Stagecoach 2025 review: Jelly Roll takes audience to church in the best way possible

USA Today

27-04-2025

Stagecoach 2025 review: Jelly Roll takes audience to church in the best way possible
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See the Budweiser Clydesdales return to the desert ahead of Stagecoach
See the Budweiser Clydesdales return to the desert ahead of Stagecoach
There was a time in Jelly Roll's life when it probably seemed unlikely he would ever end up near the Mane Stage of the Stagecoach country music festival.
The singer says he went to jail 40 times, including a yearlong stay for aggravated robbery when he was 16. When he was 23, he learned he had become a father from a prison guard when he was incarcerated for dealing drugs.
He credits that moment for turning his life around.
"I immediately was like, 'I've got to do something," he told the podcaster Joe Rogan in a 2024 interview. "I've got to quit this (expletive). I gotta figure it out."
He brought that sense of redemption to his Stagecoach set, telling the audience at one point this was the largest crowd he'd ever played in front of. His music was rapturous. A seemingly bottomless pit of special guests that included MGK, Shaboozey, BigXThaPlug, Alex Warren, Wiz Kalifa, Brandon Lake, Jessie Murph, and Lana Del Rey also added to the sense of excitement that was palpable throughout the crowd.
His wife, Bunnie Xo, also made a surprise appearance for a brief, but touching, moment.
Jelly Roll Stagecoach setlist 2025: Here's everything the headliner played
"I don't know what heaven feels like, but if I had to guess, I'd say it feels like Stagecoach on a Saturday night," he said at one point during his set.
Jelly Roll's life experiences inspire rough living and redemption themes in his songs. He sings with an authenticity that is lacking from some artists who come from a more privileged background.
And that's a good thing. Country music needs someone with real-life experience to capture an overlooked side of America. Jelly Roll, a practicing Christian, certainly fits the bill. With face tattoos and the body type of a man who indulges (though he's spoken about his weight loss journey at length lately, saying he's lost nearly 200 pounds) he looks like he's never taken the conventional path at any point in his life.
But like he said during the set, a crooked path can still take you home.
He spent time during his set to bring up the fentanyl crisis, and he celebrated those who were attending Stagecoach sober.
It helps that he is undeniably talented. He sings like he has a gift from God. His voice is seemingly effortlessly powerful, almost like he doesn't need a microphone to project it across the Empire Polo Club. At a time when some musicians use backing tracks or don't even sing at all, it's refreshing to hear an unaltered voice on stage.
The backup singers, too, accentuated the choruses of his catchy songs to the point where it was nearly impossible not to sing along.
On a set that resembled a gas station in the desert, Jelly Roll sought to fill up the souls of those who listened to his music. He seemed to be enjoying himself, singing an unreleased song with Alex Warren, because he said he wanted the Stagecoach crowd to be the first people to hear the new music.
Toward the end of his set, Jelly Roll set off on a medley of pop hits, covering some of the biggest songs from Nickelback, Miley Cyrus, and Snoop Dogg.
The new song, the bevy of guests, the pyrotechnics, and the production quality created a truly one-of-a-kind experience that audience members aren't likely to forget for a long time.
As the Saturday night headliner for Stagecoach, you couldn't ask for more.
(This story was updated to add more photos.)
Sam Morgen covers the city of Palm Springs for The Desert Sun. Reach him at [e-mail].