Were you one of the estimated 151,000 people who attended the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival this weekend? If so, were you surprised at the absence of elbow room? While final attendance numbers haven't been released yet for this weekend, organizers say this year's crowd matched if not exceeded last year's, which was scheduled prior to the global economy falling apart. Twitter user @leximaven had a simple explanation: "music fans, like me, view fests as vital to happiness."

One person who wasn't so happy: Singer Morrissey, who walked off the stage Friday because he was disgusted by the smell of barbecue wafting over the crowd, saying "I can smell burning flesh and I hope to God it's human." The former member of the Smiths, who is now a vegetarian, went on to cancel his Oakland show but was spotted in a bar at a show later that night, causing his fans to cry even more than usual. ]]> egw 2009-04-20T13:39:45-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/4/16/175855/269

Don't know about where you are, but this balmy East Coast weather is getting us excited for summer music festivals. Which is fitting, because Coachella, the first mega-event of the festival season, takes off today on the other side of the country in Indio, California.

Coachella has finally posted the set times, and fans have been busy programming their iPhone apps and making some tough decisions on who to see and who to skip. Morrissey or Girl Talk? Franz Ferdinand or Bright Eyes? The Cure or Public Enemy? (OK well, maybe not much fan overlap on that one.)

For those who can't make it out to the desert, AT&T is streaming live video of the festival all weekend long, so you can catch full sets online from the likes of M.I.A., the Hold Steady, and Paul McCartney. Sweet!

Related Stories:
· Coachella [Official Site]
· Check Out the Live Webcast of Coachella April 17th–19th [AT&T]
· Coachella iPhone App Promises Less Running from Stage to Stage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Coachella] ]]> BS 2009-04-17T01:16:39-05:00 33.6782120 -116.23392 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/4/13/143349/992

If you thought the economic doldrums meant you'd have more elbow room at this weekend's pricey Coachella Music Festival, think again.

While some smaller music festivals have had to throw in the towel this year, giant events like Coachella appear to be doing just fine, thank you very much. Organizers report the 10th annual desert party is selling "almost neck and neck with last year," and is expected to draw somewhere between 135,000 and 150,000 music lovers.

At the moment, 3-day passes ($269) as well as individual tickets for each day ($99) are all still available. The Killers and The Cure headline with a special appearance by Leonard Cohen and Paul McCartney's first stateside festival concert ever.

Related Stories:
· Festival producers optimistic despite recession [Reuters]
· Coachella [Official Site]
· Coachella Offers Big Bands But With a Bigger Price Tag [Jaunted]

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Spring's biggest (and priciest) music festival, Coachella is just around the corner, so all you rock-heads better be almost finished paying off that lay-away ticket plan. The three-day concert starts April 17.

As we've mentioned, $270 tickets are our least favorite thing about giant music festivals, but our second-least favorite thing is figuring out where the heck to be at all times. "Can I catch the Killers on the mainstage when M.I.A. is just finishing on stage two?" "Is it worth abandoning my sweet spot near the front?" "How do I know when sets are actually going to start?"

So we're pretty impressed with Coachella's new iPhone application, which puts all the info right in your palm—no more asking peeved security guards what time the Cure really goes on. In addition to interactive festival maps and a concert photo uploader, the app will have an updated set schedule with a 'Coachooser,' so you can put together your own lineup and hit all the important stops.

Related Stories:
· Coachella iPhone Application [Official Site]
· Coachella Offers Big Bands But With a Bigger Price Tag [Jaunted]
· Music festivals coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Caesar Sebastian] ]]> BS 2009-04-07T08:56:33-05:00 33.6782120 -116.23392 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/3/10/141432/903

Music festivals may be falling left and right this year, but rock's biggest Spring fling—Coachella—is still going strong, with an impressive and diverse lineup of big names.

Paul McCartney, the Killers, and the Cure are headlining the April 17 to 19 fest in Indio, Calif., while the rest of the lineup is packed with dozens of indie favs like Beirut, TV on the Radio and Peter Bjorn, along with a scattering of hip-hoppers—Lupe Fiasco, Clipse and People Under the Stairs.

Troubled diva Amy Winehouse, as we mentioned, had to cancel.]]> BS 2009-03-11T10:41:19-05:00 33.6782120 -116.23392 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/3/10/05810/4902

Last week we wrote about a man who was unsuccessfully trying to get into the U.K.; now we've found the person whose place he could take, if immigration worked like that. Having only recently returned home from Jamaica, Amy Winehouse is trying desperately to get out again -- but as with the '08 Grammys, she won't be getting into America so easily.

Winehouse's problem is not the rumors of drug use nor her connection to potentially-soon-to-be-ex-husband Blake Fielder-Civil, who was recently released from prison. Rather, the retro-fantastic singer was charged with assault after allegedly hitting a fan who snapped a picture of her, and will have to appear in court next week. No visa means no performance at California's trumpeted Coachella festival next month, where sun-drenched music lovers will have to content themselves with other acts like Morrissey and the Killers.

Having seen Winehouse in a festival setting similar to Coachella's in 2007, it's perhaps not the best venue to see her in -- but since she doesn't seem to be doing any cabaret tours, we'd say she is worth the ticket price in all her wackiness. Worth traveling for? Well, that's another story.

Related Stories:
· Amy Winehouse Drops Out Of Coachella Festival [NY Times ArtsBeat]
· In Britain, A Struggle To Prove You're "Just Visiting" [Jaunted]
· Amy Winehouse denied entry to America... again [Celebitchy]

[Photo: Telegraph.co.uk] ]]> egw 2009-03-10T08:43:25-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/2/22/231856/552

We're a long way from the height of summer music festival season, but already 2009 could be shaping up to be the year the music festival died. We’ve recently learned that two highlights of the winter music calendar have already been called off due to sluggish ticket sales.

South Florida's seventh annual Langerado Music Festival was scheduled for its first Miami outing March 6 to 8, but had to cancel even after booking big-name acts like Snoop Dogg and Death Cab for Cutie.

Across the country, the San Francisco Blues Festival, a mainstay in SF's great meadow for the past 36 years, is also taking a pass this year due to lack of funds, and may be done permanently.

Both festivals are offering full refunds--perhaps some fans will use the money to put a down payment on tickets to a summer music festival--Coachella, for one, just introduced a new layaway option to help recession-addled music fans cover their exorbitant $269 ticket price.

We've been complaining for some time that these festival are getting out-of-control expensive, but we don't want them to go away completely! We're hoping this one isn't a trend, but so far it's not looking so hot for live music in 2009.

Related Stories:
· Langerado Music Festival canceled due to poor ticket sales [Miami Herald]
· Funding woes cancel annual San Francisco blues festival [Jaunted]
· Coachella layaway plan [Official Site]
· Music festivals coverage [Jaunted]

Photo: [foolstopzanet] ]]> BS 2009-02-23T09:31:10-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/