UPDATE: Advance general admission and VIP tickets for both weekends of Coachella 2013 are sold out, but Lake Eldorado packages are still available.
Pre-sale tickets for the 2013 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival went on sale today and the first weekend (April 12-14) tickets are already gone.
The advance sale started Thursday, May 17, at 10 a.m. and a little more than two hours later, the festival posted that "Advance Sale General Admission and VIP passes are no longer available. Lake Eldorado packages are still available and include either GA or VIP passes."
As of 2:30 p.m., general admission and VIP passes for the second weekend (April 19-21) were also sold out.
Lake Eldorado passes, which are $2,000 and $2,900 for two people and $3,400 and $5,200 for four people, are still available.
I don't think I've fully recovered from my three weeks in Indio for the twin Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festivals and the Stagecoach Country Music Festival, but it looks like we're getting details on Monday about the 2013 edition of Coachella.
Goldenvoice posted an image of this year's festival with the words "Monday 10AM PDT" on it. (See above)
Last year, Goldenvoice announced that Coachella would be expanding to the twin editions and offered a limited pre-sale layaway program around this time so that's my best guess as to what we might see, and probably the dates for 2013.
In the meantime, you can re-live all of the fun of Coachella 2012 over at the iGuide Coachella page.
I've been in the desert for both editions of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival as well as this weekend's Stagecoach Country Music Festival and people have been asking me what the differences are between the fests.
Here's a quick, snarky look at my thoughts on them.
Coachella: Hybrids
Stagecoach: Pickup trucks
Coachella: Falafel, organic flatbreads
Stagecoach: Barbecued pork, brisket, more meat
Coachella: Heineken
Stagecoach: Budweiser
Coachella: You can't get cell service after 6 p.m.
Stagecoach: You can't navigate the field after 7 p.m. with the hard-partying fans.
Coachella: Beer can only be consumed in fenced-off beer gardens
Stagecoach: BEER! EVERYWHERE!
Coachella: Kids spend all day dancing to the biggest names in electronic music in the Sahara Tent.
Stagecoach: Pay your respects to country legends like Kenny Rogers and rock out to alt-country like the Mavericks at the Palomino Stage.
Coachella: Campground activities include dancing to DJs until 3 a.m.
Stagecoach: Campground activities include spinning on stripper poles.
Coachella: If you're too drunk, you end up doing something stupid that your friends or strangers put on YouTube once you can get a cell signal again.
Stagecoach: If you pass a Breathalyzer you can test-drive a Toyota.
Coachella: Special guest is Tupac Shakur hologram during Dre and Snoop's set.
Stagecoach: Original "American Idol" Kelly Clarkson joins Jason Aldean on the video screen, but RaeLynn from "The Voice" actually showed up with Miranda Lambert on Saturday night and Brad Paisley appeared for Sheryl Crow's Mane Stage set before his headlining slot Sunday night.
Coachella: David Hasselhoff is there.
Stagecoach: David Hasselhoff is there.
Well, the two weekends of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival have concluded and I managed to see Tupac, Biggie, Pulp's final North American show, a crowd surfing St. Vincent and a ton of Inland artists who played the last two weekends. If you were out at the fest or just want to see what we did, check out this Storify entry. It has all of our photo galleries for both weekends, the longer stories we did and select blog entries. Thanks to everyone who used our #pecoachella hashtag on Twitter and who passed along kind words about the coverage.
We'll do it all one more time this weekend for the Stagecoach Country Music Festival. If you're heading out there, we'll be using the Twitter hashtag #pestagecoach.
The biggest difference between Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg's headlining set tonight and last Sunday was that everyone knew about the Tupac Shakur hologram and had their smartphones and cameras ready to capture the hologram for "Hail Mary" and "2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted."
Beyond that, the hip-hop legends delivered a parade of hip-hop stars again, including Eminem, Wiz Khalifa, 50 Cent, Kendrick Lamar and Tony Yayo.
Kurupt didn't make the trip this week, though.
That being said, while the set list was just like last week, it still delivered in an epic way and was a fitting end to the most epic Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival yet, one that saw the ever-popular taste-making pop culture event expand to two weekends with identical lineups.
Judging by the incredibly packed field, the fans approved.
Here's one more look at the final scenes of the second weekend of the 2012 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio. We've got Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, the Tupac Shakur hologram, AVICII and Florence and the Machine. Thanks to everyone who used #pecoachella and we'll see you next week for the Stagecoach Country Music Festival, where I'm hoping we'll see a hologram Waylon Jennings.
The field is just as crazy as last week, the stage banter is starting off the same and "Gin and Juice" was the third song in the set again.
However, the crowd is even more amped than last week, which I didn't think would be possible thanks to the Coachella weekend two heat wave. The "Gin and Juice" singalong was even louder.
Well played, Coachella fans. Well played.
"Nuthin But a 'G' Thang" is also making the crowd go crazy.
Here are the highlights from the final day of the second weekend of the 2012 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, Calif.
LONGEST STAGE BANTER
Howlin' Pelle Almqvist of Swedish garage punks The Hives was quite the chatterbox on the Coachella stage on Sunday. He talked about heat, weekend one, how weekend two was the Hives' third performance at Coachella and started talking about how that makes it the third in the trilogy and compared it to "Return of the Jedi."
However, since their songs are so short, if he would have kept it to a minimum, the band could have played a few more songs. Almqvist also had the quote of day about the heat: "It's so hot my grammar is melting."
BEST ONSTAGE ACCESSORY
The Hives had a ninja playing the tambourine. Need I say more?
HISTORY TIME
"Technically, we were the first band to play at Coachella," Cedric Bixler-Zavala told the crowd during At the Drive-In's charged penultimate main stage set Sunday night.
BETTER THAN LAST WEEK
After battling technical problems and a truncated set last week, Justice played a complete set that had the field full of dancing glow-stick brandishing people. They opened with a mutated version of "The Star Spangled Banner" again and played "D.A.N.C.E." again, but they got to play "We Are Your Friends" much to the crowd's delight.
MISSING PERSONS
If you didn't see Kimbra show up with Gotye for his set last week to perform the hit "Somebody That I Used to Know," you weren't in luck this week. She didn't show.
BEST SURPRISE GUEST
Thom Yorke of Radiohead showed up for Modeselektor's Sunday night set to do "Shipwreck" with the electronic outfit.
BEST HEADGEAR
Thundercat's head dressing is just so cool. He even wore it for an interview in the press tent later.
WHAT EVERYONE IS TALKING ABOUT
Holograms, of the Tupac Shakur and of the Jem varieties.
"It's hot, right? It's a good day to be a hologram," guitarist/singer Carrie Brownstein of Wild Flag said from the stage during the band's late afternoon slot at the Outdoor Theater.
Despite the heat, Wild Flag waved their guitars high and played one of the most rockin' sets of the second weekend of the 2012 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
Brownstein and drummer Janet Weiss previously played together in Riot Grrrl band Sleater-Kinney. The band also includes D.C.'s own Mary Timony (Mid-Atlantic represent!) on guitar/vocals and keyboardist Rebecca Coles.
There were leg kicks, awesome guitarist interplay, head bobbing from Coles and, as always, crazy high-energy drums from Weiss.
"Romance" was my highlight but there wasn't a bad song in the set. I will definitely be checking them out the next time they come through SoCal.
As the sun drenched the Empire Polo Club in Indio for the final day of the 2012 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, artists like Santigold, Le Butcherettes and Greg Ginn and the Royal We.
The Hives brought their bravado and Swedish garage punk back to the main stage Sunday evening.
"You love us," Singer Howlin' Pelle Almqvist told the crowd. "It wasn't a question. You love us. We think you're pretty cool, too."
Almqvist led the crowd in a rude gestures the sun and hurled some expletives at the source of life on the planet which was making everyone unbearably hot at Coachella.
Almqvist ditched his top hat and tails from last weekend.
He also said there are some rules at a Hives show, mainly that there can be no silence.
Then the band went into "Hate to Say I Told You So."
Even if you're turned off by Howlin' Pelle's stage banter, The Hives still put on a ridiculously fun show with a tambourine player dressed as a ninja.
Real Estate has been getting a lot of critical buzz. The New Jersey band played a solid, if not overly exciting set in e Gobi Tent that attracted plenty of music and shade seekers on Sunday afternoon.
They weren't incredibly dynamic, but their brand of indie rock with some '80s college rock tones didn't force them to be.
The Wild Flag set over at the Outdoor Theater is an entirely different story, though.
Here are some of the highlights of the second day of the second weekend of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
WHO NEEDS A HOLOGRAM?
Forget hologram Tupac Shakur, The Black Lips brought out a cutout of the Notorious B.I.G. for their set in the Mojave Tent. They pointed out that unlike Hologram Tupac (which made an appearance during Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg's headlining set last Sunday), you could actually touch Biggie.
BEST SINGALONG OF COACHELLA 2012, WEEKEND 2
Squeeze takes the title with Glenn Tilbrook leading the crowd in a primarily a capella version of "Tempted." The band put on a spectacular set that should have been seen by more people.
GETTING IN TOUCH WITH THE CROWD
Annie Clark of St. Vincent dove into the crowd on set closer "Krokodil." The group's set was so popular that people were spilling out of the Gobi Tent. Clark also told a story of a dish scrubber given to her as a gift that was in the shape of the Sex Pistols' Sid Vicious. As one friend cracked--Sid Dishes?
THIS ISN'T DOGSTAR
Childish Gambino, a.k.a. Donald Glover, is more than just an actor with a side hobby of music. His rhymes brought flocks of people to the main stage.
BATTLE OF THE WE
We Are Augustines and We Were Promised Jetpacks (two bands that have some of the most fun names at the fest), faced off on opposite stages at the same time Saturday afternoon. Both bands sounded solid, but everyone was melting from the heat.
LEVON HELM TRIBUTE OF THE DAY
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals dedicate "Big White Gate" to the late drummer/singer from The Band.
CAMERA SHY
Jeff Mangum still won't let anyone take his picture.
We've got the goodies from night two at the second weekend of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio--including Radiohead, Bon Iver, Squeeze, St. Vincent, David Guetta and a special guest spot by Richie Sambora.
I am going to start a Tumblr called "Scenes from the Sahara Tent."
I swear, if you want good Coachella people-watching, just visit the Sahara Tent.
Today in the crowd I saw the normal beach ball, as well a an inflatable cartoonish tiger that must have been four feet tall, plus weird balloons, including one that was mylar and in the shape of a heart and read "I Love You."
I guess someone hit up the 99 cents store on their way in today.
It's also the tent where I seem to notice the most unmatched shoes laying on the ground after any given set.
I really love the video screens not only on the stage, but also the ceiling. Afrojack's set was particularly impressive Friday night, but I loved the 8-bit old school Nintendo style graphics that Martin Solveig has going on for his new album "Smash."
I ventured into the Sahara today and caught the end of Toronto's Zeds Dead, who managed to mash up The Beatles' "A Day in the Life" with some crazy beats and then do it again to The Moody Blues' "Nights in White Satin."
They were really fun, but I also enjoyed Solveig's set, and on my personal favorite, "Big in Japan," he climbed atop the video platform that was hiding him from the fans up front.
However, set closer "Hello" got the biggest response.
It was a hit fest when Squeeze took the stage in the criminally under crowded Mojave Tent Saturday at the second weekend of the 2012 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio.
The band opened with "Annie Get Your Gun," and played a nonstop set of fun tunes, including "Pulling Mussels from the Shell," "Up the Junction," "Hourglass," and a crowd participation version of "Black Coffee in Bed."
The band was at the top of its game as performers, with Glenn Tilbrook's voice seemingly not having aged a day since the band started more than fee decades ago. He skillfully handled e notes and brought the soul that gave Squeeze such power as a pop band.
The set ended with a goosebump-inducing version of "Tempted,"led by Tilbrook and the crowd going a cappella for most of the song.
It may not have been crowded, but everyone there was a passionate fan.
The only omission was "Cool for Cats," but the band's performance of that song at last weekend's fest at the official Coachella YouTube page.
Coachella has a variety of styles. There are those whose main goal is to keep cool in their bathing suit, shorts and baggy shirt. And then there are the fashionistas, who strut the desert field in heeled boots, fringed vests, and vintage inspired dresses. And then there are the extremists, who dress to be seen.
And as with this group, hair is the easiest accessory to customize for their avant garde style.
So far on the field, I have seen teased tresses with feathers and twigs to add to their matted nest. Two girls wandering the field were using their locks as a top a la mermaid style.
But the guys are decorating their heads as well, mostly with the now Coachella common Native American feather headdresses, but also with rings of flowers and Greek god inspired laurel crowns.
Here are a few pics of some of these "head cases."
We've got Childish Gambino, The Black Lips and even the Notorious B.I.G. in our latest roundup of what's happening at the second weekend of the 2012 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
Atlanta garage punkers The Black Lips are never a live disappointment.
Last week, the band batted a beer into the audience and one of the members allegedly dropped trou. This week the band had a very special guest--who wasn't a hologram.
Somehow, the band found a large cardboard cutout of slain rapper the Notorious B.I.G. and had someone dancing around it to Biggie's hit "Hypnotize." The band pointed out that it was even better than the Tupac Shakur hologram that appeared during Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg's set last Sunday, because you could actually touch the Biggie on stage with them.
It was pretty epic as the crowd sang along.
They shotgunned beers on stage and also gave a few shoutouts to the Fender Corp., who made custom amps for the band that the group kept describing as really loud.
"Bad Kids" and "Raw Meat" were some of the highlights for the fans who danced in the tent, despite the heat, and who did plenty of crowdsurfing.
Don't like the Coachella shirt designs this year? Well have no fear, the Boutique Store is here.
At the Boutique Store, just next door to the Merchandise Tent, festival goers can design their own shirt, for a few more clams than the pre-made ones.
The store features a dual sided printer,with two guys making the customizable shirts as fast as possible. It looks like the printer has six designs that can be added to your shirt.
And if you are broke from all the water you had to purchase this year, its cool just to watch how the shirts are made.
Well, its 102 degrees, so why not have some cold refreshing sushi.
Over in the VIP area, there is one vendor serving up the fishy treat. For $3 I bought a piece of sashimi albacore and a heaping helping of edamame. A deal at Coachella without much of festival inflation.
It sounds like a weird choice in this heat, but the workers at the booth told me that they have refrigerator and the fish is coming in from a local sushi restaurant just down the street from the festival.
And when I asked how business was going, they said that it was pretty slow during the day, but once the sun goes down, and Indio cools down a bit, they have lots of customers.
It tasted just fine to me, but ask me in an hour or so to see if I still think it was a wise decision.
Guess who John Fogerty played with at Coachella on Friday night? Who had the Sahara Tent exploding? Find out in our Coachella 2012 Storify from Friday night.
Here are the highlights of Friday, April 20 at the opening day of the second weekend of the 2012 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
HONORING LOST HEROES
The Band's Levon Helm passed away Thursday. At least two artists paid tribute to him on Friday night. John Fogerty joined The Black Keys for a cover of "The Weight." Swedish punkers Refused had "RIP Levon Helm" taped to their bass drum.
ANOTHER GOODBYE
Jarvis Cocker said that Friday night's Coachella appearance was the band's last North American tour date. The set, which was mixed up from last week, ended with a rousing rendition of "Common People."
GROUNDHOG DAY MOMENT
"For us it's deja vu. For you it's a new day," Refused vocalist Dennis Lyxzén told the crowd Friday night.
He also gets "Most likely to injure himself" thanks to his microphone stand swinging and wild microphone waving.
WORST APPEARANCE
The heat. With triple-digit temperatures, those of us who attended last weekend were wishing for the cold drizzle. For shizzle.
ODDEST TENT ASSIGNMENT
M83 and The Rapture both had fans spilling out of the tents.
MOST LIKELY TO CAUSE A SEIZURE
Atari Teenage Riot had a blistering set with lots of strobe lights and a song I could have sworn had a chorus of "Die, Hipster."
THE HAPPIEST/UNHAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH
If Disneyland is the happiest place on Earth, then the lights, beats and wonder of the Sahara Tent is the Disneyland of Coachella. It's also where you see the most people crying and puking, which seems a little like Main Street U.S.A. after the parade gets out, just with no parents.
THE MOMENT WHEN YOU CAN'T MOVE
Swedish House Mafia drew more people to the Coachella Stage Friday night than anyone else today and possibly more than anyone else last week that didn't have a set that included a Tupac Shakur hologram.
MOST M.I.A. MOMENT
Kendrick Lamar--all of us who saw M.I.A. a couple of years back haven't recovered from her set, which was pretty much all air horns. You reminded us of that again today.
Sometimes I think the heat forces people to see bands they wouldn't otherwise see because they're looking for the shade of a tent.
I don't think that was the case for Gary Clark Jr. The guitar phenom from Austin, Texas, played a set with hot licks for a hot day.
While I'm a fan of The Black Keys, Clark is the one who is really bringing the blues back.
He's going to be huge and your parents will love him, too.
It was really good to see someone who is making his own way in a genre that inspired so much get so much love from a full audience, who cheered throughout guitar solos and after the songs.
Catching a little bit of Pulp's set again since I was so impressed last week.
We didn't get the big intro with the flashing words like last week, but that may have been because it looked like the video screens were having some issues.
Frontman Jarvis Cocker, always the consummate performer, still led the eager crowd in poses and Britpop singalongs.
The set list is a little varied from last week (details coming later on that). But if you didn't catch Pulp tonight, it might be your last chance.
"Tonight is our last show in North America," Cocker said. "Let's not fart around."
"Disco 2000" is an early highlight.
Pulp said adios to North America with a rousing rendition of "Common People."
Cocker ended the night by thanking everyone and thanking Coachella.
I was fortunate to spend some time with Poetic Kinetics, the folks who made "Solitary Inflorescence," a.k.a. the GIANT flower growing before festivalgoers' eyes at the 2012 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Club in Indio.
Patrick Shearn and Cynthia Washburn are two of the people behind the giant flower, which couldn't grow on the Friday and Saturday of the first weekend due to the high winds.
Shearn had made a smaller flower at Burning Man in 2008 and after that piece was seen, Poetic Kinetics was tapped to make a puppet show for the Olympics in Beijing, China.
"I was inspired by the desire to see the festival from up high," Shearn said.
This flower at Coachella is even larger, topping out at 140 feet, with a basket inside the flower where it can be controlled and directed up, down and around.
Washburn said one of the things to keep in mind was to use materials that would be consistent with the weight requirements and resistance to the wind.
So what happens when you reach the top of the flower?
"You can see the 10 freeway," Washburn said.
They created a new breed with the piece, too, which was inspired by a number of orchids.
Harvard Medical School student Peter Olds and his friends are celebrating taking their board exams with a trip to the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival's second weekend.
The doctor to be had a tip for festival goers.
"Stay hydrated," he said.
He already visited the misting areas and refilled his Powerade bottle a few times in the early afternoon. However, since Boston is a colder climate, he doesn't mind the heat so couch.
"I feel like it's part of the experience," he said.
The heat is on and Glenn Frey is nowhere to be found.
At 1:03p.m. it is already 99 degrees and people are seeking shade. This is where the tents are wonderful.
Wolf Gang just came on stage in the Gobi Tent, playing to a full crowd, with just under half of the people standing and enjoying the British band's pop rock and the others soaking up the shade and resting.
Unlike last Friday, when a hooded sweatshirt was the must have accessory, it's all about shorts and T-Shirts today.
Wolf Gang's singer just tried to get everyone in the back of the tent to get up. Good luck, buddy.
Here's a collection of people who are already making their way to the Empire Polo Club in Indio for the second weekend of the 2012 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
For the first time in the festival's history, Coachella is doing back to back weekends with the same lineup.
This week Charlotte Bray is joining me to take photos and write about the fest. If you see us, please say hello.
You can find all of our coverage at the iGuide Coachella page throughout the weekend.
If you're headed out to the desert, be sure to stay hydrated. After last week's cool tones and even rain on opening day, this weekend could be one of the hottest Coachellas on record, with triple-digit temps expected all three days.
If you want to join the conversation with us, feel free to jump in on Twitter and offer your comments and insights by typing "#pecoachella" on any Tweet. That feeds into our Twitter page about the fest. If you take photos, they will show up on our Storify later.
We want to hear who you're excited to see, what you're hearing, what you're eating and what you're doing to beat the heat.
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