Staff Writer
This April, in the godforsaken deserts of Southern California, people from all over the country -and some the world- congregate by the thousands to immerse themselves in something that they all find common to their interests, a weekend long festival brimming with a set of diverse musical acts that can only be seen at The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. Situated 30 miles east of Palm Springs, the city of Coachella holds this festival every year where music lovers of different ages and demographics can flow through their streets in troves so that they can imbibe on music they enjoy most.
Rumors have been circulated the past month of who would be performing. With Blur, Phoenix and The Red Hot Chili Peppers headlining, the line up certainly came as a surprise to myself and most festival goers.”It wasn’t my favorite,” said Abe Duella, a 21-year-old who works for Network Music Group. Upon seeing the lineup Duella’s expectations were met with disappointment: “I was anticipating something more.” As last year and every year since they’ve played in 2004, Daft Punk was one of the most prominent acts rumored to perform this year with a new album in the works a tour seemed imminent, and along with The Rolling Stones who were almost assuredly playing, still only amounted to rumors, although partially true.
Most festival-goers’ expectations are built upon the guesses of excited fans over various social media websites. As last year and every year since they played in 2004, Daft Punk continually was one of the most prominent acts rumored to perform. Even with a new album in the works, a Daft Punk tour seemed imminent. Still, the rumors were unfounded due to reports that Daft Punk aren’t slated to tour for the entirety of 2013. Senior rock band, The Rolling Stones, were also set to play at the festival but reportedly backed out, stating in an interview with NME that the group would “not be ready to go in April.”
According to the Rolling Stone magazine webpage, the promoters for the festival, Goldenvoice, reportedly had trouble securing some of this year’s headliners partially due to negotiations with the band The Rolling Stones. Cliff Burnstein, a manager for The Rolling Stones stated it essentially all comes down to whether or not “Goldenvoice would pay the Stones’ price.” Still, by the looks of the line-up, it seems as though the promoters were almost scrounging for their lead acts, with Phoenix headlining after just playing back in 2010, and Red Hot Chili Peppers performing for their third time. Even though it may be Blur’s first Coachella appearance, their frontman David Albarn had played in 2010 with his side project Gorillaz.”
It was definitely disappointing out of all the other years I’ve gone,” said Tuesday Sweeney, 21-year-old avid festival-goer, who upon seeing the line-up jokingly spouted “undercard-chella!” Undercarded, in the sense that most of the acts she’s excited to see aren’t headlining, which isn’t surprising considering musical acts such as Modest Mouse and Wu-Tang Clan are slated to perform, and most notably the reunion of electronic duo The Postal Service, who decided to play the desert festival to ring in their 10 year anniversary of their only album “Give Up.”
Despite the somewhat disappointing line up of main acts, Sweeney still “know[s] [she’s] gonna have a fun time” even though she has to anyways, because she purchased advance tickets shortly after last year’s festival, “It’s the first festival of the year in California, you don’t wanna have to wait for anything else,” said Sweeney.
It seems to me that the smaller acts playing at Coachella this year are going to make it a worthwhile experience. Coachella as a music festival every year continually makes it a point to include promising up and coming bands or acts that have been making waves in the music community. Walking around and being constantly bombarded with music from every direction, the festival itself is perfect as a medium for finding and experiencing new and fresh music.
