The top five

The thing to remember about Coachella is that during the course of the two days, some folks you’ve never heard of might suddenly become your favorite band. But before the first notes are struck, let’s propose an honor roll of the weekend’s key acts, a select gang of five:

Radiohead’s only scheduled U.S. appearance this year is the obvious pinnacle, a meeting of band-of-the-moment with rock’s prestige event. Reunions have been big at Coachella (Iggy & the Stooges , Jane’s Addiction), but the Pixies’ return after a decade figures to be an inspiring affirmation of the arty, mysterious Boston band’s influence on ‘90s rock.

The Cure’s appearance isn’t a reunion per se, but the English band is riding a remarkable resurgence, and its influence on a new generation seems to be somehow bringing it out of the Goth ghetto into the sunshine of universal pop.

Speaking of new generations, two precocious youngsters from very different cultures with very different sounds have arrived at the brink of major impact: Bright Eyes’ twentysomething Conor Oberst, a folk-rock voice of America’s earnest but wary heartland youth, and Dizzee Rascal, a 19-year-old Cockney hip-hop poet whose spare beats and vivid language penetrate to the core of the outsider’s soul.