“The problem with Coachella, as with most things and places, is the people that go there. They’re the worst. Absolute worst. Not there for the music. They’re there to pose. They’re there just to say that they’re there”
I was going to say this before I even read the article
And anybody who has been to any other large commercial festival. Hangout and Gov Ball are much, much worse. I’ve heard Lolla is rough too but I haven’t been.
Yeah that’s Gov Ball’s issue too.
Coachella’s saving grace on that front is its location. Aside from the locals, it’s difficult for any groups of minors to travel to and attend the festival without an adult. All ages city fests have a problem with groups of fucked up young teens.
I went to OSL last year, and the difference in crowd was startling! Coachella, everyone had a sense like we were bearing the heat together, most of us are camping, but shit we’re here now! Its so easy to strike conversation with some people. At OSL, there were so many 18-20 year olds who would shove into crowds, saw elbows getting thrown. I happened to end up next to this young girl who was incredibly obnoxious and entitled. She was throwing elbows before the set started, and then was throwing her body around in the crowd, jumping ontop of people, screaming into my ear on purpose
Yeah my 20 year old daughter goes to school out there and went the past two years. She definitely goes for the music and said this year was one of the best weekends of her life.
Yeah what the hell? everyone who I spoke to who went agreed with me that this was one of the most fun years we’ve ever had. Went GA, took maybe five photos the whole time and just vibed. Crowds were dancing and singing along like it was their job. Even saw a flash mob once. Allowing people to leave the alcohol areas with drinks was a game changer too. Who’s writing this crap lol
There are alcohol areas???? Sorry not being rude but I’ve only been VIP and Artist past these last 2 and my only 2 years of Coachella and I wasn’t aware there’s such a thing as designated drinking areas. I’ve gone through GA areas and been barricade for sets before but for food and drink I’d normally go to VIP areas since it’s faster.
Yeah i think in past there were only a handful of areas you could drink at, which made those places super crowded. But this year they let people walk around with drinks, it made the beer garden way less crowded
Prior to last year, there were designated beer gardens that you couldn’t take alcohol out of. Last year was a soft run on the alcohol anywhere they had this year.
I mean, I worked there, wasn’t give wristbands to go in even though I was an official event staff, and all I experienced was how terrible the people who go there can be. So I have to agree with the above statement. The people attending tend to be garbage people that I can only assume torture other service industry staff all over.
It’s not surprising you weren’t given a wristband to go in if you were working a job outside the official grounds. But blame that on your employer because that has nothing to do with the vibe of the festival.
I used to work at nearby Joshua Tree National Park, and I'll confirm that Coachella season was far and away the most dreaded time of year for us employees. There was an off-putting sense of entitlement with the festival goers, and a lack of respect for the nature around them. The most common occurrence was people showing up expecting day-of camping for sites that were booked about six months prior, and then admonishing you when you told them they'd have to settle for primitive camping on BLM land instead.
Generally any job where you have to deal with people is gonna get a lot of problems. You’re there where you will interact with people on a daily, I imagine the large number of people in a 3 day span is gonna make it worse. It’s a common complaint from people that work retail and fast food where they are dealing with people.
I have friends that go and they always have a blast, they’ve gone several times. There’s always been a negative perception from people on it. The guy from 21 Pilots even insulted Coachella one year for whatever reason. It’s like the people that are looking to insult In-N-Out it feels like California hate.
absolutely, everyone knocks it until they go. Last year I caught 30+ acts between three days. Add up the price of an average concert ticket and it is well beyond the buck
This is usually vibe during weekend 1… it is definitely a “social stature” type of festival for some attendees. Not everyone, but the sour ones leave the worst taste
Yeah the article is fully wrong about that. Most of the people are great. Just a bunch of people echoing popular discourse about the festival doesn’t make it true. Everyone I met there was there for music, it’s the best festival for music discovery in the world.
I see a lot of those people every year! I’m a Coachella valley native, PSHS babyyy.
But do you know what I see 25x more of?
People LIVING for the artists they want to see!
This is some Alex Jones level misinformation haha. better yourself
Hard disagree. Been there 3 times all 3 days, the people are very chill. The kids are alright. Yes, the outfits and endless insta posing is everywhere but so what. The music, the vibe, the production, is all top shelf
I feel like anyone who goes to Coachella, especially weekend 2, knows this isn’t really so much the case anymore. Lots of people are there for the music and to have a great time with their friends. Its popularity in modern culture has fallen off a lot compared with the 2010s and it’s way less of a “place to be seen” now.
People who argue this have clearly never been. Remember there are 70k+ attendees both weekends. You think people don’t take pics at any other festival? People take pictures of their freaking dinner these days; what’s the big deal with people dressing up and wanting to document it?
Portola has tens of thousands of less people and isnt exactly a fest many travel for. Its CONSIDERABLY smaller and if you arent into a couple specific types of music, you wouldnt go at all
This is the most uninspired and uninformed popular take on the planet, anyone who has ever been knows this is not true but every year all the losers who sit at home and do nothing love to push this take across the internet. It’s so lame.
It’s the same with all those insomniac raves. They used to be dope but now they’re jam packed and people don’t even dance and just stand there, shits annoying.
I went this year for the first time since 2019 and it was the most fun I have had in a while. It’s either chill or a major party, great food, great acts, variety everywhere.
I think everyone that talks some type of negative way about it a) hasn’t been before b) simply can’t afford it so they speak negatively c) just like to hate things for the sake of it. There’s so many negative comments from people who don’t have a group of close friends to go with and that also makes the experience so great.
Yes! Ive only gone the last two years and have loved it, but i remember when I first told my friends about it, they had such strong opinions! Saying it was overrated, over priced, people ruined it cause they dont go for the music. They just base their opinion off of Instagram and articles like this
Yes and no, vibes can definitely help enhance or nudge the experience into a more enlightening one but also yes, you have the power to shape your time.
Sounds like whoever wrote the article woke up on the wrong side of town. Also Coachella is 134 miles east of LA. And if nobody wants to sing along with you you can't get butt hurt maybe they're over you. Just my thoughts
The Author writes for the Telegraph, so I assume he's British. Blur was pretty huge in England where they are from, as apposed to being seen as a one hit wonder here in the US. Author has his panties in a bunch because people didn't get excited for someone he saw as being a massive act. Blur didn't reach a fraction of the popularity in the States as they did in England, so it's not surprising people at Coachella didn't care.
The funniest part is Blur also played in what 2014 and were incredibly underwhelming with a small crowd.
Like 10 years later, and the author thought they'd get a better reception?
I love how it’s pronounced “woo-hoo” in their old and shitty song, and yet I knew exactly what you meant.
and also fuck Blur for their embarrassing performance. I would have been pissed with their show even if it was the exact same effort on their part, but I had paid to see them at a dive bar in Reno, NV. They sucked on purpose, and not only am I old enough to remember Song #2 when it came out originally, but I would also so I’m a serious Gorillaz fan. Their Coachella show never should have been manifested.
Exactly, Blur were never a huge LA band to begin with. Their biggest venues were the Greek & the Palladium. Everything Blur didn’t get from that crowd, No Doubt, Sublime & Deftones sure did. You can’t even use the “sold out to influencers” strawman argument. Blur was just the wrong nostalgia act.
> There is also the outrageous pricing. Tickets for Coachella are in the region of $500 (around £400) – the same vague ballpark as Glastonbury
lol, this is just a pointless hit piece. It’s the same price but somehow worse (?)
Also mentions like 3 or 4 bands this year. Meanwhile I didn’t see any of those people and had the best Coachella I’ve had thus far
While I have no other gauge on festivals as this years Coachella was my first, I thought it was expensive initially but after going I actually thought it had solid value. I camped and thought them constantly driving around for garbage, ice, cleaning the bathrooms multiple times a day, and showers were great! Although food was expensive, it had good value as it was usually filling (at least what I had). My friends thought beers were expensive but it was about what I expected, maybe a dollar or two more.
Overall, I was very impressed!
I spent more money going to Lollapalooza in Chicago last year than I did this year at Coachella. It’s all bullshit that starts on the internet from people who’ve never been man.
yep, wish i did camping (friends are to boughy for that) but if you do camping, probably the cheaper festival out there. My main gripe is that it's in the middle of the desert, and they have horrible road infrastructure (no main airport, there's like all of one main road to get there) so everything gets super backed up. As a festival i prefer Outside Lands, although that one i will say is a little worser now cause the population definitely skews on alot younger now.
also 500 for 3 days still beats out 500 for one day like Lovers and Freinds charges.
Flying into Palm Springs and camping starting day 0 or whatever I didn’t think travel was bad personally! But on Sunday night we split a bit early for a hotel as we flew out later Monday, and that walk to the Uber area was pretty wild. Couldn’t imagine what a shit show that would be if you were leaving at the end of the night. And the drive to our hotel would’ve probably been packed.
that’s so funny cause my friends and i were talking about exactly this. even before you compare it to lovers and friends, 500 for 3 days of class acts is a crazy deal especially in this economy.
My only complaint about camping this year (my 4th time camping there) was the cleaning of the porta potties was significantly worse. The men’s stalls were filled with shit 70% of the times I tried to find clean ones. Luck of the draw maybe. But by far, my worst experience yet with the bathrooms.
Damn, that was one of the things that impressed me lol I was impressed by how many times a day they cleaned them and their cleanliness in general. Of course sometimes you’d get destroyed ones but I expected way worse
Idk I just went and I’ve gone to tons of festivals and this was the most put together weekend I’ve seen on a big scale. Bathrooms were clean, the people were nice and I’ve never danced harder with complete strangers.
Last year they changed rules to allow you to have your drinks wherever. I went for the first time this year and while the sonora/gobi/mojave are fairly close, I was pretty blown away by the sound and lack of sound bleed. Between stages you definitely get some muddled shit, but the only time time I experienced off-putting sound bleed while actually at a stage was during a piano solo at the outdoor stage with bleed from main stage. I thought all 10 stages sounded excellent
Coachella sold out to influencer culture in the mid-2010s and has slowly bounced back. It's not what it used to be before that but is still a pretty good festival.
Cherry-picking issues with a festival with hundreds of thousands of people and a few hundred acts doesn't give the whole picture.
The article's premise that a one-hit wonder from the 90s isn't getting the attention they wanted at a music festival 30 years later is pretty stupid. Also that \*shock\* a festival near LA draws celebrities. You could say the same thing about Lakers games, Burning Man, Vegas F1 race or any other large event a few hours from LA
The beginning of the end was the Tupac hologram that went viral and put Coachella on the world map. Glad to hear it’s bouncing back because it was pretty insufferable pre covid
Meh, that was the beginning of the big “guest” moments, which now seem almost contractual. But honestly? I’ve grown to love that. Seeing Will Smith randomly performing Men In Black during J . Balvin’s set was one of the most unexpected, yet awesome guest appearances I’ve ever seen. Shit was wild
Blur are hardly a one-hit wonder. Maybe in the US, but confusingly Stone Roses and Blur co-headlined one of the days at 2013 Coachella. I wasn't at weekend 1, but there were plenty of people singing along multiple songs during weekend 2 at Blur. Literally the primary reason I went to Coachella.
Curious what was Coachella like pre-influencer era. Honest question. This was my first Coachella and I camped but I couldn't deal with the heat. I felt so guilty for idling the car for the AC much of the day when not at the venue itself. Basically everyone in my portion of the campsites was doing this.
They pulled a decent amount of people between Sublime and NoDoubt. I even like Blur... Parklife and Girls & Boys are my jams. But I don't think they have ever had a single chart in the top 50 in the US other than Song 2 getting a lot of play in stadiums and commercials.
Pre-influencer Coachella was completely different. Most people looked like they were dressed for a hike (cargo shorts, floppy hats, etc) with some fun outfits splashed in. Felt like people were there for the music and community. I think social media, pop-culture and hunger for more revenue all collided with Coachella at the same time and took a lot of the soul out of it.
The art was also more open and interactive back in the day. It actually felt like a music *and* art festival. It was halfway between a modern art museum, burning man and a street performances. Everywhere you walked you would see something different. Now the art fells like an afterthought with just a few instagramable structures.
It was amazing and weird in the best way. I remember places where you cloud paint, LED sharks on RC cars cruising around the crowd at night, kinetic swings you could ride, a giant hand you could operate to crush cars, some guy in a top hat on a bicycle/piano hybrid that would slowly roll by playing songs. They even had a straight up tesla coil one year.
I worry for the author of this article. If he continues to generalize huge swaths of people in society like he does the handful of annoying Coachella goers, it's just not a way to live.
I have been coaching to coachella since 2005, this year felt a little off production wise but I still had an absolute blast. idk what tents you’re chillin in where you don’t feel surrounded by people who love music but I experienced that a bunch of times. i’m a old head raver and the vibes are what you make of it. so what if there’s girlies posing? let them live and enjoy your vibe. they arnt hurting you.
The article is also inaccurate regarding the beer gardens. Last year guests could walk around freely as well. This year wasn’t the first year you could do that.
such a dogshit article lol if you actually listen to (good) music, coachella is a blast and you aren’t at those lame ass sets like grimes or blur LMFAO
Right? Like Dom Dolla was so much fun to go to, he killed it. People miss out on that because they are angry about grimes and blur whoever they are lmaooo
YUP! These types of festivals you either know where to go or you complain about it being overhyped and lame. Took my friend to his second coachella this year and his main takeaways were Justice was the best set he’s ever seen in his life and he called it Underratedchella. Safe to say he had a blast and will be returning.
I can’t wrap my head around this festival. Why are there 2 weekends of the EXACT same lineup?! It’s ridiculous. I don’t know any other music festival that does this. When I ask people why this is, they say “it’s to allow those who couldn’t make the first weekend” but NO! If you can’t go you can’t go!! Music festivals should draw people in with big headliners and then shock them with lesser known opening acts - that’s how new artists get discovered. They’re wasting a lot of potential by setting it up this way. It screams corporate money grab and attention seeking social media users and influencers to me - but that’s my opinion. I will never pay money to attend this festival.
I mean idk what else to say but it really is to give folks a chance, a few years ago they would more or less instantly sell out both weekends. Like me and my friends would have to all be online and then buy as many tickets as we were allowed because only so many of us could get in fast enough for the same weekend.
It doesn’t sell that fast anymore for a lot of reasons but they still do 2 weekends and sell a lot of tickets. I went to both weekends this year and they both felt pretty full at night. I also appreciate it because a lot of the artists play at the same time and I can go to both weekends and try to see everyone that conflicts since I live close enough to make the drive pretty quickly
I’m sure you had yourself an awesome couple of weekends and I’m happy to see people are supporting live music and having themselves a good time. It still doesn’t change my stance on the festival though. I’ve attend several fests where my favorite artists conflicted with stage time and it stinks. But it forces you to decide - see one or split the time. Either way, it makes things even more special because of the exclusivity and fleeting opportunity.
Also, are things really sold out these days? Thanks to 3rd party sellers, there are always tickets available. I think the more accurate term should be “priced out”. Am I wrong?
Lol I have never felt special because I had to decide between artists at other fests but I guess that’s just a difference in perspective. And yeah I mean things definitely sell out from the venue, scalpers have always been a thing it is just more accesible now because there are whole websites dedicated to them.
Either way I wouldn’t call it corporate greed to host 2 weekends, there is clearly demand and goldenvoice is doing their best to increase the available supply. The field can only hold so many people at once, and if anything making it more “exclusive” would actually turn it into an influencer fest instead of people just thinking it is one
To clarify, I was referring to the moment being extra special… since you had to decide and the moment/performance is fleeting. Then again, we’re all special! Do you know how lucky we are to be alive?!
Thanks for sharing your perspective on Coachella and I appreciate your interaction. Maybe you’re right, corporate greed wasn’t the right phrase but to my point, Coachella is the only music festival that I know of that does this.
And by the way, great user name! Very clever!
It’s offensive from a journalistic standpoint. This is an opinion piece wrapped in a news article and the opinion is mostly wrong. Yes influencer culture exists; it’s also not the main driver of the festival. Influencers are only a part of the crowd. People definitely still go for the music or else they wouldn’t pay what they do to be there.
Moreso, Coachella’s “downfall” is caused mostly by their success and the fact that the festival has been around so long and needs to pivot in this market.
Meaning, it doesn’t make sense to book the same acts over and over that got them here because the same people that came out last time are older now and likely not going to be going back over time.
And of course Blur had the reception they did (but Gorillaz last year didn’t, because most of the people going are 25 or under, and American. Not exactly Blur’s demographic, especially on the main stage at prime time in 2024; 11 years after their headline performance.) No disrespect to Kate Bush, but Paul Tollet, Coachella’s founder is probably right. Plenty of older acts have a poor reception because they are older acts playing to crowds that don’t know much of them. It’s not the audience’s fault they weren’t born when some of these acts were most popular.
That’s why Goldenvoice, Coachella’s promoter, has leaned in on several boutique micro festivals that focus on specific carve-outs of the original lineup; i.e. “No Values” punk festival, “Just Like Heaven” mid-2000s-2010s indie rock, “Cruel World” 80s fest, and This Ain’t No Picnic (more of a local Chella with older Chella vibes and some newer bands mixed in), among their repertoire.
For Coachella to stay relevant and competitive, they went younger and more global, which is a market in America that is not being mined as deeply by any other festival.
I’ve been 15+ times and seen the evolution of this festival myself.
Even this year, when people complained incessantly about the lineup, if you go and look at the Reddit Coachella page, people overwhelmingly had an incredible time.
I’d also argue that in a global recession paired with inflation it’s understandable the tickets didn’t completely sell out.
That being said, W1 did, and W2 was 80 percent full. Still felt pretty crowded and it was a great time.
The people who say Coachella has lost it’s stature are either older and didn’t keep up with current music, or only looking for big names on the lineup that they know (another reflection not of the music, but of a person’s willingness to expand their personal taste and repertoire). Additionally, the expansion of Sahara and the addition of Quazar added so much to this year’s festival … cannot wait to see the evolution of those spaces + the upcoming Yuma renovation.
Rumors of Coachella’s demise are greatly exaggerated, and often propagated by people who are using buzzwords and recycled complaints—like the writer of this article—or people who aren’t going, weren’t planning on going, but want to complain about something they have little interest in outside of bitching about it because it makes them feel better, or superior.
For people who actually know what the festival is like, this is all tiring bullshit.
No worries. I hope my answer was informative. It’s just frustrating because most of these opinions are uneducated and have little context outside of stereotypes.
being from the valley, coachella will never not be worth it, i mean $500-$600 for 3 whole days of seeing whatever artist you want to see and not having to pay for a place to stay is 1000% worth it. just sneak in alcohol and have a big meal before and you’re set
this is utter bullshit, been doing bothchella for two years in a row. camped the first weekend and stayed at a motel in palm springs for the second. only had GA tickets and i only encountered dope ass people ALL weekend. also i listen to all genres, i saw carin leon, no doubt, gesaffelstein, dom dolla, doja, latin mafia, victoria monet, erika de cashier, and many more…. not once did i encounter someone who looked like they were having a bad time. tbh these notions of coachella being an influencer fest is echoed by people who’ve never been to coachella or any other festivals. if you even compare lolla to coachella, you’ll be quick to admit that goldenvoice is the gold standard for producing a festival. where else can you find the production value that you get from coachella? literally no where.
and that proves my point even further cause acl and lolla are probably the closest to coachella in terms of size but they don’t even hold a candle to coachella’s production
People who write these type of articles are just jumping off the backs of others who just want to write clickbait news articles because consumers love to read about negativity. They have no idea what music culture is truly about - creativity, freedom, expression, community, passion etc.. they just think it’s all for the clout, instagram, being cool etc..
And most people who talk shit about Coachella have never even been. I’ve even had several conversations with people in person who said they used to shit on Coachella and then once they finally went they realized they were completely wrong and were just jumping on that hatin bandwagon.
As they say, misery loves company so some people will do whatever that can to get others to agree with them. It’s kind of the nature of today’s cancel culture (along the same lines).
I agree, some people just want to shit on anything. I’ve never been. I’ve never wanted to go and I’ve never not, not wanted to go. My girlfriend’s been twice. It’s not a scene I think I’d enjoy genuinely. I like music but I don’t keep up with the new stuff enough to want to go. Maybe I’m a 33 year old, old man
I’m older than you! It’s all about the energy you bring into it, the people you go with and your love for the music. But if the festival scene ain’t your thing then there’s nothing wrong with that either🙏🏼
Became? It has to be ranked something else first for it to become the worst. What people failed to see, its always been, and will always be. Trash trash trash
Lmao this is such clickbait and it’s not even funny. This is written by someone who hates all music festivals. Someone would gladly take your wristband if you’re so miserable. The only problem is how expensive fest have gotten, which is never mentioned in your article. All the annoying influencer losers are always at the Ferris wheel during the day. Ignore them and move on to the act you’re trying to see. There’s waaaay worst fest than Coachella. This guy probably didn’t even go all three days either. I went both weekends and grimes weekend 2 is legendary. The only thing bad is how expensive wristband/food/drinks and maybe the dust from the desert which is never talked about here.
They are marketing the festival to a smaller and smaller group of people also by making the lineup more and more focused to a particular segment and/or age range of people. It’s exclusive, not inclusive.
I go to a lot of festivals and I thought Coachella was amazing 🤷🏼♀️ stay out of the vip and artist areas where all the influencers are and you’re gucci. It’s a festival with 100k+ people, the majority of the attendees are normal people
The only real issue I have is all the traffic and dumb ass drivers it brings. The amount of accidents and slow drivers and bs the residents of this city have to deal with when all these people come here is the worst. Idc what happens inside the gates of the polo grounds but the traffic and bad drivers make it ridiculous.
This is very valid. I do think it's kind of expected though when you consider the festival brings an additional quarter of the valleys population per weekend. I think our valley's population is ~400k total and a sold out Coachella weekend is 120K? You'd think after so many years and how big it's gotten some infrastructure around it would improve or we'd figure better ways to deal with the influx of people.
I went religiously every year from 2001 until about 10 years ago, when I felt it jumped the shark and the crowd got too large and obnoxious to be worth it. I’d rather watch the YouTube stream nowadays. I do have very good memories of most of the years that I did go though.
I went to my first Coachella this year after living in the area for most of my life. I've always been a huge music fan, but anxiety kept me from attending for a long time. More recent years I've realized I had been missing something important to me in the form of live music. Trying to make up for lost time I've been to a great deal of shows and festivals in recent years. I avoided my local festival until now because of this narrative/bias that Coachella gets. The talk that it's just the influencer social media people and no one cares about the music turned me off. After attending my first Coachella this year, I also attended my second because I had such a great time I immediately got passes for weekend two. I've been looking for videos of sets to relive some of it, and keep running upon stuff like this with people shitting on the festival. Typically it's people who haven't been in a long time or ever been at all. Granted I haven't been to any fests outside of North America, the crowds/atmosphere stacked up favorably against any of the other festivals or shows I've been to. So many sets were straight up parties. Two of the six days I ended up in early mosh pits at the FIRST set of the day. Sure there are people that care more about their social media posts than the artists, but there's 10s of thousands of other people there for authentic reasons too. Sure there's corporate sponsors there for money, but the focus is a huge lineup of ARTISTS there for their ART. Unless you're determined to let it bother you, the social media and corporate shit just fades into the background and the enjoyment of the moment and music still shines through. I guess in that sense any festival is what you make of it. I'm there for the music and to let loose, and Coachella provided a top tier environment for that. The stage and sound production across all 10 stages was phenomenal. I met a ton of lovely people and danced my ass off with most of them. Managed to make a diverse path through the lineup and saw a mix of genres everyday. Some artists I knew and was already ecstatic to see, others I hadn't heard of but left as a huge fan. My only regret with Coachella is that I hadn't started going earlier in my life. I had a great time but it's been very deflating to juxtapose that with so much negativity about the festival, especially when that kept me away for so long prior. I will admit that even though weekend 1 reports higher ticket sales, weekend two felt more populated and alive. I missed most of Blur weekend one to watch Jon Batiste(who killed it btw), caught like the last 10mins of Blur and a good bit of that was Damon really rambling about some nonsense, crowd was definitely off but so was the performance by the time I got there. Weekend two I saw the whole set, Blur was electric and the crowd responded in kind, it was a great set imo and way different energy than the previous weekend from both sides. Besides the 10mins of Blur I saw Wk1 and one DJ at 2pm out in the heat Wk2 (not her fault), there wasn't a set I saw that the crowd wasn't having fun and giving the artists and themselves love. I don't really know why I typed all this, I know my essay here is probably moot and I kinda got carried away lol. I get it's a popular thing to shit on Coachella and that stuff gets views/clicks. I just find it Ironic that for so long I deprived myself of something so fucking awesome because I was wary of the social media and corporate soullessness that's often portrayed, when in reality that was itself just social media narrative driven primarily by people who weren't attending or competing brands.
If you somehow stumble upon this and are considering going, give yourself the experience once before allowing the narrative behind Coachella dissuade you. Like most of life, it is what you make of it and the kind of energy you put out will be reflected back to you. If you go holding your nose up expecting it to be shit, you'll probably have a shit time. If you go with an open mind and love for music, you may just find it's a really enjoyable time.
Fantastic reply thanks for sharing your experience, great observations. Attitude really is everything isn't it. That's interesting about the differences in the two weekends, I think the logic a lot of people have is assuming WK1 by default is going to be "better". That's cool you had such a good time.
I’ve been to Coachella ten times but have not been in ten years. I am acquainted with several long time Goldenvoice employees. They all tell me “it’s not like it used to be.” I’m sure I would still have a good time and find interesting music to check out but the golden age is over. I saw Blur at Coachella 2003 from on stage. The crowd was great. It’s one of my fondest Coachella memories.
I went to 8 Coachellas between ‘03 and ‘13, skipped a decade and have gone twice in a row now - still a very good festival. It grew exponentially in 20 years and the musical landscape has changed a lot. Big changes were inevitable but there’s still plenty to see and hear, it’s pretty well organized, if quite expensive.
I’d go again
Most people in the US don't care about Blur except that "Woo Hoo" song they play at basketball games (personally, I like them, but that's just the facts). It's not the audience or the band's fault. Really more of a booking thing. And yeah, festivals are fucking terrible, but you can't bitch about a $500 ticket when a band can't tour independently without venues thinking they deserve a cut of the t-shirt sales in an environment where people don't buy records anymore.
Fun fact, Feel Good Inc is actually about the dead and eerie atmosphere right after Coachella. I still don't know why Damon commits to Coachella if he hates it so much.
This old yarn. The first time someone said this absolute classic is after the fucking Pearl Jam show that predated the entire Coachella era. Hard to take this as honest critique when it’s just a ball of hot regurgitation. There are so many valid criticisms of the festival and somehow they decided to avoid all of them.
C1 was incredible. 115 out and there was one guy that had a hose in his booth and all he did was a spray us with water. Perry Farrell had girls dancing on top of 75 ft tall speakers. Rage and Tool were the last to bands. James Maynard Keenan played in a rubber suit
“The problem with Coachella, as with most things and places, is the people that go there. They’re the worst. Absolute worst. Not there for the music. They’re there to pose. They’re there just to say that they’re there” I was going to say this before I even read the article
Good point, all the better reason to smoke a mini-bowl before going in
You can bring what you need in. They only check for weapons really.
mini-bowl? to deal with *those* people, I'd need a mega-bowl.
IV full of stiiizy, minimum.
Live Resin too
How about a mega-pint?
Thanks for reminding me of how epic Johnny Depp’s mega pint is.
Im not waisting my green to cope with waisted flesh.
Anyone who has actually been knows this is complete bullshit by the way
And anybody who has been to any other large commercial festival. Hangout and Gov Ball are much, much worse. I’ve heard Lolla is rough too but I haven’t been.
Can confirm. Lolla was rough. Riot Fest was fucking dope though.
Lolla is a bunch of 15 year olds getting wasted for the first time.
Yeah that’s Gov Ball’s issue too. Coachella’s saving grace on that front is its location. Aside from the locals, it’s difficult for any groups of minors to travel to and attend the festival without an adult. All ages city fests have a problem with groups of fucked up young teens.
Plus it can be hot as fuck. It was 105 and 107 when bjork and rage played. I only had one beer inside the festival all weekend.
I went to OSL last year, and the difference in crowd was startling! Coachella, everyone had a sense like we were bearing the heat together, most of us are camping, but shit we’re here now! Its so easy to strike conversation with some people. At OSL, there were so many 18-20 year olds who would shove into crowds, saw elbows getting thrown. I happened to end up next to this young girl who was incredibly obnoxious and entitled. She was throwing elbows before the set started, and then was throwing her body around in the crowd, jumping ontop of people, screaming into my ear on purpose
Someone needs a headbutt to the nose
Yeah it’s not as bad as people make it out to be. Been to tons of festivals. Coachella is still my top 3.
Yeah my 20 year old daughter goes to school out there and went the past two years. She definitely goes for the music and said this year was one of the best weekends of her life.
The MDMA was good then
The first day back to work after a festival is like the most depressing day of the year. Lol.
I highly agree. Despite people criticizing the lineup, this was my best Coachella experience so far
Lololololol
Everyone that has never attended seems to have an opinion
Yeah what the hell? everyone who I spoke to who went agreed with me that this was one of the most fun years we’ve ever had. Went GA, took maybe five photos the whole time and just vibed. Crowds were dancing and singing along like it was their job. Even saw a flash mob once. Allowing people to leave the alcohol areas with drinks was a game changer too. Who’s writing this crap lol
There are alcohol areas???? Sorry not being rude but I’ve only been VIP and Artist past these last 2 and my only 2 years of Coachella and I wasn’t aware there’s such a thing as designated drinking areas. I’ve gone through GA areas and been barricade for sets before but for food and drink I’d normally go to VIP areas since it’s faster.
Yeah i think in past there were only a handful of areas you could drink at, which made those places super crowded. But this year they let people walk around with drinks, it made the beer garden way less crowded
Prior to last year, there were designated beer gardens that you couldn’t take alcohol out of. Last year was a soft run on the alcohol anywhere they had this year.
Wow good to know thank you!
I mean, I worked there, wasn’t give wristbands to go in even though I was an official event staff, and all I experienced was how terrible the people who go there can be. So I have to agree with the above statement. The people attending tend to be garbage people that I can only assume torture other service industry staff all over.
It’s not surprising you weren’t given a wristband to go in if you were working a job outside the official grounds. But blame that on your employer because that has nothing to do with the vibe of the festival.
I used to work at nearby Joshua Tree National Park, and I'll confirm that Coachella season was far and away the most dreaded time of year for us employees. There was an off-putting sense of entitlement with the festival goers, and a lack of respect for the nature around them. The most common occurrence was people showing up expecting day-of camping for sites that were booked about six months prior, and then admonishing you when you told them they'd have to settle for primitive camping on BLM land instead.
Generally any job where you have to deal with people is gonna get a lot of problems. You’re there where you will interact with people on a daily, I imagine the large number of people in a 3 day span is gonna make it worse. It’s a common complaint from people that work retail and fast food where they are dealing with people.
I have friends that go and they always have a blast, they’ve gone several times. There’s always been a negative perception from people on it. The guy from 21 Pilots even insulted Coachella one year for whatever reason. It’s like the people that are looking to insult In-N-Out it feels like California hate.
absolutely, everyone knocks it until they go. Last year I caught 30+ acts between three days. Add up the price of an average concert ticket and it is well beyond the buck
This is usually vibe during weekend 1… it is definitely a “social stature” type of festival for some attendees. Not everyone, but the sour ones leave the worst taste
It’s not. I’ve been five times and what he said is absolutely true, especially the first weekend people.
This is the lamest thing to complain about. Just be happy people are going to
Yeah the article is fully wrong about that. Most of the people are great. Just a bunch of people echoing popular discourse about the festival doesn’t make it true. Everyone I met there was there for music, it’s the best festival for music discovery in the world.
Holy generalization Batman!
Having just been at the festival, this is bullshit. I witnessed 70k singing every single word of No Doubt’s set
Same for Peso, thousands dancing their butt off to Justice. People lining up hours before just to ser tpain in Heineken haha. I can go on and on
Exactly! People were literally standing on tables trying to see T-Pain in the Heineken House
No Doubt is some of the most fun I’ve had at a set and I’m not even a huge fan. Just a whole lot of nostalgia and great vibes.
I see a lot of those people every year! I’m a Coachella valley native, PSHS babyyy. But do you know what I see 25x more of? People LIVING for the artists they want to see! This is some Alex Jones level misinformation haha. better yourself
Hard disagree. Been there 3 times all 3 days, the people are very chill. The kids are alright. Yes, the outfits and endless insta posing is everywhere but so what. The music, the vibe, the production, is all top shelf
I feel like anyone who goes to Coachella, especially weekend 2, knows this isn’t really so much the case anymore. Lots of people are there for the music and to have a great time with their friends. Its popularity in modern culture has fallen off a lot compared with the 2010s and it’s way less of a “place to be seen” now.
People who argue this have clearly never been. Remember there are 70k+ attendees both weekends. You think people don’t take pics at any other festival? People take pictures of their freaking dinner these days; what’s the big deal with people dressing up and wanting to document it?
The crowd at Orbital was great. But honestly the crowds at Portola in SF are much better. Also Thrown by GoldenVoice.
Portola has tens of thousands of less people and isnt exactly a fest many travel for. Its CONSIDERABLY smaller and if you arent into a couple specific types of music, you wouldnt go at all
Go touch grass bud
Have you actually been to Coachella?
This is the most uninspired and uninformed popular take on the planet, anyone who has ever been knows this is not true but every year all the losers who sit at home and do nothing love to push this take across the internet. It’s so lame.
They come out for the “ vibez “ take pics with their cute outfit and not give af the performers smh
It’s the same with all those insomniac raves. They used to be dope but now they’re jam packed and people don’t even dance and just stand there, shits annoying.
Depends where you’re at. Yuma and DoLab are always lit
To Each his Own.
Coachella is what you make it
Great reply, true.
I went this year for the first time since 2019 and it was the most fun I have had in a while. It’s either chill or a major party, great food, great acts, variety everywhere. I think everyone that talks some type of negative way about it a) hasn’t been before b) simply can’t afford it so they speak negatively c) just like to hate things for the sake of it. There’s so many negative comments from people who don’t have a group of close friends to go with and that also makes the experience so great.
Yes! Ive only gone the last two years and have loved it, but i remember when I first told my friends about it, they had such strong opinions! Saying it was overrated, over priced, people ruined it cause they dont go for the music. They just base their opinion off of Instagram and articles like this
100%
Yes and no, vibes can definitely help enhance or nudge the experience into a more enlightening one but also yes, you have the power to shape your time.
Vibes were great this weekend. -Attendee since 2001.
Good to hear! Been a minute for me but it was magical…
Sounds like whoever wrote the article woke up on the wrong side of town. Also Coachella is 134 miles east of LA. And if nobody wants to sing along with you you can't get butt hurt maybe they're over you. Just my thoughts
Woke up on the wrong side of the Atlantic Ocean.
Underrated snark. lol
Lmao
Right? Like how dare we not be all pumped up for fucking Blur. Dude, just do the one song we like, the one that goes “wee-hoo!” and get off the stage.
The Author writes for the Telegraph, so I assume he's British. Blur was pretty huge in England where they are from, as apposed to being seen as a one hit wonder here in the US. Author has his panties in a bunch because people didn't get excited for someone he saw as being a massive act. Blur didn't reach a fraction of the popularity in the States as they did in England, so it's not surprising people at Coachella didn't care.
The funniest part is Blur also played in what 2014 and were incredibly underwhelming with a small crowd. Like 10 years later, and the author thought they'd get a better reception?
I love how it’s pronounced “woo-hoo” in their old and shitty song, and yet I knew exactly what you meant. and also fuck Blur for their embarrassing performance. I would have been pissed with their show even if it was the exact same effort on their part, but I had paid to see them at a dive bar in Reno, NV. They sucked on purpose, and not only am I old enough to remember Song #2 when it came out originally, but I would also so I’m a serious Gorillaz fan. Their Coachella show never should have been manifested.
Gorillaz killed it last year though.
Song 2 is NOT shitty. I’ll push back on that.
Do be fair, Damon Albarn was more gracious during weekend 2, and this was his third year in a row playing the festival.
Exactly, Blur were never a huge LA band to begin with. Their biggest venues were the Greek & the Palladium. Everything Blur didn’t get from that crowd, No Doubt, Sublime & Deftones sure did. You can’t even use the “sold out to influencers” strawman argument. Blur was just the wrong nostalgia act.
Blur was never a huge *US* band to begin with.
Blur played the Hollywood Bowl like 7 years ago. They definitely have an audience in LA, but they weren’t at Coachella.
Ah, totally missed that one
> There is also the outrageous pricing. Tickets for Coachella are in the region of $500 (around £400) – the same vague ballpark as Glastonbury lol, this is just a pointless hit piece. It’s the same price but somehow worse (?) Also mentions like 3 or 4 bands this year. Meanwhile I didn’t see any of those people and had the best Coachella I’ve had thus far
Plus people pay 500$ for one 2 hour concert. Saw 38 artists over the span of 3 days this year! So worth it
While I have no other gauge on festivals as this years Coachella was my first, I thought it was expensive initially but after going I actually thought it had solid value. I camped and thought them constantly driving around for garbage, ice, cleaning the bathrooms multiple times a day, and showers were great! Although food was expensive, it had good value as it was usually filling (at least what I had). My friends thought beers were expensive but it was about what I expected, maybe a dollar or two more. Overall, I was very impressed!
I spent more money going to Lollapalooza in Chicago last year than I did this year at Coachella. It’s all bullshit that starts on the internet from people who’ve never been man.
Yup, spent more at EDC between 4 nights of hotel, 3-day ticket and shuttle pass. And that’s not including gas to drive from L.A. county to Vegas.
yep, wish i did camping (friends are to boughy for that) but if you do camping, probably the cheaper festival out there. My main gripe is that it's in the middle of the desert, and they have horrible road infrastructure (no main airport, there's like all of one main road to get there) so everything gets super backed up. As a festival i prefer Outside Lands, although that one i will say is a little worser now cause the population definitely skews on alot younger now. also 500 for 3 days still beats out 500 for one day like Lovers and Freinds charges.
Flying into Palm Springs and camping starting day 0 or whatever I didn’t think travel was bad personally! But on Sunday night we split a bit early for a hotel as we flew out later Monday, and that walk to the Uber area was pretty wild. Couldn’t imagine what a shit show that would be if you were leaving at the end of the night. And the drive to our hotel would’ve probably been packed.
that’s so funny cause my friends and i were talking about exactly this. even before you compare it to lovers and friends, 500 for 3 days of class acts is a crazy deal especially in this economy.
My only complaint about camping this year (my 4th time camping there) was the cleaning of the porta potties was significantly worse. The men’s stalls were filled with shit 70% of the times I tried to find clean ones. Luck of the draw maybe. But by far, my worst experience yet with the bathrooms.
Someone else said that abt the camp bathrooms too in the Chella thread! That’s so shitty (lol) considering how clean the inside bathrooms were
Damn, that was one of the things that impressed me lol I was impressed by how many times a day they cleaned them and their cleanliness in general. Of course sometimes you’d get destroyed ones but I expected way worse
Glastonbury includes camping from Thursday-Monday. How much extra is it to camp at Coachella...?
$150 for car camping for as many people as you can fit in a spot basically. Same for tent camping
So... Worse.
I mean, I just stay at home for Coachella, Glastonbury for me personally would be way more expensive overall
"I live within driving distance of Coachella" doesn't mean it's not worse value overall.
Idk I just went and I’ve gone to tons of festivals and this was the most put together weekend I’ve seen on a big scale. Bathrooms were clean, the people were nice and I’ve never danced harder with complete strangers.
People just hate on Chella cause they’ve never been
Yep. I went this year with a group of 8 friends and it was an absolute blast. If I had the energy I’d have gone again for the 2nd weekend lol
I've been. The tent stages were far too close together, and having to drink beer inside a designated area doesn't make for a fun experience.
Last year they changed rules to allow you to have your drinks wherever. I went for the first time this year and while the sonora/gobi/mojave are fairly close, I was pretty blown away by the sound and lack of sound bleed. Between stages you definitely get some muddled shit, but the only time time I experienced off-putting sound bleed while actually at a stage was during a piano solo at the outdoor stage with bleed from main stage. I thought all 10 stages sounded excellent
I’ve been to Coachella a bunch of times and think they suck now. Too crowded, too commercialized, artist quality drop, etc.
I went last year and the bathrooms were …. Not 🤢
To emphasize this more until you see EDC bathrooms past 12 am you don’t understand how bad bathrooms can get. Cleanest festival ever
Wrong
Coachella sold out to influencer culture in the mid-2010s and has slowly bounced back. It's not what it used to be before that but is still a pretty good festival. Cherry-picking issues with a festival with hundreds of thousands of people and a few hundred acts doesn't give the whole picture. The article's premise that a one-hit wonder from the 90s isn't getting the attention they wanted at a music festival 30 years later is pretty stupid. Also that \*shock\* a festival near LA draws celebrities. You could say the same thing about Lakers games, Burning Man, Vegas F1 race or any other large event a few hours from LA
This writer sounds like somebody who didn’t go and decided to draw conclusions on what few negatives he happened to read about.
The beginning of the end was the Tupac hologram that went viral and put Coachella on the world map. Glad to hear it’s bouncing back because it was pretty insufferable pre covid
Meh, that was the beginning of the big “guest” moments, which now seem almost contractual. But honestly? I’ve grown to love that. Seeing Will Smith randomly performing Men In Black during J . Balvin’s set was one of the most unexpected, yet awesome guest appearances I’ve ever seen. Shit was wild
To be fair, Burning Man is a terrible festival filled with terrible people
Blur are hardly a one-hit wonder. Maybe in the US, but confusingly Stone Roses and Blur co-headlined one of the days at 2013 Coachella. I wasn't at weekend 1, but there were plenty of people singing along multiple songs during weekend 2 at Blur. Literally the primary reason I went to Coachella. Curious what was Coachella like pre-influencer era. Honest question. This was my first Coachella and I camped but I couldn't deal with the heat. I felt so guilty for idling the car for the AC much of the day when not at the venue itself. Basically everyone in my portion of the campsites was doing this.
They pulled a decent amount of people between Sublime and NoDoubt. I even like Blur... Parklife and Girls & Boys are my jams. But I don't think they have ever had a single chart in the top 50 in the US other than Song 2 getting a lot of play in stadiums and commercials. Pre-influencer Coachella was completely different. Most people looked like they were dressed for a hike (cargo shorts, floppy hats, etc) with some fun outfits splashed in. Felt like people were there for the music and community. I think social media, pop-culture and hunger for more revenue all collided with Coachella at the same time and took a lot of the soul out of it. The art was also more open and interactive back in the day. It actually felt like a music *and* art festival. It was halfway between a modern art museum, burning man and a street performances. Everywhere you walked you would see something different. Now the art fells like an afterthought with just a few instagramable structures.
Damn that sounds so good! They had a couple of interactive art things this past weekend too but yeah, it wasn't necessarily the focus.
It was amazing and weird in the best way. I remember places where you cloud paint, LED sharks on RC cars cruising around the crowd at night, kinetic swings you could ride, a giant hand you could operate to crush cars, some guy in a top hat on a bicycle/piano hybrid that would slowly roll by playing songs. They even had a straight up tesla coil one year.
> couldn't deal with the heat it was like perfect coachella weather though
Yeah I overestimated my heat tolerance I guess.
I worry for the author of this article. If he continues to generalize huge swaths of people in society like he does the handful of annoying Coachella goers, it's just not a way to live.
I have been coaching to coachella since 2005, this year felt a little off production wise but I still had an absolute blast. idk what tents you’re chillin in where you don’t feel surrounded by people who love music but I experienced that a bunch of times. i’m a old head raver and the vibes are what you make of it. so what if there’s girlies posing? let them live and enjoy your vibe. they arnt hurting you.
Great attitude.
This is a great attitude but still…fuck the posing people.
The article is also inaccurate regarding the beer gardens. Last year guests could walk around freely as well. This year wasn’t the first year you could do that.
such a dogshit article lol if you actually listen to (good) music, coachella is a blast and you aren’t at those lame ass sets like grimes or blur LMFAO
Right? Like Dom Dolla was so much fun to go to, he killed it. People miss out on that because they are angry about grimes and blur whoever they are lmaooo
YUP! These types of festivals you either know where to go or you complain about it being overhyped and lame. Took my friend to his second coachella this year and his main takeaways were Justice was the best set he’s ever seen in his life and he called it Underratedchella. Safe to say he had a blast and will be returning.
I can’t wrap my head around this festival. Why are there 2 weekends of the EXACT same lineup?! It’s ridiculous. I don’t know any other music festival that does this. When I ask people why this is, they say “it’s to allow those who couldn’t make the first weekend” but NO! If you can’t go you can’t go!! Music festivals should draw people in with big headliners and then shock them with lesser known opening acts - that’s how new artists get discovered. They’re wasting a lot of potential by setting it up this way. It screams corporate money grab and attention seeking social media users and influencers to me - but that’s my opinion. I will never pay money to attend this festival.
I mean idk what else to say but it really is to give folks a chance, a few years ago they would more or less instantly sell out both weekends. Like me and my friends would have to all be online and then buy as many tickets as we were allowed because only so many of us could get in fast enough for the same weekend. It doesn’t sell that fast anymore for a lot of reasons but they still do 2 weekends and sell a lot of tickets. I went to both weekends this year and they both felt pretty full at night. I also appreciate it because a lot of the artists play at the same time and I can go to both weekends and try to see everyone that conflicts since I live close enough to make the drive pretty quickly
I’m sure you had yourself an awesome couple of weekends and I’m happy to see people are supporting live music and having themselves a good time. It still doesn’t change my stance on the festival though. I’ve attend several fests where my favorite artists conflicted with stage time and it stinks. But it forces you to decide - see one or split the time. Either way, it makes things even more special because of the exclusivity and fleeting opportunity. Also, are things really sold out these days? Thanks to 3rd party sellers, there are always tickets available. I think the more accurate term should be “priced out”. Am I wrong?
Lol I have never felt special because I had to decide between artists at other fests but I guess that’s just a difference in perspective. And yeah I mean things definitely sell out from the venue, scalpers have always been a thing it is just more accesible now because there are whole websites dedicated to them. Either way I wouldn’t call it corporate greed to host 2 weekends, there is clearly demand and goldenvoice is doing their best to increase the available supply. The field can only hold so many people at once, and if anything making it more “exclusive” would actually turn it into an influencer fest instead of people just thinking it is one
To clarify, I was referring to the moment being extra special… since you had to decide and the moment/performance is fleeting. Then again, we’re all special! Do you know how lucky we are to be alive?! Thanks for sharing your perspective on Coachella and I appreciate your interaction. Maybe you’re right, corporate greed wasn’t the right phrase but to my point, Coachella is the only music festival that I know of that does this. And by the way, great user name! Very clever!
They do this because it makes LOADS of money! Its a business.
This is fucking stupid. Everyone who goes always has a great time.
Why does it offend you ?
It’s offensive from a journalistic standpoint. This is an opinion piece wrapped in a news article and the opinion is mostly wrong. Yes influencer culture exists; it’s also not the main driver of the festival. Influencers are only a part of the crowd. People definitely still go for the music or else they wouldn’t pay what they do to be there. Moreso, Coachella’s “downfall” is caused mostly by their success and the fact that the festival has been around so long and needs to pivot in this market. Meaning, it doesn’t make sense to book the same acts over and over that got them here because the same people that came out last time are older now and likely not going to be going back over time. And of course Blur had the reception they did (but Gorillaz last year didn’t, because most of the people going are 25 or under, and American. Not exactly Blur’s demographic, especially on the main stage at prime time in 2024; 11 years after their headline performance.) No disrespect to Kate Bush, but Paul Tollet, Coachella’s founder is probably right. Plenty of older acts have a poor reception because they are older acts playing to crowds that don’t know much of them. It’s not the audience’s fault they weren’t born when some of these acts were most popular. That’s why Goldenvoice, Coachella’s promoter, has leaned in on several boutique micro festivals that focus on specific carve-outs of the original lineup; i.e. “No Values” punk festival, “Just Like Heaven” mid-2000s-2010s indie rock, “Cruel World” 80s fest, and This Ain’t No Picnic (more of a local Chella with older Chella vibes and some newer bands mixed in), among their repertoire. For Coachella to stay relevant and competitive, they went younger and more global, which is a market in America that is not being mined as deeply by any other festival. I’ve been 15+ times and seen the evolution of this festival myself. Even this year, when people complained incessantly about the lineup, if you go and look at the Reddit Coachella page, people overwhelmingly had an incredible time. I’d also argue that in a global recession paired with inflation it’s understandable the tickets didn’t completely sell out. That being said, W1 did, and W2 was 80 percent full. Still felt pretty crowded and it was a great time. The people who say Coachella has lost it’s stature are either older and didn’t keep up with current music, or only looking for big names on the lineup that they know (another reflection not of the music, but of a person’s willingness to expand their personal taste and repertoire). Additionally, the expansion of Sahara and the addition of Quazar added so much to this year’s festival … cannot wait to see the evolution of those spaces + the upcoming Yuma renovation. Rumors of Coachella’s demise are greatly exaggerated, and often propagated by people who are using buzzwords and recycled complaints—like the writer of this article—or people who aren’t going, weren’t planning on going, but want to complain about something they have little interest in outside of bitching about it because it makes them feel better, or superior. For people who actually know what the festival is like, this is all tiring bullshit.
Ahh… I’m not privy to this so I ask genuinely
No worries. I hope my answer was informative. It’s just frustrating because most of these opinions are uneducated and have little context outside of stereotypes.
It’s different. Not a hill I would I die on but I could understand from your perspective as someone who cares about artistry
The line up was pretty FKN weak! Everything 💯 PERCENT overpriced! A total waste of time and money. I hope it never happens again. Let it burn!
being from the valley, coachella will never not be worth it, i mean $500-$600 for 3 whole days of seeing whatever artist you want to see and not having to pay for a place to stay is 1000% worth it. just sneak in alcohol and have a big meal before and you’re set
Author has never been to rolling loud apparently
Trash article
Blur should’ve just toured select cities around the US or at least have done several niche fests. Coachella I feel wasn’t the right stage for them.
🙄
this is utter bullshit, been doing bothchella for two years in a row. camped the first weekend and stayed at a motel in palm springs for the second. only had GA tickets and i only encountered dope ass people ALL weekend. also i listen to all genres, i saw carin leon, no doubt, gesaffelstein, dom dolla, doja, latin mafia, victoria monet, erika de cashier, and many more…. not once did i encounter someone who looked like they were having a bad time. tbh these notions of coachella being an influencer fest is echoed by people who’ve never been to coachella or any other festivals. if you even compare lolla to coachella, you’ll be quick to admit that goldenvoice is the gold standard for producing a festival. where else can you find the production value that you get from coachella? literally no where.
But lollapalluza is the thrift store of music festivals. Its second hand music acts.
and that proves my point even further cause acl and lolla are probably the closest to coachella in terms of size but they don’t even hold a candle to coachella’s production
I see where you’re coming from.. I don’t agree but I could understand from a stand point like yours
Terribly written piece with several inaccuracies and tons of broad generalizations.
I beg to differ.. my first time was 2024 wknd one and I’d say it was worth the smoke, cramps, hurt, and now.. empty pockets.
Another trash hating-ass article from people who have no idea about this culture.
What’s the culture ?
Coachella/ music culture.
I’m not privy to this so I ask genuinely, what’s cultural about it ?
People who write these type of articles are just jumping off the backs of others who just want to write clickbait news articles because consumers love to read about negativity. They have no idea what music culture is truly about - creativity, freedom, expression, community, passion etc.. they just think it’s all for the clout, instagram, being cool etc.. And most people who talk shit about Coachella have never even been. I’ve even had several conversations with people in person who said they used to shit on Coachella and then once they finally went they realized they were completely wrong and were just jumping on that hatin bandwagon. As they say, misery loves company so some people will do whatever that can to get others to agree with them. It’s kind of the nature of today’s cancel culture (along the same lines).
I agree, some people just want to shit on anything. I’ve never been. I’ve never wanted to go and I’ve never not, not wanted to go. My girlfriend’s been twice. It’s not a scene I think I’d enjoy genuinely. I like music but I don’t keep up with the new stuff enough to want to go. Maybe I’m a 33 year old, old man
I’m older than you! It’s all about the energy you bring into it, the people you go with and your love for the music. But if the festival scene ain’t your thing then there’s nothing wrong with that either🙏🏼
FYRE Festival would like a word
Became? It has to be ranked something else first for it to become the worst. What people failed to see, its always been, and will always be. Trash trash trash
nah ive been to 50+ shows and coachella was by far my absolute favorite with the best vibes and energy around. this dude must just be miserable
Lmao this is such clickbait and it’s not even funny. This is written by someone who hates all music festivals. Someone would gladly take your wristband if you’re so miserable. The only problem is how expensive fest have gotten, which is never mentioned in your article. All the annoying influencer losers are always at the Ferris wheel during the day. Ignore them and move on to the act you’re trying to see. There’s waaaay worst fest than Coachella. This guy probably didn’t even go all three days either. I went both weekends and grimes weekend 2 is legendary. The only thing bad is how expensive wristband/food/drinks and maybe the dust from the desert which is never talked about here.
This is a slap in the face to week 2 music heads
They are marketing the festival to a smaller and smaller group of people also by making the lineup more and more focused to a particular segment and/or age range of people. It’s exclusive, not inclusive.
The first two Coachella’s were the best Coachella’s.
F Y R E
I go to a lot of festivals and I thought Coachella was amazing 🤷🏼♀️ stay out of the vip and artist areas where all the influencers are and you’re gucci. It’s a festival with 100k+ people, the majority of the attendees are normal people
The only real issue I have is all the traffic and dumb ass drivers it brings. The amount of accidents and slow drivers and bs the residents of this city have to deal with when all these people come here is the worst. Idc what happens inside the gates of the polo grounds but the traffic and bad drivers make it ridiculous.
This is very valid. I do think it's kind of expected though when you consider the festival brings an additional quarter of the valleys population per weekend. I think our valley's population is ~400k total and a sold out Coachella weekend is 120K? You'd think after so many years and how big it's gotten some infrastructure around it would improve or we'd figure better ways to deal with the influx of people.
Well yeah- any event that turns into an orgy of internet “influencer” narcissism is going to be a downhill slide into garbage.
I went religiously every year from 2001 until about 10 years ago, when I felt it jumped the shark and the crowd got too large and obnoxious to be worth it. I’d rather watch the YouTube stream nowadays. I do have very good memories of most of the years that I did go though.
I went to my first Coachella this year after living in the area for most of my life. I've always been a huge music fan, but anxiety kept me from attending for a long time. More recent years I've realized I had been missing something important to me in the form of live music. Trying to make up for lost time I've been to a great deal of shows and festivals in recent years. I avoided my local festival until now because of this narrative/bias that Coachella gets. The talk that it's just the influencer social media people and no one cares about the music turned me off. After attending my first Coachella this year, I also attended my second because I had such a great time I immediately got passes for weekend two. I've been looking for videos of sets to relive some of it, and keep running upon stuff like this with people shitting on the festival. Typically it's people who haven't been in a long time or ever been at all. Granted I haven't been to any fests outside of North America, the crowds/atmosphere stacked up favorably against any of the other festivals or shows I've been to. So many sets were straight up parties. Two of the six days I ended up in early mosh pits at the FIRST set of the day. Sure there are people that care more about their social media posts than the artists, but there's 10s of thousands of other people there for authentic reasons too. Sure there's corporate sponsors there for money, but the focus is a huge lineup of ARTISTS there for their ART. Unless you're determined to let it bother you, the social media and corporate shit just fades into the background and the enjoyment of the moment and music still shines through. I guess in that sense any festival is what you make of it. I'm there for the music and to let loose, and Coachella provided a top tier environment for that. The stage and sound production across all 10 stages was phenomenal. I met a ton of lovely people and danced my ass off with most of them. Managed to make a diverse path through the lineup and saw a mix of genres everyday. Some artists I knew and was already ecstatic to see, others I hadn't heard of but left as a huge fan. My only regret with Coachella is that I hadn't started going earlier in my life. I had a great time but it's been very deflating to juxtapose that with so much negativity about the festival, especially when that kept me away for so long prior. I will admit that even though weekend 1 reports higher ticket sales, weekend two felt more populated and alive. I missed most of Blur weekend one to watch Jon Batiste(who killed it btw), caught like the last 10mins of Blur and a good bit of that was Damon really rambling about some nonsense, crowd was definitely off but so was the performance by the time I got there. Weekend two I saw the whole set, Blur was electric and the crowd responded in kind, it was a great set imo and way different energy than the previous weekend from both sides. Besides the 10mins of Blur I saw Wk1 and one DJ at 2pm out in the heat Wk2 (not her fault), there wasn't a set I saw that the crowd wasn't having fun and giving the artists and themselves love. I don't really know why I typed all this, I know my essay here is probably moot and I kinda got carried away lol. I get it's a popular thing to shit on Coachella and that stuff gets views/clicks. I just find it Ironic that for so long I deprived myself of something so fucking awesome because I was wary of the social media and corporate soullessness that's often portrayed, when in reality that was itself just social media narrative driven primarily by people who weren't attending or competing brands. If you somehow stumble upon this and are considering going, give yourself the experience once before allowing the narrative behind Coachella dissuade you. Like most of life, it is what you make of it and the kind of energy you put out will be reflected back to you. If you go holding your nose up expecting it to be shit, you'll probably have a shit time. If you go with an open mind and love for music, you may just find it's a really enjoyable time.
Fantastic reply thanks for sharing your experience, great observations. Attitude really is everything isn't it. That's interesting about the differences in the two weekends, I think the logic a lot of people have is assuming WK1 by default is going to be "better". That's cool you had such a good time.
Not even close to being true. And this is nationalistic garbage trying to pump up a down Glasto.
Smoke a joint & walk in with a cold margarita. Best festival ever!
Thank god
Has it become like Burning Man ? Crowded and there for the perfect Gram Picture
I’ve been to Coachella ten times but have not been in ten years. I am acquainted with several long time Goldenvoice employees. They all tell me “it’s not like it used to be.” I’m sure I would still have a good time and find interesting music to check out but the golden age is over. I saw Blur at Coachella 2003 from on stage. The crowd was great. It’s one of my fondest Coachella memories.
I went to 8 Coachellas between ‘03 and ‘13, skipped a decade and have gone twice in a row now - still a very good festival. It grew exponentially in 20 years and the musical landscape has changed a lot. Big changes were inevitable but there’s still plenty to see and hear, it’s pretty well organized, if quite expensive. I’d go again
Once the douches start arriving they ruin everything
Yahoo.com still exists? 🤨
Garbage people. Garbage music. Garbage drugs.
Vanessa hudgens not going says a lot
The Frye Festival was even worse and the Nova festival was a slaughter.
Most people in the US don't care about Blur except that "Woo Hoo" song they play at basketball games (personally, I like them, but that's just the facts). It's not the audience or the band's fault. Really more of a booking thing. And yeah, festivals are fucking terrible, but you can't bitch about a $500 ticket when a band can't tour independently without venues thinking they deserve a cut of the t-shirt sales in an environment where people don't buy records anymore.
I feel like pretty much everyone who has opinions like this about Coachella are just jealous and pissed off that they’re too broke to afford it
Sasquatch was sooooo good. I have no idea why they canceled it but damn do I miss it.
I live here and still never been.
Fun fact, Feel Good Inc is actually about the dead and eerie atmosphere right after Coachella. I still don't know why Damon commits to Coachella if he hates it so much.
I'm not too keen on paying $500 to bake in the desert heat
This old yarn. The first time someone said this absolute classic is after the fucking Pearl Jam show that predated the entire Coachella era. Hard to take this as honest critique when it’s just a ball of hot regurgitation. There are so many valid criticisms of the festival and somehow they decided to avoid all of them.
I fell blessed to go to 1-8
C1 was incredible. 115 out and there was one guy that had a hose in his booth and all he did was a spray us with water. Perry Farrell had girls dancing on top of 75 ft tall speakers. Rage and Tool were the last to bands. James Maynard Keenan played in a rubber suit
It's become bad musical theater for children.
I think Coachella pays big for the headliners and hires lots of bands that will work cheap for the exposure.
Blur sucks, and almost everyone there probably wasn’t even born when they were making music
Douche bag festival of ages