In the coming weeks, we’ll have plenty of time to break down the 130-plus acts playing this year’s Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, scheduled for April 16-18 in its usual Indio, California, location (that’s four short hours away for you Las Vegans on the fence). For now, though, here’s some quick analysis of the official lineup revealed this morning:
Muse at the Joint December 12.
* Best day: If you can only spring for one, Sunday is hands-down the can’t-miss event. Damon Albarn’s animated outfit Gorillaz rarely plays live, and Coachella Valley paper the Desert Sun is reporting the group’s headlining set will be a “highly sophisticated, virtual reality multimedia show.” Leading up to that coolness: just-reunited ’90s indie icons Pavement, and Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke, perfoming under the ludicrous moniker “Thom Yorke????.” Considering that Jay-Z and Muse, the Friday and Saturday headliners, both recently played Las Vegas (and, in Muse’s case, will be back in April), the top of Sunday’s bill easily provides the best value for locals.
* Where’s Afghan?: It’s true, Afghan Raiders aren’t on the bill, and apparently won’t be added. Vincent “Beans” Campillo, one half of the Vegas electro duo, reports he and Mikey Francis have been informed they won’t be performing this year, at least not at the official fest. The Raiders, who played at one of the many parties that always seem to sprout up in the Coachella area that weekend, plan to look into similar options this April. Regardless, Campillo seems to have taken the news in stride: “I actually think it's for the best,” he says. “You only get one shot, really; we should play when we have a record out.”
* Retro mania: Coachella has long been known for its ability to bring dormant and semi-forgotten acts back from the dead, but this year’s lineup appears to have an extra dollop of nostalgia. Reunited hard-rockers Faith No More play Saturday, as do weirdo new-wavers Devo. Along with Pavement, Gary Numan (remember “Cars”?) and emo throwbacks Sunny Day Real Estate have signed up for Sunday. And Friday? It’s loaded with old-timey goodies: the John Lydon-led post-punkers Public Image Ltd., ska masters The Specials (yes, the band responsible for your having heard “Monkey Man” 8,000 times at the Double Down) and on-again/off-again college-rock vets Echo and the Bunnymen. Oh yeah, Sly and the Family Stone are listed for Sunday … but based on Sly’s strange pattern of behavior—not to mention that fun but rather forgettable set he put on at the Hilton a few years back—we’re not gonna get too excited about that one just yet.
Even John Waters has limits. Two words: Adult. Babies.
* Um, okay: Where else but on the Coachella poster can you find the names John Waters, Grace Jones and DJ Lance Rock in the same place? Yep, that’s Waters the filmmaker, Jones the singer-turned-terrible Bond girl and Rock the, um, fuzzy-orange-topped dude from kids TV show Yo Gabba Gabba! No word yet on what any of them have planned for the desert fest.
* Who else?: Obviously, choosing Coachella acts is mostly a matter of personal taste, but a few others that jumped out at us (largely because they never play Las Vegas) are: theatrical electronic-pop musician Fever Ray (aka The Knife’s Karin Dreijer Andersson), hyped folk-rockers Grizzly Bear, party-starters Hot Chip (already responsible for two memorable Coachella sets), Canadian garage-rockers King Khan and the Shrines, British techno duo Orbital, beats wizard Flying Lotus and indie-rock stalwarts Yo La Tengo. Maybe they’ll all stop by the Strip for steak and eggs while they’re in the area.
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