Prince added to Coachella

JOEJOEJOE

Already had plans to go to Coachella, but the thought of 60,000 people grooving to Prince on a Saturday night outside in the desert sounds like a lot of fun, and is an added bonus.

As usual, the promoters set themselves apart from the other festivals

jimed14

I posted this in a different forum in regards to Prince being added ...

Desperate attempt to save face, there's such a lack fo buzz around this festival this year ... it's amazing.

I frequent their boards, in past years, page one of the "Lineup" forum would be in a continuous frenzy with new threads with about two weeks before the festival ... this year ... you can find threads last updated as long as two days ago on the first page. Not sure if that's the best metric to use, but, it tells me there's no momentum heading into the festival weekend.

I think they (Goldenvoice) diverted a lot of their attnetion (and possibly funding) to the innagural All Points West festival, getting Radiohead for two days, and much better sub headliner bands.

I was curious to see how bad this would fail with the lineup as it was. Maybe Prince will help it a bit, but, it's REALLY late in the game to announce this ... I don't see a lot of non-locals flocking to Indio with 2 weeks left to go.

JOEJOEJOE

jimed14 wrote:

I posted this in a different forum in regards to Prince being added ...

Desperate attempt to save face, there's such a lack fo buzz around this festival this year ... it's amazing.

I frequent their boards, in past years, page one of the "Lineup" forum would be in a continuous frenzy with new threads with about two weeks before the festival ... this year ... you can find threads last updated as long as two days ago on the first page. Not sure if that's the best metric to use, but, it tells me there's no momentum heading into the festival weekend.

I think they (Goldenvoice) diverted a lot of their attnetion (and possibly funding) to the innagural All Points West festival, getting Radiohead for two days, and much better sub headliner bands.

I was curious to see how bad this would fail with the lineup as it was. Maybe Prince will help it a bit, but, it's REALLY late in the game to announce this ... I don't see a lot of non-locals flocking to Indio with 2 weeks left to go.

You make very good points. The "undercard" this year is great, but the headliners do lack the same stature of years past. It does appear that they are "harvesting" the goodwill they have built-up.

Part of the blame has to be placed on the oversaturated festival market....there is little chance to get a "unique" headliner these days. Radiohead and Jack Johnson seems to be headlining way too many festivals, and RATM isn't that far behind.

The only real unique headliners so far seem to be PJ, Oasis and Coldplay.

jimed14

JOEJOEJOE wrote:

You make very good points. The "undercard" this year is great, but the headliners do lack the same stature of years past. It does appear that they are "harvesting" the goodwill they have built-up.

Part of the blame has to be placed on the oversaturated festival market....there is little chance to get a "unique" headliner these days. Radiohead and Jack Johnson seems to be headlining way too many festivals, and RATM isn't that far behind.

The only real unique headliners so far seem to be PJ, Oasis and Coldplay.

I'm also thinking a lot of folks up here in Nor Cal will hold out for the Outside Lands Festival in SF's Golden Gate Park ... essentially cuts the Cali market in half ...

http://sfoutsidelands.com/

A part of me wishes I was going to Coachella this year ... but a break after 5 years of going isn't the worst thing in the world.

SVRDhand13

personally this is my least favorite coachella lineup to date- undercard or headliners.

jimed14

So ... who's going???

chimpat

I'm going....I love the bands on the undercard, so that's the key for me. Having great headliners is cool but I prefer to spend a lot of my time in the tents. That said, I am psyched for MMJ and Prince.

This is my 2nd year going, I had wanted to go for a long time and last year finally bit the bullet. I can honestly say that it was one of the coolest and most unique experiences I've had. The venue is amazing and I thought the fans were really cool. I met a lot of great people over the weekend and have stayed in touch with several of them. Really looking forward to the return trip.

jimed14

chimpat wrote:

I'm going....I love the bands on the undercard, so that's the key for me. Having great headliners is cool but I prefer to spend a lot of my time in the tents. That said, I am psyched for MMJ and Prince.

This is my 2nd year going, I had wanted to go for a long time and last year finally bit the bullet. I can honestly say that it was one of the coolest and most unique experiences I've had. The venue is amazing and I thought the fans were really cool. I met a lot of great people over the weekend and have stayed in touch with several of them. Really looking forward to the return trip.

yeah, I love the vibe there ... being in the sun all day is great ... that 7-8 pm purple/pink sky above the mountains is a view like nothing I've ever seen (the most amazing back drop for a Pixies show, my fave Coachella moment) ...

I'm starting to feel crappy about not going ... the lineup isn't as strong for my taste, and I usually don't do this weekend on the cheap, so, had to make the call and decided to invest on PJ's east coast swing and a possible All Points West trip too ...

wonder how much it would cost me to get there at this point ...

JOEJOEJOE

jimed14 wrote:

So ... who's going???

Going all 3 days...been to all of them except 1999.

There may be a lot of competition these days, but Goldenvoice, IMHO, has the best sense in terms of what newer/eclectic/dance acts to book.

Its all about the undercard!

jimed14

JOEJOEJOE wrote:

Going all 3 days...been to all of them except 1999.

There may be a lot of competition these days, but Goldenvoice, IMHO, has the best sense in terms of what newer/eclectic/dance acts to book.

Its all about the undercard!

indeed, the names in the small font are the reason I usually go ...

DeVotchKa is the one I'd be most excited for, luckily i'm seeing them in SF the day after the festival. Steven Malkmus is another I havne't seen but I'd be giddy for ...

But there are all sorts of small font bands that are good ... most I've seen ... Metric, The National, Rilo Kiley, Autolux, Stars, Holy Fuck ... will still be a good showing this year, even if it's not up to past years' standards.