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# Coachella 2007 balances star power and alternative roots as crowds swell
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/schedules-in-hand-none-of-the-approximately-60-000-daily-attendees-wants-to-miss-that-seminal-breakout-performance-of-the-festival-then-again-everyone/
- Published: 2007-05-03T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T23:59:35.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Events, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*By* headliners — Bjork, the Chili Peppers and the reunited Rage Against the Machine — have done the desert in years past. At the same time, organizers are bringing in acts such as Madonna last year and Willie Nelson on Sunday who appeal to a much more mainstream, and lucrative demographic.

The evolution of the festival was inevitable as more patrons with more cash began taking the three-hour ride into the sweltering Coachella Valley to rock out. The popularity of the festival — staged over three days rather than the traditional two — has presented organizers with some tough choices of their own. Do they stay true to their roots as a showcase for the alternative and below-the-radar acts, or do they embrace the festival’s sudden star power that includes a celebrity laden VIP tent, complete with Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan?

That said, Coachella 2007 included all the elements that made it such a success in years past — expansive grounds, innovative art installations, a chill crowd and kick-ass music.

It’s a tried-and-true formula that entertained 180,000 fans over the course of the weekend and resulted in just under 100 arrests, mostly drug-and alcohol-related. About the biggest brouhaha amid the partying came Saturday night in the adjacent campground, where fans couldn’t stop the beat and refused to disband their impromptu drum circle until a police helicopter flew onto the scene.

There are basically two ways to do Coachella. You can pitch a tent and get your Woodstock on, waiting in line for showers and port-o-potties, but partying on the cheap.

Or you can rent out a hotel room or house in the Palm Springs area. Kicking it poolside in between sweating on the polo fields is a sweet respite, but may leave fans feeling somewhat removed from the rock ’n’ roll revelry.

Decisions, decisions.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 3, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/050307.pdf?ref=smdp.com)