Many people are excited that Harry Styles is going to perform at Coachella, but many fans are skeptical if this is the right decision and if Styles is going to truly enjoy a festival like this.
Disclaimer: I do not know Harry Styles on any personal level. From recent events and interactions, this is how I predict what may happen at the festival.
After much anticipation, Coachella has announced that it will be finally returning in the spring of 2022. After canceling the festival for two years due to COVID, the iconic music festival is back and with an interesting line-up.
Billie Eilish, Ye, Doja Cat, Måneskin, Phoebe Bridgers and many more including, for the first time, Harry Styles.
This news sent a shock wave over fans and followers of the festival. Rumors of new music from Styles spread quickly due to the announcement. Many gushed and were thrilled to hear that Styles would be performing at Coachella 2022. But there was also an opposite reaction to this news that Styles was not going to like Coachella and this was not a great decision.
As you may know or maybe not know, The 1975 played its last Coachella performance in 2019 and announced they would never perform at that festival again. A band known for making music in the name of music steered clear of mainstream and the control of management. They make music for the fans and are a band for the music.
Their last performance at Coachella was not up to their expectations. They performed to a crowd with little to no true fans and a very dead audience. To a band that very much feeds off the vibe of the audience, this did not cut it for them. The band realized Coachella is not for the music anymore. It is more for publicity and following. While the lead singer, Matty Healy, acknowledges how great of a platform Coachella is for a band, actually playing at the festival is not all that great.
Styles being an artist who is greatly impacted and thrives off his audience, which can be seen from his recent tour, Coachella might not be the best fit for him. Especially compared to The 1975 who also thrive off the audience, ended up disliking the festival for the reason of unenergized crowds.
Coachella is a high-volume festival for influencers and musicians typically only to gain bigger platforms. Styles already has one of the biggest platforms, wins Grammys, songs hit top charts and is one of the highest-paid male musicians in the UK.
Coachella also released the removal of all COVID restrictions for the event. A lot of pressure will be on him if he will perform or not with an event that over 3,000 people attend and no COVID precautions are required.
This could be Styles’s first and last Coachella. With the circumstances and past artists’ views of this event, this might not be an event Styles will particularly want to do again.