2013 has not been a good year (so far) for festival announcements featuring bands I like. This is really not good, because I want to see a music festival this year.
Anyway, the 2013 Coachella lineup was announced a few hours ago, and while the big-name acts (and many of the smaller ones) are all good, there’s no one I have a burning desire to catch. Maybe it’s me.
At any rate: the Friday nights will be headlined by the reformed Stone Roses and Blur. It’s like 1991 London all up in this bitch! One name I was very happy to see in the lineup was that of Modest Mouse. I’m chomping at the bit for a new album by those guys-and perhaps the Coachella slot is an indication that new music is in the offing. Saturday nights will be headlined by French dance-rockers Phoenix (love ’em…seen ’em many times already,) The Postal Service (who also just announced a reunion) and New Order. The biggest name for the Sunday shows is the Red Hot Chzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…
Sorry, I fell asleep.
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Vampire Weekend, and the Wu-Tang Clan (or rather, however many members of the Wu decide to show up that night) are also high up on the list. Man, am I jaded.
I’m gonna go look at the Jazzfest lineup now. That might be more up my alley.
The Coachella festival will be running for two weekends out in Indio, CA. 4/12-4/14, and 4/19-4/21. For more info, go here.
Ladies and gentlemen, your Coachella 2013 lineup.
2 comments
Greg says:
Jan 26, 2013
Man, this year’s lineup is so appallingly bland that I can’t even bring myself to get angry. Well, maybe not completely…
*Metal got completely shafted – as did punk. Yes, I know that Coachella is predominantly an “indie rock” festival and that it subscribes to a conservative definition of “indie,” but the past few years have seen a growing acceptance of noise rock, metal and punk within the indie community – the indie public – the guys who let Pitchfork determine their listening preferences. Whatever you want to call it. There were a ton of missed opportunities here: Converge, Deftones, Swans, Kvelertak, Burning Love, Graveyard, Neurosis, Iceage, Metz, Boris, Loma Prieta. I guess they did book Ghost, but that’s a pretty half-assed compromise.
*Hip-hop didn’t get completely shafted – El-P, Danny Brown, and Aesop Rock are all stellar picks, and while I’m not completely sold on Earl Sweatshirt, the talent’s definitely there – but some of their choices are a little…what’s a polite way to say shit? Right – questionable. They’re a little questionable. 2 Chainz? M’eh. Jurassic 5? Probably the blandest “classic” rap group in existence. Wu-Tang Clan? We’ll be lucky if all eight members appear via hologram. Raider Klan? Please, by giving Raider Klan work, you’re only advancing the harmful stereotype that people give a shit about SpaceGhostPurrp. What about Kendrick Lamar? A$AP Rocky? Big Boi? Captain Murphy? Big K.R.I.T.?
*Do the Bad Seeds and Grinderman really need two separate shows? Yes, Nick Cave shits awesomeness, but it’s eating up space that could have been occupied by another band.
*And where the hell is Frank Ocean? Isn’t Coachella supposed to be an amplifier of the musical zeitgeist? Are you telling me that getting an over-the-hill britpop band was a top priority, but getting the biggest performer of 2012 wasn’t?
*For the record, when I said “over-the-hill britpop band,” I was referring to The Stone Roses. Nothing but love for Blur.
Big Money says:
Jan 28, 2013
I didn’t realize Jurassic 5 was still alive.