Coachella fest: crowded. expensive. Is a combo of any of the 33 alt-rock and dance music artists performing worth the ticket price? A cheat sheet to help you decide.
Coachella promises to be a madhouse, with two dates already sold out. Of the 33 artists performing on the only available date, close to half are big enough to draw on their own, and a combo of several might well be worth the admission price. Decide for yourself with this handy cheat sheet for Friday’s lineup.
- Arctic Monkeys: Genre—British indie;Signature song—I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor; Often compared to—The Streets (for the slice of British working-class life themes more than the style); Accomplishments—Adored by the notoriously curmudgeonly NME; nominated for a Grammy; arcticmonkeys.com
- Benny Benassi: Genre—Electroclash; Signature song—Satisfaction (“Push me, and then just touch me, till I can get my, satisfaction”); Often compared to—Miss Kittin; Accomplishments—Got Ludacris and Wendy’s, separately, to sample/use Satisfaction; bennybenassi.com
- Bjork: Genre—Uncategorizable, at least by me; Signature song—All is Full of Love; Often compared to: No one; incomparable; Accomplishments—Best actress at Cannes for role in Dancer in the Dark; nominated for 12 Grammys; jumpstarted career for Michel Gondry after he directed many of her videos; dates (dated?) and collaborated with artist Matthew Barney; wore an em effing swan dress to the Oscars; bjork.com.
- David Guetta: Genre—House; Signature song—Just a Little More Love; Often compared to: Louis Benedetti; Accomplishments: Has the American house sound down cold, although he’s French; davidguetta.com
- DJ Shadow: Genre—Trip-hop; Signature song—Midnight in a Perfect World; Often compared to: LTJ Bukem; Often paired with: U.N.K.L.E., whose In a State Sasha remixed on a recent album; djshadow.com
- Faithless: Genre—Trance/trip-hop; Signature song—Insomnia (“I can’t get no sleep”); Moment of Random: Dido, who sang as Eminem rapped on Stan, is the sister of band member Rollo; One Thing They Think: “God is a DJ”; faithless.co.uk
- Felix da Housecat: Genre—Electroclash/house; Signature song—Watching Cars Go By; Often paired with: Miss Kittin; Has remixed: Nina Simone, Madonna, Britney, New Order; Realness quotient: Born in Chicago, birthplace of house; myspace.com/ felixdahousecat
- Jarvis Cocker: Genre—indie/alt-rock;Signature song—Don’t Let Him Waste Your Time; Often compared to: Elvis Costello; Accomplishments: Fronted the band Pulp; BFF with Noel Gallagher of Oasis; directed videos for Aphex Twin and Nightmares on Wax; sings on Air’s Pocket Symphony CD; myspace.com/jarvspace
- Peaches: Genre—Electroclash; Signature song—Operate; Often compared to: Umm...here it is again...Miss Kittin, but with some Pink thrown in, as remixed by Missy Elliott; Accomplishments: songs featured in Lost in Translation and Mean Girls; went from being librarian to downtown gender bender; peachesrocks.com
Alt-rockers Sonic Youth and The Jesus and Mary Chain are also on the packed bill; 33 acts in all will be performing on Friday April 27 between noon and midnight; the ticket price of $86 breaks down as $2.60 per performing group.
You can see the full lineup here, and buy tickets here.
