The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival returns for its fourth year April 26-27 at the Empire Polo Fields in Indio, CA. Last year it attracted 55,000 music fans for the Goldenvoice-promoted extravaganza being headlined this year by Beastie Boys on April 26 and the Red Hot Chili Peppers on April 27.
Returning Coachella performers include: Queens of the Stone Age, Underworld, Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals, Jack Johnson, Groove Armada (this year with a live performance), Thievery Corporation and Christopher Lawrence. The White Stripes, Primal Scream, N*E*R*D, Café Tacuba, Kinky, The Donnas, Deep Dish, Black Eyed Peas, Ben Folds and Felix da Housecat are among the other notable artists in the fields of rock, electronic, dance and hip hop.
In addition, this year's festival marks the hotly-anticipated Southern California
debut of Fischerspooner–who'll also be screening their documentary #1 and doing a Q&A with fans–while Blue Man Group will perform on both days in what represents the debut of their new full-production concert tour.
There will be two musical stages and in two dance tents spread out over 78 acres amid gorgeous desert sunsets, towering palm trees and mountainous views. General admission tickets for each day are priced at $75.00, with a limited amount of 2-day tickets available for $140.00. In the Coachella festival tradition, there is free parking and the doors to the venue will open at noon on both days. Parking lots open at 10:00 AM.
"It's been amazing to watch Coachella grow and to receive such positive feedback from the artists, the fans and the media, "> says Goldenvoice's Paul Tollett. "We take true pride in this year's line-up. There are performers from around the world, like Mexico, Sweden and Germany as well as North America and the U.K. We strive to present great music in a hassle-free, comfortable environment with nice weather."
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times on February 16, Tollett said,
"There's no one flavor on any stage. People go back and forth, and we try to stagger the set times. Last year we did pretty well in not having things too similar playing against each other."
The line-up for April 26 is:
Beastie Boys, Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals, Queens of the Stone Age, Groove Armada (live), Blue Man Group, The Donnas, N*E*R*D, Ladytron, Felix Da Housecat, Masters At Work (Little Louie Vega and Kenny "dope" Gonzales), Kinky, Roger Sanchez, Darren Emerson, Talib Kweli, Peanut Butter Wolf/Jaylib (Jaydee &Madlib)/Wildchild, Badly Drawn Boy, The Libertines, The Rapture, Gomez, The Music, Hot Hot Heat, Idlewild, Amon Tobin, Ben Kweller, Joseph Arthur, Particle, Christopher Lawrence, Division Of Laura Lee, South, Stereo Total, The Mooney Suzuki, Nightmares On Wax, Herman Cantanneo, D:Fuse, and Spymob.
The line-up for April 27 is: Red Hot Chili Peppers, The White Stripes, Underworld, Jack Johnson, Primal Scream, Blue Man Group, Sonic Youth, Thievery Corporation, Café Tacuba, Fischerspooner, Dirty Vegas, Deep Dish, Richie Hawtin, Timo Mass, The Mars Volta, Johnny Marr and The Healers, G. Love and Special Sauce, Ben Folds, Rooney, Tortoise, The Soundtrack of Our Lives, The Polyphonic Spree, Mouse on Mars, El~P/Aesop Rock/Rjd2/Mr. Lif/Murs, Black Eyed Peas, The Von Bondies, Whirlwind Heat, The Kinison, DJ Irene, 22-20s, DB, and Eisley.
