Music festivals: does it matter who's playing

SEARCH for #Coachella2016 on Instagram and the hashtag pulls up 276,766 pictures, few of which have anything to do with music. Launched in 1999 as a European-style festival, the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Annual Festival has produced some incredible must-see moments: in 2005, Bauhaus's Peter Murphy suspended himself upside-down like a bat to sing 'Bela Lugosi's Dead'. In 2012, Tupac Shakur, a rapper who died in 1996, appeared on stage in CGI form. Historically, Coachella has booked critically-lauded artists rather than chart-toppers, but this is not what it is remarkable for. An influx of beautiful people baring skin has made the desert festival synonymous with fashionable visions of bohemia. This young generation, which can access music whenever and wherever they choose, is pursuing experiences over products. Before its line-up was even announced, all four days of the 25th anniversary edition of Lollapalooza 2016 were sold out'roughly 400,000 tickets. Perhaps festival-goers were confident that Lollapalooza would organise a musical extravaganza in this anniversary year. More likely they probably felt that, whoever...Continue reading
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