Noachella

 

The 2020 edition of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts festival was anticipated by many a music aficionado: it was to feature rising hip hop superstar Travis Scott, who’s worked with the likes of Kendrick Lamar, T.I. and Kanye West (a one-time relative, as Scott shares a daughter with Kylie Jenner); Frank Ocean, who was/is poised to release his first new — and long overdue — album since 2016; and the historic reformation of equally historic band Rage Against the Machine, who almost singlehandedly engineered the fusion of rap and metal back in the 1990’s. Not too shabby…

Such a line-up shouldn’t surprise anyone, though. After all, Coachella has repeatedly made the news for providing groundbreaking musical experiences: Beyonce‘s 2018 performance there is considered one of the all-time great live experiences; French electro duo Daft Punk virtually made it in the US thanks to a 2006 Coachella show; 2Pac was resurrected there on stage (thanks to hologram technology)… Over the years, that festival has become a major part of the music industry at large, transforming rising talents into established superstars — and transforming established superstars into icons.

But there was no 2020 Coachella edition, as we all know. For reasons we also all know. After being postponed from April to October 2020, a new date had been set: April 2021. However, local authorities recently announced that this was also not to be. No new date has been shared for now, as authorities and event organizers alike look at the options that lay before them. The challenge for the festival is — obviously — the lack of revenue for a fairly extended period of time (as the restaurant or movie theater industry know full well) while US authorities (under the new administration) try to define the best path forward to beat this pandemic.

Obviously, Coachella is not the only event being shut down by Covid-19: the same happened to fellow Californian Stagecoach country festival, also slated for April. Over in Europe, Glastonbury (the world’s biggest recurring festival, and another hugely influential cultural event) has been off since 2019: the 2020 edition would have marked its 50th anniversary, with a Paul McCartney / Taylor Swift double billing in the works. France’s Rock en Seine, which was also to feature a Rage Against the Machine reunion show in 2020 — and had reshuffled their usual 3-day program to accommodate the band — is also in limbo. Meanwhile, Chicago’s Lollapalooza went online…

Although established organizations like Coachella, Glastonbury or Lollapalooza should find a way forward despite the current crisis, the same cannot always be said of the lesser known, smaller events. When this situation is over — and it will eventually be, we will no doubt witness a massive want for live music. Let us hope most, if not all, festivals will still be around to accommodate…