Why you won’t find rock stars at Coachella

For the first time in the annual Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival’s 19-year history, no rock act will be among the headliners in 2018.

Beyoncé, the Weeknd and Eminem will be the main attractions at the festival, set to run April 13-15 and again April 20-22 at Indio’s Empire Polo Club.

Other acts include Sza, Vince Staples, Odesza, Tyler the Creator, Migos, Kygo, Cardi B and Post Malone.

Stacked with rappers, DJs and R&B singers, the bill for this year’s Coachella — widely regarded as the United States’ most prestigious music festival — represents the culmination of a slow creep for the hugely lucrative event, which made its name (and hundreds of millions of dollars) bringing bands such as Tool, the Black Keys and the Red Hot Chili Peppers to a picturesque desert expanse about two hours east of Los Angeles.

In recent years, the show has looked beyond those alternativerock roots, pulling in Top 40friendly acts such as Drake and Calvin Harris. But it always put one or two guitar-clutching types at the top of the bill: Jack White and AC/DC in 2015, for example, or the reunited Guns N’ Roses in 2016. Last year, Radiohead headlined Coachella for the third time.

This year, the festival isn’t bothering — a shift that calls to mind the unprecedented shutout of white men from the nominations for album of the year at this month’s Grammy Awards.

Part of what these institutions are doing is striving to square their roles as tastemakers with their obligation to reflect the true shape of pop. In the streaming era, that means hip-hop and R&B, as opposed to rock, and in that sense Coachella deserves credit for a lineup that feels like a credible snapshot of music as it’s happening in 2018.

Of course, with the festival’s capacity at an all-time high — last year it was permitted for up to 125,000 people a day — Coachella’s promoter, Goldenvoice, has more than altruism in mind — it also needs to book proven draws. (Passes, which start at $429 US, go on sale today at noon, though many have already been sold via advance ticket sales.)

At its best, this year’s bill satisfies both those ambitions at the same time.

That’s certainly the case with Beyoncé, who was scheduled to headline in 2017, but dropped out after she announced she was pregnant with twins.

As one of pop’s biggest superstars, Beyoncé will undoubtedly sell tickets. But with its daring textures and its themes of black pride and womanly self-reliance, the singer’s music is sure to make a statement, too — especially if she uses the high-profile gig as an opportunity to showcase new material.

The Weeknd, a reliable heavyweight on streaming services, will be back at Coachella just three years after his last appearance.