Coachella Music Festival
Coachella 2022: Arcade Fire Dedicate Emotional Set to Ukraine Punk Bands, Pearl Jam
Arcade Fire treated Coachella to a surprise hour-long set at the Mojave Tent on Friday. The 13-song early evening performance included several songs from the band’s upcoming album WE, including: “The Lightning I,” “The Lightning II,” “Age of Anxiety II (Rabbit Hole),” and “Unconditional I (Lookout Kid).” Arcade Fire re-started the latter song so that frontman Win Butler could recompose himself: “It’s been a hard couple fucking years,” Butler tearfully told the crowd. “We tell ourselves so much poison.” Elsewhere during their set, Butler dedicated the band’s performance of “The Suburbs” to the people of Ukraine. “Everyone in a punk rock band in the Ukraine right now,” he added. “I’m thinking about everybody who is dealing with the war right now.” Related Video Butler also shouted out C...
Coachella 2022: Phoebe Bridgers Duets with Arlo Parks
Phoebe Bridgers took the stage at Coachella for her debut performance at the festival. In addition to playing “Sidelines” — her new song for the upcoming series Conversations with Friends — the indie-folk artist invited R&B musician Arlo Parks to join her for renditions of “Graceland Too” and “I Know the End.” (Ed. Note: Did you know Bridgers and Parks are both former Consequence Artist of the Month recipients?) “Graceland Too” and “I Know the End” are both highlights from Bridgers’ most recent album, Punisher, and backing vocals are absolutely necessary to get them off the ground. Parks’ honeyed croon does the job perfectly, from the harmonies of “Graceland Too” to the unforgettable chants of “I Know the End.” Aside from the songs mentioned, Bridgers’ set also included her ...
Coachella 2022: The 6 Toughest Set Time Conflicts
Coachella’s organizers have undoubtedly been busy: in a season marred with last minute cancellations, controversies, and inevitable left turns, Paul Tollett and Goldenvoice have definitely been putting in some overtime hours. Hence, one of the latest schedule drops in the festival’s history — nearly 24 hours before the festival begins, to be exact. Such a late set time release means there’s even less time to make decisions about who to see, especially given the festival’s conflict-heavy time table. There are some traditional surprises with the schedule drop — Ari Lennox has moved her set to Friday and J.I.D.’s set will go down on Saturday, for instance — but no surprise is more intriguing than the news that Arcade Fire will be performing a special set in the Mojave Tent at 6:45 p.m. (siden...
Coachella Drops All COVID-19 Precautions
Coachella Music Festival has quietly updated its health and safety rules and will not require proof of vaccination, a negative COVID-19 test, mask wearing, or any other pandemic precautions for the 2022 event. “In accordance with local guidelines, there will be no vaccination, testing or masking requirements at Coachella 2022,” organizers wrote. The change comes as the state of California loosens its COVID-19 rules, mandating masks only for certain indoor environments, and ordering vaccination or a negative test only for indoor events of 1,000 or more attendees. And while nearby Los Angeles County is keeping several precautions in place, Coachella is held in Riverside County, where officials are falling back on state guidelines. The CDC has repeatedly held that outdoor events are...
Kanye Threatens to Boycott Coachella Unless Billie Eilish Apologizes to Travis Scott
In a single Instagram post, Kanye West simultaneously confirmed that Travis Scott would be joining him during his headlining set at Coachella and threatened to drop out of the festival unless Billie Eilish apologizes to Scott. West took issue with a perceived slight by Eilish at Scott. During a recent concert in Atlanta, Eilish paused her performance to retrieve an inhaler for an audience member in need. “We’re taking care of our people, hold on,” Eilish told the crowd. While Eilish made no mention of Scott by name, some fans and media outlets were quick to note her response in comparison to how Scott reacted to the tragedy at Astroworld which left 10 people dead. West made the same connection. Advertisement Related Video “COME ON BILLIE WE LOVE YOU PLEASE APOLOGIZE TO TRAV AND TO THE FAMI...
Coachella Selling NFTs Granting Lifetime Special Access to the Ultra Rich
Deep-pocketed Coachella festivalgoers who don’t find the VIP section exclusive enough can now level up their experience by purchasing a lifetime guest pass being auctioned as an NFT this Friday, February 4th. There will be 10 such NFTs available as part of the Coachella Keys Collection, each of which offers a pass to one festival weekend each year. Each key has a different perk, like the best spot at the Coachella stage, lifetime luxury “camping” accommodations, or a professionally cooked meal in the Rose Garden. Two other collections are being made available on Friday for those who aren’t quite as ready to dive into the NFT deep end. For $180, buyers of the Desert Reflections Collection get one of 10 digital renditions of a Coachella poster by iconic artist Emek. Each of the 1,000 NF...
2022 Festival Lineups Ranked by The What Podcast
Listen via Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google | Radio Public | RSS Festival fans got hit with an onslaught of lineups in the last couple of weeks, and Brad and Barry from The What podcast discuss and rank their favorites. Spoiler alert, it’s New Orleans Jazz Fest at No. 1 and then everyone else. (Get your tickets here!) Related Video But what of Coachella (tickets here)? Or less “prestigious” events like Shaky Knees (tickets here) or Boston Calling (tickets here)? And then of course there’s the biggest elephant in the room, Bonnaroo? (The What fellas may be lukewarm on Roo’s 2022 bill, but loyal Bonnaroovians can still get your tickets here.) Advertisement Listen to The What podcast’s full ranking of the major 2022 music festival lineu...
Coachella 2022 Lineup: Kanye West, Billie Eilish & Harry Styles Top the Bill
After a two-year absence, Coachella will make its long-anticipated return over two consecutive weekends — April 15th-17th and 22nd-24th — at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California. Kanye West (aka Ye), Billie Eilish, and Harry Styles will each close out a night of the festival, topping a 2022 lineup that also includes Phoebe Bridgers, Megan Thee Stallion, Flume, Danny Elfman, Doja Cat, Jamie xx, and Run the Jewels. Other notable acts include Swxedish House Mafia, Lil Baby, Big Sean, Carly Rae Jepsen, Karol G, Disclosure, Spiritualized, Fatboy Slim, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, The Avalanches, Vince Staples, Denzel Curry, Maggie Rogers, Japanese Breakfast, Freddie Gibbs and Madlib, Caroline Polachek, Arlo Parks, Turnstile, IDLES, BROCKHAMPTON, 21 Savage, Baby Keem, BadBadNotGood...
Kanye West and Billie Eilish Set for Coachella in 2022
Kanye West and Billie Eilish are expected to headline the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in 2022, but who else will appear at the top of the lineup remains up in the air. Goldenvoice has tagged West and Eilish to each close out a day of the two-weekend festival, Consequence has learned. The news was first reported on Wednesday evening by Variety. Frank Ocean, Travis Scott, and Rage Against the Machine were previously announced as Coachella’s 2020 headliners prior to the festival’s postponement due to pandemic. Last summer, co-founder Paul Tollett told the Los Angeles Times that Scott and Rage Against the Machine would play the festival’s long-awaited return in April 2022, while Ocean would appear in 2023. Much has changed in the months since then, however. Advertisement Rel...
Travis Scott Offered to Play Coachella for Free Before Being Dropped by Festival: Report
Travis Scott will no longer headline next year’s Coachella Valley Arts and Music Festival. Coachella’s producer, Goldenvoice, has reportedly chosen to cut ties with the embattled rapper in the wake of the tragic events at his own Astroworld festival in November, which saw ten people crushed to death and hundreds more injured when the crowd rushed the stage during Scott’s performance, causing a deadly human stampede. Despite the tragedy, Scott was still intent on playing Coachella next April. However, according to Variety, Goldenvoice recently informed the rapper’s booking agent, Cara Lewis, that he was being dropped from the bill. In a bid to hold on to the headlining slot, Scott reportedly went as far as to offer to perform at the festival for free, but Goldenvoice ultimately declined the...
Coachella Drops Vaccine Mandate for 2022 Festival
Coachella will no longer require proof of vaccination in order to attend its upcoming April 2022 festival. Instead, ticket-holders will only need to show proof of a negative test taken within 72 hours of the event. Per a statement posted to Coachella’s Instagram, “After seeing first-hand the low transmission data and successful implementation of safety protocols at our other festivals this past month, we feel confident we can update our health policy to allow for: Negative Covid-19 test taken within 72 hours of the event OR Proof of full vaccination.” The policy is a reversal of the one previously announced by Coachella in August. At the time, the festival said “proof of full vaccination is required for all shows from Coachella promoter Goldenvoice.” However, the change is in line with pol...
Rage Against the Machine & Travis Scott to Headline Coachella 2022, Frank Ocean Moved to 2023
Coachella co-founder Paul Tollett has confirmed that Rage Against the Machine and Travis Scott will return to headline the festival in 2022, while Frank Ocean has been bumped to 2023. All three acts had been originally booked to headline Coachella in 2020 prior to the festival’s postponement due to the pandemic. Tollett shared the news in a rare interview with the Los Angles Times, explaining that he wanted to provide fans “some reassurance after the chaos and uncertainty of the last year and a half,” notes the Times. Advertisement Related Video “Right now, it’s the Wild West,” Tollett is quoted as saying. “I’m just trying to be as fair as I can to artists and to the fans to make sure that eventually they get to see everyone that we talked about.” As Tollett explained, Ocean was not availa...
