Coachella Announces 2012 Lineup
It’s like a national holiday with very little warning, celebrated or reviled depending on what news the day brings.
This year, the media and music industry celebrated earlier than expected Monday when Coachella organizers released the lineup for the 2012 festival, a two-week affair that will repeat the weekends of April 13-15 and April 20-22 at the Empire Polo Fields in Indio, Calif.. Typically the announcement doesn’t come until the third week in January.
Concert promoters Goldenvoice now have two unusual challenges on their hands — putting both shows (up to 160,000 tickets) on sale Saturday, and keeping tabs on the 300+ bands who will have a week of down time between gigs.
Legendary indie rockers Radiohead are booked for two massive shows in Mexico during the week off. Thom Yorke and crew will head to Foro Sol in Mexico City for two stadium shows booked by Mexican promoter Ocessa. Friday’s headliner, the Black Keys, have a one-month gap in their arena tour built around the festival, and will play at the BOK Center in Tulsa a week afer their Coachella gig wraps up.
“They’re getting a lot of radio play but they still have an indie feel, it’s still cool to go see these up-and-coming new bands do so well,” said Jerry Goldman, Asst. GM at the arena, which puts its tickets on sale for the Black Keys on Friday.
“They’re not doing any presales — they don’t believe in them. They’re just putting the tickets up and it’s first come, first serve,” he said.
As for Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, the rap duo set to reunite on the final evening of Coachella, it’s really anyone’s guess where they’ll spend their week off. The lyricists behind the triple platinum 1992 album “The Chronic” both hail from California and while Snoop will be playing the Snowbomb Festival on the Friday before his Sunday night appearance, many are expecting the pair to be staples in the party scene that is sure to permeate LA from April 16-19.
The options are really limitless — Goldenvoice’s parent company AEG owns most of L.A. Live, home to Staples Center (the top grossing arena in the United States for 2011) along with Nokia Theatre and a number of independently operated nightclubs at the downtown destination. Goldenvoice manages the El Rey Theater and, until recently, the Music Box, which has shut down for unspecified reasons. A statement from Goldenvoice said “it is our understanding that the closing of The Music Box is a short-term closure.”
Lee Zeidman said he isn’t aware of any plans to have the bands participate in events at Staples Center or L.A. Live, but he’s not worried about radius clauses affecting his building’s ability to pull in shows or special events.
“We’re part of the same company, so that doesn’t really affect us,” he said, although two teams at Staples Center have games at the facility for five straight days during the off week.
Tickets for Coachella go on sale Friday, and Derek Schafer, Tour Marketing Manager for AEG Live, advised “if you really want to go, be prepared to invest up to a couple hours preparing and getting your ticket order together.”
Presales for the first weekend of the festival have nearly sold out and Schafer’s team is advising people “Go straight for Weekend 2 and purchase a GA or VIP ticket,” because “if you wait till Saturday or beyond — you may run the risk of not getting a ticket at all.
For more information about buying tickets, click here.
