Coachella Valley Music and Arts FestivalThe Music and its Effects

Mel BartaTour 170

Tom Delamere

November 30, 2009

Introduction

Festivals have played an integral role in celebrations throughout history. Originally

referring to annual religious gatherings, the title of festival now applies to recurring

celebrations of many kinds, usually having to do with arts (music, dance, literature, theatre,

visual art), culture (local, regional, national, global) or religion. A festival differs from a special

event because it occurs regularly (usually annually) as opposed to a one time only event. Music

festivals can be one day or many days, be related to world music, folk music, rock music or any

other genre, and take place in most countries. It is important to observe and analyze the effects

that music festivals have on the host community. These effects and impacts can be of a social

and cultural, economic, political and environmental nature (Delamere, 2008). Effects on the

area are usually both positive and negative, and the lasting question is one of balance between

them.

History Of Rock Festivals

It is nearly impossible to think about the history of

rock music without thinking about Woodstock. Held

in New York state in the summer of 1969, it was

billed as “An Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Music

and Peace”. With over 500,000 attendees and thirty-

two acts, that three day festival is most certainly a

pivotal and legendary moment in the development

of rock and roll music and performance. The

Woodstock festival also had an incredible effect on the culture of the late 1960’s, bringing the

“hippie” community to the forefront of American consciousness and spawning several artistic

endeavours, including the epic 1970 Woodstock documentary and a song by Joni Mitchell,

made famous by Crosby, Stills and Nash (Rosenburg). Many other festivals have been important

to the music industry, for economic growth, exposure and artistic enhancement. Notable and

influential rock festivals include Isle of Wight (1970, 600,000 attendees); Glastonbury (1970-

present, 1,500-250,000 attendees; Reading and Leeds festivals; (previously the Carling

weekend, 1961-present, 7,000-150,000 attendees) and our focus example: Coachella Valley

Music and Arts Festival (Marshall).

History Of Coachella

The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival began in the fall of 1999 at the Empire Polo

Field in Indio, California. Concert promoters, Goldenvoice, who were rebelling against the

Ticketmaster controlled auditoriums of southern California, went to Indio, a desert community

in the Coachella Valley. With daytime temperatures over 100°F, the 25,000 attendees of the

first year sweated in the sun to the sound of bands such as Tool, Rage Against The Machine and

Morrissey. Experiencing financial difficulties, Goldenvoice was unable to put on a festival in

2000, but attempted a final effort in 2001. Paul Tollett, president of Goldenvoice, resorted to

asking his friend Perry Farrell to reunite his band Jane’s Addiction for the headlining act, making

the one-day festival a success (Thomas, 2007). An annual event since 2001, Coachella has been

extended to three days and moved to April in an attempt to avoid the intense heat. Promoters

have capped water prices at two dollars to avoid manipulation of a captive audience. Even with

these measures being taken, many people suffer from dehydration or heatstroke, sometimes in

connection with alcohol consumption or recreational drug use. It is this author’s experience

that especially when visiting from a cooler climate, peak temperatures of over 115°F without

shade in an active crowd can be exhausting if not dangerous.

Camping was initiated in 2003, with mixed successes. Rioting before and after a reunited

Rage Against The Machine in 2007 caused the Los Angeles Police Department to have a

presence on the ground and overhead in helicopters. 2007 had the highest number of people

attending, 156,000 and camping, 26,000. Camping includes karaoke, movies, a general store

and showers, line ups for which can be several hours. Despite long lines and riots, Shane

Murphy, who has attended this festival four times, says, “One highlight of Coachella for me, is

camping. Seeing people you saw the year before, and meeting new people from all over the

world. The music is why I go... but the people camping are what separates Coachella from any

other concert” (personal communication, November 8, 2009).

Besides the main focal point of the music, Coachella has many visual arts represented,

particularly sculpture and interactive installation art. Many of the artists return for consecutive

years, displaying sonically or visually stimulating pieces which are evocative and often have a

social or political message. One of the more fascinating exhibits from past years was the sonic

garden, where people could wander through an area coming close or touching poles which

emitted a musical tone. When several people were walking through the “garden” at once, there

was an element of musicality which blurred the lines between music and art at the festival.

Another feature in 2006 was a collection of painted and decorated outhouses, for display

purposes only, of course.

Coachella: Sociocultural Impacts

Susie Netzley is the manager of Denny’s 24 hour restaurant in Indio, California. She

experiences the weekend of Coachella very differently than those who attend the festival. For

more than three days and nights, her restaurant, and indeed her town, are inundated with

concertgoers. Her restaurant is a meeting place for festival attendees who are in a strange town

and sometimes even a strange country; “We get ‘em from Australia, Europe, New York, Canada.

They come from everywhere, and they all come here to Denny’s” (Thomas, 2007). This influx of

visitors has a significant effect on the city of Indio and its 59,000 residents.

These Americans live in a city with extreme social stratification. Condominiums and

mansions of the wealthy businesspeople and retirees surround a core of minimum wage

workers in poverty. According to the U.S. Census, 21.8% of the population of Indio lives below

the poverty line. A festival whose budget is over $15 million dollars could seem like an

impossible number for many of those hospitality, agriculture and entry-level tourism workers.

This evidence of financial disparity, as well as the varied racial profile of the community which

includes many African Americans and Hispanics, may cause tension with the festival attendees,

organizers and promoters. Looking at the culture within the festival, a negative impact may be

recreational drug use and risky sexual activity. Many people who do not regularly use drugs or

“hook up” with people they do not know well could be less vigilant in such an atmosphere and

risk overdose, STIs, or unplanned pregnancy.

On the positive side of the social spectrum, Indio takes great pride in its nicknames “The

City of Festivals”, and “The Date Capital of the United States” (City of Indio, 2009). In showing

this approval, the city honours two of its most important industries. The agrarian culture of the

area exists in cohesion with the celebratory aspect of festivals and cultural endeavours are

partially funded by the influx of outside money that occurs during the Coachella Festival and

other festivals throughout the year, including Coachella’s sister festival for country music;

Stagecoach, which is also promoted by Goldenvoice.

Coachella: Political Statements

Many artists have used their Coachella performances as a soapbox from which to deliver

a message. Often this message is within the lyrics or conversations the artist has with the crowd

when they are on stage. These political messages can be policy protest based, as in the

decriminalization of marijuana, encouraging support for a specific politician or a more general

message. Many performers in recent years have supported the U.S. Armed Forces or decried

the war in Iraq, and the administration which supported it. When Rage Against The Machine

played the closing set at Coachella 2007, they emphasised the lyrics of Killing in the Name Of:

“Some of those who work forces/ are the same that hold office”. In other words, the band was

trying to say that many people are sheep who are being controlled by a violent and corrupt

government, under the leadership of George W. Bush.

Roger Waters of Pink Floyd made another

bold political statement in 2008 when he

“dispatched an inflatable pig across the crowd”

(Gregory, 2008). The pig depicted Uncle Sam with

two bloody cleavers, and was captioned “don’t be

led to the slaughter” on one side and “fear builds

walls” on the other. Waters also made strong statements in favour of Barack Obama’s

campaign before the democratic caucus that was to decide between Obama and Hilary Clinton

(Gregory, 2008). In an odd accident, the wires holding the pig snapped, and Waters promised a

reward for the return of the pig, which eventually descended into an elderly woman’s backyard.

It is likely she did not fully appreciate the free tickets to the next year’s Coachella.

Coachella: Economic Effects

Music festivals include a lot of performance time for the cost of a ticket. Not only are

they good value, but many attendees realize that it is difficult to put a dollar amount on

incredible experiences, Coachella being no exception. In these times of economic recession,

many festival promoters have been concerned about ticket sales and revenue, but the

international festivals of a similar standing as Coachella (Reading, Leeds, Sasquatch,

Glastonbury, Bonnaroo, All Points West) are selling at similar volume to recent years (Phillips,

2009). Other smaller festivals are not doing as well, with tickets sales below previous years,

partially due to reduced budgets for talent, marketing and production.

The town of Indio experiences one exceptional weekend of opportunity to sell goods

(food, supplies, and presumably a vast amount of beer and liquor) and services, particularly in

the accommodation sector. This is also Indio and the Coachella Valley region’s opportunity to

create repeat business from the 18-24 year age group, many of whom are, or will be on boards,

leading corporations, taking family vacations, buying real estate and eventually retiring. Many

tourism associations and business groups think that reaching out to concertgoers is a good idea,

but nobody is willing to take on the responsibility to implement this idea (Pierceall, 2008). It is

also logical that the financial benefit of outside money improves infrastructure in the city of

Indio as well as surrounding communities. The festival itself brought in upwards of $13.8 million

in 2008, from ticket sales, food and beverage purchases and merchandise sales (Phillips, 2009).

In 2009, Paul Tollet of Goldenvoice, relented on allowing sponsors such as PlayStation to be a

part of the festival, to ease the economic strain on Goldenvoice and its parent company AEG

(Phillips, 2009).

Coachella and the Environment

The Coachella Valley experiences environmental strain during the festival simply due to

the huge increase of population for that weekend. People walk over the polo fields, smoke and

drive their cars to and from the event, which puts a stress on the air quality and the congestion

of roads. Beyond that, Coachella Festival is in a desert, any water consumed or used for

washing has been piped in for miles. Energy is finite as well, and although statistics are

unavailable, it is predictable that operating five simultaneous stages with that amount of light

and sound for three days must be astronomical in wattage.

Beginning in 2007, Coachella aggressively promoted environmental awareness. The

Energy FACTory booth presented a biodiesel conversion exhibit, energy creating pedal bikes

where you could cool off with a fan and charge your cell phone, and an ethanol cooker for

popcorn. Goldenvoice offered lifetime tickets to the winners of a carpooling contest called

Carpoolchella which was extremely successful. They created an exchange program for bottles

where you collected ten empty water bottles and

could exchange them for one full water bottle.

This also answered complaints from earlier years

of concertgoers wading through a sea of water

bottles. Several other environmental solutions

were strongly encouraged, through the work of

Goldenvoice and volunteers. It should also be noted that the Coachella Valley derives most of

its power from wind turbines which line the I-5 highway in and out of the valley. These are

marketed as a visual icon of the festival’s commitment to environmental issues.

Festivals and the Tourism Industry: Musical Motivations

Festivals offer an excellent opportunity to visit an unfamiliar area or city. It is impossible

to leave the Coachella Festival without having a lasting impression of the festival, the town, the

state and the country. Having a festival in your community is a great way to publicise the

attractions your area has to offer without taxpayers funding the advertising. A special event

may bring attendees to your community once but having an annual festival gives people such as

Shane Murphy a yearly tourism destination.

People attend music festivals because they like the music being performed, but also for

the sense of community. When camping at Coachella, many people get to know their weekend

“neighbours” and often stay in contact past the duration of the festival. Many attendees are

international, and have further spending to do in the United States, which is a bonus for

national tourism. Other people

see it as a really excellent party

and could not care less about

the bands on the main stages if

they get to dance in the desert

tents. These are some of the

common motivations but of

course each individual has their

own reasons for attending Coachella or any other festival.

Performer Perspectives

Performers at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival generally have a very positive

view of the festival. There is a tradition of reuniting one major band each year beginning in

2001. Jane’s Addiction frontman Perry Ferrell is the only performer to play at all ten festivals to

date. He has contributed as a solo artist (DJ Peretz) and with bands such as Satellite Party and

special guest of other bands such as The Nightwatchman (Thomas, 2007). This record is

unusual, only 18 other artists have been asked to perform at Coachella more than twice, and

very rarely are these appearances in consecutive years.

Conclusion

Many people are affected by a music festival’s presence in an area or community. Attendees,

performers, promoters, organizers, volunteers, and the tourism sector in general could

experience positive effects caused by a music festival such as Coachella, however, residents of

the host community may experience the event more negatively. These effects are seen in the

social, cultural, political, economic and environmental dimensions. By stimulating spending in a

host city, festival organizers create an opportunity for local businesses and residents, as well as

the performers. The economic impacts are most easily measured, but it is also critical to delve

into the less quantitative effects (Delamere, 2008). Coachella descends from a long line of

music festivals, and follows the past by creating new history every year.

Works Cited

City of Indio. (2009). City of Indio - History. Retrieved November 26, 2009, from City of Indio: http://www.indio.org/index.aspx?page=69

Delamere, T. (2008). Festivals. In G. Carpenter, & D. Blandy, Arts and Cultural Programming: a Leisure Perspective (pp. 129-142). Windsor: Human Kinetics.

Gregory, J. (2008, April 28). Roger Waters Uses Coachella to Deliver Strong Political Statement. Retrieved November 27, 2009, from Gigwise: http://www.gigwise.com/news/42719/Roger-Waters-Uses-Coachella-To-Deliver-Strong-Political-Statement

Marshall, J. (n.d.). The Impact of Festivals on the Music Industry. Retrieved November 2, 2009, from Ministry of Rock: http://www.ministryofrock.co.uk/Festivals.html

Phillips, M. (2009, April 10). Music festivals not feeling economic pinch. Retrieved November 28, 2009, from Billboard.com: http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/music-festivals-not-feeling-economic-pinch-1003961258.story#/bbcom/news/music-festivals-not-feeling-economic-pinch-1003961258.story

Pierceall, K. (2008, February 5). Tourism Groups Overlook Coachella Valley. Retrieved November 28, 2009, from pe.com: http://www.pe.com/digitalextra/entertainment/coachella/stories/PE_News_Local_D_coachella26.3c8aeb5.html

Rosenburg, J. (n.d.). Woodstock - A History of the Woodstock Festival of 1969. Retrieved November 26, 2009, from About.com: http://history1900s.about.com/od/1960s/p/woodstock.htm

Thomas, R. (2007, March). URB Magazine - Feature. Retrieved November 2, 2009, from URB.com: http://www.urb.com/features/157/CoachellaHowtheWestWasWon.php