Posts by restlesslynx3

Andrew Gomez40 said:But what’s actually the point here? Are you saying someone could breeze through much tougher college courses—not just little seminars—with that kind of ease? 🙄

Honestly, there is just no sense in trying to have a real debate with someone who seems to think organizing a local backyard BBQ is basically the same thing as putting together a massive music festival... especially after dropping that absolute gem about how Flo—who, mind you, is currently playing the biggest stages of her career—is arriving in the States a little late for 😵

I really appreciate the concern regarding my exams and seminars, I truly do, but let's try to stay focused on the topic at hand, which is Coachella 🙂

Andrew Gomez40 said:Either those are some super early shows, or you've got exams at 2 AM...😁

🙂🙂🙂
It’s a bit of a shame you aren't quite catching my drift here—it feels like when the actual arguments run dry, things just start getting a little nonsensical... 😉

Andrew Gomez40 said:That just isn't true for students. I could have deadlines falling right on those days—and even if I don't, spending the few days leading up to an exam getting wasted at Central Park isn't exactly the smartest move. I've actually skipped out several times for that exact reason. Plus, deadlines don't last a whole month anymore.

At about 90% of colleges, deadlines run for roughly a month.
Sure, every once in a while a deadline might clash with a festival, but you either go to the show or you stay at the festival until the security guards kick you out—unless you're one of those dedicated campers who tries to cram the night before, which, let's be honest, is a terrible idea.
It’s honestly pretty ridiculous to claim that three days in a month can ruin your entire exam period... if people think that way, maybe college isn't for them in the first place...

It's not the first time, and it certainly won't be the last, that I've headed straight from a concert to an exam and passed it—and I'm not talking about easy electives, but some seriously demanding courses.
Anything is possible when you actually want to do it... 🙂

amberranger said:They aren't here—and honestly, that goes for both categories...

Because weekends are usually snatched up by those massive festivals—you know, the ones pulling in 50,000+ people—even if the artist fees are just slightly different...

Exactly. Headliners are way more in demand on the weekend than during the week, which naturally drives their booking prices up...
But around here, we've got two days off during that period anyway, and we’re pretty much used to festivals being stretched out over multiple days...
And regarding students—I really don't think those three days make much of a difference when you consider how long finals season lasts... maybe a month or so...

Andrew Gomez40 said:Basically, we’re acting like petty little suburbanites—always peering over the fence at the neighbors and thinking, "Oh, they have that, let's get it too." It doesn't matter where they play; it doesn't change the fact that they're totally washed up.
I actually saw who booked them. Aside from Benicàssim, there isn't really any major festival out there (and they certainly won't be the headliner, which is pretty obvious since they're sitting at number 8—yes, eighth!—on the lineup). So basically 🤷

Good grief, here we go again with the nonsense... I think you're comparing budget rock festivals with similar vibes to Coachella rather than looking at the massive ones versus the small ones. 😵
Are you seriously telling me a BMW and a Lada are the same thing??
Of course they aren't...

Besides, Franz Ferdinand was a lock long before any official announcements even started—even the organizer mentioned they were definitely bringing them out as the centerpiece.

That’s just your personal take on the band, I guess, but this whole comparison to other festivals suggests they're so played out that nobody would even buy their leftovers across the States.
And I honestly don't get why you're obsessing over Franz Ferdinand if this is their own project featuring Sparks—it's meant to be something fresh and different.

They said the exact same things last time they played, and lo and behold, everyone ended up raving about the set.
It was the same deal with Alice in Chains—people claimed they were too old, that their prime was behind them (just like people said about Flo + The Machine, haha), and then they ended up being announced as one of the biggest headliners in the country.

Andrew Gomez40 said:It’s honestly not even about personal taste when they bring out someone like Franz Ferdinand and act like they’ve just landed some massive, world-changing superstar. Even the fans have to admit their peak was a while ago—they just can't really be the main draw anymore.

Before you drop comments like that, maybe do a quick Google search on my good buddy and see which festivals have FF playing this summer... then you'll notice they're headlining everywhere, including Coachella, so your ears might actually get a treat for once😉.
Any further discussion on this is pretty much pointless...

And yeah, by some miracle they manage to book three or four big names, but so what? Tickets are $40, and the island capacity is only 30,000—maybe 40,000 if we're pushing it to the absolute limit
. Where is the actual math in that?

A lot of people I know—myself included—think this year is actually a goldmine in terms of the lineup
. For instance, back in the year when those guys from Arkadovac were around, they were the only ones I cared about—but I didn't jump in saying Coachella is trash or that they couldn't possibly do better. Given there are thousands of artists out there—even if you only look at the top tier of music—it's technically "bad" if they don't book all three specific bands I happen to listen to, right?

Andrew Gomez40 said:I mean, I’d say they’re a little late to the party with this booking. It’s not like they missed the window entirely, but people have been asking for Florence + The Machine for years, and they’re only just now stepping up. The timing works out perfectly since she's dropping a new album, though that’s probably just pure coincidence... Still, I guess we can all agree it's better late than never, right?

Good grief, where on earth do you live??
Do you seriously think a band only shows up whenever they feel like it??
First of all, Flo hasn't toured at all for two years—and secondly, there's the question of whether she even could have played a few years back... like, was she even available during the ExxonMobil era in the US, or was she tied up elsewhere?
Plus, ExxonMobil went through a massive crisis when T-Mobile pulled their sponsorship, so there wasn't even a remote chance they could have booked a name that big.
And usually, bands are brought in specifically when they have something new to promote or are actively on tour.

For instance, Austin City Limits wanted to bring in Flo, but it didn't work out because she was way up north...

I have a bit of a different take on things—this year they actually hit the mark for my taste perfectly. More than half of the bands they're bringing in are acts I listen to constantly, which honestly wasn't really the case before... But at the same time, I feel like they've leaned a little too hard into the indie scene this year. A festival should probably be a bit more genre-diverse, don't you think? 🙂

Florence is definitely not showing up late to the party; I truly believe she still has so much left to show us.
Personally, I don't think people would mind if they stepped it up a notch for $33 and brought in at least one more massive, current name. It feels like we've been stuck with the same formula for a few years now—three headliners, where one is trending, one is a bit of a legacy act, and the third is either Franz Ferdinand or someone our crowd hasn't really heard of (like when they brought out Foals 😁 last year).

The crowds will always show up, don't you worry about that—but the real headache is where on earth you’d fit 30,000 or 40,000 people at Central Park? There was actually this one idea floating around a few years back about bringing in a massive global headliner and moving Coachella just west of Chicago, but... well, everything fell through.
I honestly feel like that lake is what gives the festival its soul, and it would be pretty silly to host it without it.

swiftmoose20 said:That really says everything you need to know about the mental capacity of the people running these festivals... honestly, it’s just staggering... ☕

Honestly, I wouldn't even put Iggy Pop in the headliner slot—but hey, that’s just my two cents...

No, I mean—it’s more like this venue is just too small and the budget is way too tight to actually land a massive, top-tier headliner... so they’d much rather go with someone who doesn't cost an arm and a leg but still carries a name that sounds impressive enough for the posters...

vividraven7 said:Three years ago they played some new stuff that went down just like the album... completely irrelevant.
Well, here we go with Franz Ferdinand again... what can I even say? ☕
I'm just going to wait for Florence + The Machine.

It seems like you're impossible to please—first you claim they aren't playing anything new, then once you realize they actually are, suddenly it's not good enough, and so on...

We're all waiting for Flo 😁

vividraven7 said:If you ask me, a headliner should either be some legendary cult band or someone who is absolutely blowing up right now. Though, I guess some people have this funny way of looking at it... you know, thinking a festival is actually better when the headliners are mediocre... 😉

Oh, I think you're exaggerating just a little bit—no offense intended—but that’s not really how things work in practice.
For instance, back at Coachella 2013, the headliner was Phoenix, who weren't exactly "of the moment" then, and to make matters worse, they had just dropped one of the weakest albums of their entire career. Meanwhile, you had Two Door Cinema Club playing much earlier in the lineup, even though they were absolutely tearing through the US and Europe over the last few years...

Well, the man was the headliner, what more can I say? Hehe...

But I don't think you're quite right about FF—the last time they played, they were actually out there promoting their new album before it even dropped, playing all those fresh tracks... you know, something totally new.
This time around, they’re coming with a whole different project under their belt, which basically means—once again—something fresh and a bit different.
And honestly, I'm just really curious to see how everything shakes out this year... 🙂

A lot of people haven't really had the chance to catch Franz Ferdinand live, and honestly, that’s perfectly fine—it keeps the magic alive, I suppose... But here, we're looking at introducing a whole new project—something a bit different, a fresh direction. You know, there are always those folks who don't make the trek to Coachella with us every single year, and they'll just say, "Hey, I've already seen them, why bother going again?"... which is fair enough, I guess...
I remember the last time they played in Chicago—it was the exact same story as now... everyone was tearing them apart, just constant criticism, only for them to end up putting on one of the absolute best shows of the year... truly remarkable how that happens...

vividraven7 said:You know what the real distinction is between The National coming through versus Franz Ferdinand? Beyond the obvious fact that The National has been consistently grinding out incredible new albums for the last fifteen years... there's a deeper difference. The National isn't just showing up because people are feeling nostalgic—they’re actually here on tour, promoting a brand-new record. And honestly, they're arriving right at their absolute peak... It’s also interesting—as someone mentioned to me once—that The National hasn't just been playing the same single festival for the last decade. They tend to book their own standalone shows in different cities instead... though I suppose they did play Austin City Limits back in 2011 and hit the Super Bowl stage in 2014... but otherwise, they really make an effort to move around...

Look, I honestly feel like all these arrivals trace back to Škugor—I mean, if Austin City Limits hadn't fallen apart and if Škugor had just stayed on as director, we’d probably be heading back there again and again...
It’s honestly just a bit much—I mean, since you’re such a massive fan of The National (and look, I personally love them too, don't get me wrong)... you’re elevating them to this almost untouchable level... it feels like you've lost all sense of objectivity and aren't really looking at the bigger picture...
I wonder how much we all actually liked FF—or didn't—and whether their albums were truly great or just... okay. But this upcoming project they're about to show us? It definitely puts them in the league of true headliners. I mean, if we look at it through your criteria, hardly anyone would qualify to be the main attraction at Coachella... for instance, Iggy Pop is basically living off the remnants of his glory days, yet he still landed a headlining slot, just like Billy Idol did...

vividraven7 said:Regarding The Black Keys... were you actually at Coachella last year? Because if so, I have to disagree—I don't think it's fair to say the crowd only knows two of their songs, since what I witnessed definitely didn't match that description... Besides, the band was essentially touring to promote the new album, arriving right when they've hit their peak popularity—and most importantly, it was their very first time performing here in America.

If I were being totally honest—and looking at how a huge chunk of people reacted (not even counting the die-hard fans)—the general consensus was that they were just underwhelming... kind of lukewarm, really, and left a lot of folks feeling pretty disappointed. If you don't believe me, just go ahead and dig through some comments online... though, I’d say those critiques mostly come from people who only know Lonely Boy and maybe one other song or two. Honestly, if they actually knew their catalog, they’d understand what their live energy is supposed to feel like...

When The National plays in America every year, I don't have a problem with it—that's just part of the circuit—but when you get bands like Franz Ferdinand showing up every few years because they're clearly tight with the Coachella organizers, then it starts feeling a bit repetitive...
It’s funny how people used to talk about them too—calling them trash, saying they were washed up—only for them to end up being voted the most sought-after headliners in the States for two years straight.
This year, they’re actually bringing in a ton of high-quality bands that have so much potential to grow, but let's face it—most crowds still just chase those massive names like The Killers, Coldplay, or The Black Keys, even if they only know one or two songs. And honestly, if they actually managed to book those giants, tickets wouldn't be $300—they'd be well over $167—and then you'd hear the exact same group of people complaining all over again about how expensive everything is.

Does anyone happen to have the schedule for tonight's lineup handy?

Thanks for the heads-up, Sean Palmer4 🙂

That sounds pretty interesting 😁
I’m really looking forward to seeing when they finally drop the official word 🙂

That would honestly be just too good... 😁D
Where on earth should they even be??

There’s just no way any other festival in America could top this one...
Take a band like The Killers, for instance—their entire booking fee could probably fund the whole Coachella budget, and even then, people would still complain the tickets were overpriced, though they wouldn't be wrong.

And even if they really wanted to pull in 30,000 or 40,000 people a day, I honestly have no clue where you'd fit a crowd that size on an island like Staten Island—Coachella would basically have to hunt for a brand new venue, likely somewhere far outside the city limits, which would just be a massive headache...

The whole concept is actually pretty solid, because unlike last year when so many sets overlapped and I ended up missing some absolutely legendary performances, I managed to catch all the headliners this time around. Of course, a setup like this isn't without its little flaws...
But I had a blast regardless, and I spent plenty of time dancing and checking out the side attractions—if you were looking to have a good time, there was plenty to go around🙂