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Goldenvoice’s Paul Tollett talks Coachella 2025

Goldenvoice president Paul Tollett has responded to claims that “influencer culture” has ruined Coachella, while giving his take on next year’s lineup.

The festival (cap 125,000) will return to the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, for its 24th instalment between 11-13 and 18-20 April. Lady Gaga, Green Day, Post Malone and Travis Scott will headline.

The US flagship has been subject to increasing criticism over its direction in recent times, with a Time article investigating whether the event had descended into the “Influencer Olympics”, given its popularity with online content creators.

In a rare interview with the Desert Sun, Tollett brushed off the commentary, insisting his focus is on the music.

“If someone has a hard time because there’s an influencer next to them, what about the rest of their day? People take photos everywhere,” says Tollett. “Throughout the years, there’s been different types of people here. ‘Oh, the show’s ruined because there’s too many hipsters.’ But it’s not that, because the show is the show, and some of the performances are the best performances of all time.

“We used to say ‘Wear your cleanest dirty shirt’ and now a lot of people dress up and who should say they can’t? Do you want to have fun during the weekend? Sounds great, that’s entertainment, and it’s exciting. I concentrate on stages, booking, and making sure the performances come off solid.”

Other acts lined up for Coachella 2025 include Missy Elliott, Charli XCX, Megan Thee Stallion, solo performances from Blackpink‘s Lisa and Jennie, Sam Fender, Benson Boone, Misfits, Zedd, The Prodigy, FKA Twigs, Basement Jaxx, Beabadoobee, Clairo, Enhypen and Chase & Status. Tollett says the bill has been well received.

“I’m getting nothing but positive responses this year”

“I’m getting nothing but positive responses this year,” he adds. “Someone wrote to me and said ‘Green Day, Misfits, Circle Jerks, Amyl and the Sniffers — I feel targeted!’

“Our thought is if you’ve been paying attention in the Southern California music scene, this show is for you. And if you’re brand new to the scene, it’s also for you. Green Day is still selling out stadiums and sold out SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. The Misfits also headlined [Goldenvoice’s] the 40,000-capacity No Values festival.”

Tollett also explains why the 2025 lineup was announced in November – two months ahead of its traditional January unveiling.

“We got done a little early on [with] some of the big ones, and the problem is we can’t keep a secret,” he says. “Eventually, the word starts seeping out. You tell five to six or 10 people, two or three days go by and you start hearing about it and think ‘We better just get it out there and drop it now, otherwise the whole lineup is going to be out there.’ And I don’t like it when the lineup is released piecemeal. There’s entertainment value in seeing the [full] lineup poster.”

California-based AEG Presents subsidiary Goldenvoice announced last week that its SVP Susan Rosenbluth was retiring from the music industry. Rosenbluth’s career spans six decades, which have seen her work with artists such as Elton John, Talking Heads, BTS, Keith Urban, Blackpink, Ateez and Van Morrison.

“Susan is a legend – that goes without saying,” said Tollett. “But she also charted a new course for Goldenvoice musically and made us better for it. We wish her only the best in this next chapter of her life. She will be missed by all of us.”

The company has also promoted San Diego-based talent buyer Lea Swanson to VP of talent. Swanson will serve as sole talent buyer for the Mountain Winery, as well as contributing talent buyer for multiple venues in Los Angeles.

 


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Coachella 2025 bill revealed ahead of schedule

Coachella Valley Arts & Music Festival organisers have announced the full line-up for the 2025 edition, headlined by Lady Gaga, Green Day, Post Malone and Travis Scott.

The Goldenvoice-promoted festival (cap 125,000) will return for a 24th instalment between 11–13 and 18–20 April at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California.

The lineup announcement comes two months earlier than usual, following reports that Post Malone would headline the Californian festival.

Malone has now been confirmed to close out both Sundays, following his headline performance at Coachella’s sister event Stagecoach this year. It will be his first time as a Coachella headliner, though he performed at the festival in 2018 and has made several guest appearances over the years (most recently with Bad Bunny in 2022).

It is Gaga’s second time as a Coachella headliner, following her appearance in 2017 when she filled in for a pregnant Beyoncé.

Lady Gaga, Green Day, Post Malone and Travis Scott top the bill for next year’s edition

Green Day will play Coachella as a band for the first time, although frontman Billie Joe Armstrong performed as part of the Replacements in 2014.

Scott is billed as the fourth headliner, occupying the same spot on the poster that No Doubt did in 2024 with the tagline “Travis Scott designs the desert”.

In a press release, Scott’s representatives state he is slated to headline the main stage on Saturday night “where he will debut an entirely new era of music to the world”.

Scott was scheduled to headline in 2020 before the festival was cancelled due to the pandemic. He was booked again in 2022, but was taken off the lineup following the fatal crowd crush at his own Astroworld Festival in 2021.

Other major acts lined up for Coachella 2025 include Missy Elliott, Charli XCX, Megan Thee Stallion, solo performances from BLACKPINK‘s Lisa and Jennie, Benson Boone, the original Misfits, Zedd, The Prodigy, FKA Twigs, Beabadoobee, Clairo, Enhypen and more.

This year’s festival was headlined by Lana Del Rey, Doja Cat, No Doubt and Tyler, the Creator.

 

 

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YouTube to livestream Tomorrowland’s 20th edition

YouTube is to livestream the 20th anniversary edition of Belgium’s Tomorrowland to a global audience.

The electronic music spectacular will take place across two weekends in Boom, Antwerp, from 19-21 and 26-28 July. Tickets to the 70,000-cap festival sold out in less than a day back in February.

The livestream for its first weekend will feature performances by the likes of Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Afrojack, Amelie Lens, Timmy Trumpet, James Hype, Swedish House Mafia, Oliver Heldens and John Newman, while sets by Solomun, Steve Aoki, Tale Of Us, Tiesto and David Guetta, among others, will be broadcast during weekend two.

As well as Tomorrowland, YouTube also previously struck a similar partnership with Coachella.

“We’re continuing our tradition of bringing the biggest music festivals to a global audience with this livestream of Tomorrowland’s 20th anniversary,” says Sam Vergauwen, head of YouTube for the Benelux region.

People will be able to experience four concurrent livestreams, starting with the Main Stage livestream which will run 24/7 between 19-28, with live performances during the festival and highlights of sets between the two weekends.

Fuji Rock Festival in Japan will also be livestreamed via a link-up with Amazon

In addition, there will be a Main Stage livestream on YouTube Shorts, while a livestream of the Freedom Stage will run 24/7 for the duration of both weekends. In addition, One World Radio studio will feature video interviews with artists at the festival and live audio sets.

To celebrate the DJ community, YouTube will run a Yoodle (an alternate logo on the YouTube main page) in the UK, France, Germany, Brazil, Canada, Latin America, Japan, and Australia, which will also link to the Tomorrowland livestreams.

“The livestream will also be part of a YouTube Yoodle celebrating the DJ livestreaming community, bringing the festival’s magic to even more people than ever before to allow fans who cannot attend the festival in person to experience its electrifying performances,” adds Vergauwen. “We’re thrilled to see this partnership grow and evolve over the years.”

Upon the conclusion of the festival, Tomorrowland will upload each artist’s set on its YouTube channel as a permanent video on 29 July.

Elsewhere, this month’s Fuji Rock Festival in Japan will also be livestreamed via a link-up with Amazon. Performances from the Green Stage, White Stage, Red Marquee and Field of Heaven, as well as video interviews with the artists and footage from around the festival, will be available worldwide on Prime Video and Twitch free of charge.

The 26-28 July festival at Naeba Ski Resort will feature acts including The Killers, Kraftwerk, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, Peggy Gou, Girl in Red, Turnstile and Raye.

 


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Coachella faces fine as LDR set runs past curfew

Coachella is reportedly facing a fine after Lana Del Rey’s weekend two headline set ran over curfew.

The 2024 edition of the Goldenvoice-promoted festival concluded at Empire Polo Club in Indio, California from 19-21 April, topped by Del Rey, Tyler, the Creator, Doja Cat and No Doubt.

A City of Indio representative tells TMZ that Del Rey’s Friday night (19 April) performance, which included guest appearances by Camila Cabello, Jon Batiste and Jack Antonoff, overran by 13 minutes, triggering a US$28,000 (€26,200) fine.

Last year, deputy city manager Scott Trujillo told the Desert Sun that organisers were fined $117,000 after three sets – by Frank Ocean (25 minutes over), Calvin Harris (22 minutes) and Bad Bunny (25 minutes) – broke the city-mandated curfew on 2023’s opening weekend.

Arrests on weekend one were down 20% on last year, with the Indio Police Department reporting a total of 81 arrests

It reports that a 2013 city permit states that all shows must finish by 1am on Friday and Saturday and midnight on Sunday. The conditions state that Goldenvoice will be fined $20,000 each time a performance breaches that curfew, plus $1,000 a minute starting at the sixth minute after that cutoff point.

Arrests on weekend one were down 20% on last year, with the Indio Police Department reporting a total of 81 arrests  compared to 102 during its first weekend in 2023. Hospitalisations also decreased from 12 months ago.

This year’s bill also features the likes of Blur, Peso Pluma, Lil Uzi Vert, Justice, Bizarrap, Deftones, ATEEZ, Everything Always, Peggy Gou, Ice Spice, Gesaffelstein, Sublime, Jungle, Dom Dolla, Bleachers, Grimes, Jon Batiste and Le Sserafim, J Balvin, Jhené Aiko, Khruangbing, Carin León, Anyma, John Summit, Lil Yachty and DJ Snake.

Coachella 2025 is set for the weekends of April 11-13 & 18-20, with advance sales beginning on Friday 3 May.

 


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Blur frontman says Coachella show was ‘last gig’

Damon Albarn has cast doubt on the future of Blur after telling the Coachella that “this is probably our last gig” during the band’s set at weekend two of Coachella 2024 on Saturday.

Playing on the festival’s main stage for the second consecutive Saturday night, the Britpop legends, who sold out two hometown Wembley Stadiums shows last summer, reportedly experienced a lukewarm response from the Coachella audience across both weekends.

Blur’s appearance during the first Coachella weekend saw Albarn blasting an unenthusiastic audience that refused to respond to his calls to join in with a rendition of ‘Girls & Boys’. “You’re never seeing us again, so you might as well fucking sing it…” he told the crowd.

Faced with a similar quiet gathering on the second festival weekend, Albarn took the opportunity to address fans before launching into the last song of the set, Tender. “In the spirit of clarity and truth, this is probably our last gig,” he stated.

“I’m not saying I won’t do it again, it was a beautiful success, but I’m not dwelling on the past.

Despite being portrayed as an onstage tantrum, the statement backs up earlier hints that the current run for Blur has come to an end.

In December 2023, Albarn revealed the band would be going on hiatus after meeting its campaign obligations for album The Ballad of Darren. “It’s too much for me,” he reportedly said. “It was the right thing to do and an immense honour to play these songs again, spend time with these guys, make an album, blah-blah-blah.

“I’m not saying I won’t do it again, it was a beautiful success, but I’m not dwelling on the past.”

The reaction of the crowd would not have come as a surprise to Blur, as Albarn had noted in a radio interview prior to the band’s first Coachella show, “It’s a weird one Coachella when it comes to audience you know. It’s hard to know sometimes because they’re quite sort of on their own planet really.”

And while the backlash is being reported in the mainstream media as the end of the band, the Coachella appearance on 20 April was scheduled to be Blur’s final show for 2024, according to their own website.

Coachella 2025 has been confirmed for the weekends of April 11-13 & 18-20.

 


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Coachella 2024: The critics have their say

Critics have delivered their verdicts on the opening weekend of Coachella 2024.

The Goldenvoice-promoted phenomenon made its return to the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, from 12-14 April, headlined by Lana Del Rey, Tyler, the Creator, Doja Cat and No Doubt.

The bill also features the likes of Blur, Peso Pluma, Lil Uzi Vert, Justice, Bizarrap, Deftones, ATEEZ, Everything Always, Peggy Gou, Ice Spice, Gesaffelstein, Sublime, Jungle, Dom Dolla, Bleachers, Grimes, Jon Batiste and Le Sserafim, J Balvin, Jhené Aiko, Khruangbing, Carin León, Anyma, John Summit, Lil Yachty and DJ Snake.

Innovations for this year include a new stage dedicated to dance music – the Quasar stage – which featured extended sets running for three to four hours on both weekends.

But the 125,000-cap festival had been hit by reports of slower than usual ticket sales in the run-up. Once known for selling out on the same day the lineup was released, this year it took considerably longer, leading the Los Angeles Times to question whether Coachella had “lost its shine”.

A Time article, meanwhile, investigated claims that the event had descended into the “Influencer Olympics”, given its popularity with online content creators.

Nevertheless, reviews of weekend one have been largely positive. Tyler, the Creator’s Saturday headline slot, which saw him call upon special guests Donald Glover, A$AP Rocky, Charlie Wilson and Kali Uchis, was hailed by the Guardian as “an exhilarating, high-stakes spectacle”.

The reunited No Doubt, who were joined on stage by Olivia Rodrigo, were similarly trumpeted for their “joyous, high-energy” performance by the publication, which declared the band’s singer Gwen Stefani as “MVP of Coachella so far”.

“There’s a whole generation of new stars waiting to be minted, and Coachella gives them the opportunity to make their case”

Lana Del Rey introduced Jon Batiste, Jack Antonoff and Billie Eilish on stage for her Friday night showing, duetting with the latter on Ocean Eyes and Video Games. Billboard summarised the set as “perplexing – and profound”.

Elsewhere, Uproxx described Sunday’s bill as “a bit thinner on must-see artists” but was full of praise for Doja Cat’s headline set, which featured guest appearances from A$AP Rocky, 21 Savage and Teezo Touchdown.

“Doja Cat, like Lana Del Rey, Tyler The Creator, J Balvin, and a slew of other artists to rock the stage, showed the potential still remaining to be wrought from the platform provided by Coachella,” it concludes.

“What she – and they – demonstrated was that it doesn’t take flashy streaming numbers or worldwide name recognition, so much as the imagination to prove that they belong. There’s a whole generation of new stars waiting to be minted, and Coachella gives them the opportunity to make their case.”

Other surprise guests included Shakira, who appeared during Bizarrap’s DJ set, Becky G, who guested with Peso Pluma, Paris Hilton, who joined last-minute additions Vampire Weekend, and Wizkid and Justin Bieber, who performed with Tems. There was also a Fugees reunion of sorts as Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean performed alongside Hill’s son YG Marley.

And in one of the festival’s more unexpected turns, reggaeton star J Balvin brought out Will Smith for a rendition of Smith’s 1997 smash Men In Black.

Meanwhile, a clip of Blur’s Damon Albarn went viral after large sections of the crowd apparently failed to follow his cues to sing along to the British group’s 1994 hit Girls & Boys. “You’re never seeing us again so you might as well fucking sing it,” complained the frontman.

Grimes also attracted attention for the wrong reasons after screaming into her microphone with frustration during her DJ set due to experiencing “major technical difficulties”.

“I want to apologise for the technical issues with the show tonight,” she later posted on X. “I wanted to come back [really] strong and usually I always handle every aspect of my show myself – to save time this was one of the first times I’ve outsourced essential things.”

Coachella 2024 concludes from 19-21 April.

 


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Festivals ‘24: Coachella, Roskilde, Electric Castle

Several festivals are celebrating anniversaries this year, including Romania’s Electric Castle, the US’s Newport Jazz Festival, and the Rolling Loud franchise, plus a raft of artists have filled out 2024 lineups across the world.

Coachella kicks off Friday, bringing 125,000 fans to the Californian desert for the first of two weekends. Vampire Weekend have been added to this weekend’s lineup, with both weekends to be led by Lana Del Rey, Tyler, the Creator, and Doja Cat, among a multitude of other performers.

The 2024 edition will also see the expansion of the Goldenvoice-promoted event’s dance music offerings with the launch of the Quasar stage. Tickets are still available for the second weekend from 19-21 April.

Denmark’s non-profit festival Roskilde has completed its 2024 lineup, adding 21 Savage, PinkPantheress, Amaarae, Barry Can’t Swim, Belle & Sebastian, and Tinashe to its 29 June-6 July programme. Close to 200 acts will perform across the eight-day event, one of Europe’s largest festivals, anchored by SZA, Doja Cat, Kali Uchis, Foo Fighters, and Skrillex.

Several festivals will celebrate anniversaries with this year’s editions

For its 10th edition, Romania’s Electric Castle has added Paolo Nutini, Sean Paul, Todd Terje, Antony Szmierek, Kungs, Yune Pinku, and more to their non-stop lineup. The 17-21 August festival, held in Bánffy Castle, will also feature Massive Attack, Bring Me The Horizon, Queens of the Stone Age, Chase & Status, and Shaquille O’Neal as DJ Diesel.

The US’s Newport Jazz Festival will celebrate its 70th anniversary with a star-studded lineup, led by André 3000, Nile Rogers & CHIC, Kamasi Washington, and Elvis Costello. The 2-4 August Rhode Island affair will also feature Laufey, Robert Glasper, Brittany Howard, and Samara Joy.

Also celebrating an anniversary, Rolling Loud has announced plans to return to Miami for its 10th edition in December. The hip-hop festival is also set to voyage to Austria from 5-7 July and Thailand from 22-24 November, having already held its California edition from 14-15 March.

All Points East has wrapped up its 2024 lineup with Mitski on tap to headline a day of the London concert series. She’ll be joined by Beabadoobee, TV Girl, Ethel Cain, Arlo Parks, Sir Chloe, and more. The AEG Presents-backed six-show series, set for 16-18 and 23-25 August, will also feature Kaytranada, Loyle Carner, LCD Soundsystem, Justice, Pink Pantheress, The Postal Service and Death Cab for Cutie as headliners.

German electronic MELT Festival, set for 11-13 August, has rounded out its programme with 25 new names including Chase & Status, Yussef Dayes, acidheaven, and DJ Swagger and the Program Jazz Busters. Previously announced names for the Goodlive-backed mainstay include Sampha, James Blake, Skepta, and Bonobo.

“Book those flights, get that time off work, pack the suitcase because we’re raving in the sunshine!”

With five weeks to go, Brighton’s The Great Escape have added a raft of new names to their hundreds-stong lineup, including Kenya Grace, Hitech, Ife Ogunjobi, Cykada, Love Remain (DJ), Swimming Paul, and Modern Biology. They’ll join the spotlight artist Faye Webster, along with previously announced Wunderhouse, Soft Play, Gia Ford, and Jalen Ngonda, from 15-18 May.

British pop group Take That has announced a four-day festival in Malta, a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to see the band perform in an intimate live setting, with an array of special guests. The Greatest Weekend, held from 17-20 October, will also feature Sugababes, Sam Ryder, Daniel Bedingfield, and Ella Henderson.

Smash!Bang!Pow!’s Syd For Solen, which will upgrade venues this year, has added Michael Kiwanuka, Rachel Chinouriri, and queen eee gee to their three-day lineup. They’ll join Fred again.., André 3000, Yussef Dayes, Queens of the Stone Age, AIR, and Big Thief for the 8-10 August instalment of the Copenhagen festival.

BBC Radio 1’s Dance Weekend is set to return to Ibiza, led by CamelPhat, Jazzy & Belters Only, Dom Dolla, Gorgon City, and Armand Van Helden. The two-stage, one-day event, which will be broadcast via BBC, will take place on 2 August. 

“It’s been a staple in the summer calendar for years and not only does it showcase the world’s biggest & best DJs but it’s been known to create the most iconic moments in dance on the white isle that are remembered for a lifetime,” says BBC host Danny Howard. “Book those flights, get that time off work, pack the suitcase because we’re raving in the sunshine!”

Robbie Williams has been unveiled as Calabash South Africa’s second headliner, joining Green Day, The Offspring, and Fokofpolisiekar during the Big Concerts-promoted event’s second edition. The touring festival will land in Johannesburg from 18-19 January 2025 and Cape Town from 22-23 January 2025.

 


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Coachella adds new dance stage for 2024

Coachella is expanding its dance offering in 2024 with a new stage dedicated to the genre.

The Quasar stage will feature extended sets that run for three to four hours on both weekends of the Goldenvoice-promoted festival.

Weekend one will feature Honey Dijon playing b2b with Green Velvet, the first US show from Michael Bibi since he announced he was in remission from cancer, and Jamie xx playing b3b with Floating Points and Daphni.

For weekend two, Quasar will feature a DJ set by Rüfüs du Sol, Eric Prydz playing b2b with Anyma and Diplo playing b2b with Dutch sensation Mau P. Minus Anyma.

Goldenvoice’s executive vice president Jenn Yacoubian calls Quasar “a stage where we can book talent on it in a way that we’ve felt we haven’t been able to in the past. We’re looking at it as a traditional kind of DJ stage. The thinking was that we wanted people to see a longer format DJ set.”

“The thinking was that we wanted people to see a longer format DJ set”

The stage, which has been designed by longtime Coachella collaborator Vita Motus, will be assembled from two massive LED walls with the artists performing in the middle.

It will occupy a space on the festival site formerly occupied by the Sahara tent, with that tent moving elsewhere.

The introduction of Quasar marks the first time that Coachella has debuted a new stage dedicated to dance music since Yuma launched at the event in 2013.

Coachella 2024 will run across two consecutive weekends (12-14 and 19-21 April) at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, US.

Lana Del Rey, Tyler, the Creator, Doja Cat and No Doubt are set to headline the 125,000-capacity event, for which tickets are still available.

Once known for selling out on the same day the lineup was released, this year the festival took 27 days to sell approximately 125,000 tickets for the first weekend.

 

 

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Coachella dips back into NFTs with new partnership

Coachella festival has announced a partnership with NFT marketplace OpenSea to launch a series of unique collections that promise to “usher in a new paradigm in the live event and ticketing industry”.

Coachella Keepsakes will serve as an “all-access pass” to exclusive festival experiences and products, utilising the Avalanche blockchain network to turn “digital assets into real-world benefits”.

Each collection pairs collectible Coachella IP artwork with benefits ranging from access to exclusive festival areas such as the VIP Rose Garden or the new Oasis Lounge, to limited edition merchandise and VIP festival passes.

“Our collaboration with OpenSea begins a new chapter in how we use NFTs to provide unique custom experiences for Coachella in real life and online,” says Sam Schoonover, innovation lead for Coachella.

“We’re moving towards a future where Coachella isn’t just an event you attend, but an experience you can own and shape based on the digital tokens in your possession. We’re enabling this future with OpenSea, a trusted and secure marketplace that helps us safely provide these new opportunities to fans.”

The first collection, titled The VIP Pass + Oasis Lounge Keepsake, launched yesterday (5 March), granting access to a 2024 VIP festival pass and the Oasis Lounge. Priced at $1,499, 1,000 were made available for purchase.

“Our partnership with Coachella represents a significant milestone, uniting the digital with the physical”

Coachella and OpenSea will release the second collection, the Canvas Welcome Box Keepsake, on 25 March, offering benefits including unique merchandise, digital content and access to the Rose Garden VIP area. The third and final drop, introducing an artist collaboration, will then follow in mid-April.

“We are thrilled to embark on this journey with Coachella, a festival that has dominated the cultural zeitgeist for over two decades,” adds Devin Finzer, CEO of OpenSea. “Since our inception in 2017, we’ve been at the forefront of the NFT revolution, witnessing firsthand the expansion of digital ownership and its evolving utilities.

“Our partnership with Coachella represents a significant milestone, uniting the digital with the physical in ways that promise to enrich the festival experience and usher in a new paradigm in the live event and ticketing industry.”

Coachella previously partnered with global cryptocurrency exchange FTX to auction off 10 lifetime passes as part of an NFT series that sold for a combined $1.5 million (€1.3m). The ‘Coachella Keys’ collection granted admission to the 125,000-cap festival in Indio, California every year, along with a unique experience. FTX filed for bankruptcy in 2022.

Lana Del Rey, Tyler, the Creator, Doja Cat and No Doubt will headline Goldenvoice-promoted Coachella’s 2024 edition. The 125,000-cap festival will return across two consecutive weekends (12-14 and 19-21 April) at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California.

 


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Paul Tollett on Coachella’s past, present & future

Goldenvoice boss Paul Tollett has opened up on the evolution of Coachella and offered a glimpse into the future of the event in a new interview.

Bad Bunny, Blackpink, Frank Ocean and Skrillex, Fred Again.. and Four Tet headlined the most recent edition at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, back in April, which also featured acts such as Calvin Harris, Gorillaz, Burna Boy, Blink-182, the Chemical Brothers, Blondie, Rosalia, Eric Prydz, The Kid Laroi, Charli XCX and Björk.

The US festival’s co-founder Tollett was joined by AEG’s global touring SVP Michael Harrison for an ‘in conversation’ session at the inaugural SXSW Sydney last week in Australia.

Tollett revealed that Coachella was unlikely to grow beyond its current 150,000-capacity – in person at least.

“I don’t know it needs to be bigger,” said Tollett, who highlighted the event’s long-running livestreaming deal with YouTube as a means for it to expand its audience without increasing on-site capacity.

YouTube livestreamed performances from all six stages at Coachella, on both weekends of the festival, for the first time this year and Tollett credited the partnership – along with international headliners such as Blackpink – with extending the brand’s global reach.

“Things have changed so much now, people want to book a year in advance. I don’t want to, I want to wait and see what’s out there”

“All of a sudden you have the biggest artist in that region. And what it does is, it just gets everyone watching from that area,” he said. Coachella wasn’t really that well known in Asia. Now, everyone in Indonesia follows it, not just Korea. It became a thing where no matter what country you’re in, you could watch it like it’s your show.”

Tollett said the first two Coachellas, held in 1999 and 2001, lost a million dollars after attracting just 17,000 and 21,000 fans respectively, reports Audience Republic.

In its first decade, Tollett added, he didn’t start booking the line-up until around six months before the event, and still believed in not planning too far ahead of time.

“It’s a rolling 90-day masterplan,” he said. “I haven’t even finished booking next April’s show, and it announces in January. Things have changed so much now, people want to book a year in advance. I don’t want to, I want to wait and see what’s out there.

“I never say, ‘In the next three years, I’m changing it to this,’ it just changes. As it goes you look back and go, ‘Oh it changed over the last three years.’ You do it by the music. The music is leading the culture. You just start seeing trends when you look back.”

Coachella is scheduled to return over two weekends from 12-14 & 19-21 April 2024.

“There’s a growing trend out there between managers, agents, promoters, who like to do these multi-year, multi-cycle deals”

LA-based Australian promoter Harrison, meanwhile, who made the switch from Frontier Touring five years ago, discussed how global touring deals had changed the live music landscape.

“There’s a growing trend out there between managers, agents, promoters, who like to do these multi-year, multi-cycle deals,” he said. “What that allows you to do is have longer periods of time where a promoter is engaged with an artist, and you can really get involved and invest in their growth campaigns by touring.”

A celebration of the tech, film and music industries South By Southwest (SXSW) made its debut in Sydney, Australia from 15-22 October, and featured 400 sessions and more than 700 speakers from around the world, including Nicole Kidman, Naomi Watts, Chance the Rapper and Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker.

In addition, the SXSW Sydney Music Festival took place across locations including the Hollywood Hotel, the Lansdowne and Lord Gladstone, hosting more than 250 artists and over 300 performances.

The official annual Asia Pacific instalment of the US conference and showcase festival, SXSW Sydney was a collaboration with promoter TEG, the NSW government and tourism agency Destination NSW.

The next edition of SXSW’s flagship US event is set for Austin, Texas between 8-16 March 2024.

 


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