Latest / Booked On Rock with Eric Senich / Coachella Chronicles: Music, Fashion, and Festival Fever [Episode 333]

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Coachella Chronicles: Music, Fashion, and Festival Fever [Episode 333] · Booked On Rock with Eric Senich

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: It's a fashion show, a media circus, a party marathon,
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: but most of all, it's a place for one hundred
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: and twenty five thousand people to gather together to experience
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: the power of live music. It's the story of Coachella.
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: Next on Booked on Rock, who We're totally booked rock
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: and roll.
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: I mean, I'll leave you. You're reading. Little Hands says
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: it's time to rock and roll.
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: Roll up, I totally booked. Welcome back to Booked on Rock.
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: This is the podcast for those about to read and rock.
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: I'm Eric Senach. Our guest is Katie Vain, the author
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: of Desert Dreams, The Music, Style and Allure of Coachella.
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the podcast, Katie, Thank you very much for
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: having me. I guess we should start with two guys here,
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: Paul Tillette and Gary Tova. They're the guys who met
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: and changed the trajectory of live music in America. This
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: meeting could have ended up in a turf war, as
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: you write, but they hit it off, became friends.
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: That's exactly right. And I mean it sounds hyperbolic to
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: say it changed the trajectory of the American live music scene,
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: but like I truly believe that that is real, and
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: that it was kind of a faded meeting between these
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: two Southern California punk producers who, like you said, could
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: have been enemies but found that they liked each other
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: and sort of working together, and you know, thus came Coachella.
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: Pearl Jam actually comes into play here. Pearl Jam was
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: battling with Ticketmaster at one point, as we know, it's
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: a famous story, and they were going to play a
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: gig and they didn't want to play there because of Ticketmaster. Right,
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: can you connect the dots here?
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I know, you're exactly right. This is this is
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: super interesting. So it was the Versus tour in ninety three,
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: and they were not going to play in Southern California
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: because none of the big venues here, all of the
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: venues here worked with Ticketmaster, and as you said, the
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: band was boycotting Ticketmaster at that time. And so you know,
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: these entrepreneurial promote that we discussed said, hey, if we
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: can find you a site, a venue to play that's
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: not Ticketmaster affiliated, would you come to play? And Pearl
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: Jam and their team you know, obviously said yes. And
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: so they found this site that was about one hundred
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: and twenty thirty miles east of Los Angeles, and in
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: ninety three was I think in the say in the
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: book like the absolute sticks, like it was really the
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: middle of nowhere, and it was Indio. It was the
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: Polo Field, and that is of course where the site,
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: you know, would it would become Coachella eventually, but I
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: think that was the prototype. And they fought, okay, like,
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: not only does this work as a festival site, but
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: people will drive out here, And it all went pretty smoothly.
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: People threw their shoes at the band, and I think
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: Eddie Vedder got hit by a shoe, but the issues
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: were relatively minor, and so they, you know, saw it
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: as a venue for the first time.
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: Yeah, And the first Coachella took place October ninth and tenth,
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: nineteen ninety nine. And you lead the chapter with quote,
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: anyone who was there remembers one thing for sure, it
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: was hot as hell. But those who were there say
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: the magic was also there from the start, rage against
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: the machine Beck, the chemical brothers, Tool and Harper, and
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: the innocent criminals. Morrissey was there as well, a very
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: different audience than Woodstock ninety nine, which had just taken
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: place three months later, Right, this was a very mellow,
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: subdued crown that got along.
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: Well, yeah, isn't that fascinating? I think. Yeah, it's in
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: the book that tickets for Coachella went on sale the
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: day after Woodstock ninety nine ended, and you know, as
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: we all know, that was just like an unmitigated disaster
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: and really really very dangerous and when you watch the documentary,
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: it's shocking what went on there. And so yeah, as
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: you said, some of the same acts that played Woodstock
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: ninety nine then came across the country to Coachella three
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: months later and had an extremely different experience. I was
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: talking some friends who were there at that first Coachella,
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: and they said that there were like some angst in
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: the air of what is it going to be like
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: is it going to go down like Woodstock did? And
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: there was maybe a little bit of tension, but by
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: and large, the crowd was massively more peaceful and the
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: site was more habitable for humans. Woodstock ninety nine happened
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: on a tarmac at a navy or excuse me, a
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: military base, and Coachella happened in like a paradisical garden.
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: And so maybe that's part of That answer is part
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: of the question because I was wondering, what do you
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: attribute that to? So environment, location, Yeah, I.
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: Think environment and location, because you know, you put people
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: on tarmac for three four days in the hot sun,
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: they don't have great access to water, things are expensive.
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: It just like Woodstock ninety nine was inhospitable and after
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: four days people are pissed and they're gonna rebel, and
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: they obviously did. There wasn't really I don't want to
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: say there was no chance of that happening at Coachella,
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: but it was just a much more comfortable environment to
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: be in despite the heat, and you know, water was cheaper,
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: water was abundant. They were on grass like it makes
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: a difference, you know, in our biology how we feel
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: and therefore how we act.
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: Interesting And the first edition didn't make any money. Why
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: was that? And then what changes did they make from
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: that point on?
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: Paul Tilett in one of the articles that I referenced
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: that you know, tickets cost fifty dollars a day, they
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: should have been fifty five. They did I think five
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: stages year one, it should have been four. They just
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: went really big out the gate and they didn't have
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: it dialed right away, so they lost a bunch of money.
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: They took two thousand off. Coachella did not happen. So
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: year two is two thousand and one, and by that
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: point AEG had come in this you know, bigger parent
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: company and saw the promise of what they had done
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: and kind of infused Coachella and Golden Voice with some cash,
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: and then it was kind of off to the races.
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: And it returned in two thousand and one, but the
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: event was still a long way from becoming that international
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: juggernaut it would become. Among the factors contributing to its
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: increase in popularity were a few key bookings who were
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: the artists you would say made a big impact. Radiohead
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: and five. That was a turning point.
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that was a turning point, absolutely, because you know,
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: at that time Radio had was one of the biggest
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: bands in the world, still one of the biggest bands
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: in the world, but really at that time was boundary pushing,
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: super critical Darling. And so when Coachella booked, you know,
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: obviously the Becks and the Chemical Brothers and the Orbs
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: and the Tools and the Rage against the Machines of
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: the world, like those are all great bands, but Radiohead
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: was really cutting edge, and so for Coachella to get
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: that kind of prestigious booking I think was like a
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: head turning moment and just brought a lot more eyes
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: to it.
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: And by twenty eleven, it was America's most prestigious and
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: influential music fest. And how did technology make it even bigger?
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: That's a great question. So I just I find this
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: element of the story fascinating because there's really all this
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: dovetailing of factors things coming together that really boosted the
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: visibility and influence of Coachella. But I think it's two
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: things specifically. One is the live stream. Coachella started being
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: live streamed on YouTube in twenty eleven, and so it
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: became not just this thing, this holiday for people in
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: southern California and beyond to travel to and experience know about.
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: But the people that were far beyond that are the
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: people that couldn't afford to come, or don't like crowds,
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: or get exhausted and want to be the same, you know,
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: whatever reason you don't want to go to a festival
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: or you can't go. The live stream brought those walls
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: down and it just became this free event that anybody
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: in the world could tap into anyone with an Internet connection.
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: And at the same time, Instagram launched in twenty eleven,
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: and so in tandem, you're having now all of these
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: people who are there wanting to show people that they're there.
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: And so you see the rise of influencer culture and
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: just promoting the festival and social media through kind of
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: organic marketing. The organic marketing that social media offers in
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: a way that just made the festival really buzzy and
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: so much bigger because suddenly everybody that was there was
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: kind of reporting from it, if you will.
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: And everybody wasn't wanted to be there exactly because of
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: what they.
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: Saw, exactly exactly, And so I mean call it, you know,
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: you could call the livestream an active benevolence. I'm like, oh,
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: you know, we're going to share this with people around
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: the world. But it's, you know, one of the greatest
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: marketing tools that a festival has ever known.
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: So talk about the layout of Coachella, the key locations.
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: The photos in the book are beautiful. It's a beautiful
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: location for music festival. Seventy eight acres. You're isolated from
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: the rest of the world. There's a the icon of
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: ferris wheel art installations. There's even an air conditioned tent.
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: Oh yeah, there's a few. Yeah, I mean, obviously the
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: ferris wheel is kind of the landmark and the thing
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: people it's kind of synonymous with Coachella. I've never been
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: on it myself, but it's a big ferris wheel. And
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: then there are these incredible art installations, some of which
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: change from year to year. But then there's the Rainbow
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: Tower that it's called Spectra, that has become kind of
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: synonymous with the festival and is now a permanent installation.
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: And then it's it's not just the art and the structures,
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: but the grass and the palm trees and the Bogan
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: villa and kind of the particular smell the air has
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: because you know that there are horses around, and so
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: it's just like this really interesting alchemy of factors that
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: come in to make that site feel like, no, they're
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: place in the world.
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: That's so cool. Katie Banny is the author of Desert Dreams,
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: The Music Style and a Lore of co Cella. The
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: chapter top headline moments in one of them Roger Waters
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: performing in two thousand and eight and something happened to
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: his inflatable pig. Was it an accident? Maybe not.
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: I love this story. I think this story is hilarious
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: and I think it really shows that for all of
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: the extremely choreographed moments that these artists pull off on
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: stage and spent months perfecting, there are these kind of
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: goofy things that happened. So yeah, as you said, Roger
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: Waters in two thousand and eight had an inflatable pig
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: as part of his show. People have probably seen this
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: in his you know, touring over the years. But the
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: pig got loose from its tethers and floated away. And
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: this thing is big. It's like as big as a
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: school bus, I think, and Coachella wanted it back. They
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: wanted to find it, so they put out a, you know,
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: an announcement saying that anybody who helped in the returning
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: of the pig would get a reward, which I think
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: was some money and then festival tickets for life. And
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: the people that ended up making the call were two couples,
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: because the pig was so big that it spread across
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: two different front yards, and the team from Coachella arrives
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: and I'm like, yep, that's our pig. I just think
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: that it's like, when you really think about what that
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: looked like, I think that's a very funny visual. And
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: the reporting went that the couple very benevolently donated the
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: money to local music classes for kids.
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: That's awesome. Well, the question of wasn't an accident or not,
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: because maybe it was a publicity thing. I mean that
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: happened actually back in whatever year was with that, Animals
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: came out and there was an actual pig that got
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: loose in England and that made the news so interesting.
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: It's a great way to get some free publicity.
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: I think Animals was seventy seven, so thirty years later,
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: it's still the pig for promo.
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: And then the following year Morrissey walked off stage.
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: Yes also animal related, Yes, famously Vegan Morrissey said from
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: the stage that he I don't have the exact quote,
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: but you know smelled the burning flesh of animals, basically
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: referring to whatever, you know, smoke was on the air
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: from you know, a barbecue, whatever food stand was preparing
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: you know, a hamburger or whatever, and marched off stage
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: because it's so disgusted him. And you know we know
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: that about Morrissey. He refuses to play in venues sometimes
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: served meat. It's a very real cause for him, and
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: so yeah, he didn't like that smell.
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: Hey guys, we'll get back to the show, but first
• 12:50
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• 12:56
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  Speaker 1: on Ron. Also find a link in this episode show notes,
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: or just go to Booked on Rock dot com and
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: click on my deals. Quite a few memorable performances over
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: the years, along with two we mentioned. You see that
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: possibly the first instance of the special guest phenomenon became
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: in two thousand and two when DJ z Trip brought
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: out a special guest. Who was that guest?
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: That guest was back, yes who, as you said, played
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: the first year at the festival, but I think this
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: year was just hanging out and happened to be backstage
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: and you know, whatever conversation needs to add, they decided
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: it would be a good idea. I'm sure it was.
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: There is very almost no footage of it because this
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: is before the smartphone era, but it really is the
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: first instance I could find of this phenomenon that is
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: very Coachella specific of artists bringing out other artists, and
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: that's the whole weekend one. You know, one of the
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: big pillars is who are they going to bring out?
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: I heard they're bringing out so and so are I
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: heard this is? You know, and there are these megawatt
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: like crazy famous guests that come out during other artists' performance,
• 14:22
  Speaker 2: and it can be really exciting.
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: Yeah, again, the buzz people start talking who's going to
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: be there?
• 14:29
  Speaker 2: Totally and sometimes it's not true. You know. I have
• 14:32
  Speaker 2: some friends who recall, I forget what year, but running
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: sprinting across the stage because they thought someone was bringing
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: out Daft Punk, and of course that was not a
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: real thing. But these rumors get started and it adds
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: to this kind of like buzzy hype on the site
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: on an even day, which can be really fun.
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: And you list the twenty one most essential sets at
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: Coachella let's get to some and what made their sets
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: so special. Tell us about Rage against the Machine. It
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: goes way back to nineteen ninety nine.
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's well, it was the first year and Rage
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: was again like one of the biggest bands in the world.
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: And I mean, I think it's just really a foundational
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: moment for the festival because it speaks to the roots
• 15:15
  Speaker 2: of Golden Voice and this sort of punk alternative rock
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: scene that the festival kind of emerged from.
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: What's interesting is there there's a range of acts in
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: terms of age groups that would be into these bands.
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: It's a younger audience, but still you've got these bands
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: like Guns of Roses, The Cure, Iggy and the Stooges.
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: That's on the list too, that's from two thousand and three,
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: the big reunion show, right the Stones, Yeah, pretty interesting.
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: Iggy and the Stooges is interesting because it's also symbolic
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: of what was another tenth pole phenomenon of the Coachella lineup,
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: So just the reunions of like who is going to
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: get back together to perform at Coachella. Obviously, the Pixies
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: was a really big one in under that umbrella outcast.
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: You could look at no doubt, you know, even in
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: years years, recent years, excuse me, and so yeah, I
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: selected eating the Stooges just for that reason, because it
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: was really indicative of something that would become very Coachella specifice.
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: The average age of the audience, it's a good question.
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: I mean late twenties or actually probably late teens through twenties.
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: So older I get, the younger they seen, right, So
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: I would say it does depend. Obviously, demographics don't shift
• 16:43
  Speaker 2: day by day as much as they used to do
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: when you could buy day passes. But I will say,
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: like I'm thinking for example of twenty fifteen, when Jack
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: White was Saturday Night and then Drake was a Sunday
• 16:57
  Speaker 2: Night headliner, and you could kind of feel the difference
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: in who was there, you know, like for Jack White
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: it was like old, it was older people, and for
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: Draca was younger people. But I would say, there are
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: you know, I don't know how you want to classify old.
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: I would probably classify myself as old at this point,
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: but there are a lot of like, you know, adults
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: of a certain stature that are there in addition to
• 17:23
  Speaker 2: all the kids.
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: And it's really just that love though, I mean that's
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: what's so cool about it, just bringing everybody together all
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: and I.
• 17:32
  Speaker 2: Think, like, you know, certain demographics are pulled over to
• 17:36
  Speaker 2: this stage and then you have a younger demographic over here,
• 17:40
  Speaker 2: but everyone's there, and it's just kind of where you're
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: spending your time and putting your attention.
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: Love that. Yeah, Now Radiohead from four there was some
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: doubt there that the band would even perform.
• 17:52
  Speaker 2: Yes, that's right. So I think that they had been
• 17:55
  Speaker 2: playing in Australia or it was something quite far away
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: from from Indio and Tom York was having vocal issues,
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: and I think it was just you know, I it
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: made me actually grateful reporting this part of just the
• 18:12
  Speaker 2: existence of kind of small, granular news pieces that maybe
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: at the time seemed significant but kind of create this
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: trail of history because I found a short piece from
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: Billboard actually being like Tom York sites vocal issues, unsure
• 18:26
  Speaker 2: if he will play next shows, And the next shows,
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: you know, were Coachella was Coachella. But he showed up.
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: He sounded great. If he was in pain, he did
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: not indicate it during that performance.
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: Prince's two thousand and eight performance Prince came at a
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: high price, but Tollette said it was worth every penny
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: talk about the show he brought the party.
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: Oh my god, that was my first Coachella. That was
• 18:48
  Speaker 2: the first.
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: Okay, great tell us, tell us.
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: I ever set foot on the field. So it's a
• 18:53
  Speaker 2: very you know, it's a very special memory, I'm sure
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: for everyone who was there. But Prince's what brought me
• 18:59
  Speaker 2: to Coachella for the first time.
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: Wow.
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: He was added to the lineup two weeks before, two
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: or three weeks before, which was a big deal, Like
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: that doesn't happen very often, and as you said, they
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: paid a lot to get him out there. However, I
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: had seen Prince a few times by that time. This
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: was the best. This was above and beyond, and Prince
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: is always great, but this was like we went out
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: to space together or something. He had Morris Day. I
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: think Sheila he was there. It was just it felt
• 19:29
  Speaker 2: like a party on stage. He did a lot of
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: covers kind of like non sequitor, like, huh, he's playing that.
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: But one of them, of course, famously was the radio
• 19:37
  Speaker 2: head cover of Creep, which became one of like the
• 19:40
  Speaker 2: defining moments of Coachella. He played like a very long,
• 19:44
  Speaker 2: slowed down version of Little Red Corvette and then you know,
• 19:49
  Speaker 2: by the time he did Purple Rain, I had kind
• 19:53
  Speaker 2: of forgotten that was even a possibility. So when the
• 19:56
  Speaker 2: opening notes of that song came on, it was like,
• 19:58
  Speaker 2: and now we get per you know, like we've been
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: on this like incredible musical journey together if you will.
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: I know it's cheesy, but ending the show with that
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: was like sacred really for me.
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: So jealous man. Yeah, it's like he rose to the
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: occasion because you knew how big of an event.
• 20:20
  Speaker 2: One thousand percent, and yeah, he just he just brought
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: it and he's prince like, of course he did.
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: I'm a huge fan of the Cure. Their O nine
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: show among the twenty one best, a very long set.
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: In fact, they kept playing even after the PA system
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: was cut, and there was what you called an intimate
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: sing along by show is end.
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: Yes, Well, I'm sure most people know that if you
• 20:45
  Speaker 2: go over the curfew of the festival, the festival gets
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: fined and it can be a lot of money. You know,
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: It's like it can be thousands and tens of thousands
• 20:54
  Speaker 2: of dollars depending on how long an artist goes over.
• 20:57
  Speaker 2: And I think I think Paul mccartry, he went over
• 21:00
  Speaker 2: during his set and they let him do it. But
• 21:04
  Speaker 2: in any case, you're right with the Cure. They eventually
• 21:06
  Speaker 2: had to pull the plug, and people who were there,
• 21:09
  Speaker 2: you know, like probably the really hardcore fans, noticed that
• 21:13
  Speaker 2: the Cure did not stop playing when the plug was pulled,
• 21:17
  Speaker 2: and so it just became this acoustic set that people
• 21:20
  Speaker 2: kind of gravitated to and had a small scale acoustic
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: Cure sing along show that I'm sure was just like
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: one of the most incredible moments of you know, those
• 21:32
  Speaker 2: people's lives, because how cool does that sound.
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: Robert Smith the man yeah, Guns of Roses in twenty sixteen,
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: big moment as Rosen Slash. He hadn't performed together since
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: nineteen ninety three. Paul Toilette, he played a key role
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: in this.
• 21:45
  Speaker 2: I don't know exactly the lore behind getting them back together,
• 21:50
  Speaker 2: but I mean, but.
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: He was trying for a long time apparently, Okay, the book, right,
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: I think that's right.
• 21:56
  Speaker 2: I'm sure that I wrote that.
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: I think he was really just like every year, like, okay, guys,
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: you want to do this?
• 22:03
  Speaker 2: Yeah, Well, I'm sure that one of the white whales
• 22:05
  Speaker 2: of reunions, because there are only a certain number of
• 22:08
  Speaker 2: bands really, when you think about it, who are at
• 22:12
  Speaker 2: that level where they can come back together. They can
• 22:14
  Speaker 2: headline Coachella and it'll be a big enough draw that
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: it will help sell at the festival. And Guns n'
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: Roses certainly was that. I was there. It was awesome.
• 22:24
  Speaker 2: Axel Rose had broken his leg. He had injured himself
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: at a smaller show at the Troubadour like the week
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: or two before, so he was playing on a throne,
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: from a throne lent to him by Dave Grohl. There's
• 22:38
  Speaker 2: just like some great mythology around this set. But they
• 22:41
  Speaker 2: were you know, it's Guns and Roses. It doesn't matter
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: if you played laying down from bed. They sounded amazing.
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: Now, the last question, Katie, you right quote critics of
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: Coachella say it's become too expensive, too much of a
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: social media feeding frenzy, too much of an influencer gathering,
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: to this and to that. What is your response to
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: the critic and why is Coachella is still well worth
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: the cost.
• 23:03
  Speaker 2: I mean, all of those things are present. The influencer
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: thing is real, and it is expensive to go, But
• 23:14
  Speaker 2: I always think about it as an allocation of resources.
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: Like some people like buy a boat and some people
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: spend their money on golf. Like it's If you love music,
• 23:23
  Speaker 2: this is a really good investment because regardless of what
• 23:26
  Speaker 2: you think about influencer culture, branded, whatever it's, it's fairly
• 23:31
  Speaker 2: easy to just kind of not be a part of
• 23:34
  Speaker 2: that while you're there, especially if you go week and
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: two where that presence really goes away almost I don't
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: want to see to zero, but it really goes away,
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: and you can see some of the best musical performances
• 23:48
  Speaker 2: like ever and as a music fan, I think that's
• 23:52
  Speaker 2: like well worth one's time. It's like a really high
• 23:56
  Speaker 2: level buffet of music aims.
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: The music style and a lore of Coachella. The book
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: is out now, yes, so you can find it whoever.
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: Books are sold the usual outlets, Amazon, all those places,
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: but also look forward at your nearest bookstore, your nearest
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: independent bookstore. You can find your nearest independent bookstore at
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: the website booked on rock dot com. And where can
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: people find you online? Katie? If they want to reach out.
• 24:18
  Speaker 2: You can find me on Instagram. It's Bane of your Existence.
• 24:22
  Speaker 2: B A I N like I.
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: Love that, I love that.
• 24:25
  Speaker 2: O f exs TNZ And then my website is ms Katiebaine.
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: Dot com Katiebaine, thank you so much for coming on
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: and congrats on a phenomenal book.
• 24:36
  Speaker 2: Thank you, thank you for having me really appreciate it.
• 24:46
  Speaker 2: That's it. It's in the books.