This entry was posted on Monday, January 21st, 2008 at 3:00 pm and is filed under Coachella '08. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
The indie-rock kids of Coachella are in store for a classic-rock moment this April: Roger Waters of Pink Floyd will re-create the band’s trippy 1973 masterpiece “Dark Side of the Moon” on the festival’s main stage, which also will feature the Raconteurs, the Verve, Jack Johnson, Kraftwerk and a reunion of Portishead.
The ninth edition of the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival will take over the Empire Polo Field outside the dusty town of Indio from April 25 through 27. The 125-act lineup was announced Monday afternoon at a press conference in Mexico City with Death Cab for Cutie, My Morning Jacket, Love and Rockets, and Justice among the names on the bill along with M.I.A., the Breeders, Rilo Kiley, Sasha & Digweed, Café Tacuba and Fatboy Slim. Tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday.
The festival has become a touchstone event in California and fan speculation has pinged across the Internet for months, along with a flurry of hoax lineups and posters; one apparently was convincing enough to fool the staff at (KYSR-FM) 98.7, which on Monday breathlessly reported that Radiohead and Muse would top the bill. Prince, David Bowie, the Smiths and No Doubt were the most commonly rumored Coachella acts; the booking of Waters, however, was a left-field choice and a generational mystery to many young loyalists of the Coachella brand.
FOR THE RECORD: This story incorrectly states the names of two bands booked to play at the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival in April. The bands are Porter and Austin TV, not Austin and Porter TV.
One comment posted by a reader at www.latimes.com was a clear indication that the 63-year-old Waters is on the other side of the wall when it comes to today’s generation of fans: “Is Roger Waters the one with the pig or was that Peter Frampton?”Promoter Paul Tollett, the architect of the show, has shown a puckish streak in the past with genre-surprises, such as booking Madonna for an elaborate dance-tent set or having Willie Nelson serenade fans waiting for Rage Against the Machine.This year, however, the top of the lineup is already being criticized by many in the cruel ether of the Internet. Some of that criticism is because Coachella is competing against its own stellar history of magic moments (such as the Pixies or Rage reunions) as well as an increasing number of regional festivals fishing from the same talent pool.
Tollett, a partner in the show with the concert promotion company AEG Live, pointed out Monday that there’s always debate about the top of the bill, but for the focused music fan, this year’s Coachella looks to be one of the strongest for up-and-coming acts and the middle tier of the bill. He declined to cite some of his favorites: “You just get in trouble with managers when you do that because you can’t mention every one.”
The press conference Monday was staged in Mexico as an acknowledgment of the country’s strong fan, artist and press support for Coachella, which was staged for the first time in 1999. This year Austin and Porter TV will be among the Mexican acts playing the festival.
–Geoff Boucher
Here’s a partial roster:
Roger Waters
The Verve
Portishead
The Raconteurs
My Morning Jacket
Rilo Kiley
Jack Johnson
Death Cab for Cutie
Kraftwerk
Justice
M.I.A.
Love & Rockets
The Breeders
Sasha & Digweed
Cafe Tacuba
Fatboy Slim
More to come …
[Photo 1: Roger Waters. Credit: Christine Cotter/LAT; Photo 2: M.I.A. Credit: Seth Wenig/AP ; Photo 3: Beth Gibbons of Portishead. Credit: Patrick Downs/LAT.]
how can you write this article and not include the whole list??? heartless…
Names of mexican bands are wrong..
soulhd be Austin TV and Porter
roger waters? wow..
Great reporting!
But try to get your story straight, particularly since many people will use your report to look up on the search engines the names of the acts you publish here, as is the regular occurrence with the buzz generated with the Coachella line-up… the names of the Mexican bands you mentioned are wrong, so please allow me to help/correct you… I’m not trying to say that your lack of attention is only natural, considering your lack of interest for what’s southbound beyond your borders, so in the interest of full access to these acts, which totally rock, btw…
Austin TV (www.MySpace.com/AustinTV)
Porter (www.MySpace.com/PorterBand)
Again, thanks!
(and better luck next time getting it right)
[…] [LA Times] […]
[…] I spent all MLK day fretting about Coachella. Now I can go outside and maybe nonviolently hassle some racists. […]
Looks like it’s lining up to be a pretty great show. Wish I could make it!
[…] Muselive about Muse headlining, but then was quickly reassured after a visit to the board and the LA Times that it wasn’t the case. And The Scenestar has very good coverage on it too, and from their […]
YES
Dredg will be there as well! Great local band from Nor Cal. Will you please post the full lineup. PLEASE!
its austin tv and porter and cafe tacuba the mexican acts
hi,
one correction–
the mexican bands are actually called _austin tv_ and porter.
thanks.
Not only do they have to compete with other festivals for the same talent, they have to compete with their own new music fest in Jersey and I can tell you now, Coachella die hards are not happy about about 2nd teir bands headlining while the new festival gets Radiohead.
Waters is the architect behind the unmatched Pink floyd live legacy. He’s the foremost live pioneer in rock history.
Can’t wait!
Wow..I went last year and had made some preliminary plans to go this year but what a terrible line-up. Jack Johnson, Rogers Waters, The Verve, Death Cab for Cutie all have no right being anywhere near a main stage. Portishead I just can’t see as a mainstage act. Most of the fun is seeing all the smaller bands and at first glance I am disappointed that while there’s a lot of good dance stuff unlike last year there’s isn’t that much up and coming talent from over the pond. Last year you could see the Fratelli’s, the Arctic Monkeys, Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen, The Kaiser Chiefs, Jarvis Cocker, the Cribs etc. Unless you count Madness in that category. But the headliners - seriously - W.T.F? Where is REM who release a new album in April or maybe Franz Ferdinand or a Beck or dare I say it, Radiohead. Given that Goldenvoice are launching a headlining festival in New Jersey in August my guess is they signed all the best contracts for that event. Given that this is the premiere music festival in the most populous state in the Union makes the realisation that the headliners stink even worse.
[…] the most exciting news: The L.A. Times Music Blog revealed that Roger Waters (Pink Floyd) plans to re-create the band’s trippy 1973 masterpiece […]
Coachella looks to be cookin a rather decent line up this year despite the lacks of a Radiohead or and R.E.M. For all you dissapointed hipsters, fear not because you will get to see one of the marquee bands of the 80’s Love and Rockets, plus one of the current great live acts My Morning Jacket. Not too mention Jack White and his Raconteurs which should be splendid along with Englands Richard Ashcroft and the Verve, which is one of those most underrated english bands. Also DCFC whose made some wonderful records over the years, and Portishead, Beth Gibbons and her ensemble should provide some instersting eclectic moods under the California sun. Lets not forget all the little relatively unknown bands, that will get the light of day, and could possibly make it on your favs list, which is the most interesting aspect of this whole festival. Roger Waters, what a great opportunity to see and listen to one of the most influential records ever made, Darks Side of the Moon, and who can argue that the music of Pink Floyd has been a major influence to most of the music that we’ve seen and heard through out all the Coachella Festivals. Now we get to see and hear it, in all its glory and splendor. Lots of fun in the sun.
Too bad, ten-years too LATE on the line-up.
Coachella= “The Angry Young Republicans Annual Desert Soiree”
Does everyone realize how fortunate
they are seeing Roger Waters. I saw him in ‘07 and am still speechless. Before being in any way critical about this choice, see
the show!!
givemepink.com
give me pink
Oh wow, Kraftwerk will be there again! One of the rare ( maybe last - you never know ) chances to see/hear a performance given by the godfathers of electronic music!
Seen a lot of music and last nights performance by Roger Waters was hands down the best musical performance I’ve ever seen. I was disapointed with the line up at first liker the rest of the critics but seeing is believing. Way to go Coachella!