Interview with Pop Culture Pundit Roy Trakin - What Event Peeps Need To Know About Coachella 2018

Coachella, in its 19th year, still gets credit for being a culturally defining moment and a representation of iconic California lifestyle. Besides art, fashion, augmented reality immersive events, brand activations and ultra lux clamping VIP yurts by W Hotels however, it is still three days of music with 166 acts performing.


We asked pop culture pundit, rock critic veteran and Variety Contributor ROY TRAKIN what the event industry needs to know about Coachella 2018.


EW: Other well-known festivals like Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza have seen declining sales. Why does Coachella continue to be successful?

Roy Trakin: Coachella has become the benchmark for the modern festival era. It’s established a brand that engenders expectations and now certainly supersedes any of the acts on the bill, no matter how big. The show invariably sells out before the lineup is even announced, which speaks loudly to that name. It has become the one go-to destination on the spring-summer large-scale festival circuit.

EW: How would you define that brand?

Roy Trakin: It touches on several elements of the classic lifestyle music brands of the past  -- going back to that ultimate boomer emblem, Woodstock. Then, music was something you could hold in your hands in the form of an album. Now you listen to music that’s streaming from a computer. The whole emphasis of this virtual age is on palpable experiences –which are so much more important than possessions for this generation. Coachella’s whole philosophy is based on the experience – you have to be there – even if you can now experience Couchella by tuning your smart TV to YouTube, which covers all three days on three separate feeds brought to you by T-Mobile. Yet another example of how big corporations are taking over this experience, just as they eventually did for Woodstock Coachella ushered in the post-rock dominance of hip-hop, electronic, dance music, which now forms the pop mainstream. If Woodstock announced the commercial emergence of rock, Coachella has ridden the wave of a genre that has really flourished and become the soundtrack for at least two new generations. This year's lineup reflects that, though Coachella may well be at a turning point; it could well jump the shark.  For the moment, they have run out of the big rock reunions, and overall, there are very few real super stars that can bring people to the venue by name along.  But Coachella is still the measuring stick. The name alone sells it. The main trouble is all these major festivals are booking the same acts, so it is very hard to differentiate among them. Coachella’s magic has much to do with where it takes place. The allure of the desert, the whole mythos of Joshua Tree… Palm Springs has become a destination for some of the top music industry executives. A lot of heavy hitters have weekend getaway homes in the area. And look no further than Coachella’s influence over the last 19 years, shining the spotlight on this geographical area of California that had been the entertainment industry’s best kept secret for many years.

EW: Is Coachella still setting cultural trends at this point?

Roy Trakin: The brand of Coachella probably has more relevance than ever in the marketing world.  Madison Avenue is increasingly attached to the festival in terms of catering to that young market. I think the inflection point will take place when the influencers abandon it and the mainstream takes it over, which may have already happened -- the Las Vegas-ization of Coachella, if you will. Still, that doesn’t seem to be a worry at the moment. It's as strong as ever and certainly there are a lot of possibilities in terms of taking the brand name further as we saw in 2016 with the classic rock-oriented Desert Trip appealing to affluent boomers. Goldenvoice has done a tremendous job in marketing it. When that Coachella line-up is announced each year, the lineup, with all the different font sizes that indicate headliners, second-tier acts, etc., is read like the Holy Scriptures of who's hot, who's hip, who's up-and-coming, etc. So, as long as the powers-that-be curate Coachella with that sort of acumen and expertise, it will continue to be relevant.

EW: What bands should we be looking out for at this year’s Coachella?

Roy Trakin: Well, everyone’s calling it Bey-chella for a reason.  They’re looking forward to Beyonce’s performance on Saturday night, with chatter of a possible Destiny’s Child reunion.  The Weeknd’s the first headliner on Friday night, and he always puts on a spectacular show, and the same for Eminem, who will undoubtedly pull out some of his powerful anti-Trump ripostes for the occasion as the weekend’s Sunday night closer.  There is a lot of surprising buzz about the return of ‘90s British funk and jazz band Jamiroquai on Friday night, with a rumored cameo by Snoop Dogg. After her show-stopping Grammy performance Sza, will return, with talk of being joined by her Total Dawg Entertainment stablemate Kendrick Lamar.  The majestic, palm-tree setting should be the perfect place to see St. Vincent’s highly theatrical show, while my personal favorites, The War on Drugs, in my humble opinion, among the best rock bands in America right now, with my favorite album of last year, are set for a Friday dusk performance. In terms of new comers, Friday night there is a teenage, three-quarter female garage-punk band from Los Angeles called The Regrettes whom I’ve seen and are wonderful. Also, there’s chatter around Friday night's Greta Van Fleet performance.  I’ve seen them, too, and it’s no exaggeration – they’re a young version of Led Zeppelin and are nobly holding the torch for good old rock 'n’ roll. Other acts that I would tout: Japanese superstar X-Japan, the musical vehicle for drummer, pianist, songwriter Yoshiki, who is an amazing musician that must be seen to be believed. Los Angeles' own Haim, Tyler the Creator, old pal David Byrne is performing, but don’t hold your breath for the long-awaited Talking Heads reunion, which is something Coachella hasn’t been able to pull off, despite waving around wads of money. Chromeo is a great electro-funk duo from Canada that are playing on Saturday. For Sunday, art, prog-rockers A Perfect Circle return after an absence, ODESZA are great, and try to catch Portugal The Man who have been around for years but recently scored a big hit with “Feel It Still.” French Montana is riding a hot streak and everyone is looking forward to the moment’s “It Girl,” Cardi B.

EW: What can event professionals learn from Coachella?

Roy Trakin: Perhaps that’s the best thing about strolling around the Coachella grounds. It really is a great place for trend-spotting in fashion, accessories and, in general, the young demo’s current pop cultural obsessions. These days, the social media generation announce their preferences with the way they dress, the way they act and even the particular acts they choose to see. What they like and what they hate, you know it immediately. The most vital thing about Coachella is its communal aspect. The bands are really secondary to the experience of meeting new people, hanging out with your friends or just being able to say you were there. Destination experiences are all the rage right now among millennials and after.  Event professionals can learn a great deal from the way Coachella handles its crowds of 125,000, keeps them entertained and provides for their needs. Not many corporate events are that large, but Coachella’s example provides a nice template to follow.  After 20 years of attendance growth, Coachella’s future appears to be wherever its organizers want to take it.


Thank you, Roy!



Let's hear it for The Regrettes!