Music speaks to the soul. Whether played on a cassette tape or through Spotify, a vinyl or on the radio, music speaks to all generations. Music can be a collective experience or an escape into your mind. Music does not even need words, it can be heard in the sounds of everyday life. The best part of music is that it can be universally enjoyed through concerts, musicals and festivals.
Once a year in April, the music festival season kicks off in Indio, California, at the Empire Polo Club. Music fans from around the world fly in to experience a culturally significant event: Coachella.
Coachella is an annual music festival with a standard 100-160+ artists set to perform. Each year, three main headliners take the stage, drawing in a massive crowd each day of the event. Some iconic headliners from the past ten years include Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande, The Weeknd, Childish Gambino and more. This year, Sabrina Carpenter and Justin Bieber were two of the most notable headliners, stunning the crowds with their visually appealing sets and dynamic performances.
The event did not start as a way to bring in these big artists. In 1993, after Pearl Jam disputed with Ticketmaster over service charges regarding ticket purchases, they performed for 25,000 fans at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California. The performance was a hit, and the venue proved itself to hold both the sonic sounds and abundance of people.
In 1997, Paul Tollett’s, the man behind the idea, concert promotion company Goldenvoice had a difficult time finding a venue to host for smaller artists with less charting songs. Eventually, the company came to the idea of putting them all together in a festival. Having heard positive things about the Polo Club after Pearl Jam’s performance, they decided to book their event there, and the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival was born.
The first official Coachella was in 1999, October 9-10. The headliners were Rage Against the Machine, Beck, and Tool. Tickets sold for $50 per day and brought in 17,000 fans the first day and 20,000 fans the second day, thus beginning the annual tradition of this festival.
Since the start, the culture and atmosphere of Coachella has shifted through clothes, genres, and experience. But one idea has always stayed central to the festival: music.
