We’re still three months away, but music fans everywhere are already debating whether or not it’s worth spending $700 to stay in a Motel 6 for four days at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. And, yes, that’s what it really costs to book a room there.
The music festival’s 2016 lineup has dropped, featuring these three headliners: Guns N' Roses, LCD Soundsystem and electronic dance DJ Calvin Harris.
The Frame's John Horn spoke with Philip Cosores, associate editor for the music website Consequence of Sound, to break down this year's lineup.
INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS
This year is heavy with EDM acts and it's the first time a DJ has headlined the festival, the DJ being Calvin Harris. So what does that say about the direction of Coachella?
I would argue that it doesn't say that much. If you look back at the earliest Coachellas, they were all dance music heavy. The difference is that it used to be Paul Oakenfold and The Chemical Brothers. Now it's Calvin Harris and Zedd. It's stuff that skews towards a younger audience, but I think there's just as much dance music now as ever. It'll just now be outside of the Sahara tent and on the main stages.
Last year, a lot of people were skeptical about AC/DC headlining, but the general response of their performance was really good. So I guess the same question now about people being skeptical about Guns N' Roses.
And rightfully so. Guns N' Roses doesn't have a good track record for the last 20 or so years, but they are gearing up for a world tour, playing stadiums and asking for a ton of money. So there has to be something behind that. They have to be wanting to do a good job [laughs].
There's a mini reunion here now that Slash will be playing with the band.
Slash and Duff [McKagan], who has been a writer in Seattle for the past several years. So it's nice to have those three core members back together and it'll be nice to see them. Hopefully they'll get along and it won't seem like three strangers on stage just hanging out.
There's another headliner, which is an odd reunion: LCD Soundsystem. They broke up five years. Their [farewell] show was this big spectacle at Madison Square Garden.
I couldn't be more excited for LCD Soundsystem just because they are one of the best bands of the last 10 years. It was sad that they broke up, but even at the time, the frontman James Murphy said in five years, if they feel like they wanted to do it again, they will.
Do you think it's too soon for a reunion or are people really excited to hear them again?
If you like the band it's not too soon. I think a few people are bummed if they spent a lot of money to go to Madison Square Garden to see the last show, but it's not like they didn't get their money's worth. They played these epic three-hour sets. I'm glad to have them back. I hope there's going to be new music.
So all the headliners are fronted by men, yet the biggest acts of 2015 in terms of record sales were women: Taylor Swift and Adele. Is that the nature of Coachella, where they don't tend to favor female artists or is this an odd discrepancy this year?
I don't know if it's fair to blame Coachella for not getting Taylor Swift or Adele, but they don't need to play Coachella. They make tons of money on their own tours. That's why they don't play festivals. We've seen Taylor Swift at one festival in the last year. That being said, you do have Ellie Goulding and Sia, who are both pop singers and are both direct support to the headliner. Sia, that's a big deal. That's her first proper show in five years.
So when a list like this comes out, everybody has their personal reaction where they're super excited that somebody is on the lineup. So who are you most excited to see?
I'm gonna be super excited to see Sufjan Stevens. He's Coachella's tradition of getting a quiet act that doesn't necessarily appeal to a lot of people, but he'll play on the outdoor stage at sunset. It'll be beautiful and there will be 45 people there. I'll be one of them and I'll be very excited to see it. He made one of the best albums last year and his live show is really emotionally impactful. It's kind of Coachella sticking to their guns.
Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival takes place over two weekends, April 15-17 and April 22-24.