The End Of The World music festival
When the lineup for the Coachella festival was announced this week, it was hard not to feel like you were timewarped to 1993. Sure, we all still listen to Bjork, and Red Hot Chili Peppers have been around for a long time, and yes, Rage Against The Machine reuniting is worth a headline spot. But it was still a little disappointing to think that the world really hasn't turned out a HUGE band for the last 13 years.
So while there's plenty of new names in there (I might explode if I saw Arcade Fire and LCD Soundsystem on the same day), it's easy to understand why someone was moved to create this parody:
I mean, that's just genius, and makes me happy to no end.
10 comments:
oh, but yeah, the real lineup does look pretty great. At one of these festivals I heard that The Police might play?! The Police? Come On! Depending on the lineup and when they play, I'm actually thinking of taking the plunge and going to Bonnaroo this year. The idea of camping out with a bunch of smelly drunk people isn't too appealing, so I may try to do the day thing.
What?? I can't believe Hootie and the Blowfish didn't get top billing!
Welcome to life in the post mid aughts, where nostalgia trumps all! I think its funny that people are all in a tizzy over the Jesus and Mary Chain reuniting. Aren't we just a few years removed from several of their lackluster post Darklands albums? I mean, if it's Jesus and Mary Chain playing nothing but songs from their first two albums, then perhaps it's exciting. But come on!
Doug, both Bonnaroo and Coachella have amazing lineups, but I'm always a little skeptical about those places, mostly in that I wonder if I'll be able to actually see any of the bands I went to go see.
Chris: believe it, lady.
Xtian, Honey's Dead had some amazing songs on it! I'd love to hear "Far Gone and Out" live.
As far as the post mid aughts are concerned: I really do think that it's harder for a new band to really become huge. Massive first albums are usually followed up by disappointing second ones, so these days, if you're looking for headliners for a festival that big, you have to go for the ones that have been established for years.
I'm gonna be a wet blanket and say it's meh as satire.
Too many easy marks for genX, or maybe really genY, yuks. Bolton, Hootie, Kenny G, and Dion? Haven't fourth-rate comedians already worked this material to death?
Even if the lead acts seem stale, the bulk of the real Coachella stuff is indie indie indie. How many of the real second- and third-billed have even sniffed the top 40? How many are one-hit wonders, like the bulk of the fake one?
What equivalent of Paula Abdul, Laura Branigan, Gloria Estefan, or Amy Grant are in the real one? Why do they gotta slag KrissKross, the artists of the greatest song named "Jump" evah?
JAMC in a nutshell:
Psycho Candy: amazing, seminal, influential album
Darklands: totally underrated fantastic second album that actually has a better repeatability factor than the first
Honey's Dead: a decent album that features two or three really excellent songs
Everything after that: sure, the single with Hope Sandoval (sp?) was nice, but hands up everyone who actually bought and liked "Munki". Yeah, thought so! ;)
As for the nostalgia angle...what you say is true. Bands like Arcade Fire and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! are big enough to headline these things, and they've only released one album. We'll see if the maintain their status of "it band" after the second records are released. My guess is that the Arcade Fire phenom will grow, while the Clap one will wilt (I've actually heard this record and while I think it's good, it won't likely set any world on fire). Oh, put the Shins on this list of little bands that could (headline a festival). I guess what I"m saying is "little is the new big". (I hate when people say "blank is the new x.")
Death Cab would fit on that list as well.
But I don't think there's any less huge acts than usual. The world only has room for a few giants at a time, and right now there are Coldplay, U2, and Radiohead. Maybe we haven't heard from one or more of them in a while, but that's normal too. They'd still sell-out stadiums in minutes if they put a tour on sale right now.
Don't get me wrong, Fats. I think the Coachella festival looks amazing. I'd love to see Bjork or RATM, even. I just think it's sort of interesting that the HUGE acts are ones whose first album came out well over a decade ago.
I think the parody is more because of the age of the headliners and not saying that it's all really mainstream. The reason that I really loved the poster is just looking at all of those names that I hadn't thought of since back in record store days. And to see a all of those in one place...I might just have to go to that fictional fesival.
Christian, I don't really think that the Arcade Fire or CYHSY would be big enough to headline. I think that most of the audience would leave when they came on. And Hans, I see your point, but U2 would be on the same par as the Red Hot Chili Peppers as a band that's still big, but is still past their popular prime. Radiohead has become a world beater, but their initial success came well over a decade ago. Coldplay is about the only huge new (as in, been around for less than a decade and are at their popular peak) band we have anymore.
Enh...I don't really know what my point is. I just loved seeing the names of all those bands that I used to sell cassingles of.
You used to make a living hustling cassingles out of a trunk of your Nova back in Alaska?!
What if you squint at it different? Timbaland and the Neptunes might not be bands, exactly, but they're huge, consistently great, and have been around for a while, but not too long.
I'd also like to nominate the White Stripes, though I ain't heard their last one.
I think that Coachella is a different bird than your average large music festival. That seems much more of a "tastemaker/hipster" gathering than something like Bonnaroo or Lollapalooza. Think of it more along the lines of that Pitchfork-fest. Therefore, I don't think people would be leaving when Arcade Fire hit the stage! They'd be fighting to get up front to get better shots on their camera phones, or possibly even live-bloggin' it! ;)
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