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Category: Music
Paul McCartney to help Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival celebrate 10th year08:26 PM PST on Friday, January 30, 2009By VANESSA FRANKOThe Press-EnterpriseSpecial Section: 2009 CoachellaIn 1999, Bill Clinton was in the White House and a new thing called the Internet drove the economy to new highs. Meanwhile, Beck, Tool and Rage Against the Machine headlined a first-year music festival, modeled after the decades-old Glastonbury and Reading Festivals in Europe, in the desert town of Indio.A decade later, the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival has become the gold standard of American festivals, this year bringing in pop legend Paul McCartney, emo-rock icons The Cure, and a big-selling band called the Killers, whose lead singer was still in high school when the festival started.The 2009 economy? Not so good. So concertgoers can finance their visit to Indio thanks to a layaway plan.Story continues below AP photoOrganizers Goldenvoice announced the lineup of the festival Friday, which takes place at Empire Polo Field on April 17-19. Also on the wildly diverse playbill: Morrissey, My Bloody Valentine, Leonard Cohen, Amy Winehouse, Franz Ferdinand and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs."It's a really varied lineup," said Paul Tollett, principal of Goldenvoice who books the show. "Like there's three or four different shows going on, almost."Some longtime fans of the show claim it's going too mainstream. Others say it's too indie. That's to be expected -- either way, it's all Coachella."It's tough because people look at the lineup from so many different perspectives," said Jonathan Cohen, senior editor at Billboard.He said some concertgoers look for the headliners, some look for the big reunions and some look for the undercard bands."From that perspective it's kind of impossible to please everybody," Cohen said.He said he's excited about the lineup, particularly McCartney, best known for being a Beatle, but who will also showcase the live debut of his edgy new project Fireman with musician/producer Youth.Tollett said McCartney was someone he was "super excited" to have perform and has long been on his list of dream artists for the festival.Story continues below 2008 / The Press-Enterprise-A crowd surfer enjoys the ride during last year's Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival at Empire Polo Field in Indio."I want, as people go to it, to feel like they're covering new ground on some things they've never seen before," he said. "Specifically to Paul McCartney, there's a big part of the crowd that has just never seen Paul McCartney play."Tollett is also excited about Saturday night headliner the Killers, who he has seen headline festivals in Europe."There's a band that started out in the tent and now they're a headliner," Tollett said.Rumors about the show have been flying with fake lineups for weeks, and the festival's message board was abuzz with debates among fans on whom they want to see."This is something I wait for," Lisette Perez, of Murrieta, said about the lineup.She has attended every Coachella.However, she doesn't think she will attend this year, because none of the more than 120 artists have piqued her interest. She loves the Cure, but she saw them headline the festival in 2004. Perez respects the Beatles but doesn't think McCartney will go over with the Coachella crowd. And the artists she loves such as Morrissey, she can catch at another venue for less money than the price tag of $99 for a single day and $269 for a three-day pass.Ivan McClain, of Temecula, plans on attending the Friday date, with McCartney and Morrissey headlining."He's a forefather of rock 'n' roll," McClain said about McCartney.Story continues below 2008 / The Press-EnterpriseHe's also excited to see Crystal Method and Ghostland Observatory on opening day, but he's less enthused about the rest of the weekend."It seems like Coachella is going soft," McClain said.He thinks the festival is leaning more indie than rock 'n' roll.There are acts from nearly every genre on the bill, such as hip-hop groundbreakers Public Enemy and punk rockers X and even countrified troubadour Ryan Bingham."It really offers a little something for everyone," said Mike Spinella, director of industry relations for Spinner and AOL Music.Spinella thinks that with the diverse lineup, the festival still lives up to its reputation."Coachella is the one people really get out and travel to," he said.Part of what Perez loves about Coachella is the community of people, covered in the desert dust and dirt, camping on the grounds who come out to see the music. But she thinks the people are changing."Because it's more mainstream, you're not going to pull the same people. You're going to get the people who go there for the scene," she said.While there are celebrities who head to the desert from Los Angeles, attending the show as well as private parties in plush homes, Goldenvoice is trying to make tickets available to everyone who wants to go during tough economic times.The promoter introduced a layaway plan for tickets in November when it announced Coachella's sister event, the Stagecoach Country Music Festival, which takes place April 24 and 25, also at the polo grounds. Tollett said 24 percent of the tickets sold for the country festival have been through layaway.The $269 three-day Coachella pass has options for 10 percent and 50 percent down, with concertgoers able to pay in installments."I'm really happy to see them accommodating to the times of the economy," McClain said.Cohen said it's an easy way to make the expense "a little less painful" on the wallets of concertgoers and thinks the plan will make an impact on sales."Some people want to go but they don't have all the money right now," Tollett said. "We didn't want to add to their problems with interest."Even though Perez is considering attending other festivals such as Bonnaroo and South by Southwest over Coachella this year, she acknowledges that a trip to Empire Polo Fields is still a possibility."At least once in your life, you should attend Coachella," Perez said. "You won't find any other experience like it."Reach Vanessa Franko at 951-368-9575, vfranko@PE.com, www.myspace.com/Audio_File or PE.com/blogs/music
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