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.