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Vinyl Junkies Making Mixtapes – History of Coachella

1999 – Two Days, October 9th & 10th 1999, Tickets were $50 per day

Headliners – Beck, Rage Against The Machine, Tool

Our Pick: Rage Against the Machine, Killing In The Name

Fun Fact: The festival’s origins trace back to a 1993 concert that Pearl Jam performed at the Empire Polo Club while boycotting venues (in LA) controlled by Ticketmaster for the high fees being tacked on to their show’s tickets.

 

2000 – No Coachella this year!

 

2001 – One day, April 28th 2001, Tickets were $65

Headliner – Jane’s Addiction

Our Pick: Jane’s Addiction – Jane Says

Fun Fact: Perry Ferrell, lead singer of Jane’s Addiction, chose to play the festival without pay, which saved Coachella from debt and allowed it to continue to pave the way for music festivals everywhere.

2002 – Two Days, April 27th & 28th 2002, Tickets were $70 per day, $140 for 2 days

Headliners – Björk, Oasis

Our Pick: Foo Fighters, Everlong

Fun Fact : As of 2020 only four women have been headlining acts at Coachella. Björk was the first and the only women to headline Coachella twice. No other woman headlined the festival until 2017. The other women headliners were Lady Gaga, Beyonce, & Ariana Grande.

2003 – Two Days, April 26th & 27th 2003, Tickets were $75 per day, $140 for two days

Headliners – Beastie Boys, Red Hot Chili Peppers

Our pick for this mixtape: Red Hot Chili Peppers – Suck My Kiss

Fun Fact: This was the first year attendees were able to camp after organizers were convinced it’d. be okay to do so since the Woodstock 99’ incident.

2004 – Two Days, May 1st & 2nd, 2004 Tickets were $75 per day, $140 for 2 days

Headliners – Radiohead, The Cure

Our pick for this mixtape: Pixies – Here Comes Your Man

Fun Fact: This was the first year the festival sold out, probably because of the stacked lineup.

2005 – Two Days, April 30th & May 1st 2005, Tickets were $80 per day, $150 for 2 days

Headliners – Cold Play, Nine Inch Nails

Our Pick: New Order – Blue Monday

Fun Fact:

2006 – Two Days, April 29th & 30th 2006, Tickets were $85 per day, $249 for 2 days

Headliners: Depeche Mode, Tool

Our pick for this mixtape: Depeche Mode – Enjoy the Silence

Fun Fact: Before the set, media skeptics wondered if Daft Punk had reached their peak, but he Sahara Tent imploded on itself as 40,000 people tried to squeeze into a 10,000 person tent for their long-awaited headlining performance.

2007 –  First three day event, April 27th, 28th & 29th, Tickets were $85 per day, $249 for three days

Headliners: Björk, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rage Against the Machine

Our Pick: The Jesus and Mary Chain – Just Like Honey

Fun Fact: Goldenvoice created Stagecoach after the owner of the Empire Polo Club considered redeveloping the land unless Goldenvoice could come up with another revenue-earning event in addition to Coachella.

2008 – Three Days, April 25th, 26th, & 27th, Tickets were $90 per day or $269 for three days

Headliners: Prince, Roger Waters, Jack Johnson

Our Pick: Prince – Little Red Corvette

Fun Fact: At the 2008 Coachella festival, Roger Waters’ set included an inflatable pig. This pig flew into the night and ended up landing between two homes in La Quinta, which was about a mile away. They wanted to get the prop back, so they gave these two homeowners $10,000 and free Coachella passes for life.

2009 –Three Days, April 25th, 26th, & 27th, Tickets were $103 per day or $281 for three days

Headliners: Paul McCartney, The Killers, The Cure

Our Pick: The Cure – Boys Don’t Cry

Fun Fact: The Cure played about 33 minutes past curfew before Coachella officials acted, first cutting off the main PA during “Boy’s Don’t Cry” — so the only sounds came from the band’s on-stage monitors — and then shutting down all power as the band tried to segue from “Jumping Someone Else’s Train” to “Grinding Halt” (see video below). Reportedly, the city of Indio charges Coachella $1,000 per minute if acts continue past curfew.

 

2010 – Three Days, April 16th, 17th, & 18th, Tickets were $269 (single day no longer available)

Headliners: Jay-Z, Muse, Gorillaz

Our Pick: Muse – Supermassive Black Hole

Fun Fact:

2011 –Three Days, April 15th, 16th, & 17th, Tickets were $269 (single day no longer available)

Headliners: Kings of Leon, Arcade Fire, Kanye West, The Strokes

Our Pick: Duran Duran – Hungry Like the Wolf

Fun Fact: When Rascal Flatts performed, they announced Osama Bin Laden had been killed. The chant that followed was “USA! USA! USA!”

2012 – Three Days, Started Two Weekends, April 15th, 16th, & 17th & 20th, 21st & 22nd, Tickets were $285

Headliners: The Black Keys, Radiohead, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg

Our Pick: Mazzy Star – Fade Into You

Fun Fact: Golden Voice purchased 280 acres of land in Indio.

2013 – Three Days,  April 12th, 13th, & 14th & 19th, 20th & 21st, Tickets were $349

Headliners: Stone Roses, Blur, Phoenix, Red Hot Chili Peppers

Our Pick: Violent Femmes – Kiss Off

Fun Fact: A sandstorm that hit late on the final day did little to dampen the crowd’s enthusiasm, as the Red Hot Chili Peppers played through their headline performance.

2014 – Three Days,  April 11th, 12th, & 13th & 18th, 19th & 21st, Tickets were $349

Headliners: OutKast, Muse, Arcade Fire

Our Pick: Arcade Fire – The Suburbs

Fun Fact:

2015 – Three Days, April 10th, 11th, 12th & 17th, 18th, 19th, Tickets were $375

Headliners: ACDC, Jack White, Drake

Our Pick: ACDC – Back In Black

Fun Fact: 

2016 – Three Days, April 15th, 16th, 17th & 22nd, 23rd, 24th, Tickets were $400

Tickets were $400

Headliners: LCD Sound System, Guns N’ Roses, Calvin Harris

Our Pick: Guns N’ Roses- Sweet Child O’ Mine

Fun Fact: Ice Cube brought out Kendrick Lamar, Dr Dre and an encore appearance by MC Ren and DJ Yella (NWA).

2017 – Three Days, April 14th, 15th, 16th & April 21st, 22nd, 23rd, Tickets were $400

Headliners: Radiohead, Lady Gaga, Kendrick Lamar

Our Pick: Radiohead – Creep

Fun Fact: An alleged 250,000 festival goers attended Coachella, grossing over $114 million in total sales, one of their biggest years yet.

2018 – Three days, April 13th, 14th, 15th & 20th, 21st, 22nd, Tickets were $429

Headliners: The Weekend, Beyoncé, Eminem

Our Pick: The Regrettes – Seashore

Fun Fact: Tickets for this year sold out in less than 3 hours!

2019 – Three days, April 12th, 13th, 14th & 19th, 20th, 21st, Tickets were $429

Headliners: Childish Gambino, Tame Impala, Ariana Grande

Our Pick: Weezer – Say It Ain’t So

Fun Fact: Ariana Grande got pelted with lemons during her performance on Weekend 2. Sh reportedly exclaimed, “What the fuck?”