Many Votes of Confidence for Coachella

An Oasis in the desert seems fitting. But how about an Icelandic sprite? We’ll find out in April when Oasis and Bjork take the headlining slots on the third Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio.

Bjork will anchor the first night, April 27, in just her second appearance at a U.S. festival. Oasis is set to close the weekend April 28 in its only U.S. concert before the release of a new album in the summer.

Building on the tone set by the first two Coachella festivals, the lineup will be a mix of rock, electronica and hip-hop. Others confirmed for the outdoor marathon are the Foo Fighters, Mos Def, the Chemical Brothers, the Prodigy, Ozomotli, B.R.M.C., Belle & Sebastian, Jurassic 5, Dilated Peoples, Queens of the Stone Age, Basement Jaxx, Sasha & Digweed, Paul Oakenfold, Groove Armada, KRS-One, St. Germaine and Dutch DJ Tiesto.

Tickets, at $65 per day, will be on sale March 2. A weekend pass covering both days will also be available at a discount price to be determined.

That the festival is back at all, let alone for two days, is a surprise to some. The inaugural two-day festival in October 1999 lost the promoter, L.A.-based Goldenvoice, a lot of money, with a total attendance of 40,000.

Last April, the firm revived the concept with just one day, headlined by Jane’s Addiction, for a break-even 30,000 tickets. Since then, other promoters’ attempts to import successful festival concepts from England last fall--Creamfields and Mecca--were abandoned before they got off the ground, and changes in the economy and global events have softened the concert market overall.

The reason Coachella is back at two days, says Goldenvoice head Paul Tollett, is that quality acts wanted to play it.

“The first year was a leap of faith to confirm a show two hours outside of Los Angeles,” he says. “The second year was easier, but still a lot of artists had never heard of the event. Now artists are calling us saying, ‘Save us a slot.’ That’s a great feeling.”

In fact, goodwill seems to be Coachella’s biggest asset.

“The buzz about this show has been very positive,” says Gary Bongiovanni, editor in chief of concert business magazine Pollstar. “The first year, even though they lost a fortune, it was voted by our readers as the music festival of the year, which was surprising.”

Bongiovanni also points out that now Goldenvoice has better financial resources. It was bought last year by mogul Phil Anschutz’s Concerts West firm.

Tollett has made a few adjustments to the show this year, notably reducing it from five stages to four.

“We heard a lot from fans that there was a little too much going on all at one time,” he says. “And we’ve definitely increased the comfort amenities. From e-mails we get, one thing people really appreciate is comfort. If you can do that, people will stay longer and come back the next day.”

ON THE ROAD: One thing that may help Coachella III is thin competition. For the traveling rock festivals that have been regular features of the summer rock season, 2002 is shaping up as the weakest year in some time.

Only Ozzfest, with System of a Down confirmed to join Ozzy Osbourne at the top of the bill, and Warped, with Bad Religion, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones and NOFX headlining, are definitely on. Moby is expected to bring back the second edition of his Area tour, to be called Area:Two, but details are far from set. And the William Morris Agency is working on plans to revive Lollapalooza--the original modern traveling rock fest--though no acts have been booked.

Many acts that might be candidates for some of those events are instead doing their own tours, including Incubus and a Blink-182/Green Day teaming.

The economic and logistical hurdles involved in mounting a multi-act caravan have grown in recent years.

“It’s tough out there,” says Kevin Lyman, founder and organizer of the Vans Warped Tour. “That’s why I went for a very basic Warped lineup. Bad Religion, the Bosstones, NOFX--those are bands that have done the tour before, and then there are bands I think are going to break, like Ozma.””

Warped will be in Los Angeles on July 10 and 11, with location to be set, and July 12 at the Ventura Fairgrounds. The Ozzfest schedule has not been announced.

O SISTERHOOD: The soundtrack for the movie “Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood” is looking like the most intriguing movie music project since “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” That’s appropriate, because it’s being produced by the same person, T Bone Burnett.

In addition to music from the film’s Louisiana locales, the soundtrack will feature contributions from a variety of stars. Tony Bennett is recording for the project, and while people close to the film will not confirm it, Bob Dylan, Macy Gray and Alison Krauss are also expected to be involved.

The film and companion album are due in early summer. The album will be the second release from a new label founded by Burnett and “O Brother” filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen. Called DMZ, the company has just made a joint-venture deal with Columbia Records.

The first album for the label will be by bluegrass veteran and “O Brother” contributor Ralph Stanley. Burnett is producing the work, which is due in the spring. DMZ will have offices in Los Angeles and Nashville, with John Grady and Cameron Strang, owner of the independent New West Records label, as co-presidents.

SMALL FACES: “Young Grow Old,” a Creed song that has never been released in the U.S., will be featured on “Forcible Entry,” the latest compilation put together with the World Wrestling Federation. Also on the album, due March 26 from Columbia Records, will be a remix of Marilyn Manson’s “The Beautiful People” (the WWF theme song), Rob Zombie’s theme for wrestler Edge, and a Kid Rock version of ZZ Top’s “Legs.” ...DJ Shadow is finishing “The Private Press,” the first album of his own since 1996’s groundbreaking “Endtroducing” and the Bay Area producer’s first for MCA Records. Due in May, the album is built around samples of records made by nonprofessionals in recording booths at amusement arcades and collected by Shadow over the years....

L.A. band AM Radio is getting a big boost courtesy of Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo, who’s not only managing the group but also taking it out as Weezer’s opening act for nine shows in Japan this spring. Cuomo and AM Radio frontman Kevin Ridel grew up together in Connecticut. AM Radio, which is finishing a debut album for independent release (with Cuomo as executive producer), plays the Troubadour on Tuesday as part of a benefit for local music magazine Synergy.

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Steve Hochman is a regular contributor to Calendar.