Coachella has a rigid curfew , and reportedly , if you go past five supererogatory minute , the output company behind the festival is charged $ 1,000 per minute .
1.First, Coachella was founded in 1999 by Paul Tollett, CEO of Goldenvoice, an LA-based concert production company, and Rick Van Santen, an LA promoter. The duonotablycreated the festival because they wanted a place where punk bands and artists could perform in an effort to help usher them in “from the fringes of the music scene to a wide audience.”
2.The first Coachella wasreviewedas “an antidote to Woodstock ’99s hangover” by Rolling Stone. Coachella took place three months after Woodstock ‘99, which was filled withcontroversydue to poor sanitation conditions, crime, death, and much more.
3.Beck and Rage Against the Machine were the twoheadlinersat the very first Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in 1999. At the time, the festival was only two days and was held in October.
4.Every year, Coachella is held at theEmpire Polo Clubin Indio, California. Prior to Coachella, the venue was actually where Pearl Jamperformeda concert in 1993 when they were boycotting Ticketmaster-controlled venuesdueto the huge service fees Ticketmaster charges fans — which isstill an issue today.
5.Tickets for the first Coachellawere$50 per day, plus fees. Now,general admission passesfor 2023 are $549, plus fees, with VIP passes starting at $1,069, plus fees.
6.For 2023, one of themost expensive passesavailable for purchase was $15,000, and was described as “be among the first to stay in a Safari Residence, a new studio-style accommodation type on the beloved Safari Campground,” per Coachella’s website.
7.In 2017, Coachella reportedlyearnedmore than $114 million in profit, which was the first time the festival had broken the $100 million mark in a single year — in comparison, the first CoachellareportedlyLOST close to $1 million in 1999.
8.According to Paul Tollett, the year he"lost the most money"was in 2008 when Prince became a headliner at the last minute. Prince wasannouncedas a headliner on April 9, with the festival taking place the weekend of April 25, a mere 16 days later.
9.Coachella has a strict curfew policy, which is part of their contract with the city of Indio. Reportedly, if a concertexceedsits curfew, Goldenvoice has to pay $5,000, and if it goes beyond five extra minutes, they reportedly have to start paying $1,000 per minute.
10.Notably, in 2009,Paul McCartneyplayed 54 minutes past curfew on opening night, and The Killers went 30 minutes too long on Saturday night. Then, when The Cure began to go 30+ minutes past curfew on Sunday, Goldenvoice CEO Paul Tollettreportedlyhad them cut power to the venue, sending their set to a sudden stop.
11.In 2018, Beyoncé became thefirst Black womanto headline Coachella. Her now iconic set also became themost-viewedperformance on a YouTube livestream. The two-hour performance was streamed simultaneously by 458,000 viewers on YouTube worldwide.
12.A Star Is Bornstarring Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooperfilmedat Coachella in 2017 while Lady Gaga was headlining. They shot scenes during the week in between Coachella weekends. Also, it was some of the first moments they filmed for the movie.
13.According toan interviewwith Paul Tollett, the 2017 headliners — Lady Gaga, Kendrick Lamar, and Radiohead — were slated to receive between $3 million to $4 million for playing Coachella.
14.Meanwhile, in 2015, Billboardreportedthat non-headlining acts apparently earn anywhere from $500 to $100,000, which is sometimes more than a band would make on one stop on their own tour.
15.It was reported that Ariana Grande and Beyoncé were eachpaid $4 million per weekendfor headlining Coachella in 2018 and 2019 respectively, for a total of $8 million.
16.The booking process for Coachella reportedly takes aboutsix months, and starts as early as August, with the festival happening in April the following year. Paul Tollett looks at Goldenvoice-produced concerts, pitches from agents and friends, and talent hediscoverson YouTube and other social media platforms to curate the Coachella lineup.
17.There is a"radius clause"in each of the performers’ contracts, which essentially bans artists from performing at shows in most of Southern California for several months leading up to Coachella, and reportedly lasting “a full month” after it’s over.
18.Some booking agents have found a way around the “radius clause” by having their artists, especially lesser-known ones,playconcerts in Las Vegas and San Francisco during that period of time, and even between Coachella weekends.
19.Placement on the iconic Coachella poster translates to how much an act is being paid, and it hasreportedlyeven led to future asking prices of acts being higher or lower, especially for DJs.
20.Prior to the release of the poster, Goldenvoice CEO Paul Tolletttellsagents which line of the poster their act will end up on. And, there have been “many arguments” over the various font sizes on the poster.
21.Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg’s headlining set in 2012 notably featured a Tupac Shakur hologram, which was met with a lot of confusion by the crowd and people watching at home. There were countlessexplainerson how the technology worked, with a few criticizing its use. Tupac’s mom wasreportedly"thrilled" with the use of the hologram.
22.During his 2008 headlining set, Roger Waters’s giant, two-story inflatable pigfloated away. The pig, which has been part of Pink Floyd’s concerts since their 1977 albumAnimals, waseventually foundafter it landed in La Quinta, less than two miles from the Coachella venue.
23.Billie Eilish is currently theyoungest Coachella headlinerin the festival’s history. She was 20 years old when she headlined in 2022. The record waspreviouslyheld by Ariana Grande, who was 25 years old when she headlined Coachella in 2019.
24.In 2022, anestimated750,000 people were expected to attend over the course of the six-day festival, with some calling it another “generation shift” for Coachella, whose lineup that year featured a lot of younger acts like Harry Styles, Billie Eilish, Megan Thee Stallion, Phoebe Bridgers, and more.
25.At least 100,000 people reportedlyattendedHarry Styles’s headlining set in 2022 — in comparison, 1999’s Coachella wasattendedby roughly 17,000 to 20,000 people in total per day.
26.Alongside the music, Coachella is also known for its art, which has been part of the festival since 1999. Originally, Coachellarepurposedart pieces from Burning Man, but now the festival commissions original work from around the world alongside a continued collaboration with Burning Man artists.
27.In fact, Coachella hasan art director, whose job it is to curate the artwork for the six-day festival. Paul Clemente has been the main curator since 2007, and he was previously a volunteer.
28.In 2023, Bad Bunny became thefirst Spanish-language artistto ever headline Coachella. His set lasted two hours and was one of the longer Coachella sets in recent years.
29.The Coachella poster is a nod to Paul Tollett and Goldenvoice’spunk music roots. When he was younger, Tollett used to make flyers for his brother’s band, and they’ve kept the same DIY, transfer letters style for the Coachella poster all these years later.
30.Daft Punk’s performance in 2006 isconsideredone of the most memorable Coachella moments. An estimated 40,000 people rushed the Sahara Tent, a venue that could only hold around 10,000, to watch the French duo, who arecreditedwith showing the full scope of electronic music during this concert.
31.A drought in 2000causedCoachella to skip their second year, and it ended up returning in 2001 with Jane’s Addiction as the headliner. The only other times Coachella wascanceledwas in 2020 and 2021 due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
32.Every year, Coachellaannouncesits lineup as close to New Year’s Day as possible, and that’s on purpose. The iconic Coachella poster is released around this time every year because the eventwants to be the firstof the big musical festivals of the year to announce a lineup.
33.And finally, in 2013, the city of Indioagreedto host both Coachella and Stagecoach festivals through 2030. In order to keep up with the increase capacity of the festival, Goldenvoicepurchased 280 acres of landsurrounding the Empire Polo Club, in order to make more space for parking and general use.
