On the 10th April Coachella is back, the festival which began with Pearl Jam and continued to infiltrate the entire music world.
Attending Coachella, along with riding up Route 66 and learning how to tango in Buenos Aires, had always been high on Tatiana’s to-do list.
In 2012, when the festival finally spanned over two weekends, she got her chance.
“I was so excited when the line-up was announced that I almost needed smelling salts,” she says. “Radiohead, Black Keys, Florence + The Machine, Dr. Dre, Snoop, Arctic Monkeys, and many more.”
She isn’t the only one. Last year, over 500 000 attended Coachella, the two-weekend festival that takes place in the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California.
“The magic of Coachella is in their line-up,” Tatiana says. “It’s a chance to see some of the best rock/alt/indie bands of our time in one place. You can feel that moving wave of people around you and you let yourself fall into the ebb and flow of humanity. That is what makes festival experience so great.”
“For two weeks you live and breathe the music around you. You get to meet people and sit with them for days on, talking about everything under the sun. Social norms are shifted and the entire compound becomes one big place full of your new found friends.”
This, the social shift, was the very essence founder, Paul Tollett wanted to capture on “the field.”
The origins
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Legendary grunge band, Pearl Jam, decided to play at the venue in 1993 after a clash with Ticketmaster over their, what the band described as, monopolistic practices. It was alleged that Ticketmaster had refused to lower service fees. The band also wanted to keep tickets at $20 or lower, which was not the approved rate by the ticket sales giant.
To prove their point, Pearl Jam independently set out on their VS. tour.
On November 5, to a gathering of 25 000 fans, the band played at the Empire Polo Club – one of the few venues not controlled by Ticketmaster. While the venue was ill-equipped and had never hosted a rock concert before, the mass of people that attended was evidence enough that the Club had capabilities to host such vast capacities.
Enter Tollett
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The knowledge of the Club’s capabilities spurred Coachella founder, Paul Tollett to finally create a reality of his dream to emulate the big music festivals in Europe. Nonetheless, his aspirations still took six years to manifest.
In 1999, several turntables were placed in the open fields of the Club, allowing music lovers to dance to the tune of a few loved, yet rather obscure, DJs. The first Coachella also came off the heels of the failed “Woodstock ’99” where mass riots and violence had broken out. The ace up Coachella’s sleeve were that attendees found the serenity of “the field” an oasis away from Woodstock’s aggression – hence the festival’s nickname, “anti-Woodstock.”
“The camaraderie and being happy in the knowledge you are surrounded by likeminded people who are there for exactly the same reason as you, to enjoy this ode to everything and everyone in music,” says Tatiana.
By 2007, after a rocky and penny-less start, the one-day event expanded to a three-day event.
By 2012, it spanned over two weekends, was grossing over (US) 500 million and had already accommodated every music big wig worth their salt.
Nowadays, Coachella is the most successful music festival in North America.
Survival tips
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According to Tatiana, surviving Coachella is all about getting accommodation early.
“It’s money well spent if you are over 20, or wish to have an option to take a shower,” she says. “Accomodation is pricey but oh so worth it. The only other choice is to slum it in the smelly tents with the great unwashed.”
The second tip is to avoid the harsh day sun as much as possible and get acquainted with the local area to be able to enjoy a little quality down-time.
“There are a few awesome spas very close where you can relax during the day when lesser known bands are scheduled,” Tatiana says. “The fun really starts after about 6pm.”
Lastly, Tatiana advises not to buy in on the fashion hype.
“There is no dress code at Coachella, of course,” she says. “However the ‘flower child’ is a re-occurring theme brought over by Beverly Hills trust fund babies who either find it amusing to be ‘slumming it’ with minions, or simply because Coachella has sadly become the place to be for those LA dolls. Hippie style seems to work fashion wise. I didn’t part from my precious Harley Davidson boots combined with variety of shorts and baggy tops. A big hat is a must but make it funky because everything and everyone at that festival strives towards funky.”
The next Coachella (weekend 1) is April 10, 2015.
Hear the cries of the Coachella tribe here: