Aside from Bamboozle and Electric Zoo, the East Coast doesn't have much to offer with regard to music festivals. I, as a New Yorker, can admit that California trumps New York.
Shows in New York are usually in intimate venues or at ridiculously large venues like Madison Square Garden where you, unless you're Lyor Cohen, can't get decent seating.
The Coachella music festival is held in Indio, Calif., and has been one of the most popular festivals in the U.S. for years. It initially began as a two-day festival and grew into a three-day affair. This year, more people will have an opportunity to experience the madness by holding the festival over three days for two weekends.
Judging by pictures, blog entries, and coverage given by publications, Coachella seems like a music free-for-all. A wide open space with multiple stages and acts ranging from Toronto crooner, the Weekend, to British rock band Pulp.
Coachella has set the precedent as a predominant rock concert over the years by headlining with acts such as Nine Inch Nails, Smashing Pumpkins, Rage Against the Machine, and The Cure. Jay-Z's show in 2010 and Kanye West's performance last year changed the tide of the festival towards the rap audience again, being the first hip-hop performances in seven years.
This April, the amount of hip-hop artists varies even more with up-and-comers Kendrick Lamar, A$AP Rocky, AraabMuzik, and Childish Gambino.
Headlining this year are Radiohead, The Black Keys, and Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg. I immediately became jealous that the show sold out in three hours even though there probably wouldn't have been a chance I could go anyway.
Although Coachella has become more diverse over the past few years, the tradition of having rock bands has not faded. Florence and the Machine, St. Vincent, the Black Keys, and Kaiser Chiefs are only a few among the dozens of bands expected to be in Indio, Calif. that weekend.
However, when the lineup was released I had a small inkling of disappointment. I would never categorize myself as a fickle hip-hop fan, and I listen to The Chronic at least once a week, but to make the jump from Jay-Z and Kanye West to Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg might have not been the best choice for this festival.
This will be the ex-Death Row legends' first performance since their Up in Smoke Tour in 2000, but my prediction is their audience will be filled with pot smokers, suburban kids with little knowledge of the two, and actual fans who spent $200 or more to only see the OGs of the rap game perform. The mixture could end up great, but it could also be a recipe for disaster plastered all over YouTube and TMZ.
It's refreshing to see hip-hop coincide with a festival once dominated by rock acts. It proves the movement is becoming mainstream, and although there is a negative connotation with that word, it doesn't apply to this festival.
The one request I have of this festival, and Snoop and Dre in particular, is that there is a Nate Dogg homage planned somewhere in their set. Because Nate Dogg taught fans a valuable life lesson: "it ain't no fun if the homies can't have none."
Email: elva.aguilar@ubspectrum.com
