Coachella 2008 Preview

January 28, 2008 8:04 PM
by Marcos Colón [email]

For those of you who haven’t taken a look yet, Coachella has recently released the line-up for the upcoming 2008 festival at a press conference in Mexico City.

What’s most surprising about this year's festival is one of the headliners that was chosen for the event. The curveball? Day one’s Jack Johnson, chosen to headline over a long list of acts that may seem more fitting. He’ll be the last hurrah of day one for the thousands of music heads who’ve enjoyed a long day of tunes supplied by the likes of Animal Collective, Fatboy Slim and The Raconteurs (who are surprisingly not the top act on this day, even though they’re album is being released later this year). Still, JJ may deserve this for the millions of records he’s sold. Obviously someone’s listening.

Day two should be a treat for all in attendance as Portishead headlines the main stage for their first gig in the U.S. in years. Other headliners include Death Cab for Cutie and Kraftwerk, who’ve played the festival in 2004.

The odd choice of day one’s headliner doesn’t take anything away from the festival. There’s still quite the number of indie acts that have been making big noise this year like Black Kids, The Horrors, Professor Murder and Cool Kids who will each have to live up to the recent hype that’s been created for them. Not to mention the veterans in the festival circuit like Minus the Bear, Hot Chip and M.I.A., who are consistent acts and are sure to be a hit for fans basking in the Colorado Desert.

Excellent electronic acts can be found on this year’s bill, which should attract the crowd to the dance tent this year, but more importantly to the main stage. As other festivals and previous Coachellas, the dance tent was where most of the big DJ’s and electronic acts would get their praise. But the names have recently been working their way onto the main stage. Fatboy Slim, Sasha and Digweed and Justice, each playing on separate days, lead the way. Justice is the rarity for this year’s festival as they play for the second year in a row. They’re expected to play their live set and not a DJ set like last year or this year at Ultra.

All in all, the picks this year seem to try and attract more of the dance music culture, which is beginning to pick up speed and interest once again in the U.S. The producers of Coachella seem to still have the same idea in mind; big names accompanied by small names that make big noise. What’s important to note is that there’s still three months to go, providing an opportunity for bands to drop in or out of the line-up.