By the time Olivia Rodrigo hit the stage to headline the inaugural Daisy Chain Fields festival, the sun had set on a sweltering day, and anyone who was fading was sure to feel reenergised both from a welcome breeze and from Rodrigo’s set. The superstar had promised special guests, and she delivered, bringing out Lilith Fair founder Sarah McLachlan, whose groundbreaking Nineties fest served as inspiration for Daisy Chain; Alanis Morisette, who stepped in for Karen O after she had a family emergency; and Stevie Nicks. “I feel like I’m dreaming,” Rodrigo told the crowd at Great Park in Irvine, California. “This is the best day of my fuckin’ life!”
It certainly felt like the best dream ever for the crowd of mostly women and girls at the festival, which sold out in 30 minutes. The stacked lineup included trailblazers who inspired generations of women to pick up guitars, on-the-rise bands, and pop stars primed to meet the moment. Like Lilith Fair, the all-day celebration was more than just a music festival: It was an inclusive and much-needed gathering — uniting music fans while supporting important causes.
The day before the festival, Rodrigo talked about its philanthropic aims. “It’s a real honour to announce that we are donating $10 million to be given directly to these 10 nonprofit partners that you just had the pleasure of hearing about,” Rodrigo said at a press conference attended by 10 organisations that advocate for women and girls and were participating in the festival.
Those nonprofit participants included Baby2Baby, which provides children in need with basic necessities; Black Mamas Matter Alliance (BMMA), which advocates for Black mothers’ rights and provides resources throughout and after pregnancy; Center for Reproductive Rights, a legal organisation that advocates for reproductive rights and health care access for women worldwide; FreeFrom, which works to end gender-based violence by providing survivors with financial resources and more; Jhpiego, which provides critical health care to women and families worldwide; John Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health, which advances health equity for Indigenous communities worldwide; National Domestic Workers Alliance, which advocates for the rights of domestic workers; National Institute for Reproductive Health, which works to advance reproductive health care for all at the state and local level; National Women’s Law Center, which fights for gender justice on the legal front and beyond; and Planned Parenthood, which works to protect, provide, and expand access to sexual and reproductive health care and education. Net proceeds from the event are being directed to Daisy Chain Fields Fund, which benefits those nonprofits.
When describing the way music, community, and action were joining together at Daisy Chain, one word came up regularly at the press conference: “joy.” And that feeling was palpable throughout the grounds on Saturday.
Lines formed outside of Daisy Chain Reaction, the area where the nonprofits invited attendees to learn about their organisations while participating in crafts like assembling daisy chains and making flower crowns. Several fans, many dressed in Rodrigo-style baby doll dresses, said they were drawn to the event because of their love of the superstar, but also because they want a better world for women and girls. Alannie, 18, says that at her age, the ticket price was a big investment, but after learning Rodrigo’s motive behind the fest, she wanted to participate. “I see it as a purpose, to give my money to all these foundations,” she says.
A trio of early-thirties Filipina women — Nerissa, Christabel, and Monica — were also excited to support the nonprofits. “I very strongly resonate with the different organisations she was promoting,” Nerissa says, adding that she’s used Planned Parenthood’s services in the past. Christabel adds, “I think it’s such a beautiful thing that Olivia is creating a festival and a place for us all to gather to really empower, advance, and advocate for women and the organisations at Daisy Chain Reaction.” Monica addressed the issue of representation, saying, “[Olivia] is Filipino, so she’s representing our people, and also the lineup of amazing artists that she put together.”
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“It’s fucking hot right now,” Rachel Chinouriri told the audience during her set. “The U.K. ain’t like this.” But Chinouriri kept the vibe going anyway, tearing through her tender 2025 single “Can We Talk About Isaac” while premiering material from her upcoming album I Think I Spoke Too Soon, “It’s about my twenties, and realising I’m not the person I thought I was,” she said of the album. “And I can become whoever I want to be.”
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Following her performance, Chinouriri said she was excited to join the lineup, shouted out Lilith Fair, and gave kudos to Rodrigo for her inclusiveness when it came to the nonprofit partners. BMMA in particular is close to her heart. “It’s really heartwarming to see [Rodrigo] take the initiative for that because sometimes Black women are very overlooked in many ways or not understood, especially in health care,” she tells Rolling Stone. “I think that the level of thoughtfulness of that was so sweet.”
Devon Again got the call to join the festival just last Thursday, after Katseye had to cancel due to member Megan Skiendiel’s ankle injury. “I said, ‘Duh bitch, obviously I wanna do it,” she told the crowd. But Eyekons got a taste of Katseye’s Lara Raj, Yoonchae Jeung, and Skiendiel, who appeared at the start of Devon’s set to introduce nonprofit Baby2Baby. Afterward, Devon performed a country-tinged set, which included fan favourites “Skittles” and “Cherry Cola.”
Die Spitz took the prize for callisthenics at Daisy Chain. The four-piece from Austin, Texas ripped through their midday set, where the blazing sun was no match for their energy (if a little hard on their face paint). At one point, bassist Kate Halter did a full-on handstand. Die Spitz’s all-girl metal was met warmly, so much so that singer Eleanor Livingston jumped into the crowd to join the revellers.
Back in 2022, Santigold took a hiatus from the road, telling Rolling Stone about the “cultural crisis” and economic and mental-health challenges plaguing those who make music for a living. She resumed touring in 2024, though the dates have been selective and for short runs, which makes any chance to see her live special. Her Daisy Chain set was thoroughly joyful, including a dance contest and a bevy of fan-favourites like “L.E.S. Artistes,” “Lights Out,” and “Disparate Youth.”
Feminist-punk trailblazers Bikini Kill, meanwhile, had taken a couple decades off, but came back hard for a reunion tour in 2019. They’ve barely slowed down since. “What a gift Olivia has given all of us to have this festival,” singer Kathleen Hanna told the crowd. Like many of the bands here, Bikini Kill used their limited stage time to play the hits. Though they blazed through two songs from their last album, 1996’s Reject All American, the band focused mostly on early songs, opening with “Double Dare Ya” from their 1992 EP, before sliding into “This Is Not a Test.”
When Hanna told a story about a 40-year-old man creeping on her when she was 17 to introduce the track “Feels Blind,” the crowd was rapt — “This is the most engaged crowd I’ve ever seen in my life,” she said. Closing with “Suck My Left One” and “Rebel Girl,” Hanna growled and danced her way across the stage, reminding the audience exactly why this band influenced a generation of women — and was integral to a festival like this ever coming into existence.
Mitski was feeling the communal spirit during her set in the late afternoon, telling the audience multiple times that she loved “every one of you.” She had already put that love into practice with a series of PSAs concerning the extreme heat: advising fans to sit down right where you are if you’re faint, head to the pit if you need water, and wear sunscreen. Of course, Mitski also delivered a stellar set, which included highlights from her 2026 album Nothing’s About to Happen to Me like “Where’s My Phone?” and “That White Cat,” alongside fan-favourites like “Nobody.” “I feel like we should do this every year,” she said to loud cheers. “For the rest of our lives you can be like, ‘Oh yeah, I’m OG DCF.”
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The Breeders have been in the Rodrigo camp for a few years now, opening up for the pop star on several dates of her GUTS tour. But their inclusion in the festival was part of the appeal of the lineup — the incredible mix of old and new. The fact that singer Kim Deal took the stage wearing a Shirley Chisholm shirt — referencing the first Black woman to serve in Congress — made their set feel all the more connected to the past. Starting their set with 1994’s “Drivin’ on 9,” the band included other OG-era classics like “Do You Love Me Now?” and “Cannonball,” while working in new, unreleased songs like “Alien Eyes,” which they’ve been playing throughout their summer tour. Getting to test things out on the road, Deal told Paste magazine, is “like it was back in the old days.”
When Doechii hit Lollapalooza in 2025, she stole the show as headmaster of the school of hip-hop. At Daisy Chain, she signalled a new era, one that is pink-hued and incorporates all the right moves onstage. Wearing a bikini while covered in hot-pink body makeup, she and her equally pink-painted dancers delivered incredible choreography on a headlining-worthy stage setup, complete with a large riser, an LED screen and metal bars that Doechii at one point acrobatically flipped over. She had us from the jump, launching into “ExtraL,” her 2025 collab with Jennie. Other collab tracks — the SZA team-up “Girl Get Up” and “Swamp Bitches,” with Rico Nasty — hit hard, even if those artists weren’t present Saturday. Doechii’s mashups also landed: “Anxiety” sampled Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used to Know,” and Doechii freestyled over Beyoncé’s “America Has a Problem,” and even wove Britney Spears’ “Toxic” into the mix. She ended one of the best performances of the day with a rousing version of “Denial Is a River,” an instant classic from 2024’s Alligator Bites Never Heal.
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Garbage’s set was plagued by technical difficulties, but singer Shirley Manson kept her cool, joking that this was just the kind of thing the band was used to. “An entire career made up of this kind of carry on,” she joked in her Scottish brogue. This, she said, was a lesson to the younger folks in the crowd: Even when things don’t go the way you’d hoped, the world keeps spinning. “You don’t have to be perfect,” she said. “You can fuck up.”
Despite the hurdles, the band delivered 1990s classics like “Only Happy When It Rains,” “When I Grow Up,” and “Stupid Girl” (which slipped into a brief cover of Bikini Kill’s “Rebel Girl,” much to the crowd’s delight), as well as newer tracks like “There’s No Future in Optimism” and “Chinese Fire Hose,” off last year’s Let All That We Imagine Be the Light.
Manson took breaks to address the audience, praising Rodrigo’s ability to bring the multigenerational crowd together. “We’ve been around since before most of you were born,” she said. “So to be included in this festival lineup is an immense privilege, and it’s not one we take lightly.” She also imparted some words of hope for these dark times. “I just want to assure you all — because I just turned 60, so I’m very old,” she joked. “But if you just keep putting one foot in front of the other as you move through your life, I can guarantee you, it’s like putting pennies in a bank. Sooner or later, you build the life that you want.”
At the end of last year, Chappell Roan spoke about what she envisioned for 2026. She said it will be “the year of taking care of myself and others and really engaging in a community that feels real and not online. Volunteering locally and giving money to organisations I believe in.” Daisy Chain was the perfect place for that, and the crowd erupted when Roan emerged onstage around 7 p.m., wearing a lavender set and matching boots.
Though the sweltering day had cooled down by then, “Hot to Go!” still felt incredibly fitting. Roan tore through other favourites off her 2023 smash debut The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, including “Red Wine Supernova,” “Pink Pony Club,” and “Casual,” plus the gem “Good Luck, Babe!” and her most recent single “The Subway.” When Roan appeared on the October, 2024 cover of Rolling Stone, Rodrigo spoke to us about the superstar. “I remember her walking into the studio one day and just flat-out saying ‘I don’t give a fuck about what people say anymore. If I like it, then it’s good,’” Rodrigo said. “I could tell she actually meant it, too. That’s her magic.”
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María Zardoya recorded the debut album for her solo project, Not for Radio, in a house in Upstate New York in the middle of winter, surrounded by snow and ice. The Daisy Chain locale could not have been more different. But Zardoya, best known as the singer of the Marias, brought a chill over the audience with a handful of tracks from Melt and her new EP, Bloom. Maybe it was the woodland-themed set over which she seemed to float, or the bittersweet subject matter — the project is partially inspired by a split from the Marias’ drummer, Zardoya’s longtime partner — or maybe it was just the fact that the sun finally went down, but Zardoya’s set offered a moment of catharsis. With songs like “Puddle,” “Swan,” and “My Turn,” she reminded the crowd that it’s OK to be a little down sometimes, too.
Then it was time for Rodrigo, who capped off the night with a set that, appropriately, featured McLachlan. The pair performed McLachlan’s 1997 hit “Building a Mystery,” and dedicated “Angel” to Dolly Parton, who died on Aug. 25. They also treated the crowd to the live debut of Rodrigo’s recent single “Serena Joy.”
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Rodrigo next teamed up with Morissette — with whom she appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone in 2021 — for a scorching version of Morissette’s classic “Ironic.” Philanthropist Melinda French Gates joined Rodrigo and pledged to double the $10 million being donated. Rodrigo’s final guest was Nicks. Together they performed a showstopping “Landslide,” which found the pair trading verses and dancing together. “She reminds me of me, when I was her age a hundred years ago,” Nicks said of Rodrigo. “And I’m somewhat awestruck that she could do all this. Because it’s so hard — you have no idea — putting this together with all of these people. And she’s done it, with this grace.” There were also plenty of Rodrigo’s own classics, including “Bad Idea Right?,” “Good 4 U,” and “Drivers License,” the hit that first gave us a peek of the superstar she became, each drawing field-wide singalongs.
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When Rodrigo announced Daisy Chain Fields, expectations were high, as fans hoped for a festival that delivered onstage and would meet its mission for empowering women and girls. Saturday exceeded those expectations. And it turned out that Mitski may have been onto something when she suggested we do this again: “See you next year!” Rodrigo exclaimed at the end of her performance.
From Rolling Stone US
