Coachella: Ten Years In The Desert

 

In the heart of the Mojave Desert, just two hours east of Los Angeles, the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival has grown into one of the biggest and most popular outdoor music festivals on the West Coast. Every year in late spring throngs of music lovers flock from all over the country to the Empire Polo Fields in Indio, CA, to catch some of the biggest acts in the music industry today.

Coachella started in 1999 as a two day summer festival with 25,000 concert-goers featuring headliners Beck, Rage Against the Machine, and The Chemical Brothers. The festival did not take place in 2000 due to the poor turn out of the first year and a lack of headliners. In 2001, the promoters decided to give it another shot—this time making it a one day only event and moving it to April to avoid the intense heat of the summer. The promoters ran into problems when only months before the scheduled date of the event they still had no big headliner. With last minute help from friend, Perry Farrell, promoters were able to bring in reunited 90’s alternative hit-makers, Jane’s Addiction, to headline the main stage. 

Coachella re-emerged as a two day festival in 2002 and began to gain widespread recognition with headliners like Siouxsie & the Banshees, Bjork, and Oasis. 2003 saw the festival draw its largest crowds yet with superstar acts like The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Iggy Pop & The Stooges and The Beastie Boys.  Ten years after its humble beginnings, Coachella has steadily branded itself into a three day mega festival with several stages and crowds in excess of 100,000.

More than just music…

Coachella also features huge outdoor art installations, VIP areas, tons of food and apparel vendors and designated drinking areas for the 21+ crowd. If your looking for things to do late night after the concerts, there are plenty of amazing after parties and VIP events hosted by the music industry, media and fashion industry.

COACHELLA 2009

Fri April 17: Paul McCartney, Morrissey, Franz Ferdinand, Leonard Cohen, Conor Oberst, Silversun Pickups, The Crystal Method  and more.

Sat April 18: The Killers, Thievery Corporation, The Chemical Brothers, Band of Horses, Fleet Foxes, MSTRKRFT, Henry Rollins and more.

Sun April 19: The Cure, My Bloody Valentine, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Lupe Fiasco, Paul Weller, Public Enemy, Peter Bjorn & John, The Orb, X and more.

 Tips:

• Book your accomodations well in advance as the local hotels tend to book up fast.

• If you can’t get a hotel room you may want to consider one of the many scenic campgrounds in the area. Its a great way to save a few bucks and enjoy the amazing high desert nights.

• Bring a hat and plenty of sunscreen! They don’t let you bring your own water into the festival, so make sure to bring plenty of cash to buy water so you can keep yourself hydrated.

• Make sure to drink at least 16 oz of water every 2 hours.
For more information visit
www.coachella.com

By Michael Walker