Goldenvoice teases Coachella appearance from Motorhead, others
On Jan. 1, concert promoter Goldenvoice posted a video online of a giant incandescent snail motoring its way around revelers at the 2013 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. Since then, Goldenvoice has been hinting at artists performing at its annual desert festival at the calm, leisurely pace of a mollusk, albeit a hype-generating mollusk, averaging about one reveal per day.
Last night came the first real surprise, as a video from hard rock outlaws-turned-legends Motörhead was placed on the official Coachella site and all its social media tentacles. No press release-type announcement has been made, but the message has been received. The annual Indio, Calif., festival will have a hearty injection of metal in 2014, a genre sometimes overlooked at the festival (unless, of course, desert rat Josh Homme is in your band).
Touring workhorse Motörhead has remained consistently loud and blunt over its three-plus decades and never-say-die vocalist Lemmy Kilmister will be a presence like few others on the Coachella stage. If individual words are often incomprehensible, Lemmy’s venom is never less than fully articulate.
INTERACTIVE: Times music staff best of 2013 list
Coachella is set for the weekends of April 12 and April 19 at the Empire Polo Club in the desert city of Indio. This is the third year Coachella will be held over two consecutive weekends and the first as part of Goldenvoice’s new deal with Indio, which will keep the festival parked in the desert through 2030.
But will the veteran heavy metal bile spewed by Motörhead be a draw amid Coachella’s pristine resort-like atmosphere? That question is largely moot, as the bulk of tickets for the festival went on sale in May and were purchased long before any lineup news was made public. An on-sale date for the remaining tickets, which start at $379, has not yet been set.
Coachella headliners have also yet to be unveiled, although the return of hip-hop duo OutKast remains the favorite among speculators after Billboard broke the news of a potential reunion last year. As to who else is likely to appear at Coachella’s dual weekends, a scan of touring schedules will reveal some gaps from recognizable artists such as Arcade Fire, Nine Inch Nails, Haim, Empire of the Sun, Lorde and Ellie Goulding, but best to not get too excited until the official poster drops.
Prior to teasing a Motörhead appearance, Goldenvoice had quietly unveiled a host of more electronic-leaning acts, including Future Islands and locals the Glitch Mob. Others announced include Odd Future-affiliated avant-R&B act the Internet, the trippy guitar stylings of Tuareg artist Bombino and electronic artist the Magician, the performance moniker of DJ-producer Stephen Fasano.
ALSO:
The biggest entertainment stories
Get our big stories about Hollywood, film, television, music, arts, culture and more right in your inbox as soon as they publish.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
