Karen O from the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s at Coachella 2009
For the uninitiated, Coachella is a 3-day music and arts festival from April 16-18 in Indio, CA, near Palm Springs. It’s become such a big deal, that many magazines (ranging from Vanity Fair to Anthem) rent big houses with pools and host their annual parties here, which can be so entertaining that many people don’t even bother going to Coachella. Although this thinking is a little muddled if you consider that this is probably the only place where you’d get to see an amazing range of bands from different genres in an incredibly beautiful space -a polo field with palm trees, surrounding mountains, and showstopping sunsets.
One of the main reasons to note Coachella’s line-up is that this festival remains the unofficial kick-off of what to expect for the upcoming summer festival and tour season in North America and in many cases, across Europe. As indicated by the line-up announced today, January 19, it looks to be very ’80s and ’90s inspired, with various break-out bands to note, a traditional mix of reunion bands, 1-2 massive headliners, and in this case, a fair number of Super Groups (made from key musicians from other hot bands).
Scene from inside the Sahara tent from Coachella 2009 which has become so popular for its raver attraction that many people now simply refer to the DJs, rave, and corresponding day-glo fashion as “it’s so Sahara.”
Headliners this year ranged from Jay-Z to Muse, Pavement to Them Crooked Vultures. If anything, it’s a mixed bag and that’s what keeps it interesting.
On the one hand, the reunion bands include Faith No More, Pavement, Sunny Day Real Estate (even though they have been touring some last Fall), Sly and the Family Stone (hoping Sly shows up), and Public Image Limited (Johnny Rotten’s band). The plethora of ’80’s and ’90’s bands (and therefore a probable surge in said fashion influences) range from Grace Jones to Faith No More, Echo and the Bunnymen, DEVO, The Specials, and Gary Numan.
Break-out bands like Vampire Weekend is one to watch as they’re just on the cusp of mega-stardom, and of course other headliners such as MGMT, Gorillaz, Muse, and Thom Yorke???? (breaking out ’cause he’s on his own).
Other than Jay-Z however, we believe Coachella may add another heavy-weight once it gets closer to the festival date because it’s still missing a Paul McCartney or Pink Floyd type to the line-up. But in light of this, the Super Groups are excellent including Them Crooked Vultures and even The Dead Weather (which some consider Super-Group-like). 
Lucent Dossier portion of the Coachella Music and Arts Festival is among the attractions.
Here’s the rest of the line-up:
FRIDAY APRIL 16: Jay-Z, LCD Soundsystem, Them Crooked Vultures, Vampire Weekend, Deadmau5, Public Image Limited, The Specials, Grizzly Bear, Passion Pit, Echo and the Bunnymen, Benny Benassi, Fever Ray, Grace Jones, She & Him, Erol Alkan, The Avett Brothers, Calle 13, The Whitest Boy Alive, The Cribs, La Roux, Yeasayer, Lucero, DJ Lance Rock, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Proxy, Ra Ra Riot, Deer Tick, Wolfgang Gartner, Aeroplane, Iglu & Hartly, Sleigh Bells, P.O.S., Baroness, Hockey, Little Dragon, White Rabbits, Wale, Kate Miller-Heidke, As Tall as Lions, Jets Overhead, Alana Grace, Pablo Hassan.
SATURDAY, APRIL 17: Muse, Faith No More, Ti?sto, MGMT, David Guetta, The Dead Weather, Hot Chip, Devo, Coheed and Cambria, Kaskade, 2Many DJ’s, Major Lazer, Dirty Projectors, Gossip, Z-Trip, The xx, John Waters, Les Claypool, The Raveonettes, Mew, Sia, Camera Obscura, Tokyo Police Club, Porcupine Tree, Old Crow Medicine Show, Aterciopalados, Bassnectar, Frightened Rabbit, Dirty South, Flying Lotus, Corinne Bailey Rae, Pretty Lights, Shooter Jennings, RX Bandits, The Almighty Defenders, Edward Sharp and the Magnetic Zeros, Craze & Klever, Zoe, The Temper Trap, Portugal. The Man, Band of Skulls, Girls, Beach House, Steel Train, Frank Turner.
SUNDAY, APRIL 18: Gorillaz, Pavement, Thom Yorke????, Phoenix, Orbital, Spoon, Sly and the Family Stone, De La Soul, Julian Casablancas, Plastikman, Gary Numan, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Sunny Day Real Estate, Yo La Tengo, MUTEMATH, Deerhunter, Infected Mushroom, Club 75, Matt & Kim, The Big Pink, Gil Scott-Heron, King Khan and the Shrines, Florence and the Machine, Yann Tiersen, Little Boots, Miike Snow, Talvin Singh, Ceu, B.o.B., Babasonicos, Owen Pallett, The Glitch Mob, Mayer Hawthorne, Local Natives, Rusko, The Middle East, Hadouken!, The Soft Pack, Kevin Devine, Paparazzi, Delphic, One EskimO.
For more information on what goes down at Coachella, do a keyword search on Label Networks under “Coachella” for the latest in music, fashion, festival art, sponsors, and cool twitter and marketing campaigns that seem to sprout up at the festival.
These are 2 lightening bolts, for real. It’s a sculpture by Syd Klinge called The Cauca Twins made of the largest and most powerful twin tesla coils in the world. Part of the Coachella experience.
