Rolling Stones, Dylan, Sir Paul to rock festival
COACHELLA: Three-day event ‘something special’
LOS ANGELES — It could be Woodstock 47 years later, only the drug of choice might be antacid — a weekend concert event featuring some of the greatest musical acts of the 1960s.
Entertainment company Goldenvoice officially confirmed Tuesday it is bringing together the top performers — from the 1960s — for a three-day blowout in California’s Coachella Valley desert: Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Paul McCartney, Neil Young and Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters, all on stage at the Empire Polo Club in Indio during an October weekend.
“I think everybody has a sense that this is going to be something historic, and I really don’t think that’s overblowing it to say that,” said Chris Sampson, founding director of the popular music program at the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music.
Dubbed the Desert Trip, the three nights of music running Oct. 7-9 will begin on a Friday with performances by Dylan and The Rolling Stones. They will be followed the next night by McCartney and Young, with Waters and The Who closing out the weekend Sunday.
It should be noted the average age of the four core members of the Rolling Stones is 72. Dylan will be 75 by show time, McCartney is 73, Waters 72 and the event’s youngest headliner (named Young, appropriately enough) is 70.
That’s led some, like Youth International co-founder Paul Krassner, who is 84 and watched The Who play at 1969’s Woodstock Music and Art Fair (where people were warned not to take the “brown acid”), to quip this event should be called Geezerfest.
“I would love to be there except I now need a walker to get from one room to another,” he said Tuesday.
Still, Sampson expects every act to deliver. As he notes, anyone who has seen Dylan or the Stones or any of the others knows, they pretty much still do. Every night. And on these nights their legacy will be on the line.
So why are they doing this anyway? Besides, of course, for the obvious reason: Money.
“I would imagine that this is going to be very lucrative for everybody,” Sampson said, laughing. “But I’m also thinking they’re motivated, at least in part, by being part of something special.”
For a bit more than $5,000 US, people can buy a three-night stay at a high-end hotel, passes to the shows, shuttle service to and from the venue, meals and other perks.
For those who just want to see the show, one-day passes are $199, with three-day passes costing $399.
They go on sale Monday.