Some quick Coachella 2014 act descriptions and thoughts

coachella2014The 2014 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival lineup was released Wednesday evening and here are some quick descriptions for each day:

Friday (April 11 & 18)

Atlanta hip-hop megastars OutKast and Minneapolis alternative rock pioneers The Replacements are absolutely HUGE gets (but not completely surprising as rumors have been out for awhile) while plenty of standouts in the undercard such as rock’s HAIM, electronic duo The Knife, indie pop’s Ellie Goulding, electrofunk’s Chromeo, indie rock’s Neko Case, soul singer Aloe Blacc (of Avicii fame) and even the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. Other acts include Kate Nash, Anti-Flag, the Cult, Broken Bells and more.

Saturday (April 12 & 19)

English rock band (and Coachella veterans) Muse returns as a headliner with Coachella veteran rock act Queens of the Stone Age (from nearby Palm Desert) but the biggest buzz might be for New Zealand indie/art pop’s Lorde (known for massive 2013 hit “Royals.” Additionally, dub step’s Skrillex, singer Pharrell Williams, DJ Fatboy Slim, hip-hop’s Nas (as well as Kid Cudi), electro pop’s Chvrches, garage rock’s Ty Segall, electronic pop’s Pet Shop Boys … the list of talented acts goes on and on.

Sunday (April 13 & 20)

Canadian indie rock stars Arcade Fire returns as Coachella headliners as well as Los Angeles alternative rock’s Beck, Scotland electro house DJ Calvin Harris, a reunion of indie rock’s Neutral Milk Hotel and even English heavy metal band Motorhead. This doesn’t even take into account for new stars like Disclosure, veterans like Fishbone and rising stars like Chance the Rapper and Jhene Aiko.

Outside of OutKast, one can argue the headliners (and a good chunk of the acts actually) aren’t anything new but all three days look really interesting this year (at least initially). I would have liked to see David Bowie, Daft Punk, Black Sabbath, Beyoncé, Rihanna or Kanye West on the bill but you can’t have it all I guess. It seems like they tried to add some more hip-hop this year also which I approve of.

Festival passes for both weekends go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday but general admission passes for weekend one must be purchased as a shuttle combination, according to Coachella officials.

The passes with shuttle combination are $435.

All types of passes are available for weekend two (a general admission ticket is $375 with no shuttle combination), according to officials.

Additionally, the price you see is the price you pay, according to officials.

The festival is at 81-800 Avenue 51, Indio.

To purchase tickets or for more information, head to www.coachella.com