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Violent Femmes keep Coachella weird

Posted by Brian Dearth on April 20, 2013
Posted in: Bands, Coachella. Leave a Comment
Violent Femmes

The Violent Femmes perform on the Main Stage during the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Fields on Saturday, April 13, 2013 in Indio. (Marilyn Chung/The Desert Sun)

The Violent Femmes are unapologetically weird.

They took the Main Stage just before 5 p.m. and immediately announced they were playing their self-titled first album in its entirety. Which means they burned through their most popular song, “Blister in the Sun,” first out of the gate.

Later in the set, vocalist/guitarist Gordon Gano announced the album came out 30 years ago almost to the day. At the time, the Femmes were barely out of high school in Milwaukee and writing lyrics about going to the prom and pleading with their fathers to give them the car tonight. Singing these lyrics 30 years later as a grown man didn’t seem to bother Gano in the slightest.

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Snowbirds at Coachella?

Posted by Brian Dearth on April 19, 2013
Posted in: Bands, Coachella, Fans. Leave a Comment
Metric Emily Haines

Metric performs during the first weekend of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio on Friday, April 12, 2013. Michael Snyder/The Desert Sun

Canadian pride was evident when Metric, formed in Toronto in the late 90s, took the Main Stage for a hot afternoon set.

The band, fronted by Emily Haines, blasted through its radio-friendly hits “Breathing Underwater,” “Help I’m Alive” and “Gold Guns Girls” as the crowd showed off their homeland… A barrage of beach balls with “Canada” imprinted across the front bounced across the crowd… A group of fans hoisted a Canadian flag… And a group of guys dancing near the soundboard each sported a different color shirt with “Coachella eh?” emblazoned across the back.
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Postal Service, Vampire Weekend among Coachella artists also at Sasquatch

Posted by Brian Dearth on February 5, 2013
Posted in: Bands. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

If you missed out on tickets to either weekend of Coachella, you’re in luck. You can catch many of the same bands about a month later and 1,500 miles north.

The Sasquatch Festival at the Gorge in central Washington is taking place on May 24-27. Although none of Coachella’s headliners of Stone Roses, Blur, Phoenix and Red Hot Chili Peppers will be making the trip north, the Postal Service, Vampire Weekend, Sigur Ros and the XX are listed as “Featured Artists” on the Sasquatch home page and also will perform at Coachella. The Lumineers, Father John Misty and Grimes are among the higher-profile artists that will appear at both fests.

The two non-Coachella “Featured Artists” for Sasquatch include Mumford & Sons (who played at Coachella in 2011) and hip-hop duo Macklemore and Ryan Lewis.

 

SASQUATCH 2013 lineup

Click here to view the full Sasquatch lineup.

The lineups for two of the summer’s biggest U.S. festivals – Bonnaroo in rural Tennessee (June 13-16) and Lollapalooza in Chicago (Aug. 2-4) – have not yet announced their lineups for 2013.

 

Will the Rolling Stones play Coachella 2013?

Posted by Brian Dearth on December 14, 2012
Posted in: Bands, Coachella, Rumors. Tagged: . Leave a Comment
Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones

This image released by Starpix shows Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones performing at the 12-12-12 The Concert for Sandy Relief at Madison Square Garden in New York on Wednesday. / The Associated Press

The Rolling Stones may be playing Coachella, if you can believe rumors generated by Rolling Stone magazine.

The publication’s online site reported early this morning that two new dates appeared under the tour section of the legendary band’s mobile app. The first was an April 12th stop in Indio, listed as “Coachella 2013.”

An e-mail query to Coachella founder Paul Tollett seeking confirmation or denial was not immediately returned.

Bruce Fessier has more at our sister publication mydesert.com.

Josh Homme hooks back up with Dave Grohl

Posted by Brian Dearth on November 6, 2012
Posted in: Bands, Celebrities. Tagged: , , , . Leave a Comment
Josh Homme with Them Crooked Vultures

Josh Homme of Them Crooked Vultures performs at the 11th annual Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival in Indio on Friday April 16, 2010. Dave Grohl performed on drums with the band. (Richard Lui The Desert Sun)

Palm Desert native Josh Homme has announced that drummer Joey Castillo has left Queens of the Stone Age. So Homme enlisted an old pal to fill in. It’s just that Homme’s buddy played drums with Nirvana and sings and plays guitar in the Foo Fighters.

Yes, Dave Grohl has rejoined – at least temporarily – the desert-based band.

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Goldenvoice planning a new festival in Orange County?

Posted by Brian Dearth on May 30, 2012
Posted in: Coachella, Goldenvoice. Tagged: , , , . 49 comments

According to a recent report in the Los Angeles Times, Goldenvoice, the force behind both Coachella and Stagecoach in Indio, is planning a similar festival in Orange County.

The concert, which is planned for Orange County Great Park in Irvine, would have one big difference: No booze.

That move may be necessary in order to placate the more conservative political establishment in the upscale county.

Would you go to an alcohol-free, Coachella-esque festival in O.C.?