Coachella’s Comeback
The music festival returns with lineup changes and COVID requirements for audience members
While it’s been two years since Coachella has opened its doors, the music festival has now returned. Sales for tickets initially started at 10 a.m. on Jan. 14 and sold out by 11:14 a.m. Despite the surge of the omicron variant, the pandemic has not hampered people's desire to listen to live music.
From April 15 to April 24, Coachella will be headlined by Billie Eilish, Ye (Kanye West) and Harry Styles.
The full lineup was recently announced on Jan. 12 with the festival taking place as usual in the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California. The event will be dispersed amongst two weekends with Styles performing on April 15 and 22 and Ye and Eilish on April 17 and 24.
Since 1999, the musical festival has shown an array of musicians in its formidable lineup. Music genres of the festival often include rock, hip-hop, pop, indie and EDM. As a result, the festival has generated a variety of music preferences for audiences.
However, due to COVID-19, Coachella 2020 was postponed. The cancellation was a first for the music festival in its 20-year history. Nullification of the festival meant pay cuts, reduced hours, layoffs and furloughs. The festival tried rescheduling for 2021, but severities of the pandemic meant another year of postponement.
In October 2022, AEG (the subsidiary organizers of Coachella) announced that full vaccination cards would not be required for the event. Instead, attendees can show either proof of full vaccination cards or negative test results taken within 72 hours. However, there is no full assurance whether the policy will stick with the rise of the omicron variant.
Although artists such as Frank Ocean, Rage Against the Machine and Travis Scott were originally set to headline Coachella 2020 leading into Coachella 2022, changes have been made to the lineup. Coachella restricts artists from performing at other North American venues not hosted by AEG and Goldenvoice from Dec. 15 to May 1. As a result, this meant some of the original artists had to pull out of the 2022 festival.
Due to the changes, Frank Ocean will headline Coachella 2023, while Rage Against the Machine cancelled plans to headline and Travis Scott was dropped following the events at Astroworld 2021. From the 178 artists announced for 2022, 107 are from the original 2020 lineup; nearly 60% of the artists from the original lineup will feature in 2022.
The festival includes a variety of different artists to look out for. For instance, first performances at Coachella include Joji, Danny Elfman, Doja Cat and Phoebe Bridgers. Furthermore, Coachella may be considered Brockhampton’s final live performance following an indefinite 2022 tour.
Although the festival may be two years overdue, let’s hope Coachella 2022 will return with some banging performances.