Women line dance to Dwight Yoakam at the Palomino Stage on Saturday, April 27, 2013. At Coachella, it was the Sahara Tent. (Vanessa Franko/Staff Photo)
A couple of readers have asked about how the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and the Stagecoach Country Music Festival differ since both are put on by Goldenvoice at the same venue–the Empire Polo Club–in Indio.
First off, the layout is completely different. I blogged a litt bit about that yesterday. The biggest difference is that Coachella now has six main stages/tents and Stagecoach has three.
The Sahara Tent at Coachella, which is arguably the most popular during the festival, is where the alt-country and country legends play at Stagecoach, at the Palomino Stage. The Mane Stage is the biggest draw and is moved from its spot at Coachella.
At Stagecoach you see more 55 and better folks in the crowd. Some have motorized scooters, too.
At Coachella, the art is a huge part of the festival. Helix Poeticus, a.k.a. The Coachella Snail, was the largest stage wanderer of all. At Stagecoach, only a couple of pieces remain in the grounds–the latest in the Shrine series that was between Mojave and Sahara is still there and so is the Recyclosaurus Rex.
Camping is way bigger at Coachella. Stagecoach had a large RV camping element but that was seriously downsized for 2013 after excessive rowdiness and more of the festival being in the campground rather than at the festival. There is no tent camping at Coachella.
At Coachella, with the exception of Sahara and Yuma, the stages have a lot of diversity in genres of music. At Stagecoach, it is very segregated. You have the biggest names in contemporary country and Nashville up-and-comers on the Mane Stage; bluegrass and acoustic driven Americana at the Mustang Stage and the folk, alt-country and usually an old-school country legend or two at the Palomino stage.
Coachella has beer gardens where you have to be in order to drink and the beer is Heineken. At Stagecoach you can take your drinks anywhere and the primary beers are Budweiser and Bud Light.