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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Amsterdam’s DGTL festival to make US debut
Dutch dance festival DGTL will make its US debut this December with back-to-back editions in Los Angeles and New York City.
The bicoastal instalment will launch on 1 December at Brooklyn Navy Yard, a shipyard and industrial complex in NYC.
Danish trio WhoMadeWho, techno titan Ida Engberg, amapiano artist AMÉMÉ, German deep house producer Henrik Schwarz, Irish mainstay Mano Le Tough and South Korean producer Shubostar appear on the lineup.
The next day, a similar version of the festival will take place in LA at Exposition Park, a 160-acre urban park in the south region of the city.
DGTL has launched in Barcelona, Madrid, Tel Aviv, Bengaluru, Mumbai, New Delhi, Santiago, São Paulo and Guadalajara
The LA bill also features WhoMadeWho, Mano Le Tough, Henrik Schwarz and Shubostar, along with French duo Parallelle.
The festivals will take place in partnership with dance promoters Teksupport and Stranger Than, in NYC and LA respectively.
Originating in Amsterdam, DGTL has spawned events in Barcelona, Madrid, Tel Aviv, Bengaluru, Mumbai, New Delhi, Santiago, São Paulo and Guadalajara.
Since its launch in the Netherlands in 2013, the dance festival has become renowned for its stage designs and sustainability initiatives.
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Former ICM agent Paul Gongaware launches agency
Paul Gongaware has launched a new agency alongside his wife, Layla, called the The Gongaware Group.
Previously, Paul worked as an agent in the dance division at ICM Partners, leaving around the time CAA acquired the company. Prior to that, he was an agent at WME for almost eight years.
Layla, meanwhile, has experience with owning and running her own company, having launched a fitness business in Los Angeles.
Paul told Pollstar that his departure from ICM was “arguably the best time ever” to launch The Gongaware Group, which already boasts a roster of 30 dance acts including Slushii, Sigala and Shane Codd.
“The bookings are there, the clients are there, the work ethic is there”
“It’s the biggest risk in our personal lives ever,” says Gongaware. “But I think we both believe in it so much that it’s a no-brainer for us regardless. The bookings are there, the clients are there, the work ethic is there. As long as we continue to give that to them and they believe in us, then this is going to be a really big thing.”
Gongaware says that almost all of their artists are currently out on tour, with an average of 20-25 shows taking place every weekend.
“For the time being, if we can do a thousand shows with 30 clients of the best opportunities, festivals, clubs, anything in between, then we’ll know we’ve been successful,” he adds.
The Gongaware Group’s roster also includes Aluna (formerly AlunaGeorge), Hannah Wants, Jerro, No Mana and DJ Soda.
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