Coachella Festival Tickets Sell Out In Record Time, But Many Questions Remain
The 2015 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival has sold out, but not everyone is happy about it.
The Riverside Press-Enterprise is reporting that passes sold out in less than 40 minutes on Wednesday, the day after the lineup for the festival was announced. Part of the reason the passes went so quickly is because immediately after the 2014 Festival was over, a pre-sale was held as a precursor to this year. The announcement that the passes were gone was posted on the Festival’s social media websites.
The Festival has two weekends set, from April 10-12 and April 17-19 at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California. Headliners for the Festival include AC/DC, Jack White of the White Stripes and the Raconteurs, and rapper sensation Drake. There are over 100 artists, including classic rock icon Steely Dan, Southern California veteran punk band Bad Religion, Wu-Tang Clan stars Raekwon and Ghostface Killah, and electronic superstar David Guetta. Also in the upper echelon: Interpol, Belle and Sebastian, Florence and the Machine, Ryan Adams, Fitz and the Tantrums, and St. Vincent.
Headliner AC/DC has avoided playing festivals since 1991. The band was headlining a festival at Salt Lake City, Utah, when fans were being seated festival-style (meaning mad rush seating) and three fans were killed. The band will also be short a guitar player, Malcolm Young, rhythm guitarist, who has left the band due to dementia.
The Daily Bulletin is reporting that even with the pre-sales for passes, the sellout was shorter that the previous year, where the passes were sold out in three hours. The headliners for that Festival were Outcast, Muse, and Arcade Fire. They are also reporting that the sellout occurred in spite of this year’s line up being openly criticized by online critics.
One issue that has come up is that all of the pre-sales that occurred back in May were the general admission passes, selling for $375, meaning the only passes that were left were the general admission passes with shuttle service tickets, which sells for $435. In spite of some outpouring of resentment, the passes still sold out. You can go to http://www.coachella.com/festival-passes/ to find more pricing information and any packages still available.
In 2014, the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival generated over $78 million, making it the top-grossing festival of the year. The festival combines numerous and various stage acts, multiple staging, and eclectic artwork, making the festival one of the hottest festivals around. The festival grew rather quickly, starting in 1999 and running consecutively since 2001.
[Image courtesy of Palm Springs Life]
