Posted on 04/07/2024 2:12:00 AM PDT by Libloather
Coachella, the iconic music festival held in the California desert has raised eyebrows this year for all the wrong reasons, leading some to question long-term viability. But experts have reflected on Coachella's poor performance and spoke to Newsweek about the wider state of the music festival industry.
In 2023, it was the first time in 11 years that the festival did not sell out both its weekends and this year it has taken one whole month to sell out the first weekend. Considering over the past few years tickets sold out anywhere between 40 minutes to four hours, some have begun to wonder what has made Coachella less popular than ever.
Not even rumors of Taylor Swift attending this year's festival in April with new beau Travis Kelce have been able to bolster sales.
Some fans slammed the line-up which includes headliners, Lana Del Rey, Tyler the Creator and Doja Cat, and even a reunion by 1990s mega-band, No Doubt, and blamed that for the low sales.
**SNIP**
He attributes issues such as the cost of living crisis as a huge factor that forces people to be more discerning about how they spend their money.
"Coachella is not a cheap festival," he says of the entry-level price of $599 for general admission. That does not factor in the cost of accommodation, as there's no on-site camping and travel to Coachella's remote site at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsweek.com ...
You wanted the Best,
You got the Best!
That’s just plain nutz!
We had a legendary time at Woodstock in Aug ‘69, for $28/ 3 days.
I'm OK not being able to download a fentanyl-spiked pill and/or whatever untreatable STD is floating around at Coachella. In the "good old days", all you generally had to worry about, at the most, was a case of penicillin-treatable VD or a "bad trip" dispensed via sugar cube. Were there ODs back then? Yep. But you mostly knew what you were taking, so you could dodge the bad chit. Now days...I just wouldn't risk it. Of course, any concerts I attended as a yute...I was only there for the glorious music and would never have participated in those other "activities". 😎
Ear phones don’t move your body. I don’t mean figuratively. I mean that the sense of sound is far more than just a tiny canal in your ear. You could destroy your hearing with crazy-loud volume in your ear phones and not feel 1% of the power of a concert. And that’s aside from the shared experience.
It’s because modern bands suck. Bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd, Allman brothers, The Who, Led Zeppelin, etc. simply do not exist anymore. The three axe attack of Southern rock is long gone. That’s why they have to have flaming fireworks, laser light shows, smoke bombs and everything else on stage. Nothing out there even approximate it’s Willie Nelson live on stage back in the day, modern music is a joke
When I was 14 we lived in Corona. One of my friends went to Coachella in 2004 and some guy took her to his place in Arizona. She didn’t come home for months and when she did she was pregnant. Glad I didn’t go.
It’s impossible not to wonder.since more men are pretending to be women...and a lot of the actual women are uglish skanks anymore. Especially compared to 40 or so years ago.
Was Coachella ever actually iconic? It was always the rich people festival that mostly people made fun of for being so snooty. But it paid great so they got good acts.
Good Lord! I’m a solidly middle-class guy with a little money in the bank, and there’s no way in Hell I’d consider $1,500, let along $66,000 (!!!) to see ANYBODY. Who the heck are these people, and why are there so many of them? Weird, if you ask me...
Send all the illegals there.
That, and it takes gas to get out there - and last time I checked (yesterday) gas was over $5.00/gallon in So Cal.
I go to at least one concert per year.
I don’t pay for the seats at the bottom by the stage. Those can go for hundreds of dollars. We sit up in the rafters, where the seats are cheaper. Although sometimes even the rafter seats are over $100.
The thing about going to the concert is the ambiance. You are there with thousands of other people who like the same music you do. You are clapping and cheering along with all of the other fans and there is a real party atmosphere. Many concerts are not just the performance of the music, but an entire show complete with light displays and videos. Most performers engage the audience, as well, by having them sing lines or “do the wave” or something.
We went to Elton John’s farewell tour twice. We most recently saw Guns N Roses. Our next concert will feature Billy Joel and Sting. I did not go to a John Denver concert—I figured he would tour again—and I have regretted that decision ever since.
When I was a teen, my family could not afford concerts. I’ve been making up for that ever since.
Of course, if you do not absolutely adore music, a concert probably wouldn’t be that big of a deal to you. And you have to go to a concert that features music you like. We went to a country music concert—Reba, Brooks, and Dunn—because we had free tickets. The experience was interesting in that we were unfamiliar with all but one or two songs, but we saw people who were really into it, dancing in their seats and singing along.
But for devoted music lovers, the difference between going to a concert and hearing the song on a radio or CD is like the difference between having prime rib and having a plain hamburger.
It’s definitely an individualistic thing. As part of my job, I’ve done small concerts and whatnot, but nothing big, and sports events, and my experience has never been enhanced by seeing it live.
It’s probably because I tend to take in sensory information at a more cerebral level than emotional, because I am somewhat on the spectrum.
I tend to be attracted more to information type seminars than I am to concerts. When they did a psychological experiment in my psch class, the professor split us into two groups. The group I was in watched a Bill Cosby comedy routine from one of his tours. I was bored, so I kept attending the snack table while the show was one. The other group had a debate from Parliament to watch and they did not have snacks, but I would have preferred the Parliament debate to the comedy show.
I do believe that the next concert there is Stage Coach and it was sold out fast. Country music lineup.
Just a guess. With cost of living increases and rising interest rates on credit cards some young people are getting a dose of reality..
Is this the same thing as Burning Man festivals?
That too, is wearing thin as the attendees age out and burn out of the target consumer groups.
I so agree, and, would love to know what your favorite painting is!
I just checked. My ticket to see The Beatles in Dodger Stadium in 1966 was $6.00
Greatest show on Earth! I’ve seen them about 6 times, and saw them in 2004 when they did the ‘76 tour revival. Was so close, felt the pyro when they went off and Gene dripped blood on me during his solo.
Now that was a show!
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