Despite the criticisms thrown at it, anyone who's been to Coachella knows it’s a damn good time. I attended once in 2024 and was welcomed as a Coachella elder, where the music is killer, if you can dodge all the influencers setting up ring cameras.

In an attempt to embrace ‘Couchella,’ I decided to watch only in vertical video format for 18 hours over the course of a weekend. The festival’s feeds got a quality boost this year, now streaming seven stages exclusively on YouTube with 4K video and multiview options that you can swap between like they’re Olympic events.

Vertical video is everywhere—every social media service prioritizing endlessly scrollable video feeds, Disney introducing short videos called Verts to its Disney+ platform. In Coachella’s case, the vertical push makes sense as it’s the place for brands and influencers, and the primary marketing tool is FOMO—the fear of missing out.

Two hours into the Saturday stream, I’m two weed gummies and half a rack of Coors Lights deep, dancing to Joezi on my deck. It rains, but I’m vibing. It’s Coachella, baby. Might as well lean into it. The ‘no horizontal video’ rule means I miss all headliners on any other stage, like Justin Bieber and Karol G.

Despite the positives of watching from home—being clean and less broke—I have to admit the feed is indeed triggering my FOMO. Watching online is great for people who love live music, but you can’t escape the reminder that you’re not getting the real experience. The unaffordable, wonderful, occasionally miserable one, where you trek around in the dirt with your inebriated friends and maybe witness Katy Perry and former Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau acting like 20-year-olds.