Tag Archives: Coachella Festival

More Coachella additions

This just in:

There are more additions to the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival lineup.

Here they are:
Aphex Twin
Goldfrapp
Kate Nash
Serj Tankian
Redd Kross
Adele

The most interesting thing about the additions is that Serj Tankian is coming back. He was at the festival last year with his protege band Fair to Midland. Also interesting to note is that System of a Down is on hiatus and his bandmates from that, Daron and John, are playing as Scars on Broadway. Could there be a System of a Down onstage reunion? We’ll see.

Also, there are more camping options for people.

From the press release:
“In addition, based on the popularity of onsite camping, Coachella is now offering onsite lodging with premium tent accommodations. Two, four or six person tent packages include brand new tent accommodations ready for guest arrival. The comfort packages feature airbeds with sleeping bag and pillows for each camper. Beyond the sleeping accommodations, campers in this special area will enjoy larger camping plots with more privacy, as well as access to upgraded amenities including deluxe showers and restrooms, complimentary breakfast buffet and adjacent parking. Various premium camping configurations range from the “Tent Hotel” to the “Safari Tent”–a fully furnished air-conditioned bedroom with an outside seating area. Additional details and prices for these camping packages is available at www.coachella.com.”

I don’t know about you, but I want that Safari Tent. I really love air conditioning in the desert.

A taste of Coachella: The Swell Season

Welcome to another edition of A Taste of Coachella. In order to get prepped for the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio in April.

Today is all about the Swell Season. Or, if you’re a film fan, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova from “Once.”

The pair just won an Oscar for their performance of the beautiful song “Falling Slowly.” The pair will be at Coachella (Hansard was there with the Frames last year).

For me it’s one of those songs that just gets to your core, like Jeff Buckley’s version of “Hallelujah.”
Sadly, you can’t really see Irglova in this one, but it’s still great. You can bet I’m going to be at this set at Coachella.

Desert resident Shelby Lynne dishes on new disc


Coachella Valley resident Shelby Lynne recently released an album of Dusty Springfield-inspired songs. (Special to The Press-Enterprise)

Rancho Mirage resident Shelby Lynne is coming to the Stagecoach Country Music Festivalon Friday, May 2.

I interviewed her last week and you can read a full story on her here.

But we also talked more about her Dusty Springfield-inspired album, “Just A Little Lovin’,” and I wasn’t able to get all of it in the story. Just for background, her friend Barry Manilow suggested the idea of recording Springfield’s songbook a few years back. She got around to it, the label loved the idea, recorded it and then the label went away. Now the album came out on Lost Highway (home to Willie Nelson and Lucinda Williams, among others), and it’s good. Really good.

Lynne’s road is a little rougher than Springfield’s and that’s a good thing–her versions bring totally different emotions to the songs.

Lynne said she picked the songs carefully, noting that if you’re going to do them, you better get them right and you better sing them well.

“I had to do the songs I felt that I could nail,” she said.

That’s why you won’t see “Son of a Preacher Man” on there.

“She’s too identified with that,” Lynne said.

She worked with veteran producer Phil Ramone (Dusty Springfield, Billy Joel), calling him a “wonderful gentleman” and that they became friends.

“He’s a great captain of the ship,” she said.

Read more after the cut

She and Ramone searched through Springfield’s catalog to select the right ones. Lynne said he also insisted that she record one of her own songs for the record.

With this album, Lynne had a chance to record in Studio A at the Capitol Records building in Hollywood, something she’s wanted to do for a while.

Lynne’s favorite off the album is “I Don’t Want to Hear It Anymore.” My favorite is “Anyone Who Had a Heart” followed by Lynne’s song “Pretend.”

For me, this is an album that you need on a Sunday morning with a cup of coffee and a contemplative mood.

A Taste of Coachella: Vampire Weekend

Everybody needs a bright spot to their Tuesday. Thankfully, Vampire Weekend exists.

Tiki room beats meet indie rock guitar treats with this band, who may have released one of the most fun discs of 2008.

The band blends African rhythms with pop rock sensibilities of the Police. There are some similarities to Paul Simon’s “Graceland,” too.

Ignore the backlash against the band that has popped up in the music blogosphere, it’s still a fun record and the band is definitely one of my must-see picks for Coachella. They’re playing Friday, April 25.

Watch the video for “A-Punk.” You won’t be sorry!

A Taste of Coachella: Justice

Happy foggy Friday from downtown Riverside.

Since I’ve been getting some good response on the “A Taste of Stagecoach” snippets, I thought it might be time to roll out “A Taste of Coachella.”

Up first–Justice, “D.A.N.C.E.”

If you like Daft Punk, you’ll be a fan of Justice. What I want to know is why my T-shirt designs don’t move and dance.

A taste of Stagecoach: Shelby Lynne

With Stagecoach and Coachella coming up, it might be nice to get a feel for what the artists are all about.

So here’s the debut of “A Taste of Stagecoach.” Today we’re giving a look at desert resident Shelby Lynne, covering Dusty Springfield’s “You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me.” Her latest album, “Just A Little Lovin,'” is very Springfield-inspired, with nine of the ten tracks new arrangements on Springfield’s repertoire.

Watch Lynne’s take on “You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me.”

To find out more about Lynne and other Stagecoach artists, visit our Stagecoach microsite. You can look at bios for the performers, get our picks on some recommended tunes and see last year’s coverage.

Coachella: Who is playing when?


These guys are going to Coachella. Even though they look like fans, they’re actually the band Animal Collective, and they’re playing on Friday, April 25. (The Associated Press)

Tickets for the 2008 Coachella Valley Music and Arts festival go on sale Friday at 10 a.m.. Single day passes are $90 plus fees, and three-day passes are $269 plus fees.

Here is a breakdown of who is playing when, if you can’t afford a three-day pass, but still want to see your favorites, in alphabetical order on each day.

Mwah!

***We’ll start with Friday, but since this list is massive, you can see everything broken down after the cut.

Friday:
Aesop Rock
American Bang
Animal Collective
Architecture in Helsinki
Battles
The Bees
Black Lips
The Breeders

Busy P
Sandra Collins
Cut Copy
Dan Le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip
Datarock
Dan Deacon
Diplo
Does It Offend You, Yeah?
Fatboy Slim
Adam Freeland
Santo Gold
Jack Johnson
John Butler Trio
Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings
Jens Lekman
Lucky I Am
Madness
Midnight Juggernauts
Minus the Bear
Modeselektor
Mum
The National
Pendulum
Porter
Professor Murder
The Raconteurs
Reverend and the Makers
Rogue Wave
Slightly Stoopid
Spank Rock
Stars
The Swell Season
Tegan and Sara
Vampire Weekend
The Verve

Saturday:
120 Days
Akron Family
Erol Alkan
The Bird and the Bee
Bonde Do Role
Boyz Noize
Café Tacuba
Carbon/Silicon
Cinematic Orchestra
Cold War Kids
Death Cab for Cutie
DeVotchKa
Dredg
Electric Touch
Enter Shikari
Flogging Molly
Grand Ole Party
Calvin Harris
Hot Chip
Institubes DJs
Islands
Jamie T
Junkie XL
Kavinsky
Kraftwerk
Little Brother
Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks
MGMT
M.I.A.
New Young Pony Club
Para One
Portishead
Rilo Kiley
Mark Ronson
Sasha & Digweed
Scars on Broadway
Sebastian
St. Vincent
Surkin
The Teenagers
Turbonegro
Uffie
VHS or Beta
Dwight Yoakam
Yoav
Yo! Majesty
James Zabiela

Sunday:
The Annuals
Austin TV
Autolux
Black Kids
Black Mountain
Booka Shade
Chromeo
The Cool Kids
Deadman5
Brett Dennen
Dmitri From Paris
Duffy
The Field
Gogol Bordello
Holy …
The Horrors
I’m From Barcelona
Linton Kwesi Johnson
Justice
Kid Sister
Les Savy Fav
Love and Rockets
Manchester Orchestra
Man Man
Metric
Murs
My Morning Jacket
Plastiscines
Shout Out Louds
Sia
Simian Mobile Disco
Sons and Daughters
Spiritualized
The Streets
Danny Tenaglia
Roger Waters

Champagne wishes and Coachella dreams


Private eyes, they’re watching you: Hall and Oates would make the ultimate surprise act at Coachella. Seriously, who would call that one?

I think I might be getting a little too consumed with work.

Last night I had a dream about Coachella, and of course, there were a few weird things.

-Someone started playing a cover of Badfinger’s “Day After Day,” and it was very well received by the crowd, which included an editor here who jumped up from the picnic table to profess his love for the song.

But wait, it gets stranger.

-My Morning Jacket, which is on the bill for Sunday, played to a virtually empty tent on Friday instead of the main stage. Nobody knew about the lineup change, so about five of us were there. And Jim James wasn’t the lead singer–it was a guy who looked more like Gerard Way from My Chemical Romance. And he explained that they had to change their time slot because of a birthday party for an elderly relative. Oh, and they weren’t playing any of their music and they brought a friend of mine on stage with them to play the violin.

It gets even weirder.

-The surprise guest: Hall & Oates, because Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie is a fan (the fan part is actually true). But first, Oates regrew his moustache and shows up backstage in a hotel shuttle van with Nicole Kidman. Daryl Hall then showed up and they performed a killer set, getting 60,000 people to clap along with “Private Eyes.”

It was kind of amazing. They would be a surprise guest, literally. And it would be kind of awesome.

Coachella: What you need to know


Before you get to be in the crowd, you need to know the Coachella basics. (Rodrigo Pena/The Press-Enterprise 2007)

Now that some of the commotion around the lineup announcement for the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival has died down, I decided that a mock conversation with myself might help with the basics on what you need to know before you buy your tickets.

What is it? The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, but you knew that already, because you’re smart.

When is it? April 25 to 27, 2008

Where is it? Empire Polo Field in Indio

Wait, it’s not in Coachella? No, it’s in Indio. They are separate places, but Indio is in the Coachella Valley. Earn points with locals for that one.

My hotel is in Palm Springs. How far is that? Will I be able to walk? Unless you walk at the speed of light, probably not. Just over 20 miles. However, the traffic at the end of the night can be so crazy that walking seems like a good option.

How much are tickets? $91 for a single-day pass, $272 for a three-day pass, plus Ticketmaster fees.

I want to go camping. How much is it to do that? $55. You have to be over 18 and you can buy your ticket when you purchase your festival tickets.

When do they go on sale? Friday at 10 a.m. PST through Ticketmaster’s online and retail outlets

What day is my favorite band playing? What time are they going on?I don’t know. Who is your favorite band? Check the official Web site for the date. The time slots will be published closer to the show.

Where can I get updates on Coachella? Here at the Audio File blog.