Some 67 miles east of our beautiful Riverside campus lies a harsh desert valley where temperatures soar during the day and fall dramatically as the sun sets… the days pass quietly as retirees involve themselves with the major activities of the valley, which usually involve golf tournaments that are housed by the area’s numerous golf courses.
All of this changes in April.
Come mid-April the Coachella Valley becomes a mecca (no pun intended, seeing as how the area is home to a small town by that name) for alternative music lovers. The valley sees an influx of backpack strapped, headband-wearing, sandal clad festival goers as the days draw near to the Coachella Music and Arts Festival or quite simply what it’s become worldwide known as:”Coachella.” The iconic music festival will take place over the course of two weekends (April 13-15 & April 20-22) for the first time since its original installment in 1999. Goldenvoice, the promoters of the festival have run into a number of troubles while organizing this festival year after year but have empathized with their fans in extending the festival over a two weekend period due to increasing demand and ticket sales being exhausted within hours of box office opening. The Empire Polo Fields which hosts the festival each year has a capacity for about 75,000 festival goers and becomes the playground for a wide array of music styles, not to mention the monumental art exhibitions that adorn and more recently have become an interactive experience for those attending.
The festival offers two stages: the Coachella Stage or main stage, has witnessed the likes of Paul McCartney, Radiohead, The Cure, Prince, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rage Against the Machine, Muse, Jay-Z, The Killers, The Chemical Brothers and Tiësto among numerous others, and the Outdoor Theatre. Additionally there are three massive tents each one consecutively larger: the Gobi, the Mohave and the Sahara tent. The latter of the three has housed some of the most spectacular showcases of electronic music. Last year’s edition of the festival saw the tent reconstructed to a visual cathedral worthy of any world class act. During the day the Do Lab offers a place for those not used to the blistering heat a chance to dance to heart pumping house beats while being refreshed by numerous water hoses administered by tribal clad festival aids. The festival and its sponsors have also incorporated the Heineken dome which has its own line-up of smaller deejays; it is completely decked out with an air conditioning system designed to keep you and your beer chilly cold as well as surrounding projection screens so visually stimulating you’ll forget you’re in the middle of the desert. There are numerous art exposes, crafts tents, additional sponsor tents (i.e. H&M, Playstation, and Redbull among others), it is certain to take you a number of years attending to discover.
The festival has also gained sustainability credibility through its multiple campaigns and move towards greener forms of festival experience. Campaigns like TRASHed and Carpoolchella which encourage festival goers to recycle and carpool, respectively, have become an increasing focus of the festival organizers each year.
This year Coachella headliners include Radiohead, Dr. Dre & Snoop Dog, and The Black Keys as well as an increasingly respectable band of electronic sub-headliners like Swedish House Mafia, David Guetta, Afrojack, and making his debut, one of my favorites, AVICII. Whichever musical tendency is your cup of tea the festival is an experience that cannot be explained in artist’s names, in attractions, in videos of past performances, or in breath-taking photos of sunsets over the main stage; this festival experience is one which must be lived in order to understand. As a festival veteran, I can summarize the experience as “life changing;” the ambience and vibe of the festival allows one an opportunity to connect with people that come literally from all over the world united by the love of music.
Sadly, if you don’t have a ticket at this point you’re out of luck, the festival has been sold-out within hours of ticket sale openings and your best bet is scalping and paying up to several hundred dollars more than the usual $300+ that a general admission costs. Living in Riverside, a mere hour away drive from the festival is enough incentive to grab your friends and head down to the desert to enjoy an experience you will never forget.