Coachella
Daft Punk‘s Coachella 2006 performance is widely considered to be one of the best shows to ever happen at the festival, turning everyone in the packed Sahara tent into dance-music believers and helping set the stage for the genre’s coming explosion in the United States.
But how did the French duo even end up at the festival?
New documentary Busy P Says Oui explores the dynamics that brought the show to life, via interviews with Busy P (real name Pedro Winter), the founder of Ed Banger records who also managed Daft Punk for 12 years, starting when he was 20 years old.
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The documentary as a whole celebrates Winter, one of dance music’s most crucial and beloved figures, while looking at the relationship he and Ed Banger have had with Coachella over the years with artists including Justice, DJ Mehdi and more.
Shot on location at and near Coachella 2024, the documentary is a project by Coachella producer Goldenvoice and one in a series of upcoming pieces (with many more to come) from the original content initiative at Coachella led by Ike Adler, Mikhail Mehra and David Prince. The doc also features an interview with Goldenvoice’s vp of festival talent Stacey Vee, who was instrumental in getting the robots to the desert for their performance on April 29, 2006.
It wasn’t easy. “Daft Punk really wanted to focus on their own career, own music,” Winter says in the doc, “so my job mostly during those 12 years was to say no to everybody, everything.”
“We really didn’t want a no; we really wanted this one to happen,” Vee says of sending Daft Punk’s agent the offer, which would provide the duo with $350,000, plus airfare, hotel and ground transportation.
The pair, of course, ultimately said “oui,” with the documentary unpacking how the show came together, with Sahara tent mastermind Wiley Dailey recalling that “people showed up and lost their minds.”
“Magic happened,” Winter concurs of the performance, which unveiled Daft Punk’s iconic pyramid stage production and more or less changed the course of electronic music forever.
“Whenever I’m given an opportunity to make a film about music, I’m always on board,” the doc’s director Garfield tells Billboard. “I was excited about this project because I am a fan of Pedro Winter’s as well as Coachella’s, but I also knew it came with a challenge. How could I cover everything about the dopeness that is Pedro and his long relationship with the festival in 10 minutes or less? The answer was not to go for all but to go for small. So I chose to focus on just a moment in their shared history and springboard out from there.
“Busy P Says Oui is as much a metaphor for taking chances as it is about the gravitational pull between two musical forces who continue to support each other to this day,” Garfield continues. Hopefully when you watch you will catch a glimpse into the ball of energy that is both Coachella and Busy P. Who knows, maybe it will inspire you to try something too.”
If you’re holding out to see Massive Attack return to Coachella, you might be left waiting for some time.
The English trip-hop duo – which comprises Robert ‘3D’ Del Naja and Grant ‘Daddy G’ Marshall – have spent close to 40 years becoming known for their activism and politics almost as much as their groundbreakingg music, with climate matters and environmentalism a strong focus of their efforts.
Alongside support of the Extinction Rebellion group, Massive Attack have also been critical of the impact that live music has upon the envionment. In 2021, they comissioned a study through the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, ultimately launching their own plan to reduce carbon emissions throughout the wider music industry.
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Recently, the pair have been performing shows as part of their Act 1.5 series, aiming to not only rethink how concerts can be staged with environmental friendliness in mind, but to also be the lowest-carbon events of their kind.
During their recent Act 1.5 event in Liverpool, England, the pair spoke to NME about their decision to turn down a return visit to Coachella due to their concerns over the event’s environmental impact.
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“We said no to Coachella for next year because again, we’ve been there once, and once was enough,” Del Naja explained. “It’s in Palm Springs. It’s a golf resort built on a desert, run on a sprinkler system, using public water supplies. Mental. If you want to see something that’s the most ludicrous bit of human behaviour – it’s right there.”
Del Naja also turned his focus to artists who perform residencies in Las Vegas, naming the city an “aviation destination”, and describing The Sphere as “a brilliant bit of infrastructure in the worst possible place it could be – in the worst setting in the world”.
Massive Attack’s sole appearance at Coachella took place in 2006, four years prior to the release of their most recent album, 2010’s Heliogland. Elsewhere in the interview, Del Naja added that the group have been sitting on new music for four years which is yet to be released due to a label dispute.
Their forthcoming plans also include furthering environmental activism with partnerships in Europe, including an in-progress deal with Trainline to provide discounts to Billie Eilish fans who travel to the show by rail.
Between the DOJ’s Live Nation antitrust suit, Sphere’s first year, new leadership at CAA and a slew of acquisitions, it’s been another big year for the concert business.
When the 2025 Coachella lineup was unveiled last week, we learned that Lady Gaga, Post Malone, Green Day and Travis Scott would headline the Indio, California, festival, and if you look below those big-font names, you’ll find there are quite a few A-listers scattered throughout the poster. On the new Billboard Pop Shop Podcast, Katie […]
Few documents are more carefully studied than the annual Coachella lineup poster announcing the dozens of artists booked to play the Indio, California festival each April. So this year, it didn’t take eagle-eyed fans long to notice a rare typographical change to the typically standardized playbill: A band name printed in something other than the poster’s classic Eurostile LT font.
Instead, the name of that band — legendary punk rock outfit The Misfits — was printed in the timeless “fancy horror” font it’s become known for, with oversized M’s, F’s and T’s dominating the other letters.
It’s a subtle yet substantial change to one of the most recognizable lineup posters in music, made to honor Goldenvoice’s long ties to The Misfits — listed as “The Original Misfits” to underline that the version of the band that’s set to appear at Coachella will be composed of the classic lineup of original singer/songwriter Glenn Danzig, original bassist Jerry Only and longtime guitarist Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein. The font change is a nod to The Misfits’ profound influence on live music, Goldenvoice officials say, as well as a celebration of the long history between the band and Goldenvoice, whose roots with the goth-punk outfit predate Coachella itself.
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“The Misfits are one of the first bands we promoted,” says Paul Tollett, president of Goldenvoice, which has been producing the annual music festival since 1999 and whose roots in L.A.’s punk rock scene go back to the early 1980s. Back then, Goldenvoice was a small concert promotion company run by Gary Tovar, a street-savvy supporter of LA’s growing punk movement who was known for promoting underground bands like Black Flag and T.S.O.L. that most venues wouldn’t touch.
In 1983, Tovar managed to secure The Misfits a Jan. 21. headlining gig with the Circle Jerks at a community center in Goleta, Calif. — a small beach town 100 miles north of downtown Los Angeles. The band’s energetic and blitzing performance, supporting their recently released record Earth A.D., was captured by multiple video cameras and a half-dozen 35mm toting photographers — with its most memorable line coming from a young Danzig at the end of “All Hell Breaks Loose” when he matter-of-factly declared, “We f—ed that one up.”
Bootleg recordings from the gig would solidify its cult status among fans, and Goldenvoice would promote at least one Misfits show by having the band open for Black Flag at the Santa Monica Civic Center on June 11, 1983. But by year’s end The Misfits had broken up, and eventually, Tovar’s run would come to an end as well: In 1991, he was arrested on federal drug trafficking charges and later sentenced to prison, handing the company off to Tollett and others to manage.
Fast forward four decades to early 2024, when the partners at Goldenvoice found themselves with the rare opportunity to work with The Misfits once more by staging a one-of-a-kind classic punk festival at the LA Fairplex with a supporting lineup that included Suicidal Tendencies, Black Flag, Bad Religion and The Vandals. The festival, dubbed No Values, sold out more than 40,000 tickets immediately after going on sale.
The Misfits are scheduled to headline Coachella’s Outdoor Stage on both weekends (April 12 and April 19), marking their first appearance at the festival. Tickets are now on sale at coachella.com.
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Years after Coachella removed Travis Scott from their lineup due to the tragic events of Astroworld in 2021, it seems like Cactus Jack is back in the good graces of the annual concert event as he and a few other big name artists are set to headline Coachella come 2025.
Taking to Instagram to announce their upcoming lineup, the “SICKO MODE” rapper will be joining the likes of Post Malone, Green Day and Lady Gaga when Coachella kicks off their two-weekend event on April 11-13 and April 18-20. Other notable names joining the festivities will be the likes of Missy Elliott, GloRilla, Megan Thee Stallion, and even Three 6 Mafia. We hope Three 6 Mafia breaks out their Oscar trophy from 2006. Don’t let that accomplishment die, y’all!
Taking to Instagram to announce his return to Coachella, Travis Scott posted a pic of next year’s concert event and in the caption wrote:
“NEW CHAPTER
NEW PERFORMANCE
NEW COACHELLA BY LA FLAME AND CACTUS JACK
FIRST OF ITS KIND
PS YALL 🥷 GOT TILL APRIL CAUSE
IM COMING.”
Is Travis Scott planning on dropping some new work in preparation for his return to Coachella? Could he possibly bring out Young Thug to the festivities and have the crowd go berserk? Guess we’ll have to wait and see.
Tickets for the 2025 Coachella will be available for presale on Friday (Nov. 22), at 11 a.m. PT on their website here.
What do y’all think of next year’s Coachella lineup? Will y’all be attending? Let us know in the comments section below.
Lady Gaga has conquered music, movies and Las Vegas. But there is one item on her bucket list that has been annoying elusive. Until now. After Mother Monster was announced as one of the headliners for next year’s Coachella Festival, the singer took to her socials to gush about how the booking is the realization of one of her rock and roll fantasies.
“I have long dreamed of throwing a massive night of chaos in the desert,” Gaga wrote on Wednesday (Nov. 20) after the lineup for next year’s event in Indio, CA was unveiled. “I’ve had a vision I’ve never been able to fully realize at Coachella for reasons beyond our control but I wanted to come through for music fans. I have been wanting to go back and to do it right, and I am.”
Gaga, who is preparing to release her as-yet-untitled seventh studio album in February, headlined Coachella at the last minute in 2017 when she replaced Beyoncé, who was pregnant with twins Rumi and Sir Carter, marking her only appearance to date at the event. “I’m headlining and starting the weekend off at Coachella. Can’t wait to hear you all singalong and dance dance DANCE till we drop,” she added.
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Gaga has plenty of other big news to celebrate at the moment, including a new guitar-heavy version of her current single, “Disease (The Poison Live),” and the news that her collab with Bruno Mars, “Die With a Smile,” just became the fastest song to reach 1 billion Spotify streams.
She will also have plenty of A-list company from fellow headliners Green Day, Post Malone and Travis Scott at the festival that will take place over two weekends — April 11-13 and 18-20 — which will also feature sets from Missy Elliott, Benson Boone, LISA, FKA Twigs, GloRilla, Tyla, Charli XCX, Anitta, Clairo, ENHYPEN, Jimmy Eat World, T-Pain, Megan Thee Stallion, Zedd, JENNIE of BLACKPINK, Beabadoobee, Ty Dolla $ign, Rema and Shaboozey, among many others.
A presale will kick off at 11 a.m. PT Friday (Nov. 22), with 2023 and 2025 attendees getting early access starting 11 a.m. PT the day before. You can also register for the presale now on Coachella’s website.
See Gaga’s post below.
Coachella Valley is about to see an influx of Little Monsters roaming the grounds this spring, with Lady Gaga joining the festival’s 2025 lineup alongside co-headliners Green Day and Post Malone. Also listed on the billing — which was unveiled in full Wednesday (Nov. 20) — is Travis Scott, whose name appears unattached to a date alongside the phrase “designs the desert.”
On his Instagram, Scott called his upcoming performance the “first of its kind,” and according to a press release from his team, he’ll play the main stage on Saturday night.
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This year’s two-weekend festival will run April 11-13 and 18-20, with Missy Elliott, Benson Boone, LISA, FKA Twigs, GloRilla, Tyla, Artemas and more performing on both Fridays ahead of the “Rain on Me” singer’s night-closing performances. The Saturday lineups will be led by the “American Idiot” rock band and also feature Charli XCX, Anitta, Clairo, ENHYPEN, Jimmy Eat World, T-Pain and more. Of Green Day’s upcoming foray into the desert, Billie Joe Armstrong tells Billboard, “Death, taxes and… rock n roll. In this world gone sideways we know one thing for certain – rock n roll is forever, and its spirit is needed now more than ever. So bring your rage, your hope, and your loudest voice. Coachella, let’s have the time of our lives.”
With Posty leading the Sunday shows, Megan Thee Stallion, Zedd, JENNIE of BLACKPINK, Beabadoobee, Ty Dolla $ign, Rema, Shaboozey and more will perform on the final days of both weekends. The “Psycho” musician previously let slip that he’d be on the lineup by including a pair of shows conspicuously slated for April 13 and 20 in Indio, Calif. on his list of Big Ass Stadium Tour stops, which were unveiled Tuesday (Nov. 19).
Tickets for the festival will go on presale at 11 a.m. PT Friday (Nov. 22), with attendees of the 2023 and 2024 festivals getting early access starting 11 a.m. PT the day prior. Interested music lovers can register for the presale now on Coachella’s website.
See the full Coachella lineup below.
Post Malone appeared to let the cat out of the bag about two of his biggest 2025 tour dates. In an Instagram post announcing his most ambitious outing to date — next year’s Big Ass Stadium Tour with Jelly Roll — Malone also included a pair of shows on April 13 and 20 in Indio, […]
Seventeen years before Justice brought a boundary-smashing stage setup to the Outdoor Stage at Coachella 2024, they were just two young producers from France wondering if their work would ever translate into a real career in live music.
For the duo — Xavier de Rosnay and Gaspard Augé — the answer became a definitive oui after their 2007 debut performance at Coachella, which was also their first ever live performance.
Now, the two are looking back on their four Coachella performances — which happened at the fest in 2007, 2012, 2017 and 2024 — in new mini-documentary produced by the festival. The eight-minute visual, titled …And Justice for All: Coachella Edition, is comprised of archival footage and new interviews with Justice, their team and a few of the many people who helped put the show together at Coachella 2024 this past April.
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“I remember after we played our first set we felt so relieved,” de Rosnay says of the duo’s 2007 set in the doc, “because we had spent the four previous years thinking, ‘Maybe we are just meant to make remixes and not even albums,’ and then here we were in the desert thinking, ‘Well, maybe we are actually a real band.’”
The doc puts a special focus on duo’s 2024 performance on Coachella’s Outdoor Stage. Justice and their creative team spent six months working with seven computer scientists to make the show, which they’ve toured the world with over the last six months. The doc features an interview with the group’s longtime technical director Manu Mouton.
The documentary was directed by photographer and filmmaker Connor Brashier, who’s worked on projects with artists including Shawn Mendes, Niall Horan and Kygo. The film was produced by Goldenvoice’s Ike Adler, Mikhail Mehra and David Prince as part of a new initiative at Coachella focused on creating original content.
“As this piece became to come together, I quickly realized I was making this for my younger, nerdy self, who dug for hours and hours trying to find out more about the people and processes behind the iconic Justice shows both past and present,” Brashier tells Billboard. “I hope someone out there is as giddy as I was to see a few of these monumental Coachella performances in HD and meet a small portion of the magician-like talents who played a part in putting them all on.”
Watch the mini-documentary below: