who boasts a roster that includes Casey Barnes and Lane Pittman; as well as landing herself a record deal with ABC Music, there are no signs of slowing down for this rising country star.
April saw Rodrigues jetting off to the USA to attend the Stagecoach Festival in Indio, California. One of the most sought after country music festivals in the world. We asked if Tyla would give us a review of her experience at the festival, and now we have even more fomo than before.
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Tyla’s Stagecoach Review
After touching back down in Australian and finally shaking the jetlag, I’ve had time to reflect on what Stagecoach 2025 was. With three jam-packed days in the desert, this year’s festival showcased some of country music's biggest stars including Zach Bryan, Carly Pearce, Sturgill Simpson, Jelly Roll, Midland, Ashley McBryde, Shaboozey and Luke Combs – and to put it plainly, I got to witness country music on a scale I had never experienced before.
As an Aussie who is familiar to the lively atmospheres of the Tamworth Country Music Festival, Gympie Muster, and CMC Rocks, I figured I had a solid understanding of what a major country music event looked like. But nothing could have prepared me for Stagecoach. With 90,000 fans flooding in the gates each day and a 25 minute walk from one end of the grounds to another, it is something you must feel and see with your own eyes to believe!
No matter where you were in the festival - from one of the stages to the food stalls, market areas, DJ booths, Diplo’s Honkytonk, Guy Fieri’s Smokehouse or even queuing for a drink, you were surrounded by an undeniable sense of excitement. Everywhere you turned, people were singing at the top of their lungs, dancing and soaking in every moment.
The Mane Stage featured unforgettable performances from Midland to Zach Bryan, while the Palomino Stage brought a whole other lineup of talent including Dylan Gossett, Sierra Ferrell, and Kashus Culpepper and the Bud Light Bar provided an intimate setting for new artists like Vincent Mason and Noeline Hoffman. The lineup was so diverse that there was an artist for absolutely everyone on the bill, even housing acts like Backstreet Boys, Nelly, Creed and T-Pain!
One of the most standout components of Stagecoach was the artist collaborations. You could almost bet that every headline set would feature a surprise guest. Midland brought out Mackenzie Carpenter to perform their new single I Wish You Would, Brothers Osborne invited actress, Kate Hudson onstage for a rendition of Jackson by Johnny Cash and June Carter, and Luke Combs caught everyone off guard when he brought out the Madden Brothers and then blew the crowd away when he joined the Backstreet Boys during I Want It That Way. A cross-genre moment no one saw coming.
But the music wasn’t the only standout during the festival. Western fashion trends were in overdrive, with the crowd dressed to the nines in rhinestones, fringe, cowboy boots, hats, bandanas and bold, glittering outfits. TikTokers, influencers, and even artists like Ty Myers and The Castellows could be spotted roaming the grounds, snapping photos, filming content, and soaking in the same excitement as everyone else. There was not a single person who did not meet the brief.
Beyond the music, fashion and incredible food, the atmosphere created by the shared love of country music is something inexplainable. From rowdy singalongs to quiet moments under the Toyota Music Den and people to meet from all over the world, Stagecoach delivered an unforgettable experience and provided a whole lot of inspiration to this Australian country music artist
For any Australian fan thinking about making the journey and buying the tickets, my honest advice is: do it. You’ll walk away dusty and incredibly tired and probably with no voice – but with memories that will last a lifetime.
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