Having impressed hardcore music fans with previous reunion coups such as the Pixies, Jane’s Addiction, and the Stooges, there was a whiff of disappointment about the just-revealed line-up for this year’s Coachella Festival. It’s impressive to see freshly reunited ’90s alternative radio hit-makers like the Verve, Portishead, and the Breeders on the bill, but their presence seems a little underwhelming when measured against last year’s comeback kids—Rage Against the Machine and the Jesus & Mary Chain, who trotted out insufferably hot guest vocalist Scarlett Johansson.
As great as it’s going to be to watch Dark Side of the Moon performed in its entirety by Roger Waters under the Southern California desert sky, celebrating a well-worn classic rock record seems totally out of place for a festival that was built on celebrating misfits. But it’s not all bad news. Not only will it be a lot easier to get a decent hotel room, but there are a lot of acts on the bill worthy of the 120-degree heat.
Here’s our breakdown of the bill:
THE HITS: Despite the peculiar names at the top of the bills for the three-day festival, once you glance down a little bit you can tell that the organizers at Goldenvoice Concerts haven’t totally lost their marbles, offering an awesome mix of buzz acts from just about every genre imaginable, including underground R&B greats Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, Sri Lankan rapper M.I.A., superstar DJ and producer Mark Ronson, nerdy indie songwriter Jens Lekman, and up-and-coming British singer Duffy. Plus, there’s Kraftwerk. Overall, it’s a pretty solid bill with more than enough different stuff going on to keep even the most jaded MP3 blogger raving through July. Coachella remains about the small-scale acts.
THE MISSES: Jack Johnson is a great singer-songwriter, fantastic acoustic guitarist, and all-around nice guy. Hell, he recorded his new album using nothing but solar power. But like Waters playing an album that most of our grandparents used to get high to, the laidback surfer dude that was last heard on the Curious George soundtrack seems totally out of place at a festival that was seemingly created to celebrate the acts that were going against the grain. Couldn’t Bonnaroo fit him on the bill? Oh, and one more note about Waters—he’s been playing that album live for the past two years, making the Coachella appearance anything but special. Now if they would have gotten Pink Floyd to reunite ...
THE HEAD-SCRATCHERS: Love and Rockets get awfully close to top billing on Sunday, but it’s hard to imagine anyone has given the band—made up of three-quarters of Bauhaus—much attention in recent years. Do they really deserve to go on just before Waters or is it just the organizers’ way of traffic control on the final night of the festival? Other acts that are getting higher placement than they probably deserve include Slightly Stoopid and Madness. Then again, any festival that can bring those three acts together must be doing something right.
Here’s the full bill:
FRIDAY, APRIL 25: Jack Johnson, The Verve, Raconteurs, The Breeders, Fatboy Slim, Tegan and Sara, Madness, The Swell Season, The National, Animal Collective, Slightly Stoopid, Mum, Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, Stars, Battles, Aesop Rock, Midnight Juggernauts, Does It Offend You, Yeah?, Minus the Bear, Spank Rock, Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip, Diplo, Adam Freeland, Santo Gold, Jens Lekman, John Butler Trio, Vampire Weekend, Dan Deacon, Architecture in Helsinki, Sandra Collins, Busy P, Cut Copy, Black Lips, Datarock, Professor Murder, Reverend and the Makers, The Bees, Porter, Rogue Wave, Modeselektor, American Bang, Lucky I Am.
SATURDAY, APRIL 26: Portishead, Kraftwerk, Death Cab for Cutie, Cafe Tacuba, Sasha & Digweed, Rilo Kiley, Dwight Yoakam, M.I.A., Hot Chip, Cold War Kids, Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks, DeVotchKa, Flogging Molly, Mark Ronson, Turbonegro, Scars on Broadway, Islands, Enter Shikari, Calvin Harris, Boyz Noize, Junkie XL, Cinematic Orchestra, Jamie T, The Teenagers, VHS or Beta, Carbon/Silicon, Erol Alkan, Yo Majesty!, Little Brother, Bonde Do Role, St. Vincent, Akron Family, MGMT, Institubes DJs (Surkin, Para One and Orgasmic), James Zabiela, Sebastian, Kavinsky, Dredg, The Bird and the Bee, Grand Ole Party, New Young Pony Club, 120 Days, Yoav, Electric Touch, Uffie.
SUNDAY, APRIL 27: Roger Waters performing Dark Side of the Moon, Love and Rockets, My Morning Jacket, Spiritualized, Justice, Gogol Bordello, Chromeo, The Streets, Metric, Danny Tenaglia, Simian Mobile Disco, Booka Shade, Murs, Dmitri from Paris, Autolux, The Field, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Les Savy Fav, The Cool Kids, Sons & Daughters, Sia, Holy Fuck, Black Kids, Black Mountain, The Annuals, Kid Sister w/A-Trak, Man Man, Duffy, I’m from Barcelona, Manchester Orchestra, Deadmau5, The Horrors, Austin TV, Shout Out Louds, Plastiscines, Brett Dennen.