Out of all the music festivals held last year, the clear cut winner was the Coachella Valley Music Festival held in Indio, California.
With Radiohead, the Black Keys and Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg among the likes of a pair of reunited groups, Pulp and At-the-Drive-In, and even a casual appearance by Tupac Shakur, people from all over the country and the globe flocked to the desert in the California to see, quite possibly, without hyperbole, the greatest assemblage of musical talent ever.
After the announcement of this year’s Coachella lineup this past Friday, fans seemed to be disappointed with what they saw on paper. Bands who have been relatively absent from the spotlight, French pop contingent Phoenix and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the latter group released their lackluster tenth album, I’m With You, in 2011, and bands who are over 15 years in their careers who are headlining U.S. festivals for the first time, Blur and The Stone Roses, are set to headline for two weekends in April.
The latter two groups are possibly the two most controversial choices of the festival. Blur and The Stone Roses, both British groups, will be co-headlining the first days of the two weekends and many have already gone to Twitter to ask the question, “who are The Stone Roses?” A Tumblr page has already been created under the same name that feature Tweets such as “I have no idea who the Stone Roses are” and “ummm maybe im not cool enough but who are the stone roses? #coachella.”
However, many have found merit in the opening acts, such as alternative veterans Dinosaur Jr. and ex-Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr and up-and-comers Alt-J and Danny Brown. Other notable acts include a reunited Postal Service, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Vampire Weekend, Modest Mouse and Wu-Tang Clan.
Many have already pointed out the superiority of a local festival’s lineup that hasn’t even announced their third headliner. The Governor’s Ball will be held on Randall’s Island from June 7-9 and will feature Kanye West and Kings of Leon as headliners.
While the two festivals share similar acts, Governor’s Ball went the extra mile and picked up several breaking and established bands from multiple genres. Nas, whose hometown Queens’ neighborhood of Queensbridge is located 15 minutes away from the festival site, will a top secondary act alongside hip-hop phenom Kendrick Lamar . The Avett Brothers, The Lumineers, Yeasayer, Beirut, Grizzly Bear and Young the Giant will also be performing over the course of the three days.
General admission three-day tickets for Governor’s Ball are on sale now for $220 with transportation passes for the three days on the Manhattan Ferry, shuttles from Brooklyn or parking on the Island are sold separately. Compared to Coachella, whose first weekend sold out after only a couple of hours, three-day general admission passes are $349. A GA pass with a car camping pass is $434.
