Notebook: Goldenvoice’s April surprise of Coachella surplus shows
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This morning, Los Angeles concert and Coachella promoter Goldenvoice unveiled its April calendar, and in the process answered a question that had floated around the music world ever since the promoter announced it was expanding the annual festival in Indio, Calif., from a single three-day event to two consecutive weekends. What, we wondered, would all those idle bands stuck in the Inland Empire for 10 days be doing with their time (other than, of course, having sex, doing drugs and playing rock & roll)?
Many acts had already announced dates in the area outside of Coachella’s contractually stipulated ban on Southern California shows in the weeks surrounding the festival: San Francisco is going to be flush with Coachella acts (Miike Snow, Band of Skulls, SBTRKT, Pulp, Seun Kuti, others), as are Tuscon (Tuneyards, St. Vincent, Firehose) and Phoenix (Kasabian, Florence + the Machine).
Listen to Randall Roberts’ ‘Coachella 2012 Highlights’ mix on Spotify
But until now Goldenvoice has been conspicuously silent about its plans for the period leading up to the beginning of Coachella’s first weekend on April 13 and the end of weekend No. 2 on April 22. It was a gaping hole of potential, and you just knew that Goldenvoice’s Paul Tollett and company understood this as they watched surprise shows pop up each year before and after Coachella that skirted the ban.
Hence the whopper of a roster below, spanning from Pappy & Harriet’s in Pioneertown (where Girls and Yuck will gig April 19) to many events at the Fox Theater and Glass House in Pomona (co-founded by Tollett and his brother Perry) to a full week of surprises in Los Angeles.
Let’s do a rundown of some highlights, most prominently the massive news that Refused will gig at the Glass House on April 12; the punk band will be in the beginning stages of one of the most anticipated reunions of the year. That same night, M83 will perform at the Fox Theater. On April 16, Bon Iver will fill the same stage, the Hives and the Rapture will kick it at the Glass House, Madness will play Club Nokia in Los Angeles, Band of Skulls and We Are Augustines will take over the El Rey, and Neon Indian will occupy the Observatory in Santa Ana. The list goes on and on, from the Justice DJ set to the Jeff Magnum gig at the Orpheum to Pulp at the Fox to everything else below. It has the makings for a legendary 10 days in Southern California -- and bodes well for the continuing future of Coachella as the country’s preeminant live music event.
Ticket information is listed below, within the color-coded calendar. Pop & Hiss will keep you updated on details on the three big shows lacking info yet -- Refused, Pulp and Jeff Magnum. But there are a few unanswered questions: Where is the Weeknd playing? And what else is happening at Pappy & Harriet’s?
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-- Randall Roberts
