Music’s biggest names head to the desert this weekend for a troubled edition of the Coachella festival, which has seen its slowest ticket sales for a decade.
Lana Del Rey, Doja Cat and Tyler, the Creator will headline, with other acts including Ice Spice, Blur, Grimes, Justice, Reneé Rapp, Vampire Weekend, Victoria Monét and J Balvin also performing.
But while last year’s tickets were all gone within four days, this year saw a slump in interest with 125,000 first weekend tickets taking 27 days to sell and some for weekend two still available. A pass for the first weekend costs $499, while a VIP pass goes up to $1,399.
The underwhelming response comes after a record year for live music in the US. Live Nation, the entertainment company that owns Ticketmaster, reported its biggest ever year with more than 145 million fans attending more than 50,000 events, up 20% over 2022.
Del Rey first appeared at the festival in 2014 and has teased what fans can now expect with her graduating to headliner.
“If all goes well, it’ll be as big and bold as I hope it will be,” she said to Vogue. “Architecturally, it’s going to depend on the structure, and whether I can make it … But I’m really excited about it. I’m excited, so my fans can get excited.”
The star’s close friend Taylor Swift is expected to be in attendance with her football-playing boyfriend Travis Kelce. Rumours that Swift will be performing either with Del Rey or with tourmate Sabrina Carpenter are as yet unconfirmed.
“I am a Coachella guy,” Kelce said to People recently. “I love going to Coachella. I love live music in general. So you might see me pop up over there at some point.”
The weekend will also see the much-anticipated reunion of No Doubt, performing for the first time since 2015.
“It’s gonna be amazing,” singer Gwen Stefani said to Jimmy Kimmel in February. “I’m so excited. And I think what is gonna be hilarious is, I know what’s gonna happen, I’m gonna get onstage and look around and just start like, cracking up because it’s just gonna be like riding a bike. We’re gonna be like: ‘What are we doing? We’re in the future right now, we’re at Coachella.’ It’s gonna be bizarre.”
She also called the performance “a really nice bow to tie on the relationship” between the band members.
Last year saw headliners Blackpink, Bad Bunny and Frank Ocean perform, with the latter artist coming under fire for a chaotic set before he cancelled his second weekend appearance.
