Tag Archives: Coachella Festival

Social Distortion performs on the Coachella Stage during the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Grounds in Indio, Calif., on Sunday, April 14, 2013. (Rodrigo Pena/Freelance Photographer)

Hipsters all over freaked out with happiness when the ever-elusive Neutral Milk Hotel said they would be returning to the stage for a major reunion tour and earlier this week, the band announced a batch of tour dates for 2014.

While it doesn’t have the 2014 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival listed, I think it’s highly likely we’ll see Neutral Milk Hotel at the Empire Polo Club in Indio.

Here’s why:

1. The last announced U.S. tour date is Texas in February. That leaves the spring for the West Coast.  Plus, the other international dates announced are booked for after Coachella 2014.

2. Reclusive singer Jeff Mangum performed at Coachella 2012, with an intimate set on the Outdoor Theater stage (no photos allowed for that performance–even the video screens were off) that was very well-received.

3. Coachella LOVES reunions. Other than The Replacements, who make their return to the stage at RiotFest, this is the other major reunion that is actually happening so far that fits the Coachella bill.

What do you think? Will Neutral Milk Hotel be at Coachella 2014? Who do you think will play?

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Want more Coachella goodness? I tag all of my Coachella prediction posts Coachellaology. The iGuide also has a Coachella section that has interviews, articles, photos from previous years and more.

You can email me at vfranko@pe.com or follow me  at @vanessafranko on Twitter, the Audio File on Facebook and on Google+.

Now, here’s some Neutral Milk Hotel to ease you into the weekend.

The Replacements have reunited. Will they play Coachella 2014? (Twin Tone Records/Contributed Image)

We’re still a few months off from knowing who will be playing the 2014 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival (in fact, we are probably about seven months away), but why should that stop the fun speculation?

A few days ago, the news broke that punk-spirited Minneapolis icons The Replacements were reuniting for their first performance in more than 20 years at the punk-leaning Riot Fest in Chicago. (The band is also playing the Denver and Toronto Riot Fest dates).

I think Riot Fest is just a warm-up for the 2014 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.

Rolling Stone’s story about the reunion even said that ‘Mats bassist Tommy Stinson said Coachella had offered “silly money” but that Riot Fest was “It was just the timing and the aligning of the planets.”

I have to think that one of the planets that aligned was what Axl Rose calls Guns ‘N’ Roses. Stinson has been playing with Axl and Friends since 1998. With GNR having Australian dates through the end of March of this year, I just don’t think the ‘Mats would have been able to do Coachella 2013.

Hopefully, Stinson and Westerberg will continue to have warm fuzzy feelings and make it to Indio next spring. I wouldn’t mind hearing some Westerberg solo stuff, either. Do you think The ‘Mats will play Coachella 2014? What would you want to hear them play? Post in the comments below.

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More Coachella 2014 items of interest:
Coachella 2014: Who do you think will play? (My early picks are Arcade Fire and Daft Punk)
Coachella 2014: Advance sale has ended
Coachella 2014: Dates, pre-sale ticket information announced

For more Coachella news, photos, interviews and information, visit the iGuide Coachella page. If you want to follow me on social media, I’m at @vanessafranko on Twitter, the Audio File on Facebook and on Google+.

And now, the song that has been stuck in my head since the ‘Mats announced their reunion–“Alex Chilton.” I never travel far without a little Big Star.