SAN DIEGO — Is Coachella starting to lose a little of its shine?
Is the allure of the world's biggest annual music festival beginning to dim, 24 years after it debuted in 1999 with a lineup headlined by Beck, Tool and Rage Against the Machine?
Do Puerto Rico's Bad Bunny, South Korea's Blackpink and Long Beach's Frank Ocean — who perform this weekend and next, and are the festival's first all-nonwhite headliners — not have the same mass appeal as 2022 headliners Harry Styles, Billie Eilish and the pairing of Swedish House Mafia and The Weeknd?
Whatever the reasons, this is the first edition of the six-day, two-weekend festival at at Indio's Empire Polo Club since 2010 to not sell out in advance.
This year's edition runs Friday through Sunday and repeats next Friday through Sunday. The same lineups perform both weekends, in almost exactly the same order, with or without a capacity audience.
Of this year's three headliners, only Ocean sings in English, which may or may not be a factor for ticket sales. He was originally scheduled to top the bill at Coachella three years ago, but the 2020 and 2021 editions were canceled because of the pandemic shutdown and Ocean was not available when the festival resumed in 2022.
This year's lineup offers plenty of options in addition to the headlining sets by Ocean, Blackpink and Bad Bunny, who last year became the first artist in any genre to sell out two consecutive full-stadium concerts at San Diego's Petco Park.
The roster of artists scheduled to perform also includes Bjork — who will be accompanied by a full orchestra — Rosalía, Blondie, Gorillaz, Wet Leg, Boygenius, Calvin Harris, Charli XCX, Burna Boy, Kali Uchis, Eric Prydz Pusha T, Chromeo Angele, IDK and more than a hundred other acts.
There are also at least five female rappers set to appear, including Latto, Flo Milli, Noname, Doechii and GloRilla. For good measure, the lineup has at least three jazz-adjacent acts: The Comet Is Coming, Dinner Party (which features saxophonist Kamasi Washington and keyboardist Robert Glasper) and the duo DOMi & JD Beck (whose members are 23 and 19, respectively).
Sellouts are the norm
Coachella, which grossed $117 million in 2017, averages 125,000 daily attendees. About 20% of them each year are from San Diego County.
Coachella's opening 2019 weekend sold out in 40 minutes, while the second 2019 weekend sold out slightly over five hours later. It is not uncommon for most tickets to be purchased the previous year, before even a single performer has been announced.
Intriguingly, the 2019 sellout actually represented a slowdown compared to the event's 2017 and 2018 editions. They each sold out in just three hours.
As of Thursday, three-day general admission and three-day VIP ticket packages are still available for Coachella's second weekend. And at least one ticket resale site, Vivid Seats, last month began selling three-day passes for $500, nearly $50 less than the $549 price, plus fees, offered on the festival's website. Stubhub currently has three-day passes for the opening weekend priced at $446 each.
None of this may be cause for alarm for the festival, which is held on the grassy grounds of the 250-acre Empire Polo Club and covers nearly 400 more adjacent acres. But it is a surprise for an event that has consistently sold out virtually every year since expanding from one weekend to two in 2012, which was five years after expanding from two days to three over one weekend.
This year's second weekend not selling out in advance could be a one-time fluke.
Or, it might be a sign that Coachella is starting to lose some of its cachet as a destination event. In a 2020 Union-Tribune interview, San Diego-bred skateboard legend Tony Hawk described the festival as feeling "like an Instagram event more than a cultural opportunity, the way it used to."
Some might speculate that the pandemic-fueled cancellations of the 2020 and 2021 editions of Coachella dampened the event's appeal for its predominantly young audience. But last year's festival swiftly sold out, with many 2020 and 2021 ticket-holders declining refunds and attending the 2022 edition instead.
The answer, presumably, will be determined by how quickly Coachella sells out next year. A Vegas betting line is surely looming.
Rock of ages
Blondie singer Debbie Harry, 77, is one of this year's most veteran performers at Coachella. The Linda Lindas drummer Mila de la Garza, 12, appears to be the youngest. Palm Springs-born corrido singer DannyLux (born: Daniel Balderrama) may be the festival's youngest solo act this year at 19.
Latin music surge
Longtime Coachella attendees may recall that Manu Chao's 2007 performance was one of the first at the festival by an artist who sings primarily in Spanish. They may also recall the 2001 and 2015 editions featured Tijuana's Nortec Collective, the brassy group that mixes electronic dance music with elements of banda, norteño and ranchera.
In 2017, Colombian reggaeton star J Balvin became the first artist to play on the festival's main stage who performs almost entirely in Spanish. The same year also saw Coachella performances by Chilean singer Mon Laferte and the Mexican norteño-music group Los Tucanes de Tijuana.
The festival will feature even more Latin artists this year, including Bad Bunny, Rosalía, Becky G, Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, Kali Uchis, Conexión, Eladio Carrión and Divina. Also set to appear are performers from from Nigeria, India, Iceland, Jamaica and South Korea. No fewer than nine acts from France alone will appear — M83, St Germain, Ibeyi, Tchami, Amine Edge & Dance, Lido, Savages, Melody's Echo Chamber and Christine and The Queens.
Welcome back!
Two of this year's Coachella performers, the U.K.-bred electronic music acts Underworld and the Chemical Brothers, both performed at the festival's debut edition in 1999.
Bjork and The Breeders will be back for the first time since 2007 and 2008, respectively. Blondie — which was formed in 1974 in New York — will make its Coachella debut this year.
So will Blink-182, which was formed in 1992 in Poway. The recently reunited classic lineup of the trio is a last-minute addition to Friday's lineup.
Should Blink-182 also be added to next Friday's Coachella roster, it could give a boost to the festival's second weekend ticket sales. That's assuming, of course, there are enough Blink-182 devotees willing to pay for a three-day Coachella pass just to hear Blink-182, whose spring Latin American tour was canceled following drummer Travis Barker's finger injury and surgery.
Coachella? Or Streamchella?
Since 2012, YouTube has provided free livestreaming of some Coachella performances. This year, for the first time, YouTube will do so from all six of the festival's stages — twice as many as last year.
This year, viewers will also be able to watch behind-the-scenes content on YouTube Shorts and converse with other fans on LiveChat. There will also be livestream and playlist integrations between YouTube and YouTube Music, as well as on-site activations with artists and YouTube creators.
Exclusive content will be available to YouTube Premium subscribers, while YouTube Shopping will enable viewers to buy Coachella and artist merchandise.
Did you know?
Beyoncé's headlining 2018 set at Coachella's opening weekend drew a record 41 million live viewers from 232 countries. That makes it the most-viewed livestreamed performance by any performer at any festival, ever.
2023 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival
When: Friday through Sunday and April 21-23
Where: Empire Polo Club, 81800 Avenue 51, Indio
Tickets: This weekend is sold out; prices for next weekend are $549, plus fees, for a three-day, general admission pass and $1,069, plus fees, for a three-day VIP pass.
Online: coachella.com/passes
Remote viewing: YouTube will be livestreaming performances from all six Coachella stages during both weekends of this year's festival, via desktop, mobile and the YouTube Music apps starting at 4 p.m. Friday and running through Monday evening. The livestreaming hours for the second weekend have not been announced yet.
COVID-19 protocols: As of this writing, there are no vaccination, testing or masking requirements at the festival. However, the event's website stresses such requirements could "change at any time" and that various measures could be enacted, including a possible reduction in capacity and a requirement for masking and proof of vaccination. The website also states: "By entering the festival, attendees voluntarily assume all risks related to exposure to COVID-19."
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