Why the Coachella Festival is Such a Hit
Coachella not only benefits from a picturesque location, perfect climate and plum position on the calendar, it can also embellish your cyber identity. What's not to like?
Over the past decade, destination music festivals have overtaken the touring market. While in the previous 20 years, such events were primarily the purview of Europe, Americans have finally entered the international festival circuit with significant music events such as California’s Coachella, Chicago's Lollapalooza and Tennessee's Bonnaroo. As the festival calendar has become extremely crowded, bills have a generic quality.
The artist lineups look interchangeable, with the same bands playing most of them. With so many artists overlapping, it's important the destination festival become its own brand. Fans go to festivals to see specific bands and often to find new acts – but the real draw is the festival itself.
People don't say: "I'm going to see the Black Keys, Kanye West or Mumford & Sons." They say: "I'm going to Coachella. I'm going to Green Man. I'm going to Benicassim." Thus, while many music festivals suggest they are eclectic, it's actually the ability of a festival to encapsulate a distinct musical point of view or have a track record that makes it a must-see event.
Several factors lend Coachella attendance its cultural cachet. First of all is location. Like most destination music festivals, it's far enough from the big city that fans need to commit to being away from home. The Coachella Valley, home to Palm Springs, Indian Wells, and roadrunners is about an hour and a half from Los Angeles. This means a weekend of either camping or staying in any of the hundreds of cozy, kitschy, or posh hotels that are the staple of the resort community's desert landscape. The weather tends to be between hot and perfect, so festivalgoers wear bathing suits and sunglasses.
The site itself, on the Empire Polo Grounds, is a vast expanse of green fields surrounded by palm trees, adjacent to Joshua Tree national park and with the San Jacinto mountains in the distance. It is the definition of picturesque. Or, as Lou Barlow said on a first visit to the site: "This is what people think Reading looks like when they are on ecstasy."
Coachella has slotted itself into the festival calendar early, which means it gives many fans and pundits the first chance to see this year's reformed 1980s or 90s beloved cult act or get an idea of what Arcade Fire's lighting rig is going to be like. The Coachella bill's special spin reflects the history of a southern California gig circuit, as local promoter Goldenvoice puts the event on. This is why LA bands figure so largely, with Perry Farrell having performed in some fashion at nearly every one and Rage Against the Machine perennial favorites. Southern California's music scene has a tradition of punk, dance, new wave, ska and alt-rock, which is mixed with indie fare and a nod to acts that have graced the Hollywood Bow, such as Paul McCartney, Prince, or the Time.
Location, timing, southern Californian branding, and a bit of celebrity shrapnel from actors who like to spend a weekend slumming make Coachella a potent trademark. Being the early contender for ‘first festival of the season’ in a globalized world of music coverage, Coachella, like other destination music festivals, increasingly serves another important social function. It provides content for the virtual presentation of self. Music performances and other social activities are fodder for producing online content for social networking.
Festival attendance becomes part of one’s cyber identity. A good avatar needs documentation of exclusive events, particularly events or activities that express taste, as online personas are constituted by listing one’s consumer preferences. By going to a Coachella, one can advertise oneself as the "type of person that goes to Coachella."
The Coachella festival, as opposed to the reproducible tour, is the ultimate "I was there" event. This is why people go even when they claim that the bill sucks or seems identical to some other festival. If one is really lucky, he or she might just capture this year's "man in altercation with flip-flop" or whatever viral sensation emerges from using a phone to record being at a festival rather than just being there. The festival runs (from April 14) until April 23.