The 2016 festival season started a little early last month when Firefly and Hangout Music Festival announcing their lineups before the year even ended. It was a surprising move, considering that most promoters typically don’t release the bulk of their lineups until late-January. The music industry returned to work on Monday and the folks over at Goldenvoice Presents wasted no time in announcing their lineup for both weekends of Coachella this year.
Rumors had been heavily swirling in recent weeks about a possible Guns N Roses reunion with Axl and Slash burying that drug-fueled hatchet that was twenty years old. LCD Soundsystem is also confirmed to headline after weeks of speculation and heavy rumors surrounding the band’s comeback with a potential tour also. Fan reactions have been somewhat mixed following their heavily marketed ‘breakup’ five years ago. All controversy aside, it’s great to have James Murphy and the gang back after a brief hiatus.
After looking up and down the lineup a few times, it’s safe to say that this year’s roster is a very FM friendly lineup, and about 70 percent of these acts will also be hitting the rest of the festival circuit throughout the summer. Ellie Goulding, Jack Ü, Of Monsters And Men, Joey Bada$$ power through the Friday lineup in top 40 fashion. Don’t be scared by the big names however, the first day has a handful of fantastic acts including M83, Foals, Underworld, Lord Huron, and Bob Moses.
Saturday will be nothing but buzz surrounding GnR’s return. Slash, Axl, and Duff are confirmed for the reunion, it should be interesting to see if Izzy and Steven join the original Sunset Strip rockers. $50 says they open with “Welcome To The Jungle.” Seeing Ice Cube on the lineup comes as a surprise. The once gangsta traded in his AK-47 for the family movie circuit years ago, but seems to be taking advantage of the return of N.W.A. to pop culture with the Straight Outta Compton being a big summer blockbuster earlier this year.
Saturday is very heavy with electro-pop acts such as Halsey, Grimes, CHVRCHES, and Phases. It’s a little surprising to see Gary Clark Jr., Moon Taxi, and Courtney Barnett on the bill considering they played all the festivals last summer, but who can complain when there’s great rock music from all three, and two of the hottest guitar players in music right now are on the bill in Gary and Courtney? Other acts to certainly look forward to on Saturday include Deerhunter, Zella Day, Alvvays, and Dan Auerbach’s side project The Arcs.
Sunday’s lineup is another interesting group. I’m not really sure how DJ’s get a number ranking like we’re in college football all of a sudden, (unless there’s an underground DJ Battle Royale that takes place once a year and no one is telling me), but Calvin Harris, the world’s #1 DJ will be closing out both weekends. Acts you can’t miss out on include Flume, Rancid, Nathaniel Rateliff, Wolf Alice, and Meg Myers.
Coachella 2016
Article: Tom Shackleford
